All peeps in this story are over the age of 18. All characters are fictional, and locations are moderately fictionalized
Thanks to Kenji Sato for his excellent editing, without him this would not have been possible!
yes folks, it's another one of those Roberts Boys! (See my other stories!) Hope you enjoy!
***
David Roberts sat at his table. On yet another service call to some far-flung place; this time, he found himself in a charming, though really small mid-western town. So small it was, he had actually used a vacation rental app to rent a little bungalow for the week he would be here, as it beat the other place to stay; a local bedbug hotel (or so the reviews claimed). Pushing 'The Big Four-Oh' in years, David had worked his six-foot frame hard, and managed to stay in excellent shape, and he could easily pass for a man ten years his junior, if not a bit more, wisps of graying hair aside.
It had been a long day, and it may have appeared as though he was looking at his menu, but David was, in fact, eavesdropping on the two waitresses at the station just behind him, talking shop. One was discussing her car repair and if she should just repair it at more than a thousand dollars, or get another car altogether, along with her desire to escape this small town altogether. Odd thing was, this particular waitress was, he was quite sure, the young lady who had also waited on him at the hardware store earlier the same day. The town was too small for it to be anyone else, and that got his mind spinning.
She was not his 'regular-type', not that she had been particularly flirtatious; nor had he, but so much time on the road had worn on him, and as she moved towards another table across the way, David let his eyes take her in. Her name tag said Ashley-Nicole, yep, it was her. With very narrow hips and breasts that looked to be a B or perhaps C-cup at best, he could see that Ashley-Nicole stood about five feet in height, and was quite slim and petite, with a very light complexion, and her brown near pixie-cut hair, accented her face quite well. David gathered from the conversation, that Ashley-Nicole lived at home, and was in tech school, so that put her about age twenty, a surprisingly-attractive, blue-collar girl in a nice little, working-class town.
As she approached his table, Ashley-Nicole also had the 'I know you' look, and they had a nice chuckle at the coincidence. As she went off to place his order, David's mind was now spinning full tilt. Throughout the meal, David noted she checked on him several times, always with a smile. It was her job to be friendly, he got that, but she did seem to give him a bit more attention than the others around her, and he liked that. Finally, at the end of the meal, David was careful to give her a very generous tip, quite a bit more than the price of the meal itself, sure to get noticed, and exited the little place, knowing his plan was underway.
The next day, his last full day in town, David headed to the hardware store under the guise of needing a few items. David noticed that she approached him on a side-aisle and with a slight blush, Ashley-Nicole thanked him for the generosity. David smiled. "Well, look, as I see it, you are a young lady really trying to improve yourself, just wish I could help further."
Ashley-Nicole smiled and said, "Thanks! I know you're new here in town..."
"Yeah," David replied, "I own my own business, servicing hospital electronic systems mostly and that is what brings me here." Seeing her nod, he went for it. "I hope I'm not being forward, but if I may, I see what you are trying to do, trying to get ahead, because I was once like you. May I ask, do you intend to stay here?"
"Umm...No," Ashley-Nicole replied, "this is nice, but there is a world out there and I want to see it, but it's hard to do that when you're here....working two jobs and a bum-car."
David smiled and nodded, this was indeed working. "Ashley-Nicole," he said, "so there are parts of that I can really help you with, some of it right now, but here's the thing...you have to be open-minded, and think of the future; are you good with that?"
Ashley-Nicole furrowed her brow. She half-figured where this was headed, but this was the first person she had ever felt a link to, and she knew this person could help her, and she understood what his 'help' meant. She tentatively answered, "Yes, yes, I am. I'm off in two hours and I need a ride, so why not pick me up out front, and let's talk."
Clocking out, Ashley-Nicole Creswell took a deep breath. This man was like double her age, she was pretty sure. It wasn't that she found him unattractive, in fact, she did. Ashley-Nicole had come to understand the dynamics of this small town, another reason she wanted out, and she had pretty much decided that to reach her goals, she was going to have to make certain compromises, although she had not really expected this 'opportunity' to fall in her lap at this time. He did appear to have a really nice body, cold-steel-blue eyes, and she found his jawline easy on her eyes; so she tried to look nonchalant as she walked out front to see him sitting in a Cadillac SUV. It may have been a rental, but it was certainly a nice one, and she thought that he apparently did well in business.
David smiled, as he saw her walking out. She was damn hot with that short hair, pretty eyes, and high cheekbones, and half his age, at least, to boot. 'You perv,' he thought, 'you ab-so-lute perv.' Keeping his smile, he greeted her as Ashley-Nicole got in. Getting directions to her apartment, David said, "Look we can certainly go straight there, but if you do not mind, we can just drive about for a bit -- that way you can ask me any questions you may have. That sound okay?"
As they drove, David fielded some questions about his business, general talk, and the like. He could tell that she was getting more comfortable with him, and that was good. Finally, it was time. "Ashley-Nicole, I have a suggestion," David said. "It impresses me that you have quite the head for business, and at the same time, it saddens me that you are hit with this financial issue. Bad thing is, at this tender stage at the start of your career, a small thing like reliable transportation can derail you for years. May I ask if you know the cost and the time to get back on your financial track?"
Ashley knew it was now, or never. Everything this man said was correct, and she wanted her future to be secure. The repair was going to be just under maybe seven hundred dollars at the outside, and four or five days more of time, so she answered, "I am being told about fifteen hundred dollars and a week plus."