simultaneously and consequently

project 1

With some major convincing, and maybe a little bit of driving without her consent, I was loading her car onto the trailer my father owned. She sat in the Jeep and peered at me through the back window. I had to say, I was giddy with excitement to have another project to work on. My last car project ended months ago, and I was bored.

I locked the last hinge and listened as my shoes crunched the gravel. When I made it to the car window, she stopped me before I could get in.

"You don't have to do this you know. There is a motel in town I saw and a mechanic only a town over." She said. She was wearing sunglasses, but didn't even turn her head towards me.

"You should just be happy I found you before the town murderer fugitive did. He only lives a couple miles down the road." I told her and leaned on the open window frame. Her head snapped towards me and her mouth dropped open slightly as if she was astonished I hadn't told her yet. As hard as I tried, I couldn't hold the straight face I was harboring. She scoffed and crossed her arms when she realized I was only joking.

"Oh come on, everyone in town is kind as could be, welcome to Colorado."

With that comment I thought I saw her crack a smile. That was the first time.

The drive to my house was quick. As soon as I put the car in  park, she was out and already starting to unload her Sidekick. I helped her unload it and we were both reduced to sweaty kids after the escapade.

"Can I show you around?" I asked, breathing slightly heavier than usual.

"I guess you should for when I need to use the restroom." she said completely serious. I broke out in laughter. She was way funnier than you would expect.

I helped her up and we moved through the garage toward the main portion of the house. We passed the collection of cars my father and I had began early in my childhood and I could tell she was in awe. I realized maybe we should have gone through the front door instead.

We reached the entrance and she stopped as soon as she had both feet inside the door. Her facial expression remained stoic but her actions spoke what she was thinking. She began to move lighter, with more delicate intentions instead of just to move.

"Don't be intimidated, we aren't the biggest house on the block." I said jokingly. She followed as I led her through the main corridor and through each wing of the house. She seemed to take interest in the main bedroom in the East wing.

It was large, one of the biggest in the house, and the theme was victorian ageless class with yellow highlights. This room was rarely used.

"Let's continue." I said moving her through the final areas.

It was obvious my family has money. But I didn't want that to affect the way she perceived us, we were humble, philanthropic, and kind people. We aquired our money through hard work and loyalty to our family. None of this was free.

We finished by stopping in the kitchen for drinks. She chose a lemonade and I took a beer, despite my father's constant jokes about my drinking. Neither of my parents were home, so I didn't have to worry about it.

"Where are your parents?" she asked once we reached her Sidekick again.

"They are at work."

"You're parents work?" she seemed surprised.

"Well yeah. How did you think we could afford this?" I said, joking with her.

"I suspected underground drug trade." she said, straight face once again. I couldn't help but chuckle at her comment. We sat on the bench outside the garage, facing the warm mid afternoon sun.

"I'm gonna start on this, I'm excited to get my hands dirty again. You can join me or you can entertain yourself somewhere else." I said standing. Without saying a word, she stood beside me and followed me back into the garage to begin the long and treacherous project number 1. Little did I know, this would be one of many projects.