‘Huh…what? What? I’m awake. You don’t need to call my parents officer.’ She said, still half asleep.
‘Eve, I don’t even know your parents.’ Said Hax, opening her blinds.
‘Oh Jesus Christ! What time is it?’
‘7 AM. Get up. Breakfast is ready.’
It took her some time to get herself out of bed and dressed, and she stumbled down stairs still quite drowsy, but the smell of fresh coffee made her perk up. She rushed to the table to see that there was only one cup made, and it was sitting in Hax’s hands. Dylan and Seth were munching on some toast while Hax just read the paper.
‘Mmm…coffee smells good.’ Eve said, sitting down.
‘Yeah, Hax used to be a barista, so he brews a mean cup.’ Dylan said, ‘and lucky for him, Seth and I don’t drink coffee.’
‘If you want some, you can make it yourself.’ Hax said, placing his paper down and grabbing the cup of coffee. Eve looked at him with puppy dog eyes, those big baby blue eyes staring into his deep purple ones.
‘There’s no point in trying. Hax wouldn’t give up his coffee to anyone.’ Snickered Seth.
‘OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!! Here!’ Hax screamed. He slid his coffee to Eve and walked up to the coffee machine to make another. Eve looked at Seth and poked her tongue out in a taunting fashion before taking a long sip from the coffee.
‘So, what’s on the plan for today?’ Eve asked.
‘You, young lady--’ Hax started only to be interrupted by Eve.
‘Don’t call me young lady. I’m, what, 2 years younger than you.’ Dylan and Seth both snickered at that, only to be silenced by an evil stare from Hax.
‘You are coming to work for me for the day. I need a new receptionist.’
‘Hrrrmm, fine.’ She grumbled ‘when do we leave?’
‘In about half an hour, so have a shower and get ready.’
She jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Once she was out of ear shot, Dylan turned to Seth and grabbed him around the throat.
‘I heard everything last night. And you’re lucky Hax found you first, cos I wouldn’t be so sympathetic.’
Seth slapped his hand away and said ‘I know what I did last night was wrong, and it was a lapse in judgement, but--’
‘NO! No buts! She is a guest in this household and you shall treat her as such.’ Yelled Hax, ‘you are old enough to know better, so don’t give me this shit! If I ever get even a HINT you want to pull that kind of crap that you pulled last night, I will make it so I only have one brother left.’ Hax’s hands started to darken, and his words came out almost like a growl. ‘When she comes back down, you WILL apologise to her for everything you have done.’
‘Even then whole “murder” thing?’
Hax raised his arm back to punch Seth, but was stopped by Dylan. Hax left the table and burst into the garage.
‘You know better than to make Hax angry. Now come on. Let’s head to work.’ Dylan said, dragging Seth out of his seat.
As they walked towards the door, Eve walked back down stairs, getting prepared for a nice hot shower.
‘Umm, Dylan? I’m going to meet you outside.’ Seth said. Dylan looked at him and shrugged. ‘Eve. Can I talk to you for a minute?’
‘Seth, if this is about you wanting to watch me shower, I will make sure you never have children.’
‘No…it’s just that…’ Eve couldn’t explain it. Seth, the guy who had the balls to feel me up, is afraid?
‘It’s ok Seth, just take a deep breath and say what you want to say.’
‘I want to apologise for yesterday. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I just push people away because I don’t want--’ but before Seth could finish his sentence, Eve had him in a very warm embrace. He didn’t know how to feel; after everything he had done to her, whether known or not, she still had it in her heart to forgive him. He wanted to cry, wanted to shed the manliest tears he could, but he just couldn’t.
‘It’s ok Seth. I forgive you.’ Eve whispered in his ear, and walked away. Seth stumbled outside to see Dylan waiting for him.
‘You, sir, are a good person. Now let’s get going. We have children to torment.’ Dylan said, with an evil grin on his face.
‘Just don’t tell Hax about this. I’d hate for him to find out I hugged his new toy before he could.’ Seth said, walking towards the garage. As if by karmic justice, something jumped from the roof of the house, and landed on Seth.
‘Don’t be so sure of that, brother.’ Said Hax, jumping up and offering Seth a hand. ‘You are a good man for doing that. I have to keep reminding myself that. But if you don’t let up on this “you want the human” joke, I'm going to have to hurt you.’
‘I think you already did. Fuck! For pure smoke, you are one fat ass mother fucker.’ Seth cried, walking up the street.
Hax entered the house just as Eve left the bathroom.
