Back

After my short hiatus.

~~~

Work proceeded about as Lila expected it to.  Seti and Alim showed her the ropes of the shop; where to put the old tires, how to do everything, what she was allowed to do at this point and what she wasn't.  And as she figured, they didn't really get that much business, yet they always seemed to have something for her to do.  By the end of the night, they'd scrubbed the floors and sorted the wheel weights and oil filters and air filters, they'd stocked the front of the store with the very few pretty displays they had.

When Armend called for them to finally close, she couldn't feel more relieved, and expressed such with a sigh.  Her face had turned grayish black from her dirty fingers swiping stray strands of hair from her face and sharp, spiced smell of oil soaked into her hair, from a spill when she was under a car.

She sighed again and leaned against the front counter, watching Armend punch in a few final numbers into the computer. "Did they treat you well?" he asked.  She nodded and smiled some.

"As well as slave drivers treat their servants," she joked.  He smirked and passed her a quick glance before his face fell into seriousness again.

"Those very slave drivers were wondering if you would go out with us tonight," he stated.  She stared at him, replaying his words in her mind.  She didn't expect to be invited out with them on her first night there.  In fact, she didn't really expect anything to be open at this time of morning in a small town.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"My place," he answered.  She frowned some; of course nothing was open.

"Are you married?" He shook his head. "Living with a girlfriend?" He shook his head again. "Have a girlfriend at all?" He looked from the computer to her.

"What point are you getting at?"

"I'm not entirely sure how comfortable I am going to your place with a bunch of guys." He arched a brow slightly and returned to his computer, typing in a few more numbers before finally shutting it off.

"Three is not a 'bunch', unless my English is that bad.  Besides, you're a city girl." He smirked again and stood up, grabbing his jacket and heading to the door. "Your choice."

~~~

And that's all I feel up to writing for the night.