Chapter 26

She gaped at me. “You want to see if they’ll hire me?” she asked.

“It seems perfect. They need help, you have skills, they can teach you new ones and you can probably arrange to work a few days a week after school when we don’t have cheer.”

We got in the car and she pulled me to her, kissing me passionately, Her hands holding the back of my head. When she broke the kiss, she was looking at me with a burning passion that made me a little worried for my well-being and eager for whatever peril came along with it. “If I wasn’t so sore down there today, I’d fuck you right here,” she told me.

“If I wasn’t so sore down there, I’d be all for it,” I told her, taking her hand. My cock did ache, but it was a good ache. “Let me call over and see what they have to say. That might be our plan for the afternoon to go meet them.”

She nodded and I took out my phone, calling their number.

“Hello?” Mark said, answering the phone.

“Hi, Mark,” I said brightly. “It’s Matt. How’re you doing?”

“Matt!” he said excitedly. “Hi. I was hoping to talk to you before Emmy got back. We talked to our supplier and between us, we figured out what you got for the shield. It’s actually a military grade armor plating. Tough as Hell. The good news is that they aren’t making a stink about getting it back. The bad news is that they can’t get any more of it for us. It’s not for sale to the public.”

“Fair enough. What about Titanium?” I asked. “I know it’s not cheap, but it’s not like it’s gold. It’s used for armor plating and it’s available, right?”

“That would work. You’re comfortable with the cost of that?” he asked delicately.

“Absolutely. Let me know the cost and I’ll get you the money. I can pay in cash, check or electronic transfer. Whatever you prefer.”

“It’s probably two grand in Titanium and then another few thousand for the other parts like the motors and lights and the controllers you wanted.”

“I’m fine with that,” I told him. “I’d actually like to spend some time with you on designing the helmet to house the gear at some point. That’s not actually what I’m calling for today though.”

“Oh? Another plan in mind?” he asked, amused. “What’s on your plate this time?”

“Actually, I’ve got a couple of things I wanted to chew your ear about. One of my girls is kind of a genius with designing and sewing wardrobe and I wondered if you two were still swamped with work. She’s really good and self taught. I thought since you do that kind of work, you can teach her some new tricks and she can help ease the workload.”

“How good is she really?” he asked. “We’ve got a ton of stuff we’re working on, but I’m not sure we have a huge amount of time to train her right now.”

“She sews a lot of her own clothes and I couldn’t tell they weren’t designer until she told me. She’s been using a regular home use machine and I haven’t seen it, but I get the sense that it isn’t a very good machine. We just bought her a bunch of new gear for her home workshop, but your name came up when I asked the shop owner about a machine that could do leather. She suggested I give you a call since you guys just replaced one and she thought you might sell the old one. When she gave me your name, the light clicked on and I thought she might be the answer to your workload problems and you might be the answer to her career problems.”

“We did indeed buy a new machine recently. We’re planning to keep the old one though for a backup. Why don’t you bring her out and we can show her around the shop. We’re here tinkering around all day. Just open the door and barge right in.”

“Will do,” I said. “Thanks, Mark.”

“My pleasure. Charmaine will probably weep with relief if she can sew a straight line and read a pattern,” he confided in me with a laugh and said goodbye.

“You dick!” she smacked me lightly. “You told him we were looking for a machine. I told you they’re too expensive.”

“He said they’re keeping it for a backup anyway,” I told her lightly. “You might get to use it at work though.”

Her eyes lit up. “They want me to work for them?!!?”

“They want to meet you and see what you can do. Let’s drop your machines off and then stop by the house. I need to pick up some money for them. Then we can go over and you can see the shop where they work.”

She started the car, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of having a job doing what she loved. I envied her. She had direction to her life and a passion to see it through. I had so much potential that I could go in any direction I wanted and excel. It created its own distraction at times.

We rushed home and we started taking her new gear into the house, telling Louisa excitedly about the machines and the job. Louisa was surprised and overwhelmed by the news. Gina wouldn’t let me carry the machines, lugging them in herself while I explained to both of her parents about how I’d talked to Mark about her working for them part time.

“Does she really need a part time job?” Louisa asked with a slight frown.

“As far as I’m concerned, neither she nor her mother need to work,” I said simply. “But I’m learning that Latina women are fiercely proud and the best thing I can do is bow to their better judgment.”

Miguel laughed and then covered it with a cough when his wife gave him a dirty look. She came over to look at me and turned my head so she could look at my neck, the bite marks clearly evident.

“I see you’re learning many things about Latina women,” she said and I wondered suddenly if I was in trouble. She saw the look in my eyes and took my head in her hands. She looked me in the eyes and smiled, kissing both of my cheeks. “My daughter has told me what you’ve said to her about what has happened to her. She tells me how you treat her and what she feels for you. You’re a good boy. You treat my Gina right and she’ll make you happy and fat.”

I could feel my cheeks redden and I smiled back. “I will. If I ever treated her wrong, she’d make me thin from running for my life. She keeps reminding me Latina women are fierce.”

“I can see her reminders,” Miguel cut in with another laugh. “It reminds me of when we were their age Louisa.”

Louisa gave him another sharp look, but there was the beginning of a smile in her eyes. “So tell us more about this job,” she commanded me, settling herself on the sofa and patting the cushion beside her.