‘Ready to go?’ he asked.
‘Yeah. Let’s go.’ She replied ‘You never did tell me where you work.’
They both got in the car, and Hax started the engine. He pressed a button on the dash of his car and the garage door leading to the backyard opened. Hax drove the car in, and then parked it.
‘We’re here.’
‘What? You said you were a mechanic?’ Eve said, looking shocked.
‘Yeah, and because I live is such a small town, I work out of home. There are probably 30 cars in this town I look after.’
‘So what does my job entail? Watching day time soap operas and eating junk food? Cos I can do that, if you want.’
‘No I was serious about you working. You will answer the phone and book peoples cars in to be fixed, and in the mean time you shall learn how to fix cars.’
‘So I'm your apprentice?’ Eve said in a sultry voice ‘Do I get a sexy pair of overalls to wear?’ She stared at his face, but it was blank. Hax on the other hand was trying his hardest not to blush at the mention of sexy overalls.
It was a good day for the mechanic shop, only about 6 customers with minor problems. Hax meant what he said about getting Eve to help him fix cars. She was in it up to her elbows replacing head gaskets and doing oil changes. At one part of the day, Eve was slightly shocked. An old lady had driven her car into the drive way, and stepped out. She looked to be about 80, and shuffled her way down the drive up to Hax. Her car was an original 1960 Cadillac coupe de ville, and looked like it was brand new.
‘Ah Henry, it’s good to see you.’ Said the old lady, giving Hax a hug.
‘Granny, I missed you. How is old Betsy today?’ replied Hax.
‘Oh she is good. Just needs an oil change and such. Who’s this?’ she asked, turning to see Eve in the back corner. ‘A new girlfriend Henry?’ Eve blushed at the idea, and she notice so did Hax.
‘She is my new assistant, Eve. Eve, this is Mrs Peterson. She has known my family since… well along time now.’
‘I used to come to Henry’s father to fix my car. You look so much like him.’
‘Thanks Mrs. Peterson. How about you have a cup of tea with Eve, and I’ll get Betsy fixed up?’
‘Oh that sounds lovely dear.’ Eve walked Mrs. Peterson inside, and made her some tea while she waited.
They both sat down at the table, Eve nervous as hell. Mrs. Peterson sat across from her happily sipping her tea.
‘So dear, how long have you known Henry?’ Mrs. Peterson asked.
‘Not long. He saved me from myself and made sure I was alright. Did you really know his father?’
‘Oh, of course. Such a lovely gentleman, he always made sure I was alright even when I was younger.’
‘Did you see a lot of Ha- I mean Henry, when he was growing up?’
‘Surprisingly not. I didn’t even know he had children until about 5 years ago.’
‘What happened to his father?’ This question brought Mrs. Peterson down.
‘He was shot. I never really had the chance to say goodbye to Steven.’ Eve placed her hand on the elderly ladies.
‘But he looked so much like Henry; I was shocked when I first saw him in town. I thought he was a ghost.’
‘Can I ask you something Mrs. Peterson?’
‘Only if you call me Granny.’
‘Okay, Granny. Was Steven always as quiet and recluse as Henry is?’ This made Granny chuckle.
‘Steven was always closed off to others, but he only acted that way because he feared how people would take him. It took Steven some time to open up to me, but when we did, he was a wonderful person. Henry might just have some feelings for you that he is too scared to show.
‘What should I do then?’ Eve asked, leaning in.
‘Just give him time. You are a wonderful young lady, and I can see he knows it.’
Hax sat in the doorway, just listening to the conversation, and remembering his past.
‘Ahem. Granny, why must you talk about me when I'm not here?’ he asked.
‘Why should one stifle the truth, even if it hurts?’ she responded with a cheeky smile ‘Is Betsy all fixed up?’
‘Yep, she is as good as new. Now, about my payment.’
‘Ah yes, it’s in the car. Let me just get it for you.’ As Granny walked out to the garage, Eve looked at Hax.
‘How could you ask for money out of such a nice old lady? Especially since she knows your family?’
Hax looked at her with a confused look. ‘Money?’
Granny returned with a large box that she placed on the counter. As she opened the lid, Eve poked her head inside. The box was filled with biscuits of all sorts.
‘There you are dear. My finest baked goods.’ She gave Hax a big hug and turned to Eve, ‘Remember what I told you dear.’ And gave her one as well. This made Eve feel warm inside. She couldn’t remember a time when she had such a wonderful hug. Hax gave her back her keys, and she went on her way.
