Rumors

Chapter 4

Jake

It's been a week since Emily spent those hours sitting in my office, revealing just a small amount of her life to me from outside this town. I can't stop thinking about it. About her. I want to know more, hear more from her lips about her life away from here.

Every day, sitting in my office or in the shop, I have to stop myself from calling her number she left for me to call when the car is finished. The fine dusting of glitter over my keyboard hasn't gone away, no matter how many times I've shaken it out.

What is it about her that is driving me so crazy? I haven't been this enamored with anyone in months, almost a year now. Miles has caught on to my mood and has asked me multiple times what the fuck is wrong with me.

"Dude, whatever funk you're in, you need to snap out of it." He says to me over lunch, "You're acting weird."

"In what way?" I ask, grumpy.

"In every way man. You're distracted. You barely listen when I'm talking to you." He informs me.

"I'm literally listening to you right now." I say, "I'm just in a mood. Leave it be."

"If you're this hung up on her, just call her." Miles says, "Lord knows you could use a good lay."

"Call who?" I ask, pretending I have no idea who he's talking about. I hope he says Jessie, the last girl I dated before this dry spell.

"Call her." He says, pointing to my office phone. "Make up an excuse and call." He stands up and gathers the trash from our lunch to throw out. He balls it up and chucks it in the can, walking back out into the shop. Sometimes working with my best friend every day is a real curse. He knows me too well.

He's right though, I haven't stopped thinking about Emily since she left last week. Not that every man who passes her can't notice how beautiful she is, I stopped myself from staring at her ass, the curves at her hips the entire time she sat and talked with me. It was more than that though. It wasn't so much what she was saying but how she said it. The passion she spoke about her bike with. Listening to her talk about the places she's been, the experiences she's had...she's this whole person I've never known before. She is nothing like I remember her to be. I want to know more, see more. And yes, I wonder if she feels like undeniable chemistry the way that I feel it. My face in my hands, I pull up the invoice with her phone number on it and dial.

Emily

My phone rings and caller ID says it's Jake's shop. I quickly answer.

"This is Emily." I state.

"Hey there." Jake says, his tone light, businesslike.

"Did parts come in early?" I ask, excited. I can't wait to get out of this house. It's only been a week of being stuck here and I'm ready to do literally anything other than sit here.

"I'm just calling with an update." He says, "It looks like the Flux Capacitor will be a little longer to come in. They're in short supply these days." I pause, thinking I haven't heard him right.

"I don't recall asking you to add in a time machine part during the tune up." I joke, getting his Back to the Future reference.

"It's an added feature we've been promoting for old beaters." He says. I can hear the grin on his face.

"Okay but I'm not paying a dime more for added features." I shoot back and laugh. "What the fuck do you want Jake?"

"Okay, okay." He concedes. "I have a bike in the shop right now I thought you might like to see."

"What kind of bike?" I ask, because I am actually interested.

"It's an early 60's Iron Head." He says, "I'm running some new parts through it for one of the motorcycle club boys."