Helios Exposed (The Helios Chronicles Book 2)

by Tawa M. Witko

  “We can work with that. I will draw up something in a few days to make it official,” Elias said, determined.

  The rest of the evening went extremely well. Talk was light, jovial, the food was fantastic, and the dessert, pecan pie with homemade ice cream, was amazing. After the meal, everyone retired to the living room where talk continued, mostly about the shop. The more Andrew and Jayden talked about it, the more excited they became about the prospect of working together.

  “We should go check it out tomorrow,” Jayden said enthusiastically.

  “Then I can sketch some ideas for what we want to do inside,” Andrew continued equally ecstatic.

  “Ummm, no way!” Callie interrupted their plans.

  “Why not?” Jayden pouted.

  “Tomorrow is Christmas. You guys can wait another day and go on the 26th.”

  He laughed. “You’re right, sorry, babe.”

  He then proceeded to turn away from her and talk with Andrew enthusiastically. Callie glanced at Madison, who was smiling as she watched Andrew. She hadn’t seen him this animated in a long time. She knew that not being able to find a job was really wearing on him. She was always encouraging, but she felt sometimes that he thought she was merely placating him. The fact he would have his own business with his best friend was truly a miracle she never expected.

  27 New Venture

  Andrew waited impatiently for Jayden to arrive. Truth be told, he was nervous as hell. This was a big commitment they were making and he was a bit terrified that he wouldn’t be able to run a business. He imagined that there was more to it than simply knowing how to work on motorcycles. He saw the large truck pull up and swallowed his nerves.

  “I’m heading out,” he yelled from the door but exited before he heard Madison’s reply.

  “Come on, man,” Jayden said, swinging a set of keys in front of him.

  Andrew grinned and quickly hopped inside the truck as they made their way to Marco’s garage. Andrew knew where it was. He had applied there once, but after the stink Jimmy had made about his status, Marco wouldn’t, or perhaps couldn’t, hire him. Knowing what he knew now about Senator Bowers, it was probably the latter. He did find it ironic that here he was, about to enter the garage that wouldn’t hire him before, except this time he was entering as the owner. That was something he never imagined he would ever say.

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Jayden exclaimed, a cross between fear and excitement.

  “You sure you’re okay with this?”

  Jayden gazed at him bewildered. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

  Andrew’s hand immediately went to his hair. A nervous habit that always gave away his concern for a situation. “Jay,” he breathed out apprehensively. “What makes you think people will want to come to our shop when no one would hire me before?”

  Jayden considered this and smiled as he turned back to the road. “Because things are different now. More people know you and know you aren’t what the registry says you are. Besides,” he offered him a sideways glance. “All we need is a few people to trust us and word will spread about how awesome we are,” he finished with a wink.

  Andrew chuckled and turned to the window. As with everything of late, he would need to just pray that Jayden was right. He recognized that he was at a crossroad in his life. He couldn’t leave, running was not the answer, and he cared too much for his friends and family to cause them any harm. All he could do at this point was push himself forward and try his best to not hurt any of them. Things had been changing in his life, slowly but surely, and he had to trust that this was the next step in the journey.

  “There it is,” Jayden burst out as they stopped at the light.

  Andrew felt his heart beating rapidly. He wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nerves, but, either way, the anticipation was tearing him up inside. As Jayden pulled into the parking lot he jumped out, nearly forgetting to put his truck in park. Andrew chuckled. Obviously Jayden was as jittery as he was, which was oddly comforting. Jayden fumbled with the key and pushed the door open.

  “Holy shit!”

  Andrew looked around and seconded his friend’s assessment. The shop was a mess. There was trash everywhere and broken equipment in the corner. The walls were dirty with grime that had not been cleaned when the previous owners vacated the premises. The floor was filthy and stained in some spots. The two men looked at one another with mirroring looks of frustration.

  “Well, now we know how my dads’ got the place so cheap,” Jayden said sheepishly.

  “This is gonna be a lot of work.”

  “Yeah, but,” Jayden replied, stepping into the shop a little further. He eyed his surroundings, his hands on his hips. “When we’re done, it will look amazing.”

  Andrew tapped his friend on the shoulder and laughed. He truly did admire his sense of optimism. “I’ll check over there,” he said as he motioned towards a hallway.

  “I’ll see what we can salvage over here,” Jayden motioned to the bay.

  Andrew nodded as he walked around the bay and into the waiting room. It wasn’t as bad as the bay, but definitely could use at minimum a new paint job. He followed the hallway towards two rooms. He peeked in the first one, which had the remnants of used equipment and was likely used as a storage room. He closed the door and went to the next room, which had clearly been an office. There was carpet on the floor. The only carpet Andrew had actually seen so far. He noticed a few oil patches on the carpet, probably from someone who didn’t wipe off their feet before going in there. He briefly thought back to his time in New York and considered whether Sonny would ever do that and decided he wouldn’t have. As he stepped backwards out of the room, he nearly ran right into Jayden who was approaching him.

  “What’s it look like?” Jayden asked, stepping inside the room.

  “That carpet needs to come out,” Andrew replied thoughtfully. “The other room looks like it was used for storage, supplies maybe.”

