Chapter 2

"Your decision Miss Michelle. Do you want me to show you around or not?"

"I don't suppose it would hurt and it would keep dad happy. How do you want to handle it?"

"Just tell me what your schedule is and what your interests are. In general just let me know what you want to know."

"For starters a good parts place. My water pump went out. I've got the old one off and I need a replacement for it."

"There are two places within ten minutes of here. A NAPA and an Auto Zone. You could give them a call in the morning and see which one has what you need in stock."

"None open this time of night?"

"Nope. Both close at seven."

"Tomorrow is Saturday. Do you have to work?"

"Sometimes I do end up having to work weekends, but I'm free this weekend."

"Can you start showing me around tomorrow?"

"I can."

"We can start by going to whichever place has the parts I need."

The parts places opened at eight so I told Michelle that I would pick her up at nine. By then she should know who had what she needed. I made my goodbyes to Hank and Ronnie and headed for my apartment.

I picked Michelle (call me Mickey) up at nine and she was dressed the same as she had been the previous evening although it was a different sweatshirt and different baggy pants. I took her to NAPA to get her parts and then I offered to take her to breakfast and she accepted. Over breakfast she asked:

"Tell me the real reason you are doing this."

"There are actually two reasons, but both of them are basically the same. My boss asked me for a favor and I agreed to do it to stay on the good side of him. Stay in his good graces. The second reason is that if your father has his way he is going to bring you into the business when you graduate. Somewhere down the line I expect that you will end up being my boss so I would also like to be on the good side of you."

"So it is a career move on your part."

"Does that make me all bad?"

"It is something that I can understand, but my coming to work at dad's company is not a given. It is a possibility, but by no means a sure thing."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"I may feel the need to prove myself and I'm not sure that I could do that working for my father. I believe he would tend to give me things without my having earned them and I would be looked at as getting favorable, but unearned treatment."

"You know that's bullcrap. What's the difference between you coming to work and being seen as getting preferential treatment or something happening to your dad and you having to come in and take over? You are an only child so you will inherit."

"Not necessarily. Ronnie could get the nod."

"I can't see that happening. I've been there three years and I've never seen her in the place. You would be better off already working there so you would be familiar with things."

"We don't need to talk about it now. I've still got two years of school to get through."

When I took her home she asked me if I needed to leave right away and I said that I didn't.

"I could use an extra pair of hands for a couple of minutes if you don't mind."

I followed her into the garage where instead of a car I found a Silverado long bed with a camper shell on the back. Next to it was a large Snap On tool box and I do mean large. A bottom, a center section and a top box and I know Snap On isn't cheap.

"I didn't know that your dad was a mechanic."

"These are my tools bubba ad even though I know it is rolling around in your head I don't want to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"But you're a girl."

"Well you do have to admit that you have a pretty impressive set of tools. I know mechanics that have worked at it for years and who don't have a set up that good."

"My stepdad was a Snap On distributor. The bottom box was a birthday present and I got almost everything else at cost."

"But why?"

"I always wanted to be a mechanic."

"So why a business major at a four year school when you could have taken diesel mechanics or some other type of mechanical training at a community college?"

"Because even though I always wanted to be one once I started working as one I found that it didn't agree with me. I didn't like what oil and grease did to my skin and I hate broken nails. I'll do my own work, but that's all. What I need for you to do is hand me the tools as I need them. As short as I am I have to stand on this milk crate to work and things will go quicker if I don't have to keep getting down and then back up."

I did what she asked and watched as she installed the water pump and all the hoses. As she threaded the fan clutch onto the shaft and tightened it using an adjustable wrench and a three pound maul I said:

"Maybe I should rethink becoming your dad's son in law. As much as I've paid for maintenance on my cars it would be nice to have a wife who could do it for me and save me all that money."

"You wouldn't like the trade off."

"Why not? What would it be?"

"You would have to do the laundry, the ironing, wash the dishes, mop the floors and do the windows because I would be out in the garage."

"I could probably do most of it, but I'm not sure that you would want me doing the ironing. Last time I ironed anything I burned a hole in my favorite shirt."

