after hearing his chuckled comment. She was instantly feeling even more anxious. As nerve-wracking as this was, she hadn’t counted on this working so easily and happening so fast. Her initial plan was to try and worm her way into the baby’s life by throwing out her “working with kids comment.” She hadn’t been totally committed about the receptionist part yet. But Nine’s mention of their needing a receptionist at such a perfect moment made her premeditated ploy seem all the more spontaneously prompted.
“Look at this place.” Nine motioned at the counter for Orlando. “I don’t have time to be dealing with this shit, sifting through applications and doing interviews, do you?” He turned back to Danica. “Job pays fifteen bucks an hour. I’d need you in here at least three days a week, five-hour shifts. You’d get a major discount on that transmission as a bonus, and we could even take the payments out of your check, so you can get it replaced the sooner the better.”
“I . . .” Danica’s head was racing even as her relieved, yet very excited, heart pounded because this could get tricky. She hadn’t worked out the details of this plan yet. “I’d have to check my schedule. Probably soon?” He looked at her strangely since he obviously didn’t get that she was questioning whether her answer was the best one or not, so she added the next part quickly. “L-like in the next week or so?”
“Tell you what.” Nine turned away, looking out the window. “If you can promise to get back to me as soon as possible, I can have them patch up the leak with something right now just to buy you some time for now. Free of charge.”
Danica began to smile, despite her nearly stammering last response, but then remembered something. She glanced down at her phone. It was already five minutes to five. Among one of the many things Ted was a stickler for was punctuality, especially when he was waiting on her. In this case, she’d be late to happy hour where she was supposed to be meeting him soon. “How long do you think it’ll take?”
“Ten, fifteen minutes tops,” Nine said, handing her a card from out of his front pocket. “That’s my number directly. Call me as soon as you can.” He started toward the door that led to the garage. “They’re just gonna pour something in it that’ll clog up the leak as a temporary fix.”
“Okay, that sounds great. A-and yes, as soon as I know when I’ll be available, I’ll give you a call. Thanks so much.”
Without thinking, she started putting a text together for Ted. She lied, saying she was stuck in traffic, but she’d be there in a few. Curiously, it was so much easier to lie to Ted, especially via text. “I’ve seen you before.” Danica glanced up at Orlando in response to his comment. “Do I know you from somewhere?
“I’ve been in here before,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed. Of course, he wouldn’t remember her. She was absolutely forgettable. But in this case, it was a good thing. If he remembered seeing her car sitting up the street the past few weeks, he might be suspicious.
He turned to the window that opened into the shop. “Kia,” he said under his breath then turned back to her. His widening eyes swept over her from top to bottom. “Yeah, yeah, I remember now. You asked about me moving. You were in here with your boyfriend?”
Danica nodded as the unease about his remembering that part washed over her. “Yeah.”
Ted had been so worked up when they got out of there. No telling how rude he’d been when she’d rushed off to the bathroom so she wouldn’t break down right there in the waiting area that day.
“You look so different. No wonder I could swear I knew those eyes from somewhere, just couldn’t place you.”
Glancing down at herself, she hadn’t even thought of that. She’d been too busy obsessing and excited about the possibility of seeing the baby and then wanting to look more put-together and impressive than her norm. She hadn’t even thought it might seem weird to walk into an auto shop all done up. “Meeting friends for drinks in a few,” she explained, feeling lame. Who stops to get their car serviced just before a night out? “I just kept hearing the squeaking brakes, so I thought I’d stop and get them checked since it was on my way.”
He