  Jayden nodded. “The bay looks pretty good and the hydraulics are still in working condition.”

  “That’s great, but I’m not sure we really need to use the hydraulics though.”

  “No, but I’m glad they work. That’s one less thing we’d need to fix,” he said, looking around the room.

  “The waiting area looks pretty good. Probably just needs to be scrubbed and painted.”

  “Yeah, I just walked by it. It looked manageable, but we definitely need a coffee machine in there,” he said with a yawn.

  Andrew laughed as he shoved his hands in his pocket. “So what do we do next?”

  Jayden flicked the light off in the room and turned to Andrew. “Well, I’m thinking that we should go to the bank and sign the papers so we have access to the money that’s in there. After that, we can get the supplies we need to clean this place up.” Andrew nodded so he continued. “I mean, it’s dirty, but underneath it all I think it’s pretty nice. I didn’t see any breaks in the floors or walls. All the lights work and I tried the sink so the plumbing is good as well.”

  “Yeah, I think it’s just been vacant too long and the people before didn’t really clean it out all the way,” Andrew agreed.

  “Exactly.”

  “How’s the back look?”

  “I didn’t check that yet.”

  They both headed towards the rear of the shop and found that the parking lot was great. The asphalt looked good and there was a shed as well. After they did a complete walk through once more, this time talking about the things they would like to do, for example, making the storage room another office so they both had one, they headed to the bank where they withdrew money and proceeded to hit the local hardware store to buy the much needed industrial cleaning products they would need before heading back to the shop to start the cleanup.

  “I think we can recycle these.” Andrew stated, wiping his brow of sweat. They had been working for most of the afternoon.

  “I hadn’t thought about that. I’m sure we could get
something for them at the junkyard.”

  “Think we can lift them into your truck?”

  “Hell ya we can.”

  “It’s getting late though. Callie has already messaged me. She’s becoming quite domestic,” Jayden said with a laugh.

  Andrew grinned. The further along Callie’s pregnancy went, the more ‘nesting’ she seemed to be doing. Jayden was always a good sport about everything, but sometimes he missed the ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ Callie. Not that he’d ever tell her that. Andrew looked at the machinery they were going to deliver to the junkyard and decided that they should wait on that.

  “Why don’t we save the equipment for tomorrow?”

  Jayden agreed and looked around. “We’re making a dent, Andrew.”

  “I can almost see what color the walls were,” he chuckled. “I want us to get coveralls though. I think that’s better than work clothes.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Jayden replied, as he regarded his soiled clothes. “I can look it up online tonight and see what kind they have.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  They cleaned up as best as they could and headed home. It had felt good to work so hard, to get dirty, and the day seemed to fly by before they had realized it. While Andrew still had some doubts in his ability to run the shop, he had complete faith in Jayden, which he figured was all that was needed.

  ~*~

  Andrew and Jayden had opened their motorcycle repair shop three weeks ago. It had taken a couple of weeks to clean it thoroughly and then another week to get it exactly as they had wanted. They had decided on the name of AJ Cycles and Repair. It was simple enough while still representing their partnership. So far, things had been somewhat slow and Andrew was starting to worry that perhaps his status had something to do with it. Even though both Madison and Jayden had assured him it was not the case, he was reluctant to believe that. It wasn’t until Liam and Elias had mentioned that they had opened their shop in winter and that not many thought about their bikes during that time of the year. They all figured that once spring hit, they would do better, especially after Jayden had suggested that they start hitting up several of the motor cross and riding trails to advertise firsthand with riders.

  “Where do you want us to post these?” Madison asked as the four friends gathered around the motorcycle trailer.

  “I think maybe on the bulletin board and I don’t know where else,” Jayden said, glancing at Andrew, who was unloading the bikes. “What do you think, Andrew?”

  Andrew wheeled his bike off the rack and looked around the parking lot. “Well, we could probably slip some of the flyers under the windshields of the trucks that have motorcycle trailers attached to them. Some of them might be interested in our services.”

  “Excellent!” Jayden exclaimed happily as he hopped on the trailer and wheeled his bike off as well.

  “That’s a great idea, Helios,” Madison interjected proudly.

  Jayden turned to Callie who was stretching her back. She was due within the next six weeks. But if you asked Callie, she wished it was right now. Her tiny frame made her pregnancy somewhat difficult. Her back hurt her constantly and she felt like she was about to burst at any moment. She had once joked that she looked like the blueberry girl in Willy Wonka. Jayden had replied that he liked blueberries, which had ended that conversation on a high note.

  “We’re going to hit the trails and hopefully hand out some cards.” He touched her belly lovingly. “Are you sure you’re okay to be walking around here.”

  She laughed and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Go, have fun. Madison and I have this covered.”

  “I love you,” he said kissing her and then bending down to kiss her stomach. “I love you, too, buddy.”

  Andrew and Madison watched their friends and then turned to each other. She kissed him soundly, leaving him breathless and wanting before stepping away from him. She was enjoying the look on his face, feeling empowered that for once she had gotten him flustered versus the other way around. He took a deep breath, gaining his composure again before he grinned at her. He then slipped his helmet on, shaking his head ever so slightly.

