Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1 (10 page)

“Holy shit!” I was laughing so hard that tears ran down
my face. She glared at me.

“It’s not funny!”

“Oh yes it is! This is a man who grounded you and me for
talking about humping in fourth grade! This is a man who would measure your
skirts before you left the house!” I cannot stop laughing.

“I had to go get him at the hospital. Lamar made me do it
because he said that he was not mature enough to do it himself. I am
mortified.”

“But you said no one knows,” I pointed out.

“I cannot look my father in the face,” she muttered. I
patted her hand.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked. She looked up and
smiled.

“He is driving me nuts! He needs something to do Bleu.
Anything! He got pretty good on computers before he retired. Maybe he can
help you with the website for the school district?” she asked.

“Hmm maybe. I will stop over tonight after work if that’s
cool. By the way, what happened to the girlfriend?” I asked. She frowned.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered.

After having coffee with Abby, I grabbed some doughnuts
for the guys and rushed to work. I had agreed to meet up at Abby’s house around
seven, she was cooking. When I walked in the door, Chloe was manning the desk,
and she smiled at me.

“Yay doughnuts!” she said happily, hopping up and down on
her tiny feet. She took them from me and I set my bag under the desk. She
walked to the back with them and plopped them down on one of the drafting
tables. Matt’s head popped up from his station and I laughed. He walked over
and grabbed two, wrapping them in a napkin and holding them up in thanks.

“I swear it’s like they never get fed!” she huffed.

 The waiting room was full. A pair of men in
business suits were reading magazines, a few girls chatted with one another,
and a man in a construction worker’s uniform sat closest to the desk, his hard
hat on his lap. The office door was open, but Jack was not inside. He was in
his station I guess. Skeeter walked in the door. Skeeter is about six three and
super skinny. He has dirty blond hair that was curly and short. He wore navy
blue Dickies and a gray button down work shirt with the shop’s name on the left
pocket. He wiped his hands on a shop rag and ambled over to me with a lazy
smile.

“Hey Bleu. Anyone waiting for me?” he asked. I nodded
over to the two girls; he smiled in thanks and walked over to them. After a few
minutes of conversation, he led them out to the garage, the door closing behind
them. One of the men in the suits looked up and smiled at me as I walked behind
the desk.

“Who are you here to see?” I asked him.

“Matt. My buddy here is waiting for Jack.” He replied.

“Alright, I will let them know you are here,” I said with
a smile.

“I am here to see Chloe,” said the construction work in a
gruff voice.

“I will let her know too!”  Taking the phone with
me, I walked in the back. Matt wiped his client’s arm down and applied shiny
ointment on his fresh ink. He wrapped the arm in what looked like plastic wrap.
They talked for a minute, shook hands and the man walked to the front. Matt
stopped when he saw me standing there.

“What’s up Bleu?” he asked.

“There is a man out front who has an appointment with
you,” I said. He nodded.

“Give me ten minutes to clean up in here, and I will grab
him,” he replied.

“Could you tell Chloe her client is here too?” I asked.
He nodded and I walked out to the front. The guy that Matt had just finished
with paid and left a huge tip for Matt.  Matt came up to the front and
greeted his client, and I handed him a cup of coffee. He smiled in thanks and
grabbed another doughnut. Chloe wasn’t kidding; the guys around here were
bottomless pits. I walked over to the office. Jack was inside doing something
on the computer, but looked up when I stood in the doorway.

“Hey beautiful,” he said. He smiled. My stomach filled
with butterflies.

“Hey yourself. Your appointment is here. Just wanted to
let you know,” I replied. He nodded.

“I think we need to talk later,” I replied. He patted me
on the shoulder as he walked by me and I felt that little buzz of electricity
again.

