Chapter Four
Eliza
I drove to Arizona without any real plan of action. I may have just accepted a well-paying job, but for the moment I had nowhere to stay, and no time to find a place. They’d replied immediately to say that I should come into the office first thing in the morning to meet with everyone. So, I’d done what any desperate twenty-six-year-old woman without a home would do: I’d slept in my car. Then, I’d made my way to a nearby gym and asked if I could use their shower. They wouldn’t let me in without paying for a day’s session, so I’d paid and simply used the shower. I’d considered actually doing a workout at the same time, considering I’d paid for it, but I didn’t want to be late for the meeting. Also, I didn’t particularly feel like doing anything too strenuous. My body already felt stiff from sleeping in the car.
The shower at the gym was good, and even though my clothes were slightly creased, I felt better. I wasn’t sure if the people at the new job would’ve taken too kindly to me showing up in old clothes. I tried to ignore the fact that I was homeless, and instead focused on the knowledge that I at least had a job. I’d go apartment hunting the moment I came out of the meeting. I got back into the car and shoved my bag inside. I covered everything up with a blanket, which I worried actually served to highlight the fact that everything I owned was inside the car rather than disguising it, and then drove off without giving it any more thought.
Perfect Parties was situated in the heart of Chandler, Arizona, and even though I didn’t know the area very well, my trusty phone GPS took me right to the front door. I wasn’t too impressed with the name of the company, but from what I’d seen on Skype, they were just the thing I was looking for. Perhaps one day I’d become a big enough name in the company to suggest a name change. But that was the last thing on my mind as I made my way inside. The outside of the building was derelict, and I had a sudden fear that perhaps the Skype interview had been fake. What if the company didn’t even exist? I’d left my old life to start something new, and there was a chance I’d be both homeless and jobless. I sighed, took a deep breath, and opened the doors.
Thankfully, the inside of the building was nothing like the outside. Beyond the front doors were pops of color, and a sense of fun and excitement. I felt instantly better. I smiled at the receptionist and introduced myself, and she smiled at me with a big toothy grin and told me to take a seat.
Minutes later, a girl who looked to be about my age walked through the doors. She was short and slim, with curly brown hair that stopped at her shoulders, and deep brown eyes. She had one of those faces that made you take an immediate liking to her. She wore a red and white polka dot dress that looked like it belonged in the sixties, and she’d finished it off with black sneakers which turned the outfit into something grungy rather than ultra-feminine. I decided that I liked her.
“You must be Eliza. I’m Mae; we spoke briefly over Skype. I was the one that stuck my head into the camera quickly. I’m sorry about that. I had no idea that Mark was busy doing an interview with you. That was embarrassing.”
I chuckled. “Honestly? That was my favorite part of the whole interview. It totally broke the ice. Nice to officially meet you.”
“Good to meet you, too. Come on through and let me show you around. The boss will be in soon, but I thought it would be nice to show you around first. And there’s no reason to be nervous. We’re all a bunch of crazy people in this place.”
“Ah, my kind of people,” I said and laughed. “This is so different from the interview I went to last week,” I said and told her all about the place.
She groaned, “I don’t understand how places like that stay in business. I mean, maybe they attract the more miserable people in this world, but I’m pretty sure those people aren’t throwing a lot of parties.”
“That’s what I said! I was so happy to get this job; you have no idea.”
“And I’m happy to have you here. We needed someone new. And it’s cool that you came all the way from California for it. Were you thinking of moving, anyway?”
I decided that now wasn’t the best time to tell her about my abusive ex-boyfriend or about the fact that I was living in my car. We’d only just met, and there was still a chance that she’d change her mind about having me there. “I was open to moving if the job was right,” I said and looked around. “And this job is certainly right.”
“It’s cool here, isn’t it?”
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Oh, I’ve been here for three years already. Wow, time flies. And I have no intention of leaving. I think the best part about this job is that it changes all the time, depending on the client. I like the fact that every job is different. I’m the kind of person who gets bored very easily. Anyway, this place has been doing so well lately. I guess people are just too busy to plan their own parties, which is fine by me. Trust me; we work on a commission basis, so the more jobs, the better.”
