The Inbound Fates

Chapter Seven

George

I found a sit in the minibus and sat down. It was around 9am and I was on my way to the welding shop. I was late than usual but since there was nothing much for me to do at the shop, I allowed myself the luxury to be late.

I scrolled on my phone to Ellen's number which I had saved as 'E.Client'. It was brutal but it was all I could do. I opened her contact and unblocked her. I had set my settings to still receive messages from blocked numbers. I notice she had tried to call me several times last night so I press dial and it rings for a while but I get no response.

'Good morning babe. How was your night?'

I sent the message and pocketed my phone just as the conductor asked for his fare. I paid and spent the rest of the ride listening to the radio on the minibus.

"I will get off pa Chimtengo." I kindly told the conductor and he relayed the message to the driver who stopped at the said stage and I got off.

It was a short walk from the stage to my shop and as I approached the shop, I saw a black Explorer parked neatly in front of the gate. There was a motor-vehicle mechanic garage next door and sometimes cars from there reached out in front of my shop. I would have thought that was my neighbor's customer if it wasn't for the familiar young man who was leaning against it. The man noticed me at that moment which made him straighten up and smile sheepishly at me.

"Good morning, sir." I greeted my client who raised a questioning brow at me.

"If we are going to work together then I would love you to lose the "Sir". It's too formal for my taste and I'm younger than you; it's awkward." My client said as he reached out a hand to me in greeting. "Hi; my name is Paul and I'm here to talk business with you, Mr. Chibwana."

"You can call me, George. So, we are working together?" I inquired right away as I thought of the option he chose last time I was running about in area 43.

"Yes, we are. I was waiting to put together some funds of which I'm ready with at the moment. Did you make a quotation for me?" Paul asked and I led the way to my office. I unlocked the gate and then proceeded with the storeroom before opening the office room lastly.

Dan, the intern at my shop, came in after us and after briefly greeting us, he got a broom from the stores and began sweeping the compound.

"Do you normally come to work this late or I was just unlucky? I've been here by 7am." Paul said while sitting in the chair opposite mine with the L shaped desk table between us.

I unloaded my laptop and sketch books on the table from my backpack as I replied, "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting and I'm very grateful that you waited. I'm usually here by 7am as well and when there is work I am here by 6am."

"Is it just you two or other welders are running late like you?"

"It is just us two."

"Then how long will you take to finish my job?" Paul questioned and I looked up from one of my books. I was currently looking for his quotation because I did wrote it down.

"As long as you pay me, I can get part-time welders. It's actually quite normal for a shop like mine to operate with part-timers because we get jobs now and then. To have an employee will be a loss to me because whether I had jobs that month or not, my employee will need to be paid." I explained while flipping through pages until I found the quotation. I neatly ripped the paper and gave it to Paul.

He silently went through the paper and when he placed it on the table, I eagerly waited for his response. He took out his phone and took a picture of the paper and smiled.