Crazy Love

Chapter 1-2

Xavier shut the Roadmaster’s hood and wiped his hands with the rag he kept tucked in his belt. He needed a cigarette, but Howie wouldn’t let him take a break just yet, so he looked around at the loud garage and popped a gum into his mouth to curb the craving. He hated this place. Could imagine how great it would feel to walk out of here one of these busy afternoons, and never come back.

Yes, to hit the open road. Go down to Mexico. Live anywhere but here, in this city he still couldn’t get used to, with an aunt who barely tolerated his presence in her home.

And sometimes, the way his boss Howie talked to him was degrading. But he wasn’t going to take Howie’s usual crap this afternoon. Xavier was tired of getting the jobs the other gravy lappers wouldn’t do. He was the best wrench in this place. So why was he still on a flat rate, while the other guys were getting paid jobs to job?

Summoning his courage, he walked right up to Howie’s office near the front desk. On the way, he couldn’t help to sneak a peek at the counter, hoping to see the blond technician standing there behind the computer.

Sadly, the guy wasn’t there. Had he left for good? Xavier had caught the blond staring at him a few times this week, but been too scared to meet his eyes. What if the other guys noticed?

Xavier stuck his face in Howie’s open door. “Uh, can I—can I talk to you for a second?”

Great, he’d sounded like a kid asking for the car keys on a Friday night. Why did he always lose his nerve around Howie or his Aunt Diane?

Howie didn’t bother looking up at him. Kept on reading his muscle magazine and eating his gross salami sandwich. “What is it this time, Xavier?” he asked with his mouth full. He sounded annoyed.

Too bad.

“How come I always get the long s**t jobs and how come I’m still making peanuts here?” Xavier asked, hoping to sound tough.

Howie took a deep breath and slowly put his sandwich down on the desk. “Kid, you’re getting on my last good nerve, you know that?” He dusted the bread crumbs off his chest. “Six months ago, you came to me with no experience. No credentials. And who gave you a shot?”

Xavier bit his tongue. The only reason Howie had hired him, was because of Xavier’s Aunt Diane. Howie was sweet on her and hoping to get her into his nasty bed. But Xavier suspected that Howie was also surprised at how good of a mechanic he’d turned out to be. “I pull my weight around here. I’m only asking what’s coming to me.”

“Jesus, you’re nineteen years old. What do you need more money for? And what’s coming to you is a whipping if you don’t stop breaking my balls.”

Xavier scoffed. Nineteen years old or not, at six-foot-four, he was at least a head taller than Howie and could probably kick his butt. But he needed to keep his head. Didn’t want to let his aunt down again. She’d threatened to throw him out of her house if he started another fight. His temper had gotten him into enough trouble in the last six years. “Come on, Howie,” he said, switching tactics, “they cut my aunt’s hours at Zellers and things have been tight around the house. I just wanna help her out with paying the rent.”

“Those bastards. I knew something was up with her. She hasn’t returned my calls this week.” Howie seemed relieved. “I thought maybe she was mad at me or something.”

“Aunt Diane’s been a little down, that’s all. But a twenty-cent-an-hour raise would sure smooth everything out.”

Howie stared at him, his pale eyes narrowing under his bushy black brows. “Get me dinner at your house on Saturday night and I’ll give you ten cents more an hour starting December.”

“Fifteen starting next week.”

“Twelve in September.”

He’d be gone by then. Xavier took a deep breath and played it cool. “I can get you coffee on Sunday afternoon, after my aunt and cousin get back from church.”

“Hope you’re not an Indian giver. I know your kind.” Howie blew out a hard breath. “Fine. Now get out. And she better be home. Not like last time.”

An Indian giver.

What a stupid and racist expression.

Insulted, Xavier walked away from the door. When he stepped out of Howie’s office, he checked the front desk again, hoping to see the blond guy, but it was only Sergio behind the counter, and the tech wasn’t there. Had the guy really left for good? No, the blond’s Looney Tunes nylon back pack was still in the corner, behind the front desk. That guy sure had a loud sense of fashion. He was always in pastel colors and pop music T-shirts.

And his blue eyes were phenomenal. Would he ever bump into him again? He should have found a way to talk to the guy, before his contract was up.

Sergio tossed some papers around on the counter. “I hate this paperless s**t. Why did Howie have to go and change the old system, anyway? It worked fine. And where’s that faggot who installed this crap when you need him?”

Sergio was such an i***t. Xavier went up to the desk and walked around it. “It shouldn’t be that hard. You just put in the same info you did before into the computer, instead of on a piece of paper.”

Sergio rolled his eyes. “Then you do it. I’m no f*****g secretary.” He walked away and opened the glass door to the garage. “Chief Know-It-All.”

Xavier swallowed the frustration down and stared at the crumbed yellow papers on the desk. One day, Howie and Sergio would come to work but he wouldn’t be there to hose their mess down. He’d be riding down some American interstate, pulling a Jack Kerouac on them all. Xavier looked at the computer screen. This couldn’t be too complicated. After all, technology was the future, or so everyone swore. “All right,” he said to himself, “let’s see.” He’d never used a computer before.

Seconds later, the blond computer tech came walking back in through the front door, the bell jingling over his head. At the sight of Xavier behind the desk, his face turned crimson and he clutched the brown paper bag he carried. “Hi,” he muttered. “I got donuts.”

Those were his first words to him? Donuts?

Flustered, Xavier threw his chin up, his stomach making a flip. “Oh…cool.” He quickly went back to staring at the screen. Lots of blank spaces he wasn’t sure how to fill. He typed the customer’s name, but nothing happened. “Uh, how do I get into the customer’s file in this?” he asked, without looking at the guy. Couldn’t even meet those baby blues for a few seconds. Man, this guy was so damn cute. Short, but broad-shouldered, with nicely chiseled arms and sexy thighs under blue jeans.

