After we finished eating we got back to work.
The work that was left was the most important, painting.
The shop had plenty of paint and colors to choose from.
We will pay for the paint, but for the color we decided to stick with the original color so the car registration would match.
We really don't want to have to deal with the DMV just because the color of the car is different. Plus the color is actually pretty nice.
The original color of the car was a deep forest green.
We opted for the cheapest option of that color being matte. The shine would come from the clear coat we or rather Layla will put on the top.
Layla has insisted that she wants to do all of it by herself. That she doesn't mind help on the more pointless stuff, but that she wants to handle the main stuff herself.
The unimportant stuff like taping and putting the parts into the machine don't really matter as anyone could really do that. But anything that requires actual effort she wants to do.
Which I am all for why would I want to do the extra work? I will just stand out of the way and let her do her thing.
While Layla mixed the paint and got the compressor ready, I taped up the camera and got ready to film.
Once she was ready she gave me a nod, then she started spraying the car with primer in nice even passes.
When Layla finished with each layer we turned on the heat lamps to dry in quicker.
The heat lamps were infrared heat lamps which heated the coating from the inside out, speeding up the evaporation of the paint or primer. Turning a few hours of waiting for the paint to dry into 20 minutes, with the actual spraying not even taking 10 minutes.
Lay put on 2 coats of primer, 3 coats of base paint, and 3 coats of clear coat.
All together it took a little over 4 hours to fully paint the car.
Once that was done Layla got to untaping the car while I used the checkout to ring up the paint, primer, and clear coat we used.
We used a gallon of each type totaling $150, like I said it is cheap paint.
Since we were finished we cleaned up and drove back to Clyde's and dropped off the keys.
From there we went back to the warehouse.
Layla insisted that she was only going to do a little more work before going home. So, there was no need for me to stay or order food to be delivered.
I accepted that and went home, it was late and I was tired. I skipped playing games with Alex, had a quick dinner, and then went to sleep.
…
The next morning there was a clear sky and I was out of the house again at 6:30.
I went to the warehouse to try and gain some experience for the new things while it was easy to upgrade.
However, when I got there Layla's car was still in the same place.
I got a bit irritated that she was still here and hadn't gone home to get some proper sleep.
When I entered I saw Layla laying on a makeshift bed made out of the saw horses and some left over plywood.
She was set up in front of the computer, awake and staring at the computer screen.
I immediately lost my irritation and asked softly, "What are you doing? Have you been up all night?"
Layla spoke without moving her eyes away from the screen, "I finished with the car last night."
"Yeah?"
"So, I put the videos into the editor and made the video."
"Ok."
"I then made a new Metube account and posted the video. I couldn't bring myself to go home when I could watch to see if anyone watched the video."
"Layla, it's just one video."
"I know. But, I have a lot of expectations for myself and I really want this to work out."
"One video probably won't be enough. Have you ever seen a Metube channel with only one video? Most of the time these things take time. It's about slowly building up an audience."
"Sigh. I know that logically but I just can't help it."
"Still, you really need to get some sleep."
"Yeah. I know."
"...You don't seem to be moving."
"Yeah."
"Why? Is there a reason you can't go home?"
"Not really."
"But…"
"But, I was thinking about it since last night and realized that my parents have been acting a little weird lately."
"How do you mean?"
"I don't know. Maybe a little more zealous? It's hard to explain, but when I was thinking about how I was acting at Clyde's house. I realized that my parents have been progressively more zealous, and I guess it was rubbing off on me. Or something, because I didn't even realize I was acting more like them."
"That is a little freaky but it's normal to act like people you spend lots of time around."
"Yeah, but that's just it. I don't spend that much time at home. Or if I am, I am in the garage or sleeping. So, I'm a little scared to sleep there."
"I think it's ok to trust a gut feeling. Since you can't sleep there, you can sleep at my house."
"Really? That won't be a problem?"
"Of course not. My mom likes you, she would probably even let you move in if you asked."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That's just the way she is. Here, take my keys and go to my house. Take a warm shower and go to sleep. You can wear any of my clothes, don't worry about it."
"You aren't coming too?"
"No, I was going to do some work updating the code. It will take like 16 hours so I will be here all day and then some. So, sleep as long as you can. If anything you might as well come back tomorrow and just leave me here,"
"No, I can't do that, I will be back later today. Ok?"
"Sure."
"One more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"Don't worry about it."
Like that Layla took my keys and left.