The Mechanic Pt 04

All good things must come to an end: this is the final instalment in the The Mechanic series. Like my other stories, this is not a 'wham bam, thank you ma'am' story, and you'll probably want to read the other parts in the series first to understand the backstory. For those of you who have been following my characters every step of the way, trust me in saying that I will miss them as much as you will! But I hope you'll enjoy their finale. I'd love to hear from you; drop me a comment to let me know what you think. Happy reading!

* * * * *

Megan shuffled the little envelope a little closer. The object had been lying on the breakfast bar between them for the best part of fifteen minutes. Megan seemed a bit shy about actually handing it over, but it had clearly been the thing on her mind; conversation so far had been awkward and a little forced.

"What's this? Is that for me?" Rowan decided to help her along.

Megan's face lit up. "Open it," she said, beaming.

Rowan took out the card within. It had a picture of a U-Haul moving truck and the words 'Housewarming Party' plastered across the top. Rowan dropped the card with a thud.

"You're moving in with her!?"

Megan nodded and looked at her expectantly; nervously. "I know it's quick..."

"It is... You've only known her for three months."

"I know but... When you know, you know. You know?"

Rowan smiled. There was entirely too much knowing going on in that sentence.

"It's going really well between us. I really like her. I want to spend the rest of my life with her! Plus, you've always said I need to get out of my tiny place," Megan rattled on.

Rowan had said that. She hadn't meant U-hauling with the first girl to come along, naturally. Jordan had certainly embedded herself into Megan's life very swiftly. Ever since the two had finally admitted they liked each other, they had been practically inseparable. Rowan had not seen much of Megan lately and she'd only met Jordan a few times, mostly in passing.

Megan and Jordan had met up with Rowan for a meal once, where they'd been properly introduced. However, the two love birds had been very busy with each other, which left little room for getting to know Megan's crush properly.

Admittedly, they did seem a very good match; endlessly chatting and bantering. They'd even finished each other's sentences a few times. Still, this talk of wanting to spend the rest of their lives together was giving Rowan heart palpitations. How could they possibly know that?

"Oh Rowan, it's the perfect place for us. And we're both in such dinky places now. She's in a student room! And don't worry, in the new apartment we'll still have plenty of space to avoid each other if we need to!" Megan laughed, but it still sounded slightly forced.

Seeing Megan's discomfort, Rowan realised she wasn't being the supportive friend she should be. The fact that she couldn't picture moving in with someone she'd just met didn't mean that it couldn't make her friend happy. Megan was well aware of Rowan's feeling on this topic, so she'd probably been dreading the moment she had to bring it up.

"Well, that's amazing then. I'm really happy for you guys," Rowan said with a genuine smile, pushing down her internal panic. She got up to emphasise her words.

"Congratulations!" She pulled Megan into a bear hug.

Her friend looked utterly relieved. "Thank you! So you'll be there?"

Rowan returned to the invite. The party was next Friday. So soon.

"Of course, I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Great! We're moving in this week, actually. I was going to ask you for help but I didn't want you to take time off work, and Jordan has two bulky big brothers who are helping us. We don't have much stuff anyway. It will probably only be two car loads."

"I would have closed the garage for a day to help you. You're my best friend; no customer or motorbike can compete with that." Rowan winked. She meant it, but she was secretly quite glad she did not to have to miss out on the business.

"Are you going to bring Riley?" Megan asked with a curious smile.

Rowan tapped the invite on the breakfast bar pensively. "Yeah, I think I might..." That would at least give her someone to talk to while Megan and Jordan and their couple friends were smooching in the corners.

Megan was positively beaming.

"What?" Rowan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Just this... Seeing you like this. You're not even freaking out about asking her to come with you anymore!"

Rowan shrugged. She wasn't, but that didn't mean they would be next to move in together. Trust Megan to interpret this in her overly optimistic way.

"It's going really well, isn't it? You've been on a few dates, right?" Megan fished.

"Dates...," Rowan started. She couldn't really deny anymore that she had been on dates, much as she would like.

"Yeah, I guess. We went to the theatre where she played the piano on stage; I told you about that..."

"Oh yes, that was fantastic," Megan said with a dreamy smile that suggested she had a bit of a crush on Riley herself after that. "You were super impressed with that, weren't you?"

Rowan huffed. Of course she was, but that wasn't the point.

"Anyway," she continued, "we also went for a bike ride to that ice cream parlour. And we've been to Luigi's for a meal, and to the cinema to see the new Cate Blanchett movie. She says she has a bit of a thing for Cate. She sure is settling into this lesbian thing nicely. "

Rowan grinned casually. She'd been rattling this off factually, not wanting to encourage Megan's romantic ideas. She just enjoyed hanging out with Riley; no wedding bells or thoughts thereof required.

