Racing Home

Once I had finished my breakfast and got up to go, I needed to say something to her. "You would look more beautiful if you smiled at the guests. You might even earn some tips."

"Are you hitting on me?" was her reply.

"If you don't enjoy your job, I'm sure there's something out there that is for you." I attacked back. She stood there with her mouth gaped open. I hurriedly left before she had the chance to say something that would get her in trouble with her manager.

When I went to pay for my breakfast at the Front Desk, the receptionist told me that it was complimentary from the Night Manager, Duke. I thanked the young lady, then check-out.

I took a drive around Brentwood. I wanted to see and examine the place my mother grew up. The truth is I was stalling from meeting my grandparents. Once I found the towns small shopping area, I parked the Golf in the local car park. I strolled down the high street, eventually taking a break at a corner coffee shop. The interior of the place had the sixties look to it. The shop fittings looked original from those times, but the furniture was modern with a sixties design. I sneaked a few shots with my smartphone, sending them to Tim. He responded at once with a message, 'That's an idea. Maybe I'll give the shop a facelift.' I returned a massive emoji thumbs up; I smiled to myself.

After ordering a double Americano, I sat by one of the windows to enjoy my beverage as I watched the people going up and down. Most of them seemed to know each other as they greeted one another. Brentwood seemed a small and close community, unlike London and Birmingham, where no one knew each other. Whatever couple I saw, which looked over sixty, I wondered if they were my grandparents. I finished the last of my coffee, which gave me that bitter taste of its strong scent. A few seconds later, my adrenaline kicked in, giving me the strength to go and meet my grandparents.

A quarter of an hour later, I found myself parked outside my grandparent's bungalow. It was a well-maintained building with various plants in the front garden, neatly planted in rows. I sat in the car, staring at the property for God knows how long. When I decided to get out of the car and make my way to the front door, it seemed like I was taking one step forward and two steps back. Getting there eventually, I rang the doorbell twice with no response. I turned to leave and then decided to knock on the door. I banged on the door with my fist this time, being careful not to hit the frosted glass. Someone was inside. I could see the shape of someones frame coming towards the door.

"Just a minute, I'm coming." It was a female voice which I recognised, but from where I couldn't picture it.

When the door opened, I took a step back. This time it was me standing there with my mouth gaping open. Jade stood there in front of me with her arms crossed across her chest. "I'm look... looking for Mr and Mrs Por... Porter," I stuttered.

"Are you stalking me?" she responded. "You better go before I call the police!" she yelled.

Composing myself, I raised both my hands in a surrender gesture. "I'm just looking for Mr and Mrs Porter. I've probably got the wrong address. I'm sorry for disturbing you." Turning, I started to leave.

"Wait," she called. This time she wasn't so aggressive. "You have the right address."

When I turned to face her, I'm sure I saw a glimmer of a smile. "Are they in?"

"No."

"Have they gone out? Will they be back soon?" I asked, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, they'll be back in about four weeks from today," she said with a smirk on her face. "With your help this morning, I couldn't take them to the airport because some people don't go by the hotel rules." she was on a roll again.

I let her finish before I made my surrender gesture again. "I'm sorry about that." I stood there looking down at my feet, thinking of what to say. "I guess they've gone on holiday?"

"You ask too many questions. If you've finished, I have things to do. Why do you want to see them? Do you want to leave them a message?" She was ready to close the door in my face.

I stared at her for a moment. I wanted to scream at her and say, 'They're my grandparents. That is why I want to fucking see them.' Instead, I said, "I had a small car collision with Mr Porter. I just wanted to see if they are ok. I'll see them when they come back." What's wrong with a little white lie? I wasn't about to tell a stranger they were my grandparents. I turned and made my way back to the car. I heard the front door slam behind me.

I headed back to the hotel and booked for another two nights. Once I was in my room, I fired up my laptop, connecting to Facetime. Mum answered after a few rings. She asked me if I was in Brentwood, to which I responded with a nod.

"My friend, Janet, called me late last night and told me that your grandparents have gone for a month to Spain." Mum was quiet for a moment before she carried on. "I would tell you to come home until they get back, but you know the situation here, son."

