Fix Me, Fix You: A Jesse Pinkman Story

Chapter Eight

It had been a little over three weeks since Jesse started working for Cooper Quinn, and he was enjoying every minute of it. He helped Coop make custom cabinets, bookshelves, chests, and even a headboard for a bed. He was amazed at all the beautiful things they created together. He couldn't engrave the pieces with the intricate woodworking details like his boss could, but he enjoyed being able to sand, saw, and oil all the pieces. Plus it helped Coop tremendously by saving him a lot of time and work.

Jesse would prep and prepare all of the items, and Coop would put it all together and finish it off.

It was eerily similar to how Jesse and Heisenberg would work together.

It was just another beautiful thing that reminded him of his ugly past.

"You boys want turkey sandwiches for lunch?" Linda asked as she walked into the shop through the open garage door, donning the same stained apron she always wore. "I've got a ton of leftover turkey from dinner last night."

"Fine with me," Coop answered from his desk where he was staining cypress cabinets.

"What about you, hon?" She asked Jesse as she turned to him. "Turkey sandwich okay with you?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that; I'm okay," he replied, looking up from the pegs he was inserting into a chest. "Thank you though."

"Nonsense," Linda brushed him off. "Do you eat turkey?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered honestly.

"Then I'm making you a turkey sandwich," she insisted.

Jesse smiled at her. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome," she responded. "Y'all come inside in about fifteen minutes. I'll have everything ready."

"Thanks, Lin," Coop called as his wife exited the shop. He looked over his shoulder at Jesse. "I can tell you're not used to people taking care of you, kid, but that's what Lin does - she takes care of people. She wants to do things like make you a turkey sandwich."

Jesse nodded, understanding. "I just don't want to put anyone out or bum off of anyone."

"If that were the case, she wouldn't offer," his boss reassured.

Although Jesse appreciated the gesture, Coop was right about him not being used to being taken care of. It had been 'Jesse against the world' for as long as he could remember. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. He could remember a time - when he was very young - when his family felt close-knit and supportive of one another, but it had been so long ago that it was just a distant memory now. He had burned so many bridges with his family over the years; he didn't look to them for support at all anymore.

But it was nice to have the Quinns as a somewhat surrogate family.

"So, Jesse," Linda asked a few minutes later, as she sat a plate down in front of him, then one in front of Coop, then she sat down with her own plate. "Where are you from?"

He looked at the turkey sandwich on the plate in front of him. He didn't want to lie, not to the incredibly generous woman, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the truth.

"New Mexico," he replied, hoping that his answer was specific enough yet vague enough.

"I could tell you were a southern boy," she said with a smirk as picked up her sandwich to eat. "So polite. What brought you to Louisiana?"

Jesse's heart began to race in his chest. Again, he didn't want to lie, but he certainly could not tell the truth.

"I, um... I lost my job," he sighed, unsure of where he was going with his answer. "My boss... passed away and the company, uh, went under... I lost my car and I had to sell my house... Kinda had my life flipped upside down, you know?"