Never Saw it Coming

by Bernadette Marie

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “Yes, it is. And it’ll be on the house.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I owe you,” she smiled a tight, threatened smile as she retreated and headed back down the steps.

  Mike stood still for a moment longer. He’d been in a desperate mood when he’d walked into the bar. There had been the thought of getting shit-faced and passing out in the street, but it hadn’t worked that way. He’d met a vibrant woman who made him want to hit the streets looking for a new opportunity tomorrow. Maybe he was the one who owed her he thought as he began sopping up the water on the floor.

  Chapter Two

  Just as promised, there was a new sandwich on the bar, and a pair of black pants hung over the back of the stool.

  “Thanks,” he said, picking up the pants. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I called my boss. He’s going to bring the parts you need in the morning and leave them in the apartment. Would you be able to come by and fix it before we open? I’ll make sure to feed you breakfast.”

  “I have nothing else on my schedule. I didn’t go snooping around, but that’s a nice place up there. Someone used to live there?”

  “My boss when he moved here. It’s been vacant since he got married and moved out.”

  “I’ll have it fixed up in no time. I noticed the door could use some oil on the hinges and the knob is a little loose. I’ll fix that up too.”

  “You are handy.”

  “Like I said, I just don’t look it.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  He scanned his eyes over the fairy-sized woman. Her stature was tiny, but she walked with a no-nonsense gait. Her biceps were significantly more toned than his and covered in ink. A long brown braid hung down her back, and her ears were pierced from bottom to top. This woman looked as though she’d jump on the back of any man’s Harley, but when she spoke of her son, he’d nearly wept. She was right. Looks could be deceiving.

  Before he left, Mike changed his clothes, ate his dinner, and left a nice tip on the bar—under the plate to save from any argument.

  He walked back to his hotel, now with a jacket that said Maguire’s on it, which he’d return tomorrow as well as the pants.

  The lights of the city glistened against the silver backdrop of the snowy night. It was beautiful. Maybe his adventure had only begun, he thought as he turned the corner and walked through the front door of his hotel. This could have just been the wake-up call he’d needed. Life needed a change once in a while, and well, being stranded in Colorado was a change, that was for sure.

  He rode the elevator as a musical rendition of “Billie Jean” serenaded him, and the vision of Chandra filled his mind.

  He caught himself smiling in the mirrored wall of the elevator. It had been a long time since he’d felt like smiling. She had been a breath of fresh air on a stormy night, he thought.

  When the elevator opened, he walked to his room, inserted the card in the door, and let himself in. He hung the jacket on a chair. He’d called down to see about a laundry service for his wet pants and the borrowed ones. They’d be sending someone up to collect them.

  As he changed into a pair of University of Southern California sweatpants, he thought about thanking Chandra for the wake-up call.

  When he was done fixing the pipe tomorrow, he’d start looking for a job—in Colorado. No need to head back to where he’d left. There was nothing there for him now.

  ~*~

  It was midnight when Chandra quietly walked through the back door of her house. The light over the stove was on, and she smiled. All her life her mother had left a light on her for. Nothing had changed except her age.

  The kitchen smelled of chocolate chip cookies, which meant her mother had been baking. Whenever it snowed, her mother wanted to bake.

  Sure enough, there was a plate on the table covered with plastic wrap. Lots of crumbs and only two cookies remained. A glass of half drank milk sat there too. Compliments of her son, no doubt, and not because he’d left it for her to drink. He’d neglected to clean up his mess.

  She growled as she picked up the glass and poured out the warm contents. Then she returned for the last two cookies.

  With both cookies in one hand and the empty plate in the other, she put the plate in the sink, turned off the light and headed to her room.

  The light under her son’s bedroom door was a giveaway that he was still up. How this kid made it through a full day of school was beyond her.

  She pushed open the door just as he crashed a very fancy car into the side of a building in the video game he was playing.

  “Mom!”

  “Midnight. You were supposed to be in bed over two hours ago.”

  “Mom, I don’t need a bedtime.”

  “You need to go to bed,” she said with a wink as he groaned and turned off the TV. “Grandma must have fallen asleep again, huh?”

  He grinned up at her as he turned off his game. “Are those Grandma’s cookies?”

  “Well, they’re mine, and I assumed Grandma made them.”

  “Can I have one?”

  She looked at the two cookies in her hand and held one out to him.

  “Thanks. You’re the best mom ever.”

  She laughed. “If I were, I wouldn’t make you go to bed.” She pulled close the door and continued toward her room.

  A light under her mother’s door glowed too, but she knew she wasn’t awake or Jason would have been in bed. Her TV was set to automatically go off, but her mother fell asleep much faster.

  Chandra bit into her soft cookie, and it melted in her mouth. She never could bake like her mother could. One more reason to always keep her nearby, she thought, as she kicked off her shoes and fell on her bed.

  Her entire body hurt. All part of the job, she thought as she bit into the cookie again.

  She loved her job and always had. Gabe was the best boss she ever could have asked for. But the past few weeks had been harder than most. She’d been putting in nearly fourteen to sixteen hours a day since he was spending time with his wife, who was due to have that baby any day.