"Don't worry about it, mum. I'll call Tim tomorrow; maybe they need some help at the cafe. Then I could come back in a month.

"Why don't you sleep on it and decide what you're going to do in the morning," mum advised me.

I agreed with her. Since Frank was at work, it gave mum and me some time to have a chat. When she heard the front door open, she quickly said goodbye, blowing a kiss to me before cutting the connection.

Stretched out on the bed, I lay there, staring at the ceiling, my mind out in space. With a smile on my face, I thought it wouldn't be long for a month to go by until my grandparents got back from their holidays. Simultaneously, Jade took over my thoughts with her beauty as I wondered how she knew my grandparents.

After a short nap, I woke up, and I was famished. I considered ordering some room service; then I decided to go to the restaurant. By the time I got ready, it was almost nine in the evening. When I got to the dining area, Tony was busy speaking with some guests. The hostess asked me if anyone else was dining with me before she showed me to a table. Once I was seated, I scanned the area to see if I could see Jade, reaching my vision beyond the restaurant towards the bar. When I didn't see her, I figured she was off or only worked in the morning.

On seeing me, Tony came over to my table with a menu in his hand. "Good evening Mr Porter. You are staying with us for another night."

"Two more, Tony." With a hand gesture, I signed him to get closer. "It's Michael, Tony. Call me by my first name."

He smiled and handed me the menu. "Our special tonight is sea bass, sir," he announced.

Without opening the menu, I asked, "What steaks do you serve?"

As he read the menu, he began to tell me the steaks they served. "We have the sirloin, rump, ribeye..."

I interrupted him midway. "The ribeye steak, mash potatoes and vegetables, please. Is the steak a reasonable portion? I'm famished."

"I will have a word with the chef." Taking the menu, he disappeared into the kitchen.

An hour later, after eating an enormous ribeye steak I had ever seen. I was ready to ask for the bill when Tony called one of the waitresses to bring me a piece of cheesecake and a hot beverage. I was the last customer in the restaurant. Tony's staff began to prepare the tables for breakfast in the morning. He sat at my table while we talked. My tongue was burning to ask him Jade's next shift, but I didn't want him thinking contrarily of me.

Once I was back in my room, I jumped into the shower then straight to bed, falling asleep instantly.

The next day I was up from the crack of dawn. By six, I headed for the Front Desk. As I approached the reception, Duke greeted me with a nod; I returned the gesture. He came out of his work area to greet me with a firm handshake.

"You're with us for another night?" he said.

"Two more, Duke. And by the way, thank you for breakfast yesterday. You didn't have to do that."

"It was my pleasure," he smiled.

The restaurant was across the lobby from reception. You could see the staff preparing the tables for breakfast. My vision went straight to Jade. "What time does the restaurant open for breakfast?"

"At seven, sir."

"Is there anywhere I can get some coffee, Duke? I don't want to ask the young lady setting up the tables. I felt her wrath twice yesterday, and it isn't pleasant."

"What, Jade, she's always going over the top for customers. Let's go to the bar; I'll make us some coffee."

Seated on one of the barstools I watched, Duke worked his skills as he prepared two cappuccinos. I would look towards the restaurant every so often at Jade.

"She's a beauty, isn't she? If only I were thirty years younger." Duke said. She saw us gazing at her. We both instantly looked away.

"How comes you're staying with us longer?" Duke asked.

I explained that I needed to stay in Brentwood for a month or even longer if necessary, not giving him too many details. Knowing my luck, he knows my grandparents as well.

"You're not planning on staying here for a month, are you? It's going to cost you an arm and a leg for a month. Unless you have money to burn?" He smiled.

That's when I came up with an idea. "you wouldn't know if the hotel is hiring, would you?"

He looked at me for a moment. "What can you do?" he asked while he took a sip from his beverage. "Do you have any skills?"

"I've worked in a cafe in the kitchen for a few months, but my real skill is cars. I've studied Automotive Engineering for two years, so I know my way around cars."

"Cars!" Duke said. He kept staring over my shoulder. "Here she comes."

"Who?" was my response? I swung the barstool around instantly.

"Hi, Duke," Jade said. She stood not more than a meter in front of me, looking into my eyes. "Hi," she greeted me with a smile.

"Hi," I responded.

