Duo's Child

Chapter 10

Later that day, Quatre was finished with phone calls and paper work. He had enough cuts on his fingers that he struggled not to bleed on his work. He sat back and thought to himself about what there was left to do in the day.

Hm…Duo wanted me to take Uno out and get her school supplies for tomorrow. He was job searching; and to top it all off, I still have to run by the office.

Quatre sighed. It was a long day already and he wasn't even finished yet. He was wondering how Duo was taking his day.

Quatre stretched back into his chair and relaxed his muscles. When he was finished, he stood up and decided a drive would be better then eating lunch. He made his way towards the door, nearly loosing his balance and falling over on the way.

I need to take a break soon else I'm going to end up killing myself.

Once he was finally out of the room, with trouble of walking to the door, he lightly rubbed his eyes and yawned. Working indoors for hours never had this affect on him until today; he was hoping he wasn't getting sick.

Slowly, he stepped into the living room and found Uno playing one of Duo's video games and scoring high points. He smirked at her ability to play well and decided to sit and watch for several minutes. She didn't even flinch a muscle when she felt his presence near, but instead chuckled a small laugh. He knew Uno enjoyed playing Ace Combat two because it was a fun air combat game, but he didn't know that she was so good with the controls of a realistic-looking flyers joystick.

"Game too easy?" Quatre smiled.

"They're stupid. I've played the same scenario for three times already and they still didn't learn my moves." Uno's plane just barely skimmed the top of a Stealth Bomber as she fired four missiles to the tail wing and shot it down, soon bringing up the Stats on her level.

"Uno, why don't you go ahead and save the game so we can get your school supplies?"

Uno yawned then replied. "Okay."

"Great, I also have to stop at the office—where I work—so I can hand some papers in. Is that alright as well?"

Uno nodded.

"Good. Come on, go get ready and we'll go out to eat lunch as well."

"Okay!" Uno shut off the game and hopped up to her feet. Once ready, she ran off to the hallway.

Quatre steadied himself and hoped he could get a balance at least decent enough to drive his vehicle.

Duo wasn't have an easy time as he had thought and hoped to have. Already he was turned away at the door by four different locations and with one left to look into, he was suddenly freaking out.

Let's just hope it's my image and not my work.

He drove on and began heading into the decent part of town where only the high class people worked and lived. Quatre lived just outside the city to spend the time of peaceful moments and tranquility.

As he neared the classier sections, the trees started to get greener and the grass more luscious. The homes, high-tech to very modern, were spaced out far apart with plenty of lawn space in between each lot and the cars were getting more and more expensive from old fashioned rusted ones. The sky was bluer and the air fresher; Duo was already in heaven driving in this town that he suddenly wished he got a convertible Vet instead of a hardtop one.

A chain of buildings came up on his right and Duo began scanning the signs for the location he was in search of. The brick of these buildings were dark red and the concrete between each one was so white, he didn't think that mortar could ever look better. Some buildings held stucco on the sides in a tan to off white color while others had wood sidings. The expression Duo was getting wasn't as he expected; this territory wasn't his style but he was very delicate in knowing how to get with it.

On his left the trees blew about in his direction as people jogged along the pathway beneath. Sprays of water joined the gushed of wind as the river on washed up to greet the sides. It felt like California to him, only instead of having a beach on his left, it was a river with the beach expression and feeling. The town had put up sand and rock to make the sides of the river appear like a beach considering you weren't able to see across it to the other side.

Duo's mouth quirked a smile when he found 'Rusty's Lot' at the turn of the road up ahead. The sign was Navy blue with bright blue neon lights that were to be lit up at night fall. The fences around the building and lots were that same Navy blue color painted on poles you see surrounded car lots. In front of the building was an enormous lot filled with used cars, some ranging from old Chevy's to brand new Lamborghinis. Jaguars were lined along the right side of the lot while Ferrari's on the left. Typical SUVs, Cadillacs, Trucks, and Vans were lined in rows in the center. Behind those, Duo was able to catch a glimpse of more cars placed behind the main building. He figured back there had the rest of the cars turned in, such as Neons, Pontiacs, and other typically seen vehicles.

