18 May 2004

"And done...", Allen quietly muttered to himself. "At least I think it's done..."

He had just set down the ratchet and screwdriver he was using when his wrist watch started blaring.

"BEEEEP, BEEEEP, BEEE-..."

With the push of a button the watch was silenced.

"15:00. Gotta get dressed for my interview. don't want to be late."

One quick shower, shave, and change of clothes later, Allen grabbed his keys and left the house. Since he had to pick up his girlfriend, Lynn, after his interview, Allen bypassed his Frankenstein monster of a 1980 Suzuki GS850 for their four door deathtrap. The car was a 1989 Plymouth Horizon hatchback. It leaked oil, 3 doors wouldn't open from the outside, the A/C was shot, radio was fried... And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The poor car had a plethora of other issues. But, it was paid for; and after Allen had changed the distributor, rotor, and distributor cap, it started on the first turn of the key every time.

30 minutes later:

Allen watched once again as the hood bowed up on the driver's side as he made the right hand turn into the parking lot.

"Just hold together awhile longer. We can't afford to replace you or fix you like you deserve, but I'll do the best I can...", Allen softly said to the car as he turned it off and got out.

Allen was feeling hopeful as he glanced up at the sign above the door. Autozone wasn't the most prestigious job, but it would help pay the bills and allow Allen to get a discount on essential parts to keep the car and bike running. That discount would be handy for some parts he needed for other projects as well.

17:35 PM

Lynn was already outside smoking a cigarette when Allen pulled up. Since the cigarette was freshly lit, Allen knew she hadn't been waiting long. After shifting into park, he reached over and popped the door for her.

As Lynn approached the car, Allen thanked the Heavens once again that he had gotten so lucky. She was 5'6" (167.64 cm) tall with shoulder length wavy blonde hair; had full pouty red lips and a delicate, though slightly crooked, aquiline nose on her slender heart shaped face; light brown eyes the color of coffee with creamer under her thin, curved, slightly darker blonde eyebrows. She was 124lbs (56.25 kg), 28DD-22-30, with long, well defined legs. Her off the rack, charcoal grey, business casual skirt suit flattered her figure and and drew appreciative looks from all those near by.

Lynn was oblivious to all the attention. Her tired eyes were locked on the poorly restrained, ornery smirk of a grin on Allen's face. She could tell by that alone that Allen's interview must have gone well, and she felt a small amount of stress slide off her shoulders.

"I take it you got the job.", Lynn stated as she settled herself into the passenger seat.

"Yep! I start on Monday. Spoil sport... I wanted to surprise you with the news and a salted caramel brownie iced coffee from Gypsy's." Allen replied, before stating, "At least the coffee should be a surprise still...", as he passed her the cup.

Lynn smiled and her eyes lit up as she accepted the cup. Allen had even gotten extra whipped cream and dark chocolate shavings on top, just as she liked.

"It is. Thank you Babe" Lynn replied as she smiled. "But where did you get the money? I thought we were out of spending money until I get paid Friday..."

"We were. But I managed to finish fixing that Fender Super 60 amp that I saved from the trash. I sold it to the pawn shop for $90. Probably could have gotten more if I had had more time to haggle, but I can't complain. Three new female spade connectors, some heat shrink, a bit of solder on the power port, some electrical tape, and a new glass Buss fuse, plus an hour or so of my time to make $90? Hell yeah! Easy money!"

Lynn looked at Allen out of the corner of her eye. "Didn't you want to keep that amp? You kept going on and on about finally being able to learn to play your electric guitar when you found it..."

Allen's smile dropped a bit and he was starting to blush when he coughed in mild embarrassment. "Yeeeaaahhh... I did... Until I discovered that the pick-up is fried, the bridge adjustment screws were stripped, and the fret board is delaminating at the head. Your dad and I could probably fix the delamination. But, the other parts would have to be bought new and swapped out. Expensive. So, not a priority. Would probably be cheaper and smarter to just get a new axe..."

Their conversation came to a temporary halt there as Allen pulled up to the speaker at Schlotzsky's to order their dinner.

After paying and getting their sandwiches, Allen drove them the rest of the way home while Lynn vented about some of the antics that a few members of the team she supervised at work had pulled.