‘So…I…uh…’ Eve said, very embarrassed.
‘Apology accepted.’ Said Hax, taking a bite out of a peanut butter cookie. ‘Now you help me enjoy these while I make us some more tea.’
‘So, “Henry”, tell me what the hell just happened.’
‘Ok, well first she would never understand that my name is Hax, so I let her call me “Henry”.’
‘And the cookies for mechanic work?’
‘It’s only for her. She doesn’t have a lot of money, but she is a master baker. She always tried to pay me in the past, but I refused. It wasn’t until a few years ago, when she left me a large box of assorted cookies. I took one bite and feel in love with them.’
‘So you stopped showing emotion to them as well?’ Eve said with a giggle.
‘Huh?’
‘Don’t worry. But how could you fix her car in such a short amount of time?’
‘Granny never drives anywhere apart from the store. She never really needs all this work done, just bits and pieces. Hence me not wanting to take money off her.’
‘Since we are talking a lot, can I tell you about a dream I had last night?’
‘Shoot.’
‘Well I dreamt you were in my room and…’ Eve started to laugh.
‘What is it?’
‘Nah, it’s too embarrassing.’
‘Just tell me.’
‘Well last night, I dreamt you came into my room, and kissed me on the forehead.’ Her face turned bright red. Hax took a long slurp from his tea, and looked at her.
‘Yeah, that sounds ridiculous.’ She was about to walk out when he said, ‘If I was going to kiss you, I would do it like this.’
He leant over and kissed Eve softly on the lips. She was in utter shock. She couldn’t move.
Across town at the local high school, Dylan was teaching his year 11 physics class about magnets, when all of a sudden he shivered.
‘What is it, sir?’ Asked one student.
‘I don’t know. I feel a disturbance, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.’
‘Help me obi wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.’ Another snickered, only to have a book smack him square in the face.
‘Should have used the force, Michael.’ Dylan said, resuming his class.
Back at home, Eve was still in shock. Hax just kissed me, She thought.
‘Wha…what was that for?’ she asked, still red as a tomato.
‘Consider it your payment for work today.’ Hax said, walking back to the garage.
‘Not that I'm ungrateful, but I would prefer if I got paid in money. Stores don’t accept kisses.’
‘Really? The ones I shop at seem to. I'm always served by the same person.’
‘Well she is probably a slut.’
‘His name tag said Carson.’ Eve snickered a bit, but had to stop when the phone rang. It was Dylan.
‘Hey Eve. Hax around?’
‘Yeah. Let me go get him.’ She passed the phone off to Hax. He stood there for a few minutes, just chatting with Dylan, and then hung up.
‘I have to go see Dylan. Can you stay here and mind the shop?’
‘Fine…’ she said. She wondered what had happened. First he shows emotion, and then he doesn’t want me around.
Hax jumped into his car, pulled out of the driveway and drove as fast as he could to the local high school. Dylan and Seth were already waiting out the front for him.
‘Did you feel it too?’ Dylan asked.
‘Feel what?’ Hax asked.
‘There was a disturbance.’ Said Seth, watching the students walk around.
‘What? When?’
‘About 5 minutes before I called. Seth and I both felt it. We were sure you would to.’ Hax tried to remember what happened 5 minutes before he spoke to Dylan.
‘I…uh….I felt something?’
‘You sound unsure?’Asked Seth ‘Do you need me to help you remember?’
‘NO! I mean, no. Just stay out of my head.’
‘Too late.’ Seth said ‘Now let’s see what… Oh my Cthulhu! DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN!?!’
‘What? What? Tell me!’ Dylan yelled.
‘Haxxy here kissed Eve at that time.’
‘BAHAHAHAHAHA!’ Dylan burst out laughing. ‘Why on earth did you do that?’
‘Well, when Seth tried to kill our guest, and I stopped him, she kind of woke up a bit.’
‘And how does this lead to you kissing her?’ Seth asked
‘After you left to cry your eyes out, I tucked her back into bed, and kind of…’ Hax became really red ‘… kissed her on the forehead goodnight.’
Dylan and Seth both laughed their arses off. Hax started to feel anger building up in his body.
‘She had had a rough day, and I felt sorry for her. After granny came and left, she asked me about a weird dream about us being in her room and me kissing her good night. I needed for her to keep her mind of that, so I did the only thing I could think of.’
‘So you thought with your penis?’Dylan asked, wiping a tear from his eye.