Slowly, the blond walked around to where Xavier stood behind the desk. “You have to click into the data base first.” He smelled clean and fresh like something new. Like CK One, that unisex cologne everybody was wearing these days. And now that the guy was standing right next to him, Xavier realized he was much taller than the blond. He towered over him.

“Can I show you?” the guy said, putting the sweet-smelling bag down by the pencil holder. “It’s pretty simple, actually.” He took out a chocolate glazed donut and offered it to Xavier. “Want one? No one ever says no to a donut.” He smiled brightly. “It’s a proven fact.”

“Uh, okay, yeah. Thanks.” Xavier took a bite. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had something so sweet. He felt like a kid again and for a moment, he could almost pretend they weren’t here in this awful place. “I was gonna type into this, but then I thought that—”

“No, that was the right thing to do.” The blond had chocolate glazing on his upper lip. “Good instincts.”

“You have a little something there.”

“Oh, here?”

“Hey, Xavier,” Howie said, storming out of his office which connected to the front room, “what the hell are you doing at the front desk? I don’t pay you to fool around on the computer.” He shot the technician a quick look. “I don’t want any of the guys messing around with the program. From now on, I’m the only one who does the billing around here. That’s why you trained me, and not them. Besides you’re done here, right? You should take off. I don’t need you to hang out here distracting my boys.”

The tech glanced over at Xavier and grabbed his Loony Tunes bag, before walking around the desk. He gave Xavier a look over his shoulder.

Embarrassed, Xavier stepped away from the computer. Howie had humiliated him again and in front of this cute guy, too.

“I need you on that transmission job,” Howie grumbled. “Now.”

“Yeah, I’m on it,” Xavier said, shoving the glass door open, but then he decided he’d earned that smoke break after all, and stepped out through the side door. Maybe he’d catch the blond leaving. Maybe he’d talk to him.

But what could he say?

I’m questioning my sexuality and think you’re really cute? Can I get you alone for a few hours?

Outside, Xavier leaned up against the brick wall and lit up a cigarette. His aunt didn’t allow him to smoke inside the apartment, so he indulged at work whenever he could. For a few seconds, he was lost in his thoughts, blowing smoke into the hot July air.

When he spotted the blond tech jiggling a key into the door of a beat-up green Mazda that appeared to be on its last mile, Xavier called out to the guy without a moment’s hesitation. “Nice wheels,” he said, shading his eyes from the late afternoon sun. Had to talk to this guy before he left for good or he’d regret it.

The blond paused by the driver’s door and looked over his shoulder. “Are you talking to me?” he asked, obviously surprised.

“Uh, no, I’m talking to the other guy driving a puke green Mazda.”

Thankfully, the guy laughed out loud and glanced back at his car. “Yeah, a paint job wouldn’t hurt, right?”

Cigarette pressed between his lips, Xavier walked up to the back end of the car and ran his hand across the trunk. Had to make a joke. Say something clever. “Or…you could let the rust have its way with it and do a whole orange and green thing.” He blew out the smoke through his nose and then crushed the cigarette butt under his steel-toe boot.

“I’m—I’m Billy by the way.” The blond smiled and his whole face lit up. “Billy Hart.”

Deeply affected by Billy’s eyes, Xavier cleared his throat and looked at the open side door, catching Sergio staring at him from the garage. Immediately, he stepped away from the car. “See you around,” he muttered, hoping Billy wouldn’t let him slip away.

“Uh, actually,” Billy said, “this was my last day here, so, I probably won’t be around here anymore.” He lowered his voice. “Bummer, right?”

“Oh…” Xavier walked backwards to the garage’s side door, his heart beating harder and harder. He’d never see this guy again? No, that wasn’t fair. “Well, uh, good luck and everything.” But that wasn’t what he’d wanted to say.

“Wait. Xavier, right?”

Xavier paused mid-step. “Yeah…Xavier Delisle.” Could Billy see his heart beating through his shirt?

Billy walked right up him. “Maybe we could have a beer and play a game of pool…or something. Sometime. I don’t know.” He tilted his head and bit his bottom lip. “I’m kind of new to the city and all. I always go to his place, uh, this pool hall—”

“You just moved here?” Words sailed through Xavier’s mind. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t keep his eyes off Billy’s face.

“Do you know McKenny’s?” Billy asked. “It’s on Saint-Laurent Street. It’s a small Irish pub with a few pool tables.”

“Actually, yeah, I know the place.”

“Oh, cool…So, can I have your number, maybe?”

Xavier blurted out his aunt’s phone number.

Billy slipped a pen out of his back pocket and scribbled the number on his hand. “I’ll call you,” he said, staring at the numbers on his skin. “Oh, shoot, I’m sweating and the ink is gonna smudge.”

“Wait. Here.” Xavier took a pen out of his work belt and then tore a piece of his cigarette pack off. He wrote his number on it, realizing how shy and awkward they both were. “That’s better.” He handed Billy the paper, but Billy dropped it and they both went down for it, nearly knocking each other out.

“Wait,” Billy said, laughing, “I got it.”

Xavier couldn’t help blushing. “Well…I’ll see you, I guess.”

Billy stuffed the paper in his front pocket. “When—tonight?”

“Yo,” Sergio called out from the side door. “Break is over, man.”

“I gotta go.” In two long strides, Xavier rushed back into the garage, shutting the side door behind him.

But though he tried to hide it from the guys, he was soaring with excitement, and nothing could bring him down this afternoon, not even Sergio’s disgruntled look.