I loved Mae’s enthusiasm, and for a while, I forgot all about my situation and the fact that I’d run away from my problems. It was a nice place to run away to.
“Okay, well, that’s about it. John should be in soon. Oh wait, there he is now. Come on, let’s go talk to him.”
I hadn’t met or spoken to John yet, but I hadn’t expected him to be so young. I pegged him to be in his mid-thirties. He was a handsome man, with a friendly face and when he saw Mae rushing toward him, he greeted her with a broad smile. From a distance, anyone would swear they were dating.
“John, this is Eliza. Oh, sorry, Eliza, I don’t know your last name?”
“Eliza Hammond. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Sir? Oh, no. Call me John. Great, it’s good to have you here. We certainly need the helping hand. Mark said the interview with you went great. And I trust Mark wholeheartedly with these kinds of things. I’m a terrible judge of character, so I leave that part up to them. Come into the office. Mae, you can come, too.”
Mae looked like she was skipping as we made our way to the office and I wondered if she was always this energetic. John seemed to notice the same thing because he started laughing when we got to his office.
“Mae, you’re like a bunny or something today. What’s up?”
“Too much caffeine,” she said. Then she looked at me and smiled apologetically. “I really should stay away from the stuff.”
“How much did you have?” I asked curiously.
“Three cups.”
“Three cups?” John asked. “But it’s only nine in the morning. You shouldn’t stay away from caffeine; you should just stop drinking so much.”
She sighed. “I know. But it’s so delicious. I can’t help myself.”
I chuckled. Mae was a lot of fun to be around.
“Okay, so I have a job for you, Mae. It’s happening this Saturday, and I’d like Eliza to help you. It will be a great way to show her the ropes.”
“Oh, cool; what is it?” Mae asked.
“It’s for the local biker club. They’re doing some party to raise money for one of their members. Apparently, the wife has cancer or something. One of the guys called me in a panic. He was going to take on the whole thing by himself, but he has no idea what he’s doing. Anyway, I said we’d help. I know some of the guys personally, and I think we’re going to do this one for free to help raise the funds. I’ve budgeted for a few of these, so I want you to put in just as much effort as you would with any paid job. Don’t worry, the two of you will still get your commissions.”
“That’s awesome. Send me the details as soon as you have them, and I’ll sit with Eliza and go over the plans. We’ll do something great.”
“Good! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with, Mae. And Eliza, welcome to our company!”
“Thank you for having me!” I said and grinned.
“Okay,” Mae said the moment we were out. “How about some coffee?”
I laughed. “More?”
“Nah, I’ll get some decaf. But you’ve got to try some. I’ll run a few things over with you about the company. We should get the details from John in about an hour or so once he’s settled in, and then the two of us can start planning. Ah, I’m so excited to finally have someone to do this with.”
I’d assumed by ‘come in for a meeting’ that I was only going to be in for an hour or so today. I’d had plans to look for an apartment, but I couldn’t exactly tell Mae that. Which meant that I was more than likely going to spend another night in the car. But it was okay. This job was far too important right now, and I was actually looking forward to my day for the first time in a long while.
“Man, this coffee is amazing. No wonder you had so much.”
She laughed. “I told you. And, better yet, it’s free.”
“Ah, nothing tastes as good as free coffee.”
“The food is free, too.”
“What? Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. I have to work out extra hard because everything here tastes so good.”
I thought of the gym I’d gone to this morning and didn’t use and laughed, “I might have to do the same, then.”
“So, what do you think of John?” she asked and leaned forward on the table.
“John? He seems like a cool guy. Nice boss. My last boss was a real idiot, so this is a nice change. And he seems to really get along with you.”
“I mean, what do you think of him in a romantic way?”
I was so taken aback by the question that I almost spilled my coffee. “What? Are you trying to set me up?” Goodness, what sort of job had I just walked into?
“No!” she said, horrified. “I like him!”
“You do?”
