Page 68 of Tandem

“Of course! I’ll be right there after I finish setting up the sprayer.” Dad nodded and disappeared back into his office while I finished setting up for my first client of the day. All I needed to do was mix the colors and get to coating. Today, it was a pretty candy red paint job to kick us off.

As I was getting things ready, my mind wandered. It had been three months since he had been gone. The first few days had been devastating. I stood there, replaying the last moments I had with him in my mind over and over again.

It had been three long months since he walked out that door. The paint shop had become my hideout, the one place where I could bury myself in work and pretend I wasn’t falling apart inside.

Even with all the noise and hustle of the shop, his absence echoed louder than anything else. Mixing up colors today, I couldn’t shake the memories of us. His touch, his laugh, his damn smile—they were like a punch to the gut, hitting me harder with each item I set down on the counter.

Back when he first left, eating was the last thing on my mind. Nights were the worst. I’d lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing I could just knock myself out and skip to the next day. And the tears… God, they were relentless. I’d cry until my head felt like it was going to explode, but it didn't make a damn difference.

I tried to talk to Dad about it. I was determined to know why AJ went to Japan. It still didn’t make sense to me. But when I pressed him for answers, all he told me was that AJ approached him saying he needed to get out of here, that things had gotten too serious with me, and he needed the money or a job to get out of town. So, Dad offered him a job supervising cars he bought for the dealership. And that I should forget AJ and just move on.

I let out a sigh that made my entire body feel deflated. There was really no point in thinking about all of that now, it wouldn’t make any difference. AJ was gone. I needed to just accept it and move on.

I took the steps two at a time up to the landing, then turned on my heel, walked over to Dad’s open office door, and plopped myself down in the chair in front of his desk. “Okey dokey, what did you want to talk about?” I asked, glancing around the room.

Dad smiled at me and slid a folder across the table.

I gazed at him questioningly, tilting my head as I looked down at it. “What’s that?”

When my eyes flicked back up at him, his smile grew. “Why don’t you open it and find out?”

I narrowed my eyes playfully. What did Dad have up his sleeve this time? I leaned slowly forward and quickly grabbed the folder. Then, I slowly sank back into the chair, opening the folder and looking down. My jaw fell open, and I gasped loudly.

Sitting there in big, bold betters was a legal document with little stickies next to places for signatures. It said, "Part Owner of Kayden’s Customs Paint Lab". I glanced back up at Dad, whohad chuckled at my facial expression. I was guessing it was slightly hilarious, with my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “D-Dad… is this for real?” I asked, both excited and shocked.

Dad nodded and leaned back in his office chair, folding his arms behind his head. “Hell yes, it's real. It’s something I was going to wait to do, but, Rosalie, when I say your skills have gotten so damn good over the past few months, and the way you took the initiative and went to some workshops by some of the best painters in Cali to learn more from, there is no way I could wait to do this. So if you want it, I want to officially make you a partner and put you in complete charge of the paint lab side of the customs.”

I looked back down and flipped through the paperwork, my heart warming my entire chest as I read it. Dad said that even though contracts were a dull part of any business, you still had to do them, so always read them thoroughly. I carefully read over all of the different clauses of the document.

Basically, Dad still controlled the company, but I got to manage all of the paint shop side of things, and it made me ten percent owner of the company because of it. I teared up, my emotions overwhelming me a bit as I finished. “So the obvious answer is yes, a thousand times yes!” I exclaimed excitedly as I looked back up at him.

I jumped up and ran around the desk to hug my dad, and he barely got to stand before I jumped on him and tried not to crumple the paperwork as I hugged him. He wrapped his arms around me and picked me off the floor in a big lifting bear hug, which made me laugh.

“Well, get to signing, the paint lab won’t open itself, partner.” I giggled and quickly signed all the noted areas, then gave Dad one more hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“I won’t let you down, Dad! Promise!” I still couldn’t believe this was really happening.

He patted my head, then turned me around and shoved me toward the door. “I know you won’t, hun. Now, get outta here.”

I bounced out of the office and down the stairs, humming as I finished mixing paint and getting everything together to spray the first car of the day. The entire day went by in a blur. I got lost in the art of painting the four vehicles I had to work on that day and thinking about all the things I wanted to try in the paint lab for the future of the customs that I didn’t even realize it had gotten so late.

Dad came over and said good night, and I told him I was just finishing this car and then I would lock up. He waved and left, checking his security cameras on his phone beforehand. After what happened, Dad stepped up on the security by buying better exterior lighting and cameras. Now, all of the alleys around the customs were well lit and watched by cameras 24/7.

But just as I was about to go around and turn off the lights after I finished cleaning my sprayer and organizing my paints for the next day, I heard the sounds of a few motorcycles. Maybe Jayden was in the area and swinging by with Bonnie?

I walked out of the paint room to look, but it wasn’t Jayden and Bonnie. There were three bikers, all riding sport bikes with shirts or jackets that sported a BLVD logo on them. I knew enough by seeing Jayden wear a similar style of clothing with Cavaliers on it to realize these guys were in a motorcycle club.Please don’t be here to cause trouble,I thought as I walked over. I tried to act like I wasn't slightly worried.

“Hey there! Welcome to Kayden’s Customs. How can I help you?” I asked with a light tone. The first one took off his helmet, and he was handsome, for sure. He had short, black hair with a slight five-o’clock shadow growing in. He ran his hand through his hair and smiled at me, and my stomach did a little flip. Hissmile made his eyes dance. He had really pretty deep green eyes. I shook my head slightly.Snap out of it, Rosalie!

“Hey, little mama.” Themamarolled off his tongue, and again, my stomach did a little excited flip. “I need a new paint job on this bike. I just got it, and it’s nothing like I need. I’ll pay extra if we can get it done tonight.”

Oh, he wanted a paint job. I glanced up at the clock. I could probably squeeze one in. It wasn’t a huge bike. Most of the pieces would come off within an hour, and I could have them primed in another. Then, it would be ready for painting. It was probably a four-hour job max, depending on what he wanted.

“What were you thinking?” I asked, looking around the bike, carefully assessing it more in detail as he spoke, making sure there were no scratches or dings that would need filling in first.

“I want a true blue with a couple of black lines around here and here. Can you do that?” He pointed where he wanted the pinstripes, and I nodded, my fingers dragging against the cold plastic where he had indicated.

“Shouldn’t be an issue. It’ll take a few hours, so if you all want to go and then come back, I can get your number and send you a text?” But he didn’t reply. He smiled at me and then turned to his friends, quietly saying something to them.