Broken

Chapter 35

Makenna headed to class the following morning with her AirPods plugged in as usual. All of last night, she'd tried to get her mind off her conversation with Killian and she'd managed to forget about it most of the time, but then she'd woken up with exactly that on her mind.

Atlas.

She was internally conflicted about it, about him. There was a major part of her that wanted nothing to do with him which included thinking about him or what he had or hadn't been through. And then there was a tiny part of her that wanted to know more about what happened to him. Hear his story and maybe compare notes. It was almost like her brokenness was attracted to his. But she didn't want to have anything to do with him or anything that would be a trigger for her.

Waking up every day only to relive Rachel's death in her mind was all she could physically handle. Anything that would bring up to the forefront of her mind the other things that happened that night was something she wasn't prepared to go through.

Atlas could deal with whatever he was going through by himself, he didn't need her or anyone else just like she hadn't needed anyone except the one person she had lost.

Makenna felt a presence beside her and turned to look only to find Brandon smiling down at her as he walked next to her. She took out her AirPods and glanced at him again.

"Hey." He said,

"Hey,"

"You haven't been back at the gym yet."

"Not yet."

"Let me know when you do get back to it," Brandon said, "Might need a sparring partner."

"Sure."

"Brandon!"

They both stopped walking and turned in ninety degrees facing each other to find Collin waving at them, specifically at Brandon.

"I have to go," Brandon said, "See you later tonight."

"Yup." Makenna turned back in the direction she was headed and plugged her AirPods in and continued her walk to class.

"I need a motorbike."

Will turned to Atlas as they headed to their next class for the day,
"No, what you need is a car," Will said, "It rains almost half the year."

Atlas swallowed just thinking about getting into the driver's seat of a car and shook his head,
"No." He said, "I want a bike. I don't mind the rain."

"Fine," Will said, "I know a guy who would give you a good deal."

Atlas smiled with a nod,
"Great, how soon can I meet this guy?"

Will smiled,
"How about we leave right after class."

"That's perfect."

Will and Atlas did leave after class; they got into Will's truck and drove down to Big Henry's garage which Atlas had started to doubt since he heard the name. Atlas got even more doubtful when Will pulled up in front of what looked like a repair shop.

"Just trust me." Will said when he saw the look on Atlas' face as they both headed into the garage,

"Hey, Big Henry." Will called out and a big dude from under the hood of a car peeked out at them and smiled,

Big Henry was just as his name clearly stated. He was big, huge more like, mostly because of his height of six foot five inches, maybe more. And his big build and shoulders almost made him look like a giant wrestler.

"Hey, Will boy." Big Henry made his way towards them as he wiped his greasy hands on a dirty towel before he threw it into the hood of the car he'd been under a second ago, "Don't tell me that truck of yours is misbehaving again, I fixed it up nicely the last time."

Atlas noticed Big Henry almost sounded Scottish. It was barely there but it was there nonetheless.

"I know you did; it's been running like a dream."

"That's good for you," Big Henry, "But bad for my business, aye."

Will smiled,
"Which is why I brought my friend here. This is Atlas, he's looking for a bike."

"Oh, you came to just the right place." Big Henry turned to Atlas, "What are you looking for?"

"How about you just let him look around." Will suggested,

"Alright, follow me."

Atlas and Will glanced at each other with a smile on Will's face,
"You won't regret it."

They followed Big Henry into his office and then to the back of his office as Big Henry went on and on about collecting bike parts and old motorbikes and fixing them up making almost something new or cleaner. Atlas literally had no idea what he was talking about which was up until Big Henry pushed open the door in his back office which opened up to an entirely foreign place in his shop.

Atlas stepped in, stunned that it was the same place he'd walked into just a moment ago.

"Big Henry doesn't advertise his business because if he did, all these bikes would be out of here."

"Word of mouth is all I need." Big Henry stood at the side as Atlas walked into the big white room with fluorescents lining up the ceiling, "Anything more than that and I'll be bringing in business that I don't necessarily need."

"Isn't that good for business?" Atlas asked,

"I'm not looking for a buy-out, which is what I'll get," Big Henry said, "I love my job and I get by just fine with repairs."

Atlas smiled at him,
"I admire you."

"Oh Will, your friend is a softie." Big Henry smiled at Will.

Atlas shook his head and returned his gaze to the bikes. He noticed at the corner, that there was a tarp over what looked to be the outline of a bike.
"What's that?"

Atlas proceeded to walk toward the tarp-covered bike.

"Oh, just an old beauty."

Atlas pulled back the tarp and almost gasped,

"Woah!" Will said,

"I know." Atlas said staring at the beauty,

"I kept it covered because she's got some minor problems I haven't fixed up yet."

"She runs?"

"Oh, she's a she now?" Big Henry smiled at Will, "She runs alright."

"I'll take her."

"I would've put up a fight if I hadn't heard you call her a 'she' for myself." Big Henry laughed,

"She's just got personality." Atlas couldn't help but admire the bike.

It was a Norton Commando 750cc, '68. She was a beaut.