  And Chandra had been clear with him that if she saw him at the restaurant before his paternity leave was over, she’d quit. He needed to be with Holly, their daughter, and the new baby, which she was sure was a little girl. It served him right to be surrounded by more women in his life. Gabe had four sisters, a wife, and one daughter.

  She chuckled as she brushed the crumbs from her shirt and tucked her pillow under her head.

  She was much too tired to even change out of her clothes.

  Tomorrow was going to start early. She’d asked Mike to be there before nine, which meant she needed to be there earlier than she’d intended.

  On a yawn, she rolled over and fluffed the pillow into place.

  Mike. He was interesting, she thought. Very interesting.

  ~*~

  The moment Chandra dropped Jason off at school she drove straight to work. Once she parked, she sprinted down to the pedestrian mall to buy a bag of burritos. She’d promised Mike breakfast, and she was starving. It hadn’t taken her long last night to realize that the cookie was one of three things she’d eaten the day before.

  As she jogged around the corner to the front door of the restaurant, she was more than surprised to find Mike standing there with two cups of coffee in his hands.

  “I said before nine,” she said huffing.

  “It’s before nine.” He smiled. “I brought you a coffee. It’s just black because you didn’t look like the kind of girl that gets all goofy for that fancy coffee.”

  She was sure she was just staring at him. Maybe the running had caused her to lose oxygen to her brain.

  “Thanks,” she managed as she dug her keys from her pocket. “That’s how I like it.”

  He gave her a nod as she unlocked the door. With a generous nudge from her hip, the door opened. She held it until he walked through and locked it back up.

>   “Place is quiet when it’s closed,” he said looking around the dark dining area.

  “My favorite time. Before everyone gets here with their moods.”

  Mike set the coffees on the bar. “I can get started now if you like.”

  “Right. I’m sure Gabe left everything upstairs.” She set the bag on the bar and looked at it before she remembered what was in it. “I got you a burrito, for breakfast. Is that okay?”

  “Wonderful. Thanks.” He pulled a canvas shopping bag off his shoulder and handed it to her. “I have your jacket and pants. I had them laundered last night.”

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “It wasn’t a problem. I appreciated it.” He picked up his burrito and began to unwrap it. “I also wanted to thank you.”

  “Me?”

  He nodded. “I was very desperate last night when I came in here. I have a few thousand to my name. The rest is tied up in my son’s college. This job was supposed to be my rescue. I thought everything was over for me. But you made me want to pick up the pieces and start over.”

  “How did I do that?”

  “I’m going to call it fairy magic.”

  She narrowed her eyes on him. “Is that a joke about my size?”

  “No. It’s a compliment actually. I didn’t mean it any other way.”

  He looked horrified. She hadn’t meant to scare him. Sappy men never made much sense to her. Sappy women didn’t either.

  Chandra flung her braid over her shoulder and picked up the coffee.

  “You weren’t suicidal.”

  “No, I didn’t say I was.”

  She nodded. “I know suicidal when I see it. I wasn’t trying to save your life or anything.”

  “I know. You just gave me some hope that this is where I’m supposed to be.”

  She lifted the lid on the coffee. “What are you going to do?”

  “Start searching for a job. It might take some time, but I’ll find one.”

  She was getting itchy now. That meant she was thinking too hard. Her hands were shaking, and she hadn’t even had the coffee yet.

  “Can you fix refrigerators?”

  “I’ve been known to.”

  “Maybe we could use your handy skills around here until you find a job.”

  He stopped mid-bite into his burrito. “You’re hiring me?”

  “I mean you can’t live in a hotel without it eating up your money. You’ll probably need first and last month’s rent too. You’d better answer me before I realize that I made this decision without Gabe’s approval and…”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  She nodded on a breath. “Good, I’ll talk to him and tell him you’re helping out for a bit. I’m sure you’ll find a job in no time.”

  “That would be nice. Maybe I could take you out for dinner some night as a thank you,” he said as he took another bite of the burrito she had been so hungry for, but now her stomach jittered and she wondered if she could eat.

  “Me?”

  He looked around the dark restaurant. “Yep, you. No one else here.”

  “I don’t think I’m your type. I saw a picture of your wife.”

  His eyes grew wide. “Yes you did, and no, you’re not my usual type. But you’re friendly, and I need a friend. You’re helping me out, and I’d like to repay you.” He bit off another bite. “Maybe after we sit down for a nice dinner we can decide if we’re a type that each other likes or not,” he said with his mouth full.

  Okay, now she felt like an idiot, and that was rare. So he wasn’t interested in her? She could accept that. Most of the men who ended up at the bar weren’t interested either. They were desperate. Mike might have been desperate, but not for a quickie with the bartender.

  “I hope I didn’t offend you.”

  “Not in the least,” he said wiping his mouth with a napkin. “So you’ll have dinner with me?”

  “I will. I’m usually off on Wednesday and Thursday.”

