His Uptown Girl Read Online Free Page A

shop to finish his own work.
    The morning moved more slowly for him than any other morning in the history of their business. It didn’t help that he kept looking through the glass partition between the shop and the office to see how George was doing.
    Just as she had when he was beside her, George appeared to be doing fine without him.
    The real test would be when lunch break was over, and the second phase of her duties began.
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    Georgette looked up at the clock. Right on time, Bob walked into the lobby.
    â€œI’m back. It’s time for your lunch break, and then I’ll get you started on a few tune-ups and things.”
    Georgette folded her hands on the countertop. “Actually, I ate my lunch as I worked. I hope that’s okay.” Her father would have died to think that she’d eaten while standing at the counter, as people came in and out. However, with all the excitement of doing something new, and running back and forth between the shop and the phone all morning, she’d been hungry an hour before it was technically lunchtime.
    It was actually kind of fun, breaking the rules.
    â€œI hope you don’t think we mean for you to work through your lunch break, because we don’t. If you’ve already eaten, would you like to go for a walk or something? There’s a place down the block that has great ice cream cones. It’s opened early because of our great Mayweather.” The second the words were out of his mouth, he paused as if to gauge her response.
    Georgette broke into a smile. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the simple pleasure of eating an ice cream cone, or any kind of ice cream that wasn’t a part of a fancy dessert, meant to impress. Her father didn’t think ice cream cones were very dignified.
    She reached under the counter for her purse. “I’d love an ice cream. How long will we be gone?”
    â€œWe? I… Uh…” Bob looked up at the clock, then shrugged his shoulders. “I hadn’t intended for any of us to take our breaks at the same time, but we can probably make an exception for your first day. Just a sec.” He turned and walked the three steps to the door leading to the shop, and opened it. “Bart!” he hollered. “I’m taking George for an ice cream down the street! We’ll be back in twenty!”
    Bob didn’t wait for a reply. “Let’s go while things are quiet. This doesn’t happen often.”
    He shucked his coveralls off, pressed a few crinkles out of his jeans and T-shirt with his hands, and met her at the door.
    â€œWhat about the phone?”
    â€œBart will do the same thing we’ve always done. He’ll keep working, and when the phone rings, he’ll go answer it.”
    â€œIt’s really nice that you don’t ignore your calls and let them go to voice mail.”
    Bob nodded. “When we’ve got someone’s car, they don’t want to talk to a machine. They want an answer from a person, even if it’s an ‘I don’t know.’ I feel the same way when I’m calling for status.”
    Georgette thought of her father’s charity. Only people who wanted to ingratiate themselves with him called. They found leaving a message more efficient.
    She hated dealing with the machine because she missed the personal contact. On the other hand, the way everything was handled now suited her well. She’d told her father that she could handle the organization’s details in the evening, since it only took an hour each day, and she never talked to anyone, anyway. This left her free to seek out something else to do during the daytime. He wasn’t pleased she had found something now, but didn’t press her for details probably figuring it wouldn’t last.
    As they crossed the intersection, Bob pointed to the north. “There’s a small mall down that way, if you ever need anything. Next door to the