‘Well it was that, or have her expose us for the freaks we are!’
Dylan and Seth both stiffened like boards. They knew that Hax never wanted to hear “freak” again, let alone use it. This must be a serious matter, the both thought.
‘So back to the right matter at hand, the disturbance?’ Hax said.
‘Well it kind of felt like…us, but not us.’ Said Dylan.
‘Well we are the last of the family. You don’t think He sent some?’ Seth asked.
‘Who knows? But we better keep a look out for anything suspicious. I have to get back home, and you two need to get back to work.’ Hax said, walking away.
‘Wait, you said Granny came round. Does that mean there are cookies at home?’ Seth said, getting excited.
‘Well I don’t think you deserve them,’ Hax said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a zip lock bag filled with cookies that Granny had made. ‘But here. Don’t say I don’t do anything for you.’
‘Thanks man.’ Dylan said, taking a bite of cookie. They watched Hax drive off, and made their way back inside to teach more classes.
Eve sat in the garage, waiting for Hax. He had been gone for some time now and she was starting to worry. Why do I always scare off guys? She thought. Images of him rejecting her played in her mind constantly. She was caught off guard by the phone ringing.
‘Hello, No Emotion Mechanics.’ She answered ‘We’ll fix your care without a smile.’
‘Please tell me you didn’t answer calls like that all day.’ The voice on the other end said.
‘Hax!’ she yelled excitedly, ‘I mean, hey Hax. What’s up?’
‘Do you have any fancy clothes?’ Eve blushed. What’s going on now?
‘No, I don’t have a lot of clothes left.’
‘Okay, close up the shop, and meet me out the front of the house in 10 minutes.’
She wanted to ask why, but Hax had already hung up. She did as she was told; she shut the garage doors, and locked up. Hax showed up just as she shut the front door. As she got into the car, Eve noticed he was nervous.
‘Umm, is everything alright Hax?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, I just thought since you did such a wonderful job today, I would give you a surprise.’
Eve’s face went deep red. ‘like the one from before?’
‘I’m taking you shopping. You will have the chance to have a new wardrobe, and maybe some stuff to add to your room.’
‘oh…’
‘Oh?’
‘I mean thank you. It means a lot.’ She flashed Hax a big smile. This made Hax feel a bit better, but he still couldn’t get the thought out of his mind about the disturbance.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with a lot of laughing and excitement from Eve, while Hax stayed as nonchalant as ever. By the end of it, Eve was carrying bags from all different stores. They were about to leave when Hax stopped her.
‘We forgot one store.’
He walked her back to the middle of the shopping centre to a large store. Eve’s eyes lit up immediately. Inside sat the most beautiful dresses she has ever seen, in all different colours and sizes.
‘I was hoping you would join me for dinner tomorrow night?’
Eve was so excited that she screamed a sound that sounded guinea pig.
‘YES!’ She gave Hax a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek and ran into the store. As she looked at the most wonderful dresses that she had ever seen and most likely ever see, a shop assistant approached her.
‘Excuse me miss?’ She said.
‘Yes?’ replied Eve, examining a wonderful black number.
‘I don’t think this is the right store for you. The K-Mart is on the second floor.’
Eve felt like she had been shot in the heart. Her eyes started to well up with tears when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked around, hoping to see Hax, but was greeted by the sight of a burly security guard wearing a suit.
At 6’4”, he looked absolutely menacing, even without his shaved head. He pulled her away from the dresses, when they suddenly were stopped.
‘Excuse me. You seem to have my date by the shoulder.’ Hax said.
‘what are you going to do about it?’ replied the security guard. Hax chuckled, which confused the guard. Until he felt Hax tighten his grip on his shoulder and made him cry out in pain. Immediately the brute let go of Eve and dropped to his knees. The assistant ran to behind the counter to grab the phone, only to be stopped by Hax’s voice.
‘I suggest you call up Alice and Markov. If you don’t, I might be forced to break “Bubba’s” shoulder.’
The assistant dialled a number into the phone and whispered into it. All Eve could hear from the entire conversation was her saying “yes, he does?” and then hung up. As soon as the shop assistant dropped then phone, a door at the back of the store opened. Out walked two very well dressed people, both looking to be in their late 20’s. The woman stood 5’7 and had medium length black hair and a nose ring, which Eve liked, but what shocked her the most was she had one green eye, one blue eye. The gentleman was about 5’8” with short trimmed hair and sported a nice soul patch.