  “I’m off those days too,” he said with a laugh, and she found the tension in her shoulders ease. “I’ll get started on that sink. Then I can look at the refrigerator.”

  Chapter Three

  Mike turned on the lights to the apartment and shut the door. Just as promised, there was a bag from the hardware store sitting on the kitchen table.

  He dug through it and found the pieces he’d needed to fix the sink. It wouldn’t take long, he figured. He’d seen his share of broken pipes, clogged toilets, cracked windows, and anything else people could do to a residence. It amazed him how people could spend a few days in a place and ruin it all. His parents were saints putting up with that so that they could both be home for their kids.

  In less than an hour, he was finished with his job. He could smell food from down the steps, and he wondered what the special would be today. If Chandra wasn’t tired of him yet, he’d sit and have lunch before he went to the library down the street to work on his résumé. He’d print it out there and then take it to the Kinko’s around the corner and make copies. Tonight he was having leftovers, which he was going to purposely keep from lunch, and surfing the internet for jobs. Denver was a hotbed for technical jobs. Surely someone had something they could offer him. His skills deemed him a high-end employee. His desperation had him content with taking an entry level job.

  Mike cleaned up the area, put the spare parts in the bag, closed up the apartment and walked back down to the restaurant. He noticed, for the first time, that there were two doors that led to the staircase and up to the apartment. That was good business sense to have an outside entrance. Chandra had said the owner used to live there, but he assumed that might not always be the case.

  They had a few more lights on now, and there were two people setting tables. Chandra was at the bar with a clipboard making notes. He assumed she was taking inventory.

  “Sink is as good as new.”

  She snapped her head up and looked at him. “You were fast.”

  “Did what I came to do. You said you had a refrigerator that needed looking at.”

  “I did. It’s this one under the bar.”

  She stepped back as if to invite him to walk around and look, so he did.

  “What’s going on with it?”

  “I think it’s a short or a fuse or something. It works, just not all the time.”

  “I can pull it out and look. When do you start serving?”

  “Half hour.”

  He nodded. “How about I look now. Then we can get the parts we need, and I can come back in the morning and fix it. No breakfast necessary.”

  The corner of her mouth turned up into a smile. “I’ll have breakfast for you, and I’ll buy your lunch today if you’d like.”

  “Only because I’m desperate, I’ll accept. Already decided I’d eat here anyway and take half of it back for dinner.”

  Her eyes softened. “I’d pay you cash if that was easier.”

  “I’ll take food. After I leave here, I’m going to go work on my résumé.”

  “You’re really staying in Denver?”

  “I am if it works out. I told you, you inspired me.”

  Chandra bit down on her lip. “That is flattering. Tell me what you want for lunch. I’ll have them get it ready.”

  Mike had looked over the menu, and Chandra took his order to the kitchen. He was jiggling wires on the back of the small refrigerator when she walked back to the bar.

  “They’ll have it up soon. I had them make you something for dinner too. Do you have a place to store it in your room?”

  He shifted a look up to her. “There’s a small fridge and microwave in the room.”

  “Handy.”

  He stood and pushed the small refrigerator back into place. “You didn’t have to do that, by the way. This goes against the profits if you feed me. I know that.”

  She shrugged. “You’re doing me a great service. So what’s the verdict?” She gave a nod toward the refrigerator.

  “You were right
. Faulty fuse and a short in the cord. I’ll swing by a hardware store and pick up the pieces. Is there a store downtown?”

  Her mouth curled up into a beautiful, perhaps not used nearly enough, smile. “Of course. But you tell me what you need. I’ll have it here for you.”

  “It wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I know.”

  A man walked through the front door, a tablet in his hand, and a patch on his shirt.

  “Hey, Chandra.”

  “Hey. I thought you were going to be here an hour ago,” she said to him as he walked around the bar.

  “I-70 is solid. Accident out by Stapleton or something.”

  “Good thing I got everything done then.”

  Deciding this was his queue to exit, Mike began to move from behind the bar, placing his hands on Chandra’s well-formed shoulders to pass behind her.

  It was then he felt that sizzle between them. Maybe it was when she sucked in a deep breath as if she’d felt it too that made him suddenly light-headed.

  “Want me to look at anything else?” he asked quickly.

  She looked up at him, but she appeared to be slightly stunned into silence. After a few blinks, she looked around the restaurant. “Table eight is off balance. We have cardboard under the leg.”

  Mike smiled. “I’ll go look at it. Which one is table eight?”

  She pointed him in a direction, and he made his way to the table. He sat in the booth and jostled the table around, but sitting down was more to steady his shaking legs.

  All he did was touch the woman, and both of them went into some trance. Maybe today he’d not only work on that résumé but look for an apartment. Something deep inside of him told him he wanted to stay in Denver for as long as he possibly could.

  ~*~

  It hadn’t taken too long for the restaurant to fill with an early lunch crowd, then turn again. Mike decided, though, that she needed the refrigerator, and it would be a good time to get the pieces he needed. A brisk walk would also do him good. He was still a little shaken from that exchange behind the bar.