  “You shouldn’t tease him like that,” Callie laughed.

  “Oh please, he does it to me all the time,” Madison grinned.

  “True,” Callie said, rubbing her very extended stomach.

  “Not to sound like a worry wart, but are you sure you are good with this. I don’t want to induce labor or anything.”

  “Oh goodness. I’m fine. I’m tired of being cooped up in the house. Plus, I haven’t really had the chance to do much with the shop because of her,” she said rubbing her stomach. “I want to help.”

  “You and Jay are too funny. He always refers to the baby as a boy and you always refer to it as a girl.”

  “Oh, it’s a girl.”

  Madison stopped and looked at her after she slipped a flyer under a trucks windshield wiper. “I thought you said you guys didn’t want to know the sex of the baby.”

  “We don’t. I just have a feeling.”

  “Ahhh, gotcha. Have you guys settled on a name yet?”

  She shook her head. “Nope, not yet.”

  Madison rolled her eyes. “You probably won’t name it until months after it’s born. It will be Baby Boy Bennett or Baby Girl Bennett forever,” she said with a laugh.

  Callie swatted her arm. “As if. We’ve kind of narrowed it down but we don’t want to say anything yet.”

  “Why not?” Madison asked as they strolled to the next vehicle.

  “I don’t know,” Callie paused with her hand on the next windshield wiper. “Bad luck, I guess.”

  Madison started to say something but decided against it. After all, she had never had a miscarriage before so she wasn’t sure how she would react. Would she be a little superstitious as well? Probably. So instead of probing further, she took her friend’s hand in hers as they walked towards the next vehicle.

  “How do you think the boys are doing?” Madison asked, effectively changing the subject.

  “Oh, I’m sure they are playing more than they are working,” she giggled in response.

  “Probably right.”

  The girls continued their trek towards the bulletin board and rest area. When they arrived, Madison looked around and could see they had effectively lined the cars with flyers. She was sure some would be annoyed, but figured a few, like Andrew had said, would in interested.

  “Should we just go chill?” she asked her friend who looked like she needed a break.

  “Yeah, I need the restroom anyway.”

  Meanwhile, Andrew and Jayden were already having a great time riding on the trail. It was hard to remember that they were also there to work. They rode until they reached the spot where people would often rest and socialize. Jayden motioned his head towards the area where several riders were already talking. Andrew nodded as they veered in that direction. Once they stopped, they were recognized immediately.

  “Jay, dude, where you been?”

  “Man, Callie’s pregnant so I’ve been a bit busy.”

  “No shit! Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. You guys remember Andrew, right?”

  “Hell, yeah. How ya doing, man?”

  “I’m doing great. Keeping busy.”

  “Dude, I totally need you to hook my bike up. It’s acting all funky again,” Todd stated as he patted the seat.

  “That’s because you’re rough on it,” Jayden said through a laugh. “But yeah, I can work on it. In fact,” he withdrew the business cards he had in his pocket. “Andrew and I opened a bike shop. We do repairs and stuff so you should bring it by.”

  Todd looked at the card with a huge smile. “That’s so cool. Hey, give me some more cards, man. I’ll pass them around. I’ll totally vouch for you guys to everyone.”

  “That’d be great. Ya know what, if you write your initials on the card and someone brings it in, we’ll give you a referral discount.”

&nb
sp; Todd nodded and pocketed the cards. “That’d be cool. Hey, you guys should come next weekend to Spangler Hills, there’s gonna be a lot of riders there. You could tell people about your shop.”

  Andrew and Jayden glanced at each other and smiled. “Hell yeah, we’re in.”

  “Cool! I’m gonna head out.”

  “We’ll see ya next weekend.”

  They watched as he waved them off and spun out onto the trail again. Andrew and Jayden talked to a few more groups of people. Most seemed generally interested in the bike shop and Andrew was suddenly feeling very optimistic. This was definitely a good idea and hopefully Todd would follow through and refer people their way as well.

  “You’re really good at this whole selling thing,” Andrew grinned as they left the last group of riders.

  “When your dad’s a lawyer, you learn the art of bullshitting,” he winked exaggeratedly. “Come on, let’s ride some more. Callie’s probably gnawing on wood by now.”

  Andrew laughed as he pulled his helmet back on and spun out ahead of Jayden. This was definitely turning out to be a great day. They had really needed this. Being outside in the cool air, whisking in and around on the trail, put things in perspective for him. He and Jayden could do this and could possibly even be successful at it.

  ~*~

  Over the next several weeks, Jayden and Andrew were gone almost every weekend, riding and marketing their services to their core customers. People were told that if they brought the card in they would get a percentage off of services, which people really liked. And, true to his word, Todd had handed out a lot of cards. It got to the point where they had to keep a running tab of referrals so that Todd could get credit for them. They were constantly busy and soon garnered a reputation for fast, reliable, and efficient service.

  “I think I’m going to stay late,” Andrew said, looking at the two bikes that they hadn’t touched yet.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Jayden answered, looking up from the bike he was working on.