SOUL TIES (The Sánchez Brothers Series, Book 1)

CHAPTER 15 : DEBBIE

"Alright, goodnight."

Andre said to me as we breezed out of the office building. Another day down, only Friday was left and I'd be done with all my log-ins. I was deadass tired and couldn't wait to finish my task. Even Andre had laughed at me when he noticed how often I yawned. While I was working, he engaged me in small talk, nothing too serious. During our little interactions, I realized he was good-natured and actually funny. That dissipated the tension that had been hovering earlier in the week. She remembered one of their funny moments as she walked to her car.

"Being the CEO of a big company shouldn't be a dream job."

I raised my brows at him in question and slight puzzlement. "What did you say? Tell me why it shouldn't be a dream job."

He made a show of thinking for a couple seconds before answering me. "Because people start to bother you a lot. They all want to be on good terms with the boss so they want to butter you up every chance they get. If you're not a social butterfly, that's the fucking end of peace and quiet in your life. To me, it's a torture with monetary benefits."

His reason was reasonable but not cogent enough, yet I accepted it with a shrug. "If only I was a rich CEO, maybe I'd be able to relate."

He let out a dreamy sigh and made his voice sound like a teenage girl. "If only."

I shook my head. Who knew the young CEO had a sense of humor? I stopped in my tracks as I got to my car door and walked two steps back to be sure I wasn't imagining things. A pathetic whine left my lips when I looked at my front tyre. It was flat. Not "I just got punctured by a nail on the highway" flat, it was "I got punctured and slashed, the sides of a ruler, bottom of a grill pan" flat. I couldn't think of a more terrible way to end the day.

An Uber could save the day though. I'd leave my car at work that night, order a ride home and fix the tyre when I arrived the next morning. However, I winced when I checked my wristwatch, getting an Uber by 10:49pm would be a stroke of luck. Damn, what was I going to do? Walk home? My legs shook in protest. Hitchhike? I'd watched way too many crime documentaries, that wasn't an option.

"Miss Rodriguez, is everything okay?"

My arms fell from the akimbo position they were in and I turned to face the person that interrupted my deliberation. "Uhmm, yeah. I mean, no." I shook my head and pointed at my tyre. "I've got a flat tyre."

Andre's eyes settled on the tyre for a while. "Damn, that's crazy. How far away is your place?"

I blinked. I really hoped he wasn't about to offer me a ride home because I'd rather walk. "Uhmm, 30 to 40 minutes."

"This tyre can't take you that far. You'd literally end up dead in a ditch after 10 minutes." Despite my situation, I barked out in laughter at his dark humor and he joined in. "Uh, do you have a spare tyre?" My lips formed a confused frown. "A spare tyre, a jack and a lug wrench?"

"A lug what?"

"A lug wrench. A iron type of thing." He crossed his arms to form an x. "It has this shape. It's meant for removing nuts from car tyre. Do you have that?"

"I think I do but that doesn't explain why you're asking for it. I couldn't possibly change a tyre."

I caught his eye roll as he walked towards the boot of my car. "Pop the car trunk, Miss Rodriguez."

A couple minutes later, I was holding his suit jacket while he was knelt beside my car with rolled up sleeves. For every clank the lug wrench made with the wheel, I glanced at the tyre and for every groan I heard, my eyes fell on Andre. I took a look at my wristwatch. 11:13pm.