A road on the right side of the entire lot went all the way toward the center with a parking lot just right of that. In the center of the lot, a huge building stood out of the large gap that was encased with off white stucco and a front wall of windows. Rusty's Lot was written on the side of the glass wall in that same Navy Blue and had the same color for the interior. Along the sides of the building, labels varied all the way from Body Work to Auto Collision to Retail Shop. The place had it all.

As Duo entered the lot along the road, he drove by a work that was changing out the sign below the title. Now that Duo was past the man, he was able to see the message saying 'Closed until Beginning of New Year.'

Duo paced himself to get inside before they actually close.

He turned into the parking lot and drove down the aisles until he found a spot to park. He veered into the perfect spot he found right across from the door and quickly got out when ready. The door shut softly and Duo wasted no time reviewing the look of the place before heading towards the building doors; he was ready and waiting for a job and nothing was going to stop him.

He paused when he reached the front doors and slowly looked around. It wasn't the usual glass doors most buildings had in the front, it was a circular door this lot held in the entrance of the building. No other doors were placed in the front of the building except for three circular glass doors.

Duo shrugged and entered quickly. Once inside, the cool air hit him like a breeze on a winter's day. The interior was Navy blue and white, the space filled with remarkably expensive cars he had never heard of, and glass walled offices lined along the top rim of the second floor balcony.

A man in black slacks and blue jean shirt stepped up to him. "May I help you?"

The man had dirty brown hair with bleached tips that formed the sides of his face to his ears. His eyes were aquamarine and his teeth amazingly white. His appearance looked mid twenties, but preferably younger.

Duo read the name of his tag. "Sorry to bug you, Richard, by coming in before you all close."

"Not a problem, we're not closing until tonight at six. We reopen next year."

"Why the long time?" Duo asked.

"We're remodeling and changing the name from Rusty's Lot to Citywide Specialists."

"What all do you have then? Carlot, body work, collision…"

"We have a new and used car lot, a body and collision repair shop, a retail shop for those in search of varies enhancements, a new paint shop, and even we're now adding in a showcase room for those who have dreams of cars but no idea to customize them. Of course, our starting prices for those are one million."

Duo remained silent and uneased. "One million?"

The man nodded, "For customizable cars that are extremely rare to find, such as a Ferrari and Vet combination or Truck and Camero. Sometimes people come here to view the hotrods we have in store or the designer's challenges, which are just experiments to see if they would work; they aren't for sale or able to be driven."

"Wow, you guys are really going out of the publics way." Duo blinked and watched a young couple check out a later version of the vet.

"Yes, we're the only company to ever go this far with a car."

"Why are you changing the name?"

"Rusty retired; he was the founder of this little placement and had dreams he didn't know how to control. He tried to sell cars as he worked on them, but he failed miserably so Jenkins took over. Now, what can I help you with?"

Duo faced Richard once again, "I'm looking for a job."

"Got experience?"

"Anything in particular?" Duo asked.

"Anything dealing with cars?" Richard smirked.

Duo growled, "I'm good with repairing and fixing, as well as installing."

"Hm…you're good but you have to be great to work here. Very well, follow me." Richard turned around and starting walking towards the curved staircases in the back of the large showcase room.

Duo growled intensely inside but eased his muscles when that same young couple smiled at him. He smiled back and followed Richard up the staircase to a room with a brick glass wall. Richard tapped on the door; them opened and allowed Duo inside.

"Mr. Jenkins will speak with you." Richard sneered at him.

"Thank you." Duo replied snobbish. He stepped inside as Richard shut the door behind him. The room wasn't very large but was bigger than the typical corner office in a workforce building. Duo sat down at a chair in front of the desk where a man with slick blonde hair typed on a computer.

The man turned and faced him, smiling. "So, what can I do for you?"

To Duo, the man—Jenkins—appeared late thirties and very clean cut, not snobbish like that Richard guy he just had deals with. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and held a Rolex on his left wrist. His hair was not only slick backwards, but it was awfully shiny as well.

"Well, I'm looking for a job."

"In what branch?" The man smirked. "Can't just go up to a dealer and say you want a job; we may put you up as a janitor."

Duo blinked then found the man smiling as his joke. He smirked.

"Anything that allows me to install or repair things."

"What type of worker are you?"

"…A great…worker."

"I see Richard has had words with you. I'll probably fire him tonight if he doesn't quite his attitude. He came from California and I've already had other customers complain about his attitude."

"Oh really?" Duo grinned. "I was beginning to think this place was all stuck up."