Duke took the empty cappuccino cups and put them in the dishwasher. He said, "I finish at eight if you have an hour to spare. I know someone who might have a job vacancy still available. With that said, Duke disappeared to the reception, leaving me alone with Jade.

"Hey, I want to apologise for yesterday," I said.

"Don't worry about it. I think I overreacted. I should be the one apologising." She smiled. We stared at each other for a moment before either of us said anything. I was in heaven.

"I know it's not seven yet, but any chance of having breakfast," I said with fear in my voice.

"I think we can arrange that without me biting your head off." We both chuckled as we made our way to the restaurant.

The breakfast was delicious, as was the service. Jade looked after me more than enough, making up for the previous day. I have known this young lady for two days, and she has started to affect my feelings. Maybe I'll ask her out on a date when all this drama in my life is over. Why wait? Why not make my move now. Perhaps she's already seeing someone? I was way into my fantasy to see her approach my table.

"I hope you enjoyed your breakfast," Jade said. With a smile, she continued. "The service was slightly better today."

"It was perfect, a lot better than yesterday. A five-star rating." I got up, and again there was that uncomfortable moment where I wanted to say something. I wanted to say more but couldn't think of anything. Instead, we said our goodbyes, and I left.

I went back to my room to get ready to go out, spending that extra bit of time on what I would wear. My grooming was ok before, but now I was a bit more particular about what to wear. This girl was affecting me.

When I got to the Front Desk, Duke was doing a handover with the morning shift. As soon as he finished, he grabbed his coat to go. Exiting the main entrance of the hotel, I glimpsed towards the restaurant. Jade was busy serving coffee at one of the tables.

"I noticed some positive energy between Jade and you." Duke chuckled. "I saw the way she looked at you. I think she likes you."

"No. She's just been polite."

"Believe me. I know when I see love."

I took a last glimpse towards the hotel, hoping to see her before getting into Duke's car.

Chapter 15

It was a wet drizzly morning; the sky was dark, covered in grey clouds. It didn't take long for the rain to start pouring down. We hurried to get into Duke's car before we got drenched. Once he started driving, I didn't want to distract him with questions while he was trying to concentrate on the road from the heavy rainfall as he headed out of Brentwood towards Shenfield.

We reached our destination as the cloudburst had stopped. It turned back into a drizzle. Duke parked the car in the bay of one of the five units of an industrial estate. The first from the left was a tyre shop selling new and second-hand tyres. Next to that was a carpet warehouse. Where Duke parked was a mechanics garage. The other two units on the right specialised in installing kitchens. It was a small industrial estate, concealed away from any residential properties.

Before we got out of the car, I said to Duke, "I guess you have just brought me to a job interview in which I haven't prepared myself." In front of me was the entrance to the garage. The work area was large enough to fit two average size vehicles if you reversed them in. There was enough space on the wall behind the cars for tools. Between the entrance and the cars, there was just about enough area to work. It was a tight workspace.

"This is my cousin Moses garage," Duke said, showing me a man in mechanics overalls, leaning inside the engine bay of an old Volvo estate. "He's a religious man, so be careful what words you use when you speak to him. He's a pastor to the local African community during the weekend."

I looked at the name above the shop entrance, which said 'Hope Garage'. I turned to Duke, I said, "With the name Moses and a sign that says Hope, I wouldn't have guessed that he was a man of God. If I get, the job does that mean I have to go to church every Sunday."

Duke chuckled. "Let me introduce you to my cousin." He called out, "Hey, Moses, what are you up to, pastor."

As soon as he turned, his vision went on me. I noticed straight away that Moses wasn't very friendly to strangers, primarily men my age. He just looked at me from head to toe before his eyes wondered to Duke. "Duke, you saw how it turned out with that other young man you sent me last time. He didn't know the difference between an air filter and an oil filter."

Duke was speechless; he was embarrassed by the situation.

I began to walk towards the Volvo, going past Moses. "What's the problem with the estate," I said.

He followed me, stretching his stride to get ahead of me. We both stopped at the Volvo's engine bay. "When you rev the engine, you get black smoke coming out of the exhaust. A lot of black smoke," he emphasised.

"What work have you done on it?"

