3. Meredith
Chapter Three
MEREDITH
I’ve only been working at the mechanic shop for a week when the owner calls me into his office. I know that I’m the last hired, and I can’t help worrying that he’s going to let me go.
Budget cuts. Layoffs. Some business something or other. My head’s on the chopping block, and I know it.
I bite my lip as I walk in the small office and sit down.
Dean sits across from me and offers me a sit.
I sigh. “Listen, I know I’ve only been here a short while, but?—”
Dean holds up a hand. “You’re not being fired.”
A long breath escapes my nostrils. “Oh, thank God.”
He chuckles. “In fact, you and everyone else will be getting quite the pay raise. It’s in the contract.”
I freeze. “Contract?”
“Yesterday, a young man came to buy the place.” He grins even wider. “And at a wonderful price.”
“But this place is your baby. You always say you don’t want to let it go.”
“For the price he’s offering, I can retire on the beach in Hawaii, just like the missus always wanted.” There’s a wistful tone to his voice, and my heart goes out to him.
I don’t know what it's like to lose someone like that, but I know how it feels when you lose someone you love, when your dreams don’t come true, or at least, not in the way you planned.
“I’m happy for you, Dean. But I’ll miss you.” I haven’t known the man very long, but he gave me an opportunity when I really needed it, and he’s always been kind to me.
He smiles. “I’m telling the rest of the staff at a meeting later, but I know you have to be off by four today, so I wanted you to know, too.”
I’m expected to be home today when my mother gets there. She made it a point to let me know she wanted us to spend some “quality” time together. Of course that just means she wants to try and set me up with someone new, some high class snob, son of one of her society friends.
But since she doesn’t know I have a job, so I have no way of telling her no. Dean has been kind enough to let me off early whenever she has these demands, which, luckily is not that often.
I swallow hard.
Will the new owner be as understanding?
“May I ask who bought the place?”
“I can’t quite remember his name, but it’s some franchise place trying to expand into the city. A real up and comer.”
I probably would know the name if he said it–my father knows all the up and comers from miles around. But maybe it's better if I don’t. I don’t want any preconceived notions about my new boss.
This will be a fresh start for me–or at least, that’s what I’m hoping.
* * *
It’s been a week since Dean gave us the news, and everyone else still seems as nervous as I am. Dean has just promoted me to office manager, but I’m really only doing a little extra work.
Whatever corporate changes are happening, it seems like Dean is really leaving, and I’m pretty sad to see him go. He took me in when I had no opportunities.
But on the other hand, I’ve got a better salary, more responsibilities, and I’m taking to this position like a duck to water. It makes me feel like I can do anything. I’m feeling on top of the world, and there’s nothing this new owner can do to bring me down.
The other employees and I get along well, too. There’s Javier, one of the mechanics, and Dina, the receptionist. They’re the two I’m closest to.
Javier, Dina, and I are all single, and they’ve tried to set me up with a couple of guys.
Nothing panned out, but I did have a few fun dates.
After the second failed setup, we all go out for drinks.
“This feels like a goodbye party,” Javier whines, nursing his can of hard seltzer.
“No one’s leaving,” Dina points out.
I take a sip of my drink. “Well, Dean is.”
The two look at me with wide eyes.
Javier groans. “Don’t remind me. The man has been like a father to me.”
Dina rubs Javier’s arm. “He’s going to a better place.”
I snort out a laugh. “He’s not dying , Dina.”
She sputters. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, Hawaii is definitely a better place.”
“It’s where him and his wife had their honeymoon,” I say wistfully, and Javier’s eyebrow shoots up.
“You’re a secret hopeless romantic, aren’t you, Mere?”
I roll my eyes. “I wouldn’t say that. I just think it’s sweet he found someone.”
“Which means you still believe in love. What’s that like?”
Javier’s boyfriend broke up with him a couple of weeks ago, and he’s been acting a little weird ever since.
“ I still believe in love,” Dina pipes up.
Javier glares at her. “You would, you’ve got a new boyfriend.”
I gasp, putting down my wine glass. “You’ve got a new boyfriend?”
She blushes, and I know Javier is telling the truth.
“Dina, spill!”
Dina turns a truly alarming shade of red. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Sure looks like your boyfriend, I saw you at lunch with him.” Javier nudges her shoulder with his.
“I like him a lot, but I don’t know if it’s going anywhere.”
I smile, happy for her but also a little bitter.
It never works out for me because I compare every man to the first man I fell in love with. The only man I’ve ever loved.
I don’t know how not to.
Days go by quickly, and before I know it, there’s all kinds of changes going on, including some construction to build onto the mechanic bay.
When I walk in on a Wednesday morning after Dean announced his departure, Dina and Javier are sitting at her desk, staring out the window at a man in a suit talking on the phone.
I only glance at the man, uninterested, but then I raise an eyebrow as Dina nearly drools.
“What are the two of you staring at?”
Dina sighs like a schoolgirl. “The new boss. He’s so hot, Meredith, you won’t believe it.”
I snort. “He’s just a man. How hot can he be?”
She grabs my face and forces me to look out the window.
He does cut a good figure in his tailored suit–broad chest, trim waist, thick thighs.
“Sure, he’s a traditionally handsome guy...”
When he turns around to walk inside, I can’t help but be drawn to the hint of his chest that peeks out from the shirt.
I barely have time to notice he is wearing dark sunglasses, so I can’t see his eyes, and notice his profile is tight, his jaw square, brow strong when he walks inside and the bell above the door rings.
“Hello, team.” He whips off his sunglasses with a big grin on his face.
The most familiar eyes in the world look around the room. Hazel–almost an amber brown with green flecks.
The eyes I’d fallen in love with at sixteen. The eyes I was never able to forget.
“I’m Logan Matthews. I’m the new owner.”
I legitimately think I might faint for a long moment, clutching onto Dina.
She pats my arm, chuckling, likely thinking I’m reacting to his looks or his deep voice.
What I’m really reacting to is the ache in my heart, the void that Logan left behind.
A ghost stands in front of me, holding all the memories I’ve tried to shove down, make disappear.
And now that ghost is my new boss.