She giggled. “I mean, he’s so hot, don’t you think?”
Was he? “I guess so. I mean, he’s very good-looking. I just don’t think he’s my type. But then again, I have no idea what my type even is right now. So, have the two of you hooked up yet?”
She sighed. “No. Right now, he’s just fun to look at.”
That made me laugh. “That’s true. At least it makes coming to work interesting.”
“Tell me about it.”
“For what it’s worth, he looks like he might be into you, too. His eyes lit up when he saw you. Unless . . . he’s not married, is he?”
“No way!” she said horrified. “Definitely not.”
“That’s good, then. Drool away, in that case! So, what’s the deal with this biker club? Have you heard of them? This is the strangest party I’ve ever had to plan, I have to admit. Talk about being thrown into the deep end.”
“Don’t worry,” she said sincerely. “I’m going to be doing most of it. If anything goes wrong, I will take the blame. But nothing will go wrong. I love working for non-creative types sometimes. They think that everything you do is fabulous. I’ve heard of these guys before. They had quite a reputation at one time. I’ve heard some horror stories. But that was a long time ago, so maybe they’ve calmed down. Who knows? Either way, it’s certainly going to be interesting.”
Oh great, I thought. My first assignment and it’s with a dangerous biker club?
Chapter Five
Ian
The last thing I felt like doing on a Saturday night was to go to a fundraiser with my father. I’d far prefer to go to the bar with Chris and throw down a few beers. After the week I’d had at the shop, I really wouldn’t mind that. But my father had been insistent. Thankfully, all the other members of the club were coming, too, so maybe it wouldn’t be all that bad. I wondered if by ‘all the other members’ it also included my brothers? They were a part of the club, but they didn’t seem to get all that involved. It really annoyed me—probably a lot more than it should.
The only good thing about tonight was that I didn’t have to dress up in some sort of fancy gear. I’d been to a wedding recently where my father had made me wear a suit and tie, and I’d been uncomfortable all night long. I put on my usual t-shirt and jeans and looked at myself in the mirror. It was the only thing that I liked wearing, and I didn’t care how many white shirts or black jeans I owned. I’d never be the kind of guy that was into fashion. To me, clothing was all about comfort and utility. I put my jacket on and immediately ran my hand over the patches that had been sewed on many years ago. The patches were of the club’s emblem, and made the jacket something that I was very proud to own. Unlike my brothers, who were the most neglectful club members in the world. I sighed and put them out of my mind.
The fundraiser was taking place at a nearby pub, which had been hired out for the evening. I hadn’t realized it until I’d made my way to the address on the invitation. I’d expected some sort of hall where everyone milled about uncomfortably, and I’d been dreading it. But a pub? Now that I could deal with. I parked my motorcycle next to the row of bikes that were already there and made my way inside.
“Gunner! Good to see you!”
I turned around and saw Tommy, also known as Big Bull, headed my way. He was friends more with my father than he was with me, but I’d grown up with him always around, and he felt more like family to me now. I tried not to laugh when I saw how his stomach had expanded since the last time that I saw him. He was still wearing the same shirt as always, and the shirt was now stretched beyond belief.
“Yo! Big Bull! Good to see you too, man. How you keeping?”
“Ah, the usual. The usual. Working hard, riding harder. How about you? I hear things are going really well at the shop.”
“They are going well. You should tell my father that. He’s adamant that we need some help, but I don’t want to hire some stranger. We’re doing okay on our own.”
Big Bull laughed. “You and your father are exactly the same. Both of you as stubborn as always.”
“Nah, I’m right. He’s stubborn,” I said, and Big Bull laughed.
“Anyway, let me go. I spotted some food doing its rounds, and I don’t want to miss out on it. I’ll see you around, Gunner.”
“Sure. See you,” I said and watched as he made his way directly to a waiter carrying a plate of food.
I made my way through the crowd, talking to a few of the members. It wasn’t as bad of a night as I had thought it would be. All my buddies were around, people who loved motorcycles as much as I did, and there was plenty of food and beer to go around. I almost fell over when I saw Patriot standing alone in the corner, and I made my way over to say hello.