I watched as she installed the fan shroud and finished up. She closed the hood and said:

"Now that I've got that out of the way what are we going to do for the rest of the day?"

"How about I show you around the town and point out some of the places you will need to know about as a student at State?"

"Works for me. Let me wash my hands and we can go."

I showed her around the town and then drove over to the campus and parked. We got out of the car and took a walking tour and I pointed out the administration building and the buildings that she would have classes in as a business major."

"Where are the buildings where the engineering classes are held?"

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Because when I go to work for my dad it will help me to know a bit about drafting, hydraulics and electrical systems."

"I thought you said that you weren't going to go to work at your father's company."

"I said that I wanted to prove myself before going to work there, but I know that realistically I'll probably end up working there. The pressure from dad to get me there will be intense, but I want some experience behind me when I finally do give in."

It was close to five when she said, "You bought me breakfast so how about I buy you dinner?"

I had nothing better to do so I said okay. She asked me if there were any good barbecue places around so I took her to The Old West Barbecue on Wolfenbarger Road. Over ribs she asked me why I was so down on women so I told her about Ann, Becky and Fiona.

And then of course I had to ask her why she didn't trust the male of the species. Her experiences mirrored mine to a degree. She had a steady boyfriend and found out he was seeing another girl on the days she couldn't go out with him. He was followed by a guy who cheated on her with her ex best friend. He was followed by a guy who she really cared for right up until she found out that he was only dating her to win a bet. It was common knowledge among the guys she had dated that she was a virgin and intended to stay one until she married and some of his buddies told him that he was wasting his time if all he wanted to do was bed her. He bet them a hundred dollars he would bed her by spring break.

"Once I found that out I enticed him into my bedroom, let him get undressed and then I laughed at him and told him that I would never let a penis that small touch my body. The best part was that I had hidden a video camera in the room and I made sure that all of his friends got a copy of it."

"Ouch!"

"He deserved it."

"I'm sure he did. Remind me to stay on your good side."

"I don't have any worries there. You pretty much have to stay on my good side. You expect me to be your boss some day right?"

She had me on that one.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow? What else is there that I have to see?"

"I don't know. Maybe places where kids your age hang out."

"I am not a kid bubba and I don't usually hang out with people my age. Most of them are too immature for me. Where do you hang out?"

"I don't."

"What do you do with your free time?"

"I bowl in a men's house league on Mondays and Thursdays. I stop for drinks and to shoot pool with some guys from work on Wednesdays and the rest of my time I'm usually in my easy chair with a good book."

Or spending time with Shirley, but I didn't tell her that.

"That's not much of a life."

"It suits me.'

"You don't even occasionally date?"

"Nope. I've already told you I'm pretty much soured on the opposite sex."

"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't date and have fun. Just don't get emotionally involved."

"Do you? I mean given your distrust of the male of the species."

"Sure I do. I just avoid getting into relationships,"

Easy for you to say I thought as I looked at her. I doubted that guys were beating a path to her door. She could probably look better if she did something with her hair instead of wearing it in that horrible looking bun sitting on the top of her head. She could get rid of those ugly looking horn rimmed glasses with contacts or Lasik surgery. Then again maybe those changes wouldn't help. It would depend on the body she kept hidden under her baggy clothes. I wasn't sure that anything could help her if she were chunky or fat.

She was intelligent, easy to talk to and had a good sense of humor, but I didn't know any guys and doubted that many existed who would be attracted to a girl because she was intelligent. Intelligent and decent looking yes, but just intelligent no.

Then I had to give myself a mental slap alongside my head. I WAS enjoying my time with her. There was no physical attraction, but we did get along well together. She said something that I didn't catch and I said:

"What?"

"I asked if you played golf."

"I do go out with friends from time to time, but I'm not very good at it."

"Good. I like it when I shoot better than whom I'm playing with. Daddy told me that we have a family membership at Greenbriar. How about we enjoy a long walk and fresh air tomorrow. You know; chase the little white ball around?"

"I guess I could do that."

"Bring your swim trunks. We can lay around the pool when we come off the course."

I dropped her off at her house and headed back to my apartment just in time to hear the phone ring. I answered it and it was Michelle.