Business was steady for the rest of the day for both the
shop and the garage. Around three, I went and grabbed the food that everyone
had ordered from the Chinese food place two blocks over. The guys went in back
with their food, while Chloe and I went to sit near the drafting tables. 
She kicked off her platform sandals and sat crossed legged on the floor,
digging into her lo mein. I grabbed my food, and sat beside her.

“How do you work in those things?” I asked, pointing to
her high as hell platforms. She grinned.

“I have been wearing shoes like that since I can
remember. It’s a piece of cake!” she chirped.

“Today was crazy huh?” I remarked. She nodded. She
swallowed her mouthful of noodles and looked over at the guys who were huddled
around a couch that they had put near the stations. They were laughing and
talking quietly.

“A meeting of the minds over there,” she remarked and we
both laughed. The guys looked up at us for a moment and then went back to
eating.

“I heard from a little birdie that Jack is working on a
tattoo for you tonight,” she said sweetly. I raised an eyebrow.

“A little birdie huh?” She nodded.

“Bleu this place is like high school wrapped in a small
town. The guys are big mouths, they can’t keep a secret to save their asses,”
she said.

“Yeah he is. After the shop closes,” I admitted.

“Well that’s convenient though, seeing as how you will be
living with us,” she said. I choked on lo mein.

“Uh what???” I exclaimed. She laughed again, putting her
carton of lo mein down beside her. She wiped her hands on the paper towel in
her lap.

“I know things are like a circus for you right now. So I
have been thinking, let me take some of the pressure off of your back. Move in
with us,” she said, patting my shoulder and then drawing me in for a hug.

“Who is this us you are referring to?”

“Jack and I. He was planning on moving in with me
anyways. I have too much room and honestly I cannot afford all of it by
myself,” she stated matter of fact.

“Yeah Jack mentioned that Matt was moving in above the
shop. I did not think Jack and I were a package deal,” I said with a laugh.

“Yeah Matt staying with me was only temporary. He is a
pretty private guy and I am too nosey for his liking. Though he would never say
it to my face,” she replied with a laugh.

“Well now how can I say no to my favorite naughty fairy?”
I asked. She laughed.

“When is Jack moving in?” I asked.

“Tomorrow.”

“Oh wow! Talk about needing an answer sooner rather than
later! I don’t see it as being a problem, besides the majority of my stuff is
at Jack’s, uh, Matt’s place anyways,” I said with a shrug.

“Is that a yes?” she asked. I nodded. She hugged me and I
almost dropped all of my lo mein.

“Remind me to give you a key later. I am so excited!!!!”
she then planted a kiss on my cheek. I laughed loudly.

“Dude, are they making out over there?” asked Matt .Chloe
stuck her tongue out at them. I frowned playfully.

“You guys are retarded,” she said. They all grinned like
a bunch of jackals and then went back to their food. We finished eating lunch
and got back to work.

With the shop being so busy, Jack and I did not have a
chance to talk, except for me to tell him that his appointments were here. I
hadn’t planned on have the “talk” at the shop anyway, but I will admit that I
was anxious to get it over and done with. It was hard to go with the flow and
mellow out when I was anticipating the conversation that had to take place
later on. At around seven, I checked out and climbed into my car.

     Abby lived in a small
subdivision at the edge of town. Her house was cute really. It’s gray with blue
shutters and I think it has three bedrooms. Lamar, her husband, was standing on
the front porch in jeans and a green polo shirt, smoking a cigarette. He waved
as I pulled in.

“Hey there Bleu, what’s going on?” he asked. I gave him a
hug.

“Abby recruited me to help with Blake,” I replied.

“Oh thank God. He was driving us nuts. Abby had him on
internet lock down these past couple of weeks. He DVR’s weird stuff on the TV
and stays up all hours,” he remarked.

“His sleep schedule must still be stuck on when he was
working third shift,” I replied. He nodded.

“Either way, he is driving me crazy. But I hate to leave
Abby alone with him. I am afraid she will kill him,” he said with a smirk. I
patted his shoulder and walked into the house. I was greeted with the smell of
pasta sauce and Abby yelling.