"Sounds amazing!"

"It's been nice, actually. Although she's giving me serious blue balls."

Rowan laughed. She'd meant it as a joke to lighten the serious tone of the conversation, but Megan gave her a reproachful look.

"Maybe that will teach you that not everything is about sex!"

"Not everything, no, but a little bit of it would be nice."

She was just playing with Megan now; the truth was, she was alright with waiting for Riley. She had two healthy hands and a huge collection of toys to take the edge off.

"And would you have stuck around for this long if she'd given you that?"

"Maybe...," Rowan lied, "but I know that that's exactly the reason you told her not to sleep with me."

"She told you then? Well, I don't regret a thing. It is clearly working."

Rowan smiled. Riley hadn't told her that with so many words but it had been easy to put two and two together; it was exactly as she'd suspected then. And if she was completely honest with herself, she was actually grateful. Megan was right: she probably wouldn't have stuck around if Riley had put out again already. So, yes, it was working; whatever 'it' was.

Megan continued: "Anyway, I'm glad you're going to ask her." She had a funny expression on her face and Rowan looked at her suspiciously.

"What now? What am I missing?"

"I sent her an invite too," Megan said, pleased as punch with herself.

Rowan should have seen that coming. "Are you guys friends now then?" She asked, pretending annoyance. "Or just ganging up on me again?"

She had her own ideas about why Megan had asked Riley, but she realised she wasn't as frustrated about her meddling as she'd once been. In fact, she was quite pleased; it would take the gravity off her asking Riley.

Megan was still smiling. "I just like her, that's all. I want her there, without or without you."

"Oi! Harsh dude!"

Megan laughed. "I didn't mean it like that. I want you there too, of course. I want you both there, attached to each other or not."

Nice save. If those were her options, Rowan would choose attached, preferably to Riley's lips in a dark corner somewhere.

"You could have told me that before grilling me about asking her, though."

"I just wanted to see if you'd invite her." 'How far you've come,' was what Megan actually meant. Rowan for once had not disappointed her.

"Anyway, now that you'll have a date to the party, you know what that means, right?"

Rowan had no clue. She looked at Megan quizzically.

"You'll have to coordinate your outfits."

"What are you talking about?" Was this some new part of dating that Rowan didn't know about, being so new to the whole thing?

Megan pointed at the invite. "It's a costume party!"

Rowan grabbed the card and stared at the smaller print across the bottom. She hadn't gotten this far, thrown by the shock of the moving in bit. There it was, brazen as brass: 'Come dressed as your favourite lesbian character from tv, movies, books, or music.'

"You've got to be kidding me," Rowan mumbled, more to herself than to Megan." She really wasn't feeling this theme. She was drawing a complete blank on what to do with it. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned 'hookers and vicars'?

"We thought that since it's already such a lesbian thing to do, U-hauling after three months, we may as well go all the way," Megan beamed.

"But lesbian characters just look like you and I anyway, don't they? Not much dressing up required then."

"Like you, for sure!" Megan laughed. "Find some accessories. Be creative!"

When Megan had left a while later, Rowan was still racking her brain for ideas on who to go as. And apparently it had to be a duo act too. Typical Megan to spring something like this on her a week before the project was due. Didn't these student types realise other people had real jobs that kept them busy?

She got out her phone, which she'd actually bothered to charge for a change. She'd saved Riley's number in there a while ago, thinking in a moment of weakness that it would make it easier to make plans in the long run, if she was going to keep seeing the girl.

However, so far she'd either just shown up, they'd made plans face-to-face, or Riley had called her at the garage. Somehow it was still a threshold for Rowan to call Riley on her mobile, as if that blurred some boundary; giving Riley instant access to her whenever she wanted; or at least, whenever her phone was charged and within reach.

Rowan's reluctance to go down to the garage just for a phone call eventually overcame her discomfort. She browsed to Riley's contact and hit the call button.

"Hello, Riley speaking."

"Hey straight girl." Calling her that was still fun, even if Riley had shown repeatedly that she wasn't so straight after all.

"Rowan? Are you actually calling me on your mobile!?"

"Yeah, I am. It was charged and right here, so I just figured it was easier..." Rowan wished Riley wouldn't make such a big deal about it.

"Oh wow. Am I promoted to the inner circle at last then? Now that I finally have your number, you know I am going to message you at funny moments, like in the middle of the night, right?" Riley teased.

"You can totally message me when you feel funny in the middle of the night and are thinking about me because of it. Make it spicy, though. At least I can have some fun too," Rowan threw back at her, chuckling.

"So, what can I do for you? I believe it's my turn to take you on a date. Are you getting impatient?"