"I can get a tee time of 7:20 if we are willing to play with two other members otherwise we won't be able to get off until around noon. What do you want to do?"

"Take the early one. I'll pick you up around a quarter to seven."

"See you then."

When I picked her up I wondered if she owned anything other than sweatshirts and baggy pants.

We signed in at the pro shop and met the other two who would make up our foursome. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I already knew one of them. Fred Amesly was one of my clients. We shook hands and he said that he didn't know I was a member and I explained how I came to be there and introduced him to Michelle. The other guy in the foursome was Fred's son in law Ralph.

We had time for a cup of coffee before the starter paged us and then we were off. I found out right at the start that I wasn't in the same class as the other three. All three of them were straight down the middle and I was off to the right in the rough. Michelle and Ralph birdied the hole. Fred made par; I was a double bogie and it went on like that the rest of the eighteen holes. Michelle was a five over par seventy-seven. Ralph and Fred were eight over par and I shot my usual hundred and two. Talk about being embarrassed.

The only good part for me was that I went the eighteen holes without losing a ball and that was a first for me. Fred told me that he would rag on me for being beaten by a girl "Except for that fact that she beat me too." Ralph said he was going to ask Michelle for lessons. Michelle didn't hear any of the talk because she had gone to the women's locker room to change and she told me that she would meet me at the pool.

Fred and Ralph left and I went to the locker room to change. When I got to the pool I looked around and didn't see Michelle so I found a lounge chair and sat down on it only to hear:

"What's the matter? You too good to sit with me or are you just ashamed because I waxed your ass?"

I looked over and saw a sight that almost took my breath away. The bun was gone and the hair was in a pony tail that hung down to the middle of her back. The horn rimmed glasses were gone and the baggy pants and sweatshirt had been replaced by three tiny pieces of yellow material that left damned little to the imagination. Why she went out of the way to hide that magnificent body was a question that begged to be asked.

:Excuse me, but do I know you?"

"Very funny."

"No it isn't. The way you look right now is one hundred and eighty degrees from the way you looked the last two days. The only way I know you are Michelle is from the sound of your voice. Care to tell me what is going on?"

"You won't like it."

"Why not?"

"Because I prejudged you and it will probably piss you off."

"Why would you prejudge me?"

"Just the way daddy told me that he had lined up a guy for me made me think bad thoughts. Some asshole only doing it to suck up to daddy and maybe see a way to marry into the business. I was partly right. You were honest when you told me that you were trying to stay in the good graces of daddy and get on the good side of me. If you were the type of guy to try and get ahead by seducing the boss's daughter I thought I would make myself less appealing. Then if you did come on to me I'd know for sure that you were an asshole.

"You let me know about your distrust of females right up front and over the last two days you've shown me that you are an alright guy so I decided that I could go back and be me."

"I may not be too trusting of the opposite sex, but I'm still a male and putting a package like that in front of me is just plain wrong. You had to know it would tempt me."

She smiled and said, "What did you expect me to do when you laid down that challenge in front of me?"

"What challenge?"

"You told me that you didn't trust the female of the species and so I have to prove to you that you can. I have to show you that you had the misfortune to get three bad apples in a row."

"Why would you even think of trying to change my mind? As I remember that conversation you told me that you don't trust men any more than I trust women."

"True, but that doesn't mean that I've given up on them. I have lots of friends who are in good relationships and if they could find a good man so can I if I keep trying. I've heard it said that you might have to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince. So what are we going to do next?"

"Why ask me? The deal is that I'm supposed to show you around. Where do you want to go? What do you want to see?"

"I haven't been to a movie in ages. Maybe after I work on my tan for a while we can catch a bite to eat here and then catch a movie. Okay with you?"

I told her that it would work for me and that's what we did and it set the tone of our relationship. Maybe twice a week and at least one weekend day for the next month Mickey had something that she wanted to see or do and I got the call to be of service.

It was the end of the fourth week and we had just left the Museum of Natural History. Mickey asked me to take her to The Stage Stop which was a restaurant a little ways out of town. As we were driving toward the place she asked: