“That doesn’t sound too difficult, I’ll take care of it,” Paul said.
“You have to understand theses tows can get a little hectic, people aren’t happy when we show up to take their cars. This guy won’t care what you have to say, they can sometimes get violent. Just be ready and don’t take any attitude off this guy,” Nate said with concern in his voice.
“Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself if this guy gets dumb,” Paul said back to Nate.
Nate chuckled on the other end of the phone and responded “I figured you would be okay with it, try not to hurt the guy too much if he comes at you. I may have to pay his medical bills if you hurt him too bad.”
“I promise I’ll be gentle,” Paul said back with a laugh. He got his directions from Nate and hung up the phone.
Paul headed to the apartment complex and loaded up the car without any problems. As he begins to climb back in his truck to drive off he was interrupted by a man yelling behind him.
“What the hell? That’s my car you’re taking,” the man yelled as Paul got into his truck.
He stepped back out of the truck to confront the man who was yelling at him.
“Sorry man but you parked in a handicap spot; I have to take your car. You can come pick it up at the yard later today,” Paul said to the guy and then turned back to get in his truck.
This wasn’t what the guy wanted to hear and he made it known when he smashed the driver’s side door of the tow truck with a baseball bat.
Paul was pissed now and had little patience for this guy.
“Now you screwed up, I tried to be nice about this but you had to push it,” Paul yelled at the guy from inside his truck.
Paul climbed out of the truck to face the guy that had just smashed in his door.
“You steal my car and tell me I’m wrong for hitting your truck, screw you man,” the man yelled.
He walked up to the guy who had the bat ready to swing again and a moment later he was swinging it at Paul. He ducked under the swing and took one shot at the guy. He connected with his throat with a chop that dropped the man to his knees.
“I told you to back off but you couldn’t listen, you come at me again I’ll only hurt you more,” Paul said as he walked away and got back in his truck.
The man didn’t do anything but try to catch his breath, he knew he was beaten and would come after his car later. Paul drove the truck to the yard and dropped off the car.
Nate met Paul as he pulled into the yard and walked up to the truck to talk to him “I’m sorry if that went rough, I’m glad you got the car. I hope it wasn’t too difficult.”
Paul looked at Nate and told him “it went just fine; I can handle myself out there. I’m sorry about the door of the truck.”
Nate just laughed and walked away from Paul’s truck.
“I’m glad you have it under control. Don’t worry about the door; I’ve got a guy that can fix it for you. Just enjoy the rest of your day,” Nate said and walked away into the office.
Paul decided that he needed to take a break and grab some lunch, it was now eleven in the morning but it felt like much later. He headed to a diner he saw downtown while he was headed to a tow the day before. The diner was named “Pops” and it was a small place with a welcoming feel to it.
Paul parked his truck around the corner from the diner and then headed to go have some lunch. The outside of the diner was pretty plain looking, just an open sign on the door and the words “Pop’s Diner” painted on the window.
The inside of the diner wasn’t anything special either; it just looked like an average American diner. Not the cheesy 50’s themed diners that the chains are built to resemble, it was just a small diner.
There was a row of booths along the wall and a long counter running down the middle with roughly 15 stools behind it. Paul took a spot on one of the stools along the counter.
There was a menu already on the counter but he had yet to see any employees around to help him. He could hear people talking in the kitchen area so he figured he would just check out the menu and order whenever someone came out to help him. The menu was your average diner food, burgers and home-style cooking.
Paul decided to try the meatloaf but after two minutes he still hadn’t seen anyone that worked there.
“Hello, I’m ready to order,” Paul said towards the opening of the kitchen area.
“Sorry I didn’t realize anyone was here, I’ll be right there,” a female voice responded back from the kitchen.
When the young lady that had responded from the kitchen walked out through the double swinging doors at the end of the counter, Paul couldn’t believe who walked out. Out walked a petite blonde with blue eyes, she was about 5’4” and still had a bit of bruising around her eye. It was the girl Paul had met the other night in Jerry’s room, she looked almost as surprised to see Paul as he was to see her.
Once Paul got past being somewhat shocked he said “well hello, I wasn’t expecting to see you again. How’ve you been doing?”
“I’m doing a lot better, I called it quits with Jerry so things have been getting better,” she said. Paul could tell she was a little uncomfortable talking about Jerry.
“I’m happy to hear that you’re doing better but we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Paul said.
“Its okay, I just don’t know what I was thinking being with that jerk,” she said back with what sounded like embarrassment in her voice.
“Hey we all have crazy exes in our past, it’s just best to make sure they stay in the past,” Paul said to her with a smile on his face.
She actually smiled back at Paul and said “thanks for understanding and thanks again for helping me out that night. I don’t know of many people that would step into a situation like that but I’m very thankful that you did.”
“It was no big deal, I was happy to help,” Paul said.
“Well you probably saved my life so the least I can do is buy you lunch today,” she said with a smile.
“That sounds good to me, buy me lunch and we’ll call it even,” Paul said with a smile of his own.
“I don’t know if the food is good enough here to make us even,” she responded with a little chuckle.
“I’m just kidding; the food is pretty good here. So what can I get you?” she asked.
“I’ll have the meatloaf and a sweet tea, thanks,” Paul said as he set the menu down on the counter.
“No prob, I’ll go put in your order and grab your drink,” she said back to him and then walked away.
“So I never actually got your name,” Paul said while she was getting his drink.
“My name is Abby and your name is what?” Abby said as she set his drink down in front of him.
“My name is Paul, it’s nice to officially meet you,” Paul said.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Abby said and she couldn’t help but smile yet again.
The next hour was filled with more conversation about random things and life in general. Paul finished off his meatloaf and unfortunately had to head out after getting a call for another tow.
“Thanks again for lunch, I’ll have to repay the favor sometime,” Paul said as he got up from his stool to head to his tow truck.
“I thought I was repaying you, so how can you repay me?” Abby asked and they both couldn’t help but laugh.
“I guess you’re right, I guess that was my lame way of asking you out,” Paul said with a slightly bashful look on his face.
Abby couldn’t help but laugh at what Paul said but noticed that he now looked almost embarrassed.
She felt bad for laughing and responded “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to laugh, I didn’t mean to be rude. I think it’s sweet that you’re nervous, I would love to go out with you.”
“Right on, how about dinner tonight? I have to head out now but let me get your number and I’ll call you with the details,” Paul said as he headed for the door.
Abby gave him her number
and Paul headed off to do his tow.
After he finished his tow he called Abby to set up the time for their date. He found out she was staying with her grandmother now and told her he would pick her up at seven that night.
He spent the day nervous about the date and the fact that he was suppose to pick her up but the only vehicle he has is his tow truck. After a few more calls for tows he headed back to the yard to turn in his paperwork for the day. It was already five thirty so he didn’t have much time and he still had to ask Nate if he could take the tow truck for his date. It wasn’t his ideal vehicle to take on a date but it was all he had so he would make do.
He headed into the office to drop off his paperwork and fortunately for Paul, Nate was still in his office.
“Nate I need a favor,” Paul said. “I have a date tonight but I have no vehicle,” Paul said. He looked at Nate with a bit of nervousness in his voice.
Paul looked at Nate and finally got the courage to ask “I was wondering if I could use the truck tonight for my date?”
Nate took a minute to think about the question and a slight grin spread across his face when he responded “a tow truck is no way to start a date.”
Nate couldn’t help but smile and said “I have a car in the garage that I want you to take.”
Nate tossed the keys to Paul and chuckled.
Paul wasn’t sure what to do but he took the keys and said “thanks a lot, I really appreciate it.”
He headed out of the office and made his way across the yard to the garage. The garage door slid up and he saw a car sitting under a car cover. He walked towards the car and pulled back the cover to reveal a beautiful ride waiting for him. Sitting under the cover was a black and red Audi R8. Paul couldn’t help but step back in amazement. He sat down in the car and headed home to get showered and dressed for his date.
Paul arrived at the motel and took his shower and put on his best dress shirt. He walked out and locked the door behind him. He couldn’t wait to pick up Abby.
Eight
He sat behind the wheel of the car and grinned as the car roared to life. The power of the car sent chills through him; he was truly amazed at the sweet sound of the engine. He put the car in gear and just for fun spun the tires and shot out of the motel parking lot like a bullet shot from a gun.
He had covered a few blocks in what felt like only seconds before he realized he was already doing almost a 100mph. He laughed out loud and grinned from ear to ear, it was going to be a great night. Even though he was enjoying the ride he decided he should probably slow down before he came across a police car and his night ended before it really got started.
The traffic light ahead of him turned red and he slowed to a stop. As he sat at the red light waiting for it to change green, he thought about how much his life had changed for the better in the last few days.
He had a new job that he really enjoyed and now he was sitting in a beautiful car on his way to pick up a beautiful woman for a night on the town. The light turned green and he sped off again on his way to pick up Abby.
He was only a few blocks away now and he started to get nervous, it had been a few years since he had been on a date and even longer since he had let someone into his life. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself and start thinking about letting someone into his life again but he couldn’t help it. The thought of being happy again and sharing his life with someone seemed like something he could get use to.
He smiled again as he pulled up in front of Abby’s house and parked the car at the curb in front of the house.
It was a small two story country style house that looked to be about fifty years old and in desperate need of a new coat of paint. The yellow paint was chipped and fading but it fit in with the rest of the houses on the block.
It was a decent neighborhood in a much older part of town, very different from the modern sprawling city that seemed to have been built all around the older neighborhood. Paul got out of the car and walked towards the house but he stopped about halfway up the walkway.
“I should have brought her some flowers, I’m rusty at this dating thing,” Paul said to himself.
He figured it was too late to leave and go get flowers, especially if Abby or her grandmother had noticed him when he pulled up. He started walking towards the house again and saw a rose bush growing in front of the railing around the front porch. He walked over to the rose bush and picked a single rose, he figured it was better than nothing.
He stepped up the three steps to the porch and noticed that the porch had a few broken boards and thought about how he could fix the porch for Abby. Then he realized he was getting ahead of himself again and figured he should finish their first date before he thought about fixing up the house.
The doorbell didn’t seem to work, he tried it a second time but still hadn’t heard anything. Also nobody came to the door after he had already pushed it twice.
It occurred to him that he could have left and got flowers because it seemed nobody had noticed him pulling up to the house. For a second he thought again about leaving to go get some flowers but he heard someone walking around inside the house.
If he started up the car and drove off now he was worried someone would notice him leaving and he didn’t want Abby to think he was bailing on the date.
Paul knocked on the door and held the single rose in his hand, his heart was racing now and he was filled with a sense of nervousness and joy. There was no turning back now, he heard someone walking towards the door. He was about to go on his first date in about three years and that last date had turned into the date from hell, he was hoping this one would go much better.
Paul looked down at his watch, it was 6:58. He was two minutes early and felt that the night was off to a good start.
The front door opened slowly and standing in the doorway was a short lady with white curly hair, she looked to be in her seventies. She had that same warm smile that Abby had and the same soft inviting blue eyes.
“Hello, you must be Paul. Abby is still getting ready. She’ll be just a few more minutes, I’m her grandma Ruth. Please come in,” Ruth said as she stepped aside to let Paul walk in.
“It’s nice to meet you Ruth, I’m Paul,” Paul said as he walked into the house.
Paul smiled as he realized his mistake, “I guess you already knew I was Paul, sorry I’m nervous.”
Ruth just smiled and said “it’s ok, I understand. Please come have a seat on the couch.”
Ruth closed the door and led Paul to the living room. The inside of the house was decorated with furniture that looked like it was straight out of the 70’s. There was even orange shag carpet in the living room that was probably actually from the 70’s. The living room was full of porcelain figures on display in glass cases and even more along the mantle of an old brick fireplace.
Paul had a seat on an older looking couch with a floral pattern and a quilt draped across the back of it that Paul was pretty sure was handmade.
Ruth stood in the doorway of the living room; Paul could tell she was trying to figure him out.
“Would you like something to drink? I can make you a cup of tea,” Ruth said.
“No thank you, I’m fine,” Paul said as he turned on the couch to face Ruth who was still standing in the doorway.
“Well, I’ll be back in just a minute. I’ll go see how Abby is doing,” Ruth said then turned around and headed upstairs to check on Abby.
Paul sat in the living room for a few minutes and the whole time he couldn’t stop thinking about Abby and how nervous he was about the date. It was an excited nervous but nevertheless he was nervous and he was hoping that everything would go well. He was brought out of his deep thoughts as soon as he heard people coming down the stairs.
He got up from the couch and turned to face the stairs, as he did he saw Abby coming down them. She was wearing a beautiful red spaghetti strap dress that hung down just above her knees. Her hair was curled and hung down to her shoulders, she had make-up on but
it was very subtle. She was naturally beautiful and didn’t need makeup but decided to wear it for her special night out with Paul.
She was just as nervous as Paul but he couldn’t tell by the smile on her face. Paul was stunned by how amazing she looked and couldn’t find the words to even say hello. He just stood there staring at her as she finished coming down the stairs.
“Hi,” Abby said once she was at the bottom of the stairs.
Paul still couldn’t get over how beautiful she was, he felt like the luckiest man alive.
He still couldn’t speak until Ruth said “well you kids have fun and be safe.”
Paul finally realized that he hadn’t said hello and still held the rose he had picked for her in his hand.
“Hello Abby, you look beautiful. I got you this rose,” Paul final said as he walked up to Abby to hand her the rose.
“That looks familiar,” Ruth said and then chuckled to herself.
“Yea I’m sorry, I’ll replace it,” Paul said as he blushed because he felt embarrassed with the fact that he hadn’t got her any flowers ahead of time.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done this,” Paul said.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I’m fine with you giving Abby the rose. I grow them to share with people and if it makes Abby smile then it is worth it,” Ruth responded and smiled at Paul.
“Thank you grandma and thank you Paul, it’s a beautiful rose,” Abby said as she hugged her grandma.
“I wont be out too late but don’t wait up,” Abby said to her grandma and then took Paul’s hand and headed for the front door.
Paul walked Abby out the door and headed to the car. He opened the passenger door and waited for her to get in the car and closed the door behind her. He walked around the car and got in; he turned and looked at Abby as he started up the car.
“You do look beautiful, thanks again for going out with me tonight,” Paul said.
“Thank you,” Abby replied and smiled at Paul.
Paul put the car in gear and headed off down the road.
“This is a beautiful car,” Abby said trying to break the silence that now filled the car.
Love, Revenge and Zombies Page 4
