I was bent over at the waist with my head under the hood of a brand new Porsche. I finished working on the alternator and closed the hood. When, to my great surprise, there was a gorgeous woman walking towards me. She looked about my age (26); about 5'3", long curly blonde hair, legs for miles, nice tits. (I'm 5'9" and I have straight black hair and bright green eyes.) She was a stunning woman in general but she didn't look too happy.
"Uh, excuse me, I'm looking Frankie Cara...co...lo..." She stuttered and looked severely embarrassed and pretty pissed to boot. She had gorgeous bright blue eyes that made me stare.
"Caracciolo?" I asked with a smile.
"Yeah that." She had an arrogance about her that was annoying but I liked her anyway, I can't explain it. She looked like a spoiled little rich girl. She was wearing tight designer jeans, a top that probably cost several hundreds of dollars and her shoes would probably cost the average American a few paychecks. She was dripping with diamonds. A choker with enough diamonds to pay for a house adorned her neck. A solid platinum and diamond tennis bracelet made its home on her wrist and her earlobes were blessed with several carats as well.
"I'm Francesca Caracciolo, Frankie to most. How can I help you?" I leaned on the car behind me and watched the woman. I wasn't dressed as nicely as she was but I wasn't too bad. I wore jeans and a plain white tank top. Thankfully I hadn't been under any cars it was still white for the time being.
"You?" She was dumbstruck. "Look, I was told I was coming to find some supposed Car God not Auto-Sport Barbie. I really don't want a pretty little girl playing dress-up to work on my car." She was being a real bitch and it made me laugh... and kind of want to hit her with a wrench at the same time.
"What do you do, Miss...?"
"Roberts, Lauryn Roberts, and I'm an account manager." She answered smugly.
"Well Ms. Roberts, I own this shop and I don't know about being a 'car god' but I'm very good at what I do. I work here because I want to not because I have to. So if you need something please get on with it, if not feel free to get the hell out and get back to your account managing." I smiled and nodded before moving around to other side of the Porsche so I could test it out. I sat in the small car and pressed the ignition button. Like clockwork it fired right up and purred beautifully when I pressed the gas pedal a bit. Lauryn was flabbergasted by the way I had spoken to her. She had probably never been spoken to like that in her entire life.
"I'm sorry; I'm just having a bad day. I'm usually not such a bitch." Lauryn walked over to the driver's side of the Porsche and leaned on the door so she could look at me. "I'm having some car trouble; could you please give me a hand?"
I couldn't contain my grin. "Let me move this car then I can get your car in here and see if we can't have you out of here before the end of the day." I drove the little sports car to the adjacent building, the indoor parking lot. I parked the bright yellow Porsche at the end of the row and I walked out to meet Lauryn. We walked to the outdoor parking lot and I looked at the cars for a moment.
"Let me guess, you're the white Mercedes." I told her with a bit of a laugh. She looked surprised but nodded.
"Yeah, how did you know?" She handed me the keys and I drove her car into the main garage in the spot that was reserved for me to work in.
"I see people with nice cars in here all the time, especially beautiful women. I practically knew before you walked in." We got out and I shut the door.
"I've been having a problem with the..."
"The brakes. I can feel it." I finished her sentence effortlessly. "I think there's something up with the engine too. Something doesn't feel right."
"Uhh, okay." Lauryn nodded and watched me for a moment.
I waved over two of the other mechanics. "Mike, Rich, do me a favor and get new brake pads on this Mercedes. Oh and run diagnostics on the engine, something is up with it. I need it done ASAP."
"Sure thing, Frankie." They said in unison. I tossed them the keys then gestured for Lauryn to follow me into my lush office. I sat behind my desk and Lauryn sat in a cushy chair opposite me.
"How much is this going to cost me?" Lauryn asked after a moment of silence.
I laughed and shook my head a bit. "Without looking at the books to check the exact prices I would say roughly $200 per brake and about $20 dollars for an oil change, not including labor." I looked at her for minute. I knew what I was going to say but I had no idea why I wanted to say it. "But dinner with me wouldn't cost you a cent."
"Excuse me!" Lauryn had a semi offended look on her face but I knew better. I had seen her checking me out.
"You're excused." I was amused by her level of indignation. Who was she kidding? Not me, that's for damn sure.
"I'm not a..."
"Lesbian?" I laughed again and shook my head slightly at her. "Of course you're not. I watched you check me out. I'm only asking you to come out with me for dinner. One meal. It will be about two hours of your life."
"I don't know..." Just as she was about to speak I hear a knock on the door then Rich entered the room. He was a short shy man but brilliant when it came to cars.
"Frankie, I ran the diagnostics like you asked. I don't think it has ever had an oil change. I'm going to have to flush the whole engine tomorrow."
"Damn it!" Lauryn groaned and shook her head.
"Do you have any plans tonight Rich?" I asked, knowing full well he didn't. He was a single man who was far too nervous to go out and do anything fun.
"Nah, Frankie, I don't have thing to do." Rich looked a little embarrassed but didn't let on too much.
"It's four o'clock. If that car is ready to get out of here by seven then I'll give you the usual overtime bonus in cash." I told him calmly. I felt bad for Lauryn and worst case scenario I would've done it myself. Lauryn had come in for brakes and needed her whole engine flushed. It was a bit overwhelming to say the least.
"No problem, Frankie. You don't have to pay me anything extra, it's no big deal." Rich smiled and left the room swiftly.
"It's going to take him at least a couple of hours. You can sit in here awkwardly or you can come and have a nice meal with me. Choice is yours." I stood up and grabbed my leather jacket then headed for the door. Lauryn paused for a second but I assume she didn't like the thought of being alone because she jumped up and followed me. She silently trailed behind me as I walked to the parking garage where I kept my cars.
"Which one is yours?" Lauryn asked as she looked over each of the cars that were nestled securely in the back corner of the garage.
"All four are mine." I told her as I stood back and watched her amazement. "Which one do you want to go in?"
"Oh, I don't care. It's all the same to me." She shrugged and played indifferent but I knew better, she had an opinion and I wanted to know it. I had a feeling. I walked up behind her pointed to the first car. My arm brushed her shoulder. Lauryn flinched slightly but didn't move away.
"The black one with the white stripe is a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda." I whispered slightly close to her ear. I had a few inches on her so I was right next to her face. I moved my arm slightly and pointed her towards the next car. "That red one is a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle." She nodded weakly and I moved down the line. "That dark green one is a 1969 Mustang Mach 1." I moved once more and got to the end of the line. "And that little black one right there is a 2011 BMW M3. You pick. I drive. We eat."
"The green one is nice." Lauryn said with a slight stutter and I noticed her face was flushed. I knew I was getting to her.
"Nice choice." I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the car. I opened her door for her then went over to my side. The Mustang was a great car and a great pick by her. I drove out of the parking building carefully but once on the road I let the car do the driving. I kept a decent speed and pulled up to one of my favorite Italian restaurants. We walked in and, after a reasonable wait; the maรฎtre d gave us a great little table that I had used many times, both alone and with company. We ordered quickly and our plates were brought to us rapidly. She drank a white wine and I chose a simple sparkling water.
I laughed as we joked about a man who we had seen ogling a waitress.
"See coming out with me isn't so bad."
"No it isn't. Listen Francesca..."
"Frankie."
Lauryn smile and started again. "Frankie, I want to apologize for being so mean to you earlier. I was being a bitch and you didn't deserve it." She honestly looked sorry.
"Don't worry... I got you to come out with me anyway." I grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly. I expected her to pull from me but she didn't. She just grinned back at me and chuckled.
The rest of the meal went effortlessly. We joked and laughed as if we had been old friends. I couldn't believe how comfortable she was with me. I had expected her to be silent and awkward but she seemed to be relaxed and at ease with me. I really did like her more than I thought I would. I had initially asked her out because I liked the challenge but the more our 'date' went on the more I genuinely enjoyed her company. She wasn't nearly as uptight or pretentious as I had imagined. I couldn't believe I was... dare I say it, falling for her. I tried not to think about that. It frightened me. I looked at my watch and realized it was 7:50. We had been at the restaurant for hours. Lauryn and I finished up at the restaurant then I drove her back to the garage. Her car was waiting right where I had left it and there was a note attached to the windshield. 'Frankie, the car is done. I hope you had a nice time and please don't worry about any extra money. It was my pleasure to help out. Love Rich. P.S. Congrats she is totally hot.' I laughed at the note then grabbed the keys from the key-locker for her.