Glancing one last time at the clock he wandered to the bathroom and quickly showered and dressed for work. A leftover donut and a glass of milk made his usual breakfast as he surveyed his apartment. His building was about as close to the coast as you could get and still be dry. While one side of Bayport held the shipping businesses and docks, the other was very commercial and touristy with its numerous shops and restaurants.This was the view from his living room, looking out onto the beach and ocean below. The apartment was quite over sized for his needs. A young man recently out of college and living on his own it was naturally furnished sparsely with just a few chairs, tables and cabinets that he needed. His parents tried to talk him into getting something smaller but he liked having the space. He could have friends over to watch sports or play video games or have family from out of town stay without feeling cramped and on top of one another.
He checked his watch as he finished the last of his breakfast; 6:40. He grabbed a light coat and his laptop bag and headed for the elevator. The security guard on duty saw him as he stepped out and into the glassed lobby.
"Morning Tyler. Not going to the garage this morning?"
"Nope, not today, Frank. How's your kid doing?"
"Still complaining about the cast but he should be out of it some time this week. He can't wait to swing a bat again, lemme tell ya!"
Tyler reached into his bag and pulled out a baseball, handing it to the guard.
"Picked this up last night. He's a bigger Stingray fan than I am."
"Wow, thanks a lot! Signed by Mel Russell too! He's gonna love it!"
Tyler waved silently over his shoulder as he passed through the large revolving doors and out into the crisp morning air. Waiting at the curb was Calvin's light blue Aston Martin DB9.
He slumped into the passenger seat as Calvin sped away.
"You crash it?" Calvin asked?
Tyler gave his friend as sidelong glance.
"New tires and brakes."
"Again? Man, how are you gonna wine and dine some fine woman when you spend all your scratch on your car?"
"Bah. No thanks."
"Seriously man. I know you like the car and all but this is what, your third set of tires in the last few months? Why not get a nice cruiser like this, find yourself a hot chick and ease up on the grease monkey thing?"
"That's your thing, Cal. It's not really for me. Tell ya what though. When I find the right girl, I won't have to choose between her and tires."
"Heh, yeah right. We'll see how that works out."
The drive into downtown Bayport was short. Calvin eased the DB9 into a parking space in the underground garage at MacKenzie Technical, the engineering firm where they both worked. Tyler worked as a jack-of-all-trades on project development doing CAD work, material analysis and whatever else he could get into while Calvin was in the technical marketing department, explaining the complicated projects to the "suits with money" as he often referred to them.
Today was a slow day for both of them. Calvin had a short meeting with some folks looking to renovate a bridge while Tyler's project slate was clean. He spent most of the day working on a rendering of his R32 in between answering questions from some of the junior employees. Just before lunch he got a call.
"Tyler Scott."
"Hey there, Ty. It's George."
"Hey Georgio. What's up? My car isn't giving you any trouble is it?"
"Nah, not your car, the shop. We lost power earlier this morning. A guy was out to check it earlier and he says some box or other took a surge or something so I'm in the dark for a while. Already had one of the guys whack his head on a lift so I'm gonna have to shut down until it is fixed."
"Wow, that bad?"
"Yup, pretty bad. However, I was able to make arrangements for everyone that had their cars in and I just wanted to check with you before I had your R32 moved. I found a local girl who has a German shop, new but I hear good things."
"A girl with a shop, huh? Well that is a bit different. How good is she?"
"Supposed to be very good. I don't know her personally but she used to have a shop out west before she moved to Bayport. They were very reputable, very good. Specialize in German stuff, BMW, VW, Benz and the like. Wanna give it a shot?"
Tyler thought for a moment. 'Well, the R is just in for brakes and tires. Not much can go wrong there if they are any good at all. And I can check out the shop when I pick up the car.'
"Yeah, go ahead George. I appreciate you doing that for me."
"Hey, least I can do for a guy in as often as you. I'll get you her number in a bit. My guy with the flatbed just got back and I'm gonna let him know to take your car over."
"I'll talk to you later then, thanks."
An hour later George called back and gave Tyler the phone number and address for the new shop. At 4 o'clock, just before leaving for the day, he decided to call and see what he could find out about this new place.
"Thanks for calling Albrecht's Garage, this is Carlos."
"Afternoon, Carlos. My name is Tyler Scott. My car was sent to you earlier today by George Greer. Just wanted to check in and see if it was all set."
"Scott...you've got the blue R32? Brakes and tires?"
"That's right."
"Yep, you're all ready to go. And that is one fine car if I may say."
"Well thanks. I realize we are getting later in the business day here. How soon do I have to be there to pick it up today?"
"Technically our hours are until 6pm but since we are newer in town there will still be someone here a few hours later than that while we are getting things organized. They should be able to help you out still if you can't make it before real closing time."
"Great. I don't think I will be that late but I appreciate the effort. I'll see you soon.
"Alright then, see you when you get here."
On the drive home Tyler explained to Calvin about the garage change.
"That makes sense. Nice that George did that for you, but why are we not going to get your car now?"