“No…Dad. I realize that you are going crazy, but I don’t
think it’s a good idea,” she yelled. I walked into the kitchen and was faced
with Abby, still in her gym clothes, facing off with an angry looking man who
could be her clone. Blake, Abby’s dad was six five and still built. His blonde
hair was crew cut short and he had some wrinkles here and there, but otherwise
he was still an attractive man. He was wearing a navy blue t shirt and black
jeans. He looked over at me and smiled.

“Hey there Bleu bell. How are you?” he said, crushing me
in a hug.

“Fine. What’s going on?” I asked. He smirked.

“This one is giving me a hard time. As usual,” he said,
pointing to his daughter. Abby rolled her eyes and smirked.

“About what?”

“He wants to join up with the ambulance squad,” she
replied. I looked at him. He nodded.

“I did not want to retire. But I did when Abby’s mother
left me. I had to. Curt was all alone,” he said, referring to Abby’s little
brother, who was now 20. Abby’s mom left about five years ago.

“Okay.”

“I am physically capable of doing it. I cannot sit around
here all day doing nothing,” he replied, folding his arms over his well-built
chest.

“Abby why are you against this?” I asked. She sighed. I
looked at her and she squirmed under my gaze.

“Dad, you are almost sixty. Shouldn’t you relax? Travel?”
she asked.

“First of all, I am not almost sixty. I am 52. And where
the hell would I go? And with whom?” he asked. She snorted.

“Yeah but you forgot one minor detail. You set your
girlfriend on fire. Ladies tend to stay away from guys like you,” she remarked.
I bit back a laugh and he glared at us. Abby turned to the stove and I could
see her shoulders shaking with laughter.

“She told you?” he asked me. I nodded. His ears got
bright red.

“I did not set her on fire. And I am doing this,” he
said, leaving the room, letting us know that the subject was closed. I patted
her shoulder.

“Well I guess you don’t need me after all,” I joked. She
shook her head.

“All this stress is not good. He is driving me nuts. I am
NEVER going to get pregnant,” she muttered.

“You guys are trying?” I asked, shocked. She nodded. I
had been so swept away with my problems and my issues with Axel that I did not
even ask my best friend what was going on in her life.

“We have been for about a year. I don’t want my dad to
get hurt Bleu. Curt is away in the Army. God knows what is going on with him.
And then dad and his internet date burn down the house. I feel like I am taking
care of everyone,” she said softly. I pulled her into a hug.

“Well I am here. I am so sorry that I have been so
focused on my issues. I have been a sucky friend,” I replied. She laughed.

“You are fine. I appreciate you trying to come over here
and deal with Dad. He is a major pain in the ass, and you are one of the few
people he does not bowl over,” she said. I nodded.

“Anytime my dear. Now can we eat?” I asked. She laughed
and shoved me playfully. We talked for a few minutes as I helped her set the
table and get dinner finished.

I returned back to the shop around
nine thirty. Matt was still working, this time on a curvy lady who had a
major sleeve going on. Chloe was cleaning up her room, while Jack was dropping
down the table he used to do lower body tattoos. It looked like a massage
table. He covered it with a paper sheet and began getting things ready. The
waiting room was cleaned, swept and dusted. I stacked some new magazines that had
come in on the tables in front of the couches. Making sure no one else was
coming in; I put a little bell on the counter just in case we got a walk in.
Jack came out and grinned.

“Hey how was dinner?” he asked. I
smiled.

“Eventful. Abby’s dad wants to come
out of retirement. He is bored,” I remarked. He raised an eyebrow.

“Why is he there living with Abby?”
he asked.

“Long story short, he burned down
his house getting it on with some woman he met on the internet. So he is staying
with Abby. He is tired of doing nothing. He is not giving her room to argue
with him. When he makes up his mind to do something, it’s done,” I replied. He
laughed.