"No, but he gives it that look. So, what sort of great things do you do?" The man chuckled.

Duo smiled, "Anything along the lines of installing or repairing and fixing up. I've even worked out on motorcycles once."

"Did it do well?"

"Yeah, only the man ripped me off. He didn't want it at the end and left me alone with a vehicle I didn't know how to drive and spent my money fixing it up."

"What did you do?"

"I sold it to some kid who wanted to buy a good bike but didn't have enough money to buy a new one."

Jenkins nodded, "It seems you also have some retailing in your system as well."

"Well, I can talk people into things. I was a good person at that one time or another."

"Really? Explain. Since you don't have a resume, I'm hoping you can fill me in on the details yourself."

Duo nodded, "Ask away."

"What places have you looked into before ours?"

"Everything. This is the last place I've seen for miles since I left the mansion."

"Mansion?"

"I live with Quatre Winner. We were all buds since the wars." Duo hesitated. "I was a Gundam pilot and since the wars have ended, I've been working in the scrap and junk yards but the place was closed down since it lost so much attraction. I wound up moving in with Quatre later on."

"Really? You fought in the wars? Which machine?"

"Deathscythe, the black one."

"With the scythe?" Duo nodded. "Amazing. You don't appear to look like one of the pilots. Rumor had it you all were young, like the Vice Foreign Minister, but I've never believed it."

"Well, we were." Duo smiled happily that this man was a fan of his past work.

"My daughter enjoyed watch the news when she saw your Gundam on screen. She's a morbid girl, but I wasn't pissed off with your side. I lived in the colonies at that time."

"Well, we have something in common them, don't we?" Duo smirked.

"Yes we do. So the junk yard then what?"

Duo shrugged, "Nothing, I just took a long, long break of nothing and enjoyed the peacefulness we worked for. I'm getting back into the work force because automobiles are fun things to do but living in a mansion, people are terrified of my prices I offer as a one man worker."

Jenkins nodded, "That's how it was when I was growing up, except I began on bicycles instead of Gundams like you."

Duo laughed. "Yeah, well, we all start somewhere sometime."

"Exactly. So, I guess we'll just have to see where you stand to begin. You say installments and repairs?" Duo nodded. "What happened to that boys' motorcycle you worked on before?"

"It was hit in an accident he survived in. Installments I can do because, like when Quatre bought a new pair of headlights to replace his old ones, they're easy to just pop out the old and insert the new."

"That's good. We have room for you in the repair shop. Would you like to join that team, or scan this place for more?"

"Hey, repairing is what I do best with. Coming from the wars and all, I was able to repair my Gundam and get prepared for the next mission by the end of the week."

"And since those machines were big, I'm sure you were pretty fast."

"Quite. So what kind of cars do you see here anyways? Porsche? Corvette? Ferrari's I see."

"Yeah, just about anything and everything except for boats, planes, and eighteen wheelers. Rusty was my father-in-law and gave me this lot for a wedding gift long ago, but wouldn't give it up until now. If I hadn't talked him out of it, we'd be bankrupt."

"Ouch."

Jenkins nodded. "So, when can you start?"

"Well, tomorrow if you need me I can start. My little girl begins school tomorrow and I do want to be there for her."

"How old is she?"

"First grade, five-years-old. It was a one-night-stand long ago that wound up costing me her."

"Wow, that young and smart?"

"We trained her to get ready; she didn't even know how to read."

"Well, the lot may be closed, but the shop isn't. Come by tomorrow at twelve if you can and we'll put you to the test; one at the latest."

Duo nodded and stood up with Jenkins. "Will do, glad to have met you Sir. You've saved me a lot of hard stress."

Jenkins shook his hand and smiled. "Oh really? No body hired you?"

"Turned me down flat at the door. Maybe now I can save up for a ring for my girlfriend."

Jenkins smirked and released his hand. "Good luck with that as well. The pay here is decent to great. Beginners don't even start at minimum wage; they start at least twenty."

"Terriffic. See you tomorrow then." Duo smiled and turned towards the door.

"Yes, you too."

On the way home, Duo was getting overly excited at his new job. He now gets to drive from the mansion to the, all the way across town to the richest part of the city, and work at a place that has such excellent pay. He was more than happy at his life.

So within the next four months, I'll probably have enough to propose to Hidie.