Grant, also known as Patriot, was one of my older brothers, a retired SEAL who had a temper just like my father’s. He hid it well, but I’d seen it come out a few times. He was holding a beer and staring out into space. He looked lost in thought.
“Patriot? This is a surprise,” I said.
He looked at me and blinked a few times in confusion before coming out of his reverie. “Gunner. Man, good to see you. Been a while.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I don’t see you and the other guys much anymore.”
“Well, yeah, we’re busy I guess. Not all of us are in the family business.”
It felt like an insult, but I wasn’t sure why, and I felt my back stiffen in defense. “You don’t need to be in the business to be involved in the club, though. Anyway, what brings you here today?”
“Oh, I was talking with Pop, and he told me to come by. So I did.”
Everyone called my father Pop, except for me. He was always Dad to me. Just the same way everyone called me Gunner except for him. I’d always be Ian to him. I wasn’t sure what that said about our relationship, but I wasn’t going to spend time analyzing something I’d rather not know.
“Cool, well, it’s nice to see you.”
“Yeah, man, you too. I need to come by the shop sometime. See how it’s going.”
“Yeah, you do that.”
I knew he wouldn’t.
“There’s Dad. I’m going to go say hi,” I said.
“Cool.”
I walked away shaking my head. Since when had things gotten so weird between myself and my brothers? I was thinking about how antisocial Patriot was when I remembered my dad saying the same thing about me. Perhaps us Maxwell brothers were all the same.
“Hey, Dad. Nice turnout here.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you came. Did you see that Patriot is here?”
“I did. I told him to come.”
“And the others? Have you heard from them? Oh, what? Where is Patriot going? Look, he’s leaving already. Didn’t he only just get here? What an idiot!”
My father looked sternly at me, and I knew I’d said the wrong thing. He hated it when I spoke poorly about my brothers, even though I was sure that he was hurt by just how little attention they paid to the business. It annoyed me that he stuck up for them when I was the one that was busting my chops just to keep the place alive.
“Ian, don’t talk about him like that. He’s your brother, and you should have a bit more respect for him. At least he showed his face. And as for the others, it’s not any concern of yours where they go or what they do. Sometimes there is more going on than you think, and you should take the time to find out. You don’t always have to get so worked up about these things.”
“Really? Doesn’t it bother you? Not even the slightest?” I was in the mood to rile my father up, but I wasn’t sure if it would work. He was not the sort of man that got riled up easily. Unlike me.
“Not at all. It’s a silly thing to worry about. This night has nothing to do with them. It has to do with one of our best members and his lovely wife. Now, go and enjoy the fundraiser. It’s such a great turnout, and there are so many people to say hello to. And do me a favor, go to the table over there and put some money in the jar. They need all they can get, okay? Now go on, wipe that scowl off your face and get yourself another beer. I know how much you enjoy that stuff.”
I walked off feeling annoyed and looked for Chris. But then I remembered that Chris wasn’t a part of the club and probably wouldn’t be there. It annoyed me. He was my best friend, and probably the one person that could calm me down. Now the only thing I had to make me feel better was another bottle of beer, and that wasn’t exactly going to last long. I walked over to the table, put money in the jar, and got myself another beer.
I had just spotted an old friend that I wanted to talk to when two beautiful women walked right past me. I hadn’t expected to see anyone good-looking at the fundraiser, but they were both gorgeous. The one in particular caught my eye. She was slim and toned, like she spent a lot of time outdoors, and she had long, silky brown hair. I couldn’t see what color her eyes were, but it didn’t matter. She was beautiful, and I wondered why she looked so nervous to be there. Or even why she was there in the first place. I didn’t know anything about her other than the way that she looked. But I did know that I wanted to take her back home with me and fuck her. That would certainly make my night a lot better. Screw you, Patriot, and all you other good-for-nothing brothers! I’ll make this a good evening if it’s the last thing I do. My eyes followed the brunette around the room as I contemplated my first move.