Chapter Nineteen
Ian
I woke up after a very strange dream mixed with motorcycles and boardroom tables, and looked around in confusion. What day was it? I checked my phone and smiled. It was Monday, my favorite day of the week. Another full day of working with bikes. And at least Chris wasn’t knocking at my door telling me that the shop was closed. I drank some coffee, and then made my way to the shop.
I walked passed my father’s office and spotted Patriot talking to my father. As I walked by, I heard my father laughing at something that Patriot had said. That wasn’t a surprise though; my father loved Patriot. I wondered what he had said to make him laugh like that. I certainly couldn’t make my father laugh. Oh no, everything I did had to be perfect, while Patriot just got to be himself.
I shook my head and busied myself with my work. A client had already dropped off a bike and there was plenty that needed to be done. I started working on it immediately.
Chris walked in about half an hour later and called out to me over the music.
“Gunner!”
“Gunner!”
Three “Gunner’s” later and I finally emerged.
“Sorry, were you calling?” I asked.
“Only about a million times,” he laughed. “Good morning!”
“Morning, Chris. Good weekend?” I asked.
“Yeah, not too shabby. Nice and chill. How about you?”
I thought back to the night with Eliza and smiled. “Pretty good.”
“Good. Listen, your father asked if you could come in and see him when you get a chance.”
I tried not to groan. If I did, Chris would only lecture me again about how hard I was on my father. “Sure thing, I’m almost done here. Is he alone?” I asked. The last thing I wanted was to sit in a room with my father and Patriot together.
“Yeah, he’s alone.”
I washed my hands, hung up my toolkit, and made my way to the office. I half expected Patriot to be hiding behind the door or something. But thankfully we were alone.
“Hi, Dad. Chris said you wanted to speak to me?”
The funny thing with my father and I was that we could have a fight about something and then talk normally to each other the following the day. I wondered if either of us would mention the fact that I’d stormed out his office the other day, but I doubted it.
“Yeah, take a seat, Ian. Want some coffee?”
I took a seat and shook my head. “Nah, I had some before coming in. And I’m already too hot for coffee. Your office is like an oasis. No wonder you like it in here,” I said and smiled as the air conditioning unit blasted cool air on my face.
“You should get one in there,” my father suggested.
“Really? We have the budget for it?”
My father grinned. “Sure we do. You’ve seen the books. We’re doing well. Go on, get yourself one. I don’t mind.”
“Thanks, Dad. Chris is going to love you forever.”
“Good. You boys deserve it. Now, the reason I’m calling you in the office is not because of the air con. It’s because of the club. Now, before you say anything, I just want you to know that the decision is purely up to you.”
“And you won’t be offended if I say no?”
“Of course not. But I want you to at least think about it. Really think about it. Have you?”
I shook my head. “Honestly? No.”
“I thought so. And that’s okay. But I’m asking you now as a favor to please think about it properly. You’d be great at it, even if you don’t think so yourself. And I really do want you to do it. But at the end of the day, the decision is yours. Now, if you don’t mind telling me at the end of the week, that would be great. Because if you don’t do it, then I need to find someone else. And right now, I don’t even have a backup plan. Will you think about it and let me know?”
I looked at my father in surprise. He really didn’t seem to mind what decision I made, and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel angry at what he was saying. I knew that if I told anyone else that they would just tell me that my father had complimented me. Why should I get angry?
I nodded. “I promise to think about it and to let you know by the end of the week. And thank you; it really is nice that you asked me.”
It was my father’s turn to look surprised. Then the two of us nodded, and I got up to leave before we could ruin the moment.
The moment I got out, I saw Patriot talking to Chris. I groaned. I thought he’d gone home. I thought about quickly walking the other way, but he saw me, and it was too late. I plastered on a smile. Just like with my father, I was going to forget about the fact that the last time I had seen him, I’d demanded that he get out my house.
“Patriot! Nice to see you,” I said instead.
He smiled. He had my father’s charm. “Gunner, I’m glad you’re here. Nice chat with Pop?”
“Yeah, actually, it was.”
Both he and Chris gave me a funny look but didn’t say anything.
“You’re doing a good job here. While you were in there with Pop, two other people came in and dropped off bikes. You guys are pretty popular. Do you advertise?”
I laughed, and so did Chris.
“What’s so funny?” Patriot asked.
“Every time we think about advertising, we just get someone walking in with their bikes for us. We don’t have the time or the need to advertise right now.”
“Wow, that’s cool. So just word of mouth then?”
“Just word of mouth.”
Patriot nodded his approval. “Nice. So, any chance you’re free on Thursday?” Patriot asked me.
“Thursday? Why, what’s happening then?”
“Nothing is happening. I just thought it would be nice to go for some drinks. Maybe at that bar nearby or something.”
Patriot wanted to go for drinks with me? Why? “Uh, sure,” I found myself saying. “Yeah, okay, that would be nice.”
“Great. I’ll see you after work, then.”
“Sure,” I said.
Patriot walked away and Chris gave me a funny look. I just shrugged as if to say that I had no idea what was going on and quickly went back to work. What was going on though? A good conversation with both my father and Patriot in one day wasn’t exactly normal for me. I shook my head and tried not to think about it. Maybe I was just having one of those good days, where our personalities all aligned for just a moment. Anyway, there was too much work for me to give it any more thought. For now, it was just me and the bike.