I sat down and told them about Mark and Charmaine and how they were the people who made my Halloween costume. “They do a lot more than costumes, but they have so much work right now that they need help. I never would have guessed that Gina’s clothes were made by hand. They look as good or better than anything the other girls wear. So I told him that and I told him that she wasn’t working with the newest or professional equipment, so he wants to meet her. She’ll be able to help them with their wardrobe jobs, they’ll be able to teach her new skills and help her branch out into other kinds of special effects if she wants to pursue a career in the movies behind the scenes. Everyone wins.”

Miguel nodded. “They wouldn’t need an electrician, would they?” he asked. “I’ve always got a little time on my hands.”

“I can ask,” I said lightly. “They do effects for all kind of productions, so there’s always something new to do. There’s a lot of artistry and more than a little mechanical engineering, but everything runs on electricity. I’ll see what he has to say.”

He nodded. “By the way, thank you for the presents you got for Hector last week when you were shopping. He’s never had so many toys at once.”

“Hector’s a good kid,” I said with a grin. “I was happy to get him something. We were out shopping for the girls and it didn’t seem right to buy for them and not give him the chance to get in on the fun.”

He nodded. “He looks up to you a lot,” he confided. “He always asks Gina if he can tag along when she goes over to see you.”

I grinned. “He’s gonna get his chance,” I promised. “Once Louisa starts helping us out, I told her that she can have Hector take the bus to our place to do his homework there. He’s always welcome to hang out, whether I’m there or not. Dawn loves him and my sister’s not too much older than him, so she’ll be someone he can talk to when we’re tied up.”

“Speaking of that, how do you want me to handle the schedule?” Louisa asked.

“Well for tomorrow, just stop by home. We’ll have to show you where Frank’s place is and where my Dad’s apartment is. I think the best idea most days is to get them out of the way early in the day on days when you clean them. I can’t imagine they need you every day, so you should be able to do them each twice a week and then have a morning off to do whatever you need to for yourself. My place sees the most traffic so I’d like it to get cleaned up Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Then if you have Patty and Dan’s place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, Hector can get off the bus at our place every day and you’re no further than next door. Does that sound reasonable?”

She nodded and smiled, patting my cheek. “That sounds fine. Which morning would you like me to take off?”

I shrugged. “Well if you took Wednesday off, you could do one place on Monday and Thursday and the other on Tuesday and Friday. If you took Friday, you could split them up into Monday-Wednesday and Tuesday-Thursday. Which you’d prefer is up to you though. Just let Dad and Frank know when they have to clean up after themselves and you’re good.”

“And how will we do the billing?” she asked next.

“Dad’s gonna handle that for me,” I said honestly. “He’s got an information package for you at his place and he’s taking a little time off so that he can be there when we get there tomorrow so he can meet you and show you around. You’re going to be salaried, full-time and that’ll come with benefits. He’s doing the paperwork for me because he’s an accountant and he set up a corporation to handle all the income I’ve made since people my age are sort of shackled on what we can do with money. If you have a checking account, just bring a void check and he’ll arrange direct deposit weekly for you.”

“Benefits?” she said, surprised. “What sort of benefits?”

“Medical insurance, dental, vision. If you have good coverage, we can factor that into your salary if you’d prefer. If you can use the coverage though, it’s there for you.”

“How can you do this? I’m just cleaning houses for you.”

I nodded. “And I’m employing you full-time. I kind of have to pay you benefits because of that.” I shrugged. “It might seem like a lot, but it’s a lot less than I want to do for you. You’re family. Latina women may be fierce, but I always take care of family, one way or another.”

Miguel seemed overwhelmed by the gesture. “I can’t tell you what this means,” he said with obvious relief.

“Hopefully if it means Hector is going to the dentist, you won’t tell him it’s all my fault,” I said, hoping to lighten the mood some.

Louisa laughed. “No, his teeth are good, but we’re worried he might need glasses. This will get him help with that.”

I nodded, thankful I’d talked to Dad about that and made the arrangements with Dad and Howard to set up the LLC and get the insurance coverage for her. “Well, Dad will have an insurance card for you, Miguel and Gina. I don’t think Hector needs one quite yet, but when he does, we’ll get him one.”

We were interrupted by Gina as she swept into the room and plopped down in my lap, giving me a quick kiss before beaming at her parents. Her mother reached up and grabbed her chin, tilting her head aside to look at her bite marks. “I see you’re learning a GREAT deal about Latina women,” she said dryly. “Just don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

She started asking her in Spanish how everything had gone between the two of us, clearly wanting to have a semi-private conversation without leaving the room. I wasn’t going to say anything, but Gina told her I was fluent in Spanish.

She blinked and looked at me in surprise. I nodded and shrugged. “I took German this year instead.”

She shrugged in defeat. “Alright then, how did things go, Gina?” she asked in English this time.

“Perfect, Mama,” she said and hugged me tight. “If it had been any more perfect, we might not have been able to walk today though. We’re both a little sore.”

I wasn’t particularly embarrassed. I was used to Patty coming in to see how we were performing and used to the family gatherings around the table afterwards.

“So long as it was everything you needed it to be,” she said with a wistful look that said she wished that need had never been there. I understood. I shared that feeling.

“I’ll tell you all about it later, Mama,” she said. “I promise, but now I want to go and see Matt’s friends about the job. They said we could come over any time today.”

I kissed her cheek. “You should bring a couple of examples of your work and take a picture of your old machine to show them what you used to make it,” I suggested. “It’ll help them see not only what you can do, but what you had to work with. Their machines are gonna be better than even what we got you today, so they’ll know that you’ll be able to work bigger miracles when you’ve got access to the professional machines.”