Chapter 6
Veronica raced through the shop doors twenty minutes after her start time.
Jim gave her a slightly irked look, but she knew he wouldn’t say anything, at least not in front of the others.
She was a dedicated worker, one who was frequently requested by returning customers.
Immediately, she jumped into work, returning to one of the motors she had been working on rebuilding since the parts had arrived that morning.
It was going to be cutting it close, but she was confident she could get it done by the end of the day before she went on her four-day vacation.
Over the course of the morning, she worked and talked with the other mechanics at the shop while juggling the projects she had on her plate.
She wasn’t sure how she was going to tell her brothers that she wasn’t going to make it to Colorado yet, but she hoped the words would come before her call with Bryson later in the day.
He would know she was serious by the tone in her voice, and there was no talking her out of it.
All Veronica wanted was the open road and her new motorcycle.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of feet approaching from beneath the truck she was working on.
“It sure is looking like it’s coming together,” Jeff said, one of her coworkers.
“I didn’t think it would come together so smoothly, but I’m thoroughly impressed with the frame I purchased. I think if I would have gotten anything cheaper, I would have had a lot more problems.”
He chuckled. “I understand how that goes. Once you get her put all back together, are you planning on taking some time off?”
“I was thinking about it. I at least want to take a few days off and go on a road trip. After how long I’ve been waiting for this project to be finished, I think I deserve to have a little me time afterward.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. If you do take some time off or go on any kind of vacation, just be sure to be as careful as possible. I don’t know how much you pay attention to anything on the news, but they’ve been talking about all sorts of things for the last week or so.”
Veronica smiled. “You know, I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff. I certainly don’t follow any kind of politics these days.”
“Well, I think it might be a good idea if you start. It’s a lot more than just politics recently. There has been a lot of talk about another world war starting. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but all the pieces are in place for it.”
“I think there has been talk of wars since I was in elementary school. It never happened back then, and I certainly don’t think it’s going to happen now. There’s just entirely too much on the line for the entire world to lose.”
“That could be true, but some of these dictators just can’t get enough power to ease their ego. The news has been talking about it quite a bit lately.”
Veronica chuckled. “I get that a lot of people rely on the news for everything going on around the world, but it might serve you best not to pay attention to anything they have to say. It’s nothing more than propaganda to serve some other purpose.”
Before the conversation could go any further, Jim emerged and announced that the lunch truck had arrived.
It was a wonderful company to work for. They took care of their employees and genuinely treated them like family.
Having their lunch brought in, free of charge, every day the shop was open was just one instance of that.
Veronica went to the wash station with the rest of the mechanics and cleaned up before emerging into the warm California sunlight.
She hung back while the others got their food, too exhausted to think about socializing.
As soon as she got returned to her apartment, she was going to sleep for the rest of the day and night.
Then, come Saturday, she could start fresh.
When it was her time to place her food order, Veronica quickly did so and waited with the others until her name was called.
Taking her meal back inside, she unwrapped her burrito and took a bite as she tightened one of the bolts on the motor she had been working on.
The faster she could get the job done, the quicker she could be out of work and back at home sleeping.
She heard someone chuckle from behind and turned to see Jim grinning at her as he leaned against the truck.
“Are you planning on actually breathing between working and eating?” he asked.
Veronica laughed. “I was honestly giving it some serious thought, but the only thing I want to do right now is go home and go to bed. I feel like I’ve been run over by a semi-truck.”
“Damn. That can’t be a very good thing. Is everything all right with you?”
“I promise everything is just fine. I definitely stayed up way too late working on that bike last night.”
“I think that happens to the best of us,” Jim said. “Being tired as hell aside, when do you think you’re going to have this job that you’re working on now finished?”
“If you stop interrupting me every few minutes, it shouldn’t take me longer than a couple of hours to finish up. That’s as long as everything goes back together without any hassle.”
Jim winked at her. “Don’t let me keep you from finishing the job. You just knock it out, and as soon as you’re done, you can hit the road. You have done an amazing job today. It takes a lot of talent to work on something and eat lunch without taking a breath.”
She chuckled. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for someone to tell me that. Anyway, I’ll get this job done and get out of your way. Thanks for giving me a little time off.”
Veronica was thankful when the rest of the day passed without incident.
She was able to get the rebuilt engine back in the pickup and running before two in the afternoon.
It was a huge relief to know she had no responsibilities for the next four days.
More than that, though, all she wanted to do was climb into bed and sleep.
She quickly got behind the wheel of her pickup, driving through the lazy city streets to her apartment complex.
Even walking up the steps felt like a huge effort.
As soon as she was inside, she kicked off her shoes and flopped down onto the sofa.
It had been a long night and day, but it was well worth it.
After she took a quick nap, she would make it back to the garage where the bike was stored and finish it up.
A test drive sounded amazing, given all the hard work, time, and money she had put into the restoration.
She had every intention of making it to her bedroom after taking a shower, but the comfy couch quickly sucked her in.
Her eyes closed, and before she knew it, Veronica was snoring softly in the living room.
Veronica was slightly confused when she woke back up.
She heard her phone going crazy with all kinds of notifications, but when she rolled over to take a look at it, she realized she had an extremely stiff neck from sleeping in the wrong position.
Giving it a quick turn from side to side in order to loosen it back up, she reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the annoying device.
Looking at it, still trying to wake up, she could see that there were at least half a dozen news alerts and notifications for the news apps that were pre-programmed on her phone.
She quickly scoffed and didn’t bother to read any of the alerts.
Setting the phone down on the edge of the couch, she stretched her entire body and extended her arms, trying to relax the tension that had built up in her extremities.
Knowing there was nothing she could do at that moment, Veronica decided to get up and go to take a shower.
The shop would be closed until six, but she still wanted to get to the twenty-four-hour diner around the block from her apartment.
As small as the place was, it was locally owned and had amazing food.
After a quick scrub and allowing the water to run down her body, she finished up and got out of the shower.
She continued to ignore the alerts on her phone.
Jeff had pointed out that there was a lot happening in the world, but she wasn’t going to get tangled up in it, at least not before four blissful days on the road.
Unplugging her phone, she left the bathroom and went to her bedroom.
She quickly got dressed and headed back for the front door of her apartment, grabbing her keys and wallet on the way.
Jogging down the steps, she cut to the right when she hit the sidewalk and headed for the glowing lights of the diner ahead. Her stomach growled in anticipation.