Chapter 8 - Gordon

We saw Gordon's shop just up ahead. The aged building with vines growing up the wall was an all familiar site. I had worked here for a bit while in high school.

Rarely any of the kids who went to school would come in so it was nice to avoid that. I could hang with my friends more easily outside of work and not interact with anyone while at work.

"Well look who we have here. It's been a while since I have seen your mug hanging around these parts." called a warbled voice from across the shop.

Gordon came into view. Though still the proud man from years ago, he had aged. His hair is now whiter and face more wrinkled but his eyes were still bright with intellect and wisdom which he always carried.

"Gordon it is so good to see you again!" I walked over to give him a hug. "Oh this is Dean he is a friend and potentially a customer as well."

Gordon looked over at Dean and sized him up. "No introductions needed for this one, I know him all too well. How is your mother?"

Dean leaned over lazily on the cashier counter. "She is good. Though speaking of my mother, that's actually why we are here. You got any chess sets made of ruby?"

"Ruby? What an unusual request. I assume it's for your mother yes? Hmmm let me see what I have." Gordon moved into the large room off to the right which was his workshop.

Inside were boxes and boxes of different projects he was working on. His shop had many different chess sets made of unusual materials.

"Feel free to look around while I check." Gordon called out from deep within the room. Dean and I began to look around at the different pieces.

Some were made of wood and others porcelain. Some even with other stones like opal and quartz.

Gordon either made them by hand or sourced them from other makers. "Did you ever get bored working here?" Dean asked.

"Hmmm not really, whenever it wasn't busy I used to work on homework. Sometimes the customers that would come in would tell me stories." I put down the opal queen chess piece I was looking at. "I only ever worked a few hours during the day to allow Gordon time to visit his wife who was at the hospital at the time."

"It was nice. The job wasn't too difficult, it had flexible hours and was close to school so I had no commute. It also gave me some alone time."

"What about you? I don't remember you mentioning having a job. What did you do while we were in school?" Dean put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the pillar near one of the stands.

"I played baseball mainly after school. So that took up a lot of my time just during the season. Outside of that however, I worked. My first job was actually by working at Grease Dogs garage."

I spun around in surprise. "You worked as a mechanic?" He laughed, his eyes filled with amusement at my reaction.

"Don't tell anyone, but yes I was a mechanic for a bit. I worked early in the morning and sometimes very late at night. I would take breaks during baseball season but otherwise my time was there."

"You know about my passion for cars. Old man Gunnar allowed me to work there and learn about fixing cars even with my odd schedule."

I imagined a younger Dean whose dark curly hair wasn't long but cropped short in a blue overall jumpsuit leaning over watching Old man Gunnar fix the cars.

I laughed as it's precisely something Dean would do. The others first jobs were in their parents respective business but Dean chose his own path instead.

Deans ears turned a slight shade of pink as he became sheepish. "Hey a jobs a job and Gunnar is cool. He was the only one who didn't care who my parents were. As long as I showed up when I was supposed to and paid attention he was happy."

"No I wasn't laughing at that." I teased. "I just imagined you in the uniform. It honestly is nice to hear that both of us didn't start working the same way as everyone else."

"Not that doing that is bad don't get me wrong. If the resource is there why not. But maybe it's just me but I got to appreciate being my age and 'normal' you know."

"You both seem to have a lot in common." Gordon popped out from his workshop with a chess set box in tow. "Ok so turns out I do have a chess set made of rubies. I didn't make it but a buddy down south procured it for me." He opens the box and sure enough it was pretty much what I was expecting.

The chess pieces were significantly smaller than usual but were still usable to play with. The red was very deep and clear for each piece. Overall it was a really nice piece.

Dean whistled and brought out his phone to take pictures. "Damn would you look at that. Gordon you have made a miracle come true." He clapped Gordon on the back.

"Let me go wrap this up and print out the certificate." He went back into his workshop to grab the last materials before we could check out.

"I am going to check out the opal pieces again. Maybe I could also take that as well." As I was bent down to look at the set as a whole I heard the bell ring as another customer walked in.

The voice that accompanied was one I yet again was surprised to hear. "This is Gordon's, he specializes in chess pieces and sets of unusual or rare presentation."

Before I could react Dean pushed his hat onto my head and pulled me up to push me behind him. "Stay behind me." He muttered underneath his breath.

He began to guide us to the counter making sure my face was covered behind his back. I pulled his hoodie over my face for extra cover.

"Cortez? Is that you?" My fingers tightened around Deans hoodie. Why now of all times.

"Felix, funny seeing you here. Did you get lost or something?" I heard the malice and mischief in Deans voice

I heard a slight commotion before his voice sounded through again. Though this time much more agitated. "If you must know I am showing my fiancée where I grew up. Why are you back at Eastside?"

"What makes you think I would care to tell you." Gordon at that moment came in and gave Dean the box. "She has my contact information, I will send her the invoice and banking details."

"Sounds good thanks again. Let's go." He pulled me from behind to go in front of him and pushed the hat deeper to cover my face. His hand cradling my head.

We had to pass Felix to exit so Dean began to push through to avoid staying any longer. Before we could leave Felix spoke up again. "Who are you with?"