"I want to change and get some real shoes so I can break in the new parts a little. Besides, you know I hate wearing this business garbage."
"Yeah yeah, the 't-shirt and jeans' type. But how do you expect to get women wearing that worn out wardrobe of yours?"
"There is more to life than dating women, Cal. And anyone who cares more about what I am wearing than who I am isn't my type. Just like you won't date anyone who doesn't drink anything more than wine or beer."
"Hey man, just about anyone will drink a beer if given the choice. It takes some refinement and sophistication to go for more."
Tyler grinned and shook his head.
"If you say so."
While Tyler ran up to his apartment to change Calvin took the opportunity to talk to a young woman walking out of the building. On his way back down Tyler noted that Calvin was leaning on the front fender of his car with a smile on his face, a sure sign that he had secured himself a date for the weekend.
"So where to this time?"
"She wants to try that new French place that opened up downtown. She has a friend she can call if you're interested."
"No thanks."
"Yeah, I figured. I made that up anyway."
"Not even you are bold enough to ask someone to double date within five minutes of meeting."
"Oh ho! You doubt me?"
"As long as we've known each other? No way. I have complete faith in you."
"Hmmm, I see your point."
As far back as anyone could remember Tyler and Calvin had been inseparable. No matter what they were doing the two always did it together When one got in trouble the other was always right there. Even through high school and college they were interested in the same courses and achieved similar grades, which several times got them accused of cheating. Even that they worked through together. Whether it had ever been spoken or not each one knew they could count on the other to back them up when the time came.
The new garage was further from Tyler's apartment than George's place and in the opposite direction as well. It was very close to the airport which was near the coast between the commercial and industrial sides of the city. When they found the well-worn building there was a V10 Audi R8 parked out front.
'Well, that is a promising sign.' Tyler thought if a car like an R8 was being worked on at the shop they couldn't be too bad.
"The car is ready so you can just drop me off if you want. Unless you want to go for another ride around Route 5 with me."
"My bruises still have bruises from the last time I did that so I think I am gonna pass this round. You call me if you need me to come get your or something."
"Heh, I see. Well thanks for the ride today. I owe you."
"Again. Owe me again."
"Right. Thanks."
Tyler got out of the Aston and started toward the building. Calvin stomped on the throttle and left a trail of tire smoke down the empty back road.
'For a guy that claims to not be into racing he sure does like a flat, straight, empty road.'
Inside the shop there was a row of several lifts on one side of the shop and stalls filled with equipment on the other. The lifts were empty but a few of the stalls had technicians working under open hoods of different cars. One was a blue Mini, another had a Z4 and at the end of the row was what looked like some kind of tuned Ferrari.
"You must be Tyler."
Tyler looked over to see an older Hispanic gentleman walking toward him. He was middle-aged, maybe in his fifties with greying hair and a well-trimmed mustache. His skin was quite tanned and he walked with energy. Tyler nodded at him and gestured toward the car in the back of the shop.
"I thought you guys specialized in German makes."
"Who told you that?"
"George Greer mentioned it when he called me earlier."
"Ah, he must have heard about the shop out west. Yeah, we used to do German only but moving out here and opening a place, well, we wanted to get as big a customer base as we could. We still do German and other euro cars but we won't turn you away if you have an American or Japanese car either. For the boss it's about working on the cars, not being a niche shop."
"Sounds like as good a way to run a business as any. So you are Carlos then?"
"Yes sir I am. Carlos Trujilo. I run most of the operations here, make sure things are getting done and done right. All the ins and outs of running the daily business."
"Hmm, so then what does 'the boss' do?"
"I work on the cars."
Behind him a woman's muffled voice came from under the hood of the Z4. Tyler couldn't make out any of her features until she emerged from the depths of the BMW's engine compartment. The first thing he noticed was her height. Many of the women he knew were fairly short, his mother especially so against his own 6-foot frame.. This woman stood maybe an inch or two shorter than him with her long, reddish-brown hair in a ponytail. He guessed she was in her early twenties. She closed the hood and wiped her hands on a rag as she walked toward the two men. She extended a mostly clean hand to Tyler.
"Stephanie Albrecht."
Tyler shook her hand without hesitating despite the grease and grime.
"Tyler Scott, nice to meet you. So you guys are from out west. Where about?"
"South of the California bay area. Dad has had his shop there for thirty-some years. German specialist as you heard."
"Well I do have a VW so I hope you brought some of that expertise with you."
Stephanie smirked.
"You won't be disappointed."
"Fair enough. So what do I owe you? I'll settle up and get out of the way."
Carlos handed him a sheet of paper.
"Nada. Just sign this so we know you picked up the car. We did it as a favor for another local shop so we've squared things away with George. You get the benefit this time."
"This time?"
"Yep. This time no charge. Next time is just business as usual."
"Why is there going to be a next time?"
"Well we certainly aren't going to outright steal business from George or anyone else but we hope you'll at least consider us, maybe tell some friends where to find us."
"You know, I do know someone who could use some help with an Aston Martin."
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