He looked at me for a moment before he answered, " I have changed the air filter, checked the catalyst on it and the engine compression. I've been on it since yesterday," Moses said with frustration in his voice.

"Is it ok if I start the engine?" I asked.

There was that look again.

"Have faith in me," I smiled.

With the engine running, I found the fault within a few minutes. One of the air hoses, which balance the air and diesel mixture, had a slight split in it. It was difficult to see the damage behind the hose, and the cut was tiny. Over the engine noise, I yelled, "Do you have any duct tape or anything similar?" He grabbed a roll of tape from his tool bench and gave it to me. I wrapped the hose a couple of times with it, then revved the engine hard. The black smoke emitted from the exhaust was minimal. "Is that better now, Moses?"

"What's your name, kid?"

"Michael."

"When can you start, Michael?" Moses smiled.

"I need to change into my work clothes, and I'm ready. Is an hour ok with you?"

"I'll be waiting for you. I'll order the new hose, hopefully by the end of the day. We'll have this job done." Moses smiled.

Duke dropped me off back at the hotel. He left straight away to go home, as he needed to get some sleep. I quickly unloaded my car with the few things I had. The hotel concierge appeared from nowhere with a trolley to help me take my stuff to my room. Before going to my bedroom, I extended my stay for the next month, paying for a week in advance. Before reprogramming my keycard, the receptionist went to the back office. She returned with another lady, who introduced herself as the Front Office Manager. I explained that I would be staying for a month, as I have some business to attend to in Brentwood. Her sight went at once on the trolley with my belongings.

"Can you hold on a moment, please, Mr Porter," the manager said. She started typing on the computer keyboard, studied the monitor, and did more typing before finishing with a tap of the enter button. She made a new keycard and handed it to the concierge. "Take Mr Porter to room 215, Charlie." She turned to me, "Since you are staying with us for some time, I've upgraded you to a nicer room. Have a pleasant stay, sir."

I followed Charlie to the room. The bedroom was much more prominent when I entered it, with a small living area with a kitchenette.

"Not bad, Charlie," I said.

He smiled.

I tried to help him with the suitcase and the few boxes, but he wouldn't let me. By the time I went to the old room to collect my stuff, Charlie was gone when I returned.

It was eleven when I got to the garage. The parts for the Volvo had arrived. It didn't take me long to take off the old hose and replace it with the new one. After making a few adjustments to the diesel mixture, the black smoke had cleared completely.

Moses would be on top of all the jobs that came in that week, checking my work. I worked up to Saturday, late in the afternoon. Before I left, Moses called me into his office.

"Michael, you know your way around cars. I was shadowing you this week to see your work, but next week you'll be on your own."

"I thought I was on my own this week, doing all the work."

He smiled. With the calculator in his hand, he hit some numbers. "Are you ok to work six days a week, Michael?"

"That will be ok, sir."

He did some more calculations on the calculator. "On a couple of the quiet days, you can have the morning or afternoon off," Moses said. He turned the calculator around, showing me the three digit figure on the small grey screen. "That is per week," he announced.

I did my estimates in my head. The figure he showed me covered the hotel for the week, plus two hundred pounds left over for food. I was happy with that. We shook on the deal, and he paid me.

Sunday, which was my day off, I was up by seven. I wanted to have an early breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. It wasn't because I woke up and I was hungry. It was because of someone working there. Yes, you guessed it. It was Jade.

At eight, I was the first guest in the restaurant.

It was just Jade and me in the dining room. The chef was present as well, but he was busy in the kitchen. While I had breakfast, Jade and I chatted. It was awkward, as she was on duty. I asked her if she would like to go for some coffee when her shift was over. She politely declined my offer. Quickly finishing my breakfast, I got up and made my way to the host desk, where Jade finished her shift paperwork.

When she saw me approach her, she smiled. "The first one in, the last one out," she said.

"I swear, I'm not stalking you." I apologised. "The breakfast, It's incredible here." We both chuckled. After the laughter had subsided, our eyes met. I turned away. "I'm sorry for staring," I excused myself.

"I declined your offer because I'm not a big fan of coffee," Jade stated. "I like going to the movies, though. Pick me up at five. I live next door to Mr and Mrs Porter."