His Uptown Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

job on her own.
    By the time they arrived back at the shop, both cones were finished.
    â€œLet’s get you started in the shop. Unfortunately, you’ll still have run into the lobby to answer the phone, but it doesn’t ring as often in the afternoon.”
    â€œWhy don’t you have a cordless phone?”
    Bob smiled. “Sorry, but that doesn’t work here. Whenthe phone rings, we’ve got power tools going or we’re banging on something. It’s impossible to hear the caller speak. So you really do have to leave the room.”
    â€œI didn’t think of that. I understand.”
    â€œI’m going to give you all the tune-ups to do,” Bob continued.
    She opened her mouth to protest that she was capable of much more, but stopped herself. The terms under which she’d been hired stated light-duty. “Sure,” she mumbled, trying to smile graciously.
    Bob walked behind the counter and stacked a few work orders into a pile. “Do these, and when you’re finished, come see me.”
    Georgette picked up the pile and moved the first car into Bay One, anxious to begin the job she couldn’t have foreseen in her wildest dreams.
    As she worked on her tune-ups and waited for the oil to drain, she watched her bosses as they worked. They both worked hard and appeared to share all tasks and decisions equally, yet they still remained friends.
    Of all the people Georgette knew, she couldn’t call a single woman a real friend. She seldom saw them outside formal events, and even then those events were mainly venues to make or strengthen contacts. Even at the gym, Georgette felt as if her life was a competition.
    She liked to think of the guys at the track as her friends, but she never saw them anyplace else. She suspected much of that had to do with their wives and girlfriends being suspicious that she was there for more than automechanical work.
    Everyone at church was friendly, but three months wasn’t enough time to nurture any real friendships, especially when she only saw them once a week, and thenrushed home directly after the service, since her father didn’t want her going in the first place.
    At four twenty-five, Bart appeared beside her. She hadn’t finished the pile, but it was time to go home in five minutes.
    â€œDidn’t get as much done as you thought you would, did you?”
    â€œNo, I didn’t,” she said quietly.
    â€œBefore you go, Bob wants to see you. He’s in the office. Okay?”
    Georgette stepped out of her coveralls, hung them on the hook, picked up the pile of work orders she hadn’t completed, and made her way to the lobby. Her stomach clenched with the thought that she wasn’t good enough, or fast enough, and that her first day was also going to be her last.

Chapter Three
    B ob paused at his customer’s question, halfway through typing the invoice. “It was just a tune-up, Don,” Bob responded. “I guarantee all the work we do, and I guarantee this, too.” Bob hadn’t hovered, but he had watched George when she couldn’t tell he was there.
    She knew what she was doing.
    â€œIf you tell me what you think she did wrong, I’ll fix it.”
    â€œWell, maybe I spoke too quickly,” his customer said. “It seems to be running smoothly, and I didn’t see any oil on the ground. At least not so far.”
    â€œYou won’t see any, either. George did a good job.”
    â€œDo I get a discount?”
    Bob gritted his teeth. “You were more than happy when my high-school-age cousin tuned up your car last year. You didn’t ask for a discount then. What makes the difference now? Is it because a woman did the tune-up?”
    Don’s voice deepened. “No. Of course not.”
    Bob typed the last code for the computer to add the tax, and hit Print. “Good. Will that be on your charge card?”
    A flicker of movement in the doorway to the shop