‘Hax, will you please let go of him?’ said the women
‘This gorilla here didn’t listen.’ Said Hax, letting go. The woman walked up to the guard and smacked the back of his hands.
‘Get back to work.’ She said, turning to Eve. ‘Now Hax, who is this absolutely gorgeous woman and why haven’t we been introduced.’
‘Eve, these are my greatest friends. Alice and Markov.’
‘Hello dear.’ Alice said.
Markov walked up to her and kissed her hand. ‘Good evening, Miss Eve.’ He spoke with a Russian accent, but his eyes showed much kindness.
‘Hax, should I be worried about him too?’ Eve asked, still a bit shaken.
‘You don’t have to worry. Alice and Markov are married. And even if they weren’t, Markov only has eyes for her. Always has, always will.’
‘So Hax, what do we owe the pleasure of you beating up an employee?’ Markov asked, putting his arm around Hax’s shoulders.
‘Well I sent Eve in to find herself a dress, when she was stopped and told to go to K-Mart.’
‘Eve, I am so sorry for how my employees treated you.’ Said Alice ‘Your gown shall be free of charge. Come with me this instance so I may beautify you.’ Alice dragged Eve to the back room, while she stared at Hax with fear.
Markov invited Hax into his office to talk. They both sat down, Markov pulled a bottle of Glenfiddich out of his desk draw.
‘Scotch?’ he said.
‘You know that alcohol has no effect on me.’ Hax said, with a nod.
‘Yes, but that means you can truly enjoy the Smokey flavour. So tell me about this Eve girl?’
‘There isn’t a lot to say. She needed help, and I felt sorry for her.’
‘Haxathor, I need help. You never did this stuff for me.’ Markov slammed his glass on the table.
‘Okay; First, Don’t use my full name. It’s way too weird.’
‘Sorry Haxathor, I will try not to Haxathor. Better HAXATHOR?’ Markov said laughing.
‘And secondly, so what if I am helping her.’
‘Does she know?’
‘Are you kidding me? If I told her, she might not accept me for me. She might be scared.’
‘And that you care for her more than most?’
‘I stand by my previous statement.’ Hax said, taking a sip of scotch.
There was a knock at the door, and Alice stuck her head in.
‘I need your help dear.’ She said. Hax stood up, only to be stopped ‘No Hax. I need Markov’s help. You, sir, have to wait.’
Markov left the room, and returned a few minutes later. Hax still looked grumpy as ever.
‘Don’t pout you little baby. You are older than me, act like it.’
‘Sigh, can I leave yet?’
‘Yes, Alice is just finishing up with young Eve. I’ll walk you out the front.’
Hax and Markov both walked to the front of the store and waited for Alice and Eve, both looking very happy. She was carrying a very large black box.
‘You owe us one.’ Whispered Markov to Hax as she walked out. They said their goodbyes and made their way out of the store.
‘Have fun, HAXATHOR!’ called Alice and Markov in unison.
On the car ride home, Eve finally snapped out of her trance and asked a question that Hax was dreading.
‘What did your friends call you when we left their store?’
‘Haxathor…’ Hax replied, gripping the steering wheel tightly. ‘That’s my first name.’
‘oh…its nice?’ she replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
‘I told you I don’t appreciate liars. I don’t mind my name, it just sounds long winded and I don’t like it to appear on anything but important forms. Hell, if a cop ever looked at my license, I’d most likely be arrested for a fake ID’
‘But, haven’t you been pulled over before?’ she asked, just as the car slid sideways around a traffic island.
‘Eve, this car has a 3 litre engine, and a drive shaft that is strong enough to handle the twin turbo chargers I hooked up to it, as well as Gator-mounted Pod filters to suck in massive amounts of air. If I cop had a car that’s fast or agile enough to catch my car, I’d happily throw the cuffs on myself.’
‘Oh so you have hand cuffs as well?’ Eve asked in a seductive tone. Hax pulled into their driveway and activated the garage door.
‘That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about. That kiss we had today--’
‘Hax, I know it was just a friendly kiss between friends.’ Eve interrupted ‘You made me feel a bit better about myself. I'm glad I have you as a friend.’
‘Thanks. Now let’s go inside. It’s almost dinner time, and it’s my night to cook.’
Hax could already hear Seth and Dylan inside, talking about him; the storm that was going to hit them in a few hours, and the sound of someone playing a god awful song by “Justin Bieber”; but no matter how hard his ears strained, he couldn’t hear the sound of Eve’s heart shattering into small pieces
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