Riley was clearly enjoying her temporary position of power. She'd certainly gotten more confident as Rowan had continued seeing her.

"It is your turn. So are you going to ask me to come to Megan's party then?"

Riley laughed. "You got your invite too then? You know, you have a funny way of asking someone out. Still doesn't sit right with you, does it?"

Why did this girl see straight through her at every turn? "Fine... Will you come to Megan's party with me?"

"As your date?"

Rowan could picture Riley's smug face as she asked that.

"Yes, as my date. Although I'm starting to regret this already."

"Oh, don't be grumpy. Of course I'll be your date. Did you see the theme?"

"Yeah, what a pain... Megan reckons we should coordinate our outfits or something," Rowan said reluctantly.

"Of course we should!"

Clearly, this was a well-known fact to anyone who'd ever gone to a costume party with a date. Rowan realised she may as well rope Riley into accomplishing this challenging task.

"I've got nothing on that. Lesbian couples in tv series or movies, who are distinctive enough to dress up as? I assume your knowledge on the topic is limited too, being straight and all?" She teased.

"I may have done some catching up on my lesbian popular culture recently... I have some ideas actually."

Riley went into an enthusiastic relay of her ideas and what items they would need to make it convincing.

Rowan was blown away. "When did you have time to think about this? When did you get your invite?"

"Last week... You?"

"Today..." Rowan couldn't believe her best friend would actually invite Riley before she invited her.

Riley laughed. "She was probably terrified about telling you; knowing your thoughts on such romantic notions as moving in together."

Again, Riley surprised Rowan with her accurate analysis of the going-ons between her and her long-time best friend. How had she become so knowledgeable about their feelings?

"So, happy with the plan?" Riley continued. "Can I order the stuff? I've got it all ready to go in my Amazon basket."

It wasn't like Rowan had any better ideas, and she quite liked Riley's; that was, after the girl had explained the ins and outs of the tv show Rowan hadn't watched, and the characters they were going for.

"Sure, go ahead," she said, marvelling at the fact that this was going to be the second time Riley would dictate what she would wear. What was this girl doing to her?

* * * * *

"I gotta give it to you. You could have done a lot worse with the comfort factor of our outfits," Rowan said, gesturing towards a girl who was dressed rather elaborately in a long skirt, corset and top hat.

"That's Gentleman Jack!" Riley said enthusiastically. She binged that show but had never thought to use it as her costume choice. That was a shame; Rowan would have made an excellent Anne Lister. Although getting her into a skirt would have been challenging.

Instead, they were both wearing baggy orange trousers and shirts with big black boots, complemented with custom-created prison IDs. She'd given Rowan a pair of fake black-rimmed specs to complete the look.

"Riley, Rowan, there you are!" Megan and Jordan came bounding over. Megan looked at them for only a moment and then said: "Or should I say 'Piper and Alex'? Orange is the new black indeed; I don't think I've ever seen Rowan in orange!"

Riley gave Rowan a smug look. She'd guaranteed the mechanic that people would recognise who they were meant to be. Rowan rolled her eyes at her.

"And you are?" Rowan asked Megan.

Riley also couldn't really place their outfits. Jordan was wearing some sort of staff badge and was carrying a mini painting around her neck. Megan didn't seem particularly dressed up but had a fake pregnant belly.

"Please tell me that's not a hint for what you two will be doing next," Rowan said with a look of horror, when Megan thrust a turkey baster in her face, saying: "Does this help?"

"We are Bette and Tina, from 'The L Word', and this... Rowan, you'll appreciate this..." Jordan produced a blanket, "is our cloak of boringness." She threw it over her and Megan's heads.

Riley had started watching 'The L Word' but did not understand any of the clues.

"Spoiler alert!" She said.

They all laughed. Megan said: "Ah, sorry Riley. We forgot you are new. You'll get a few more spoilers probably. I think we have the entire cast of the show here tonight. By the way, this is Jordan. Jordan, this is Riley."

Riley shook Jordan's hand, glad to meet the girl that was clearly making Megan so happy. She deserved it. Riley didn't know the bartender that well, but she really liked her. She had a sense that while Megan was clearly an excellent match-maker, her own love life had been more challenging.

The hostesses took Rowan and Riley on a tour around the house in which they ooh'ed and aah'ed in the right places. Riley could feel Rowan's discomfort at the domesticity of it all and she tried to ignore her hopes of one day moving in with Rowan. That was going to be a big one.

"Ah see, here's Dana now," Megan pointed out as they passed an attractive brunette in a very short skirt with a tennis racket. "I told you we had the whole L Word cast here."

"As long as no one pulls a Jenny and jumps in the pool," Rowan grinned. "Sorry, more spoilers."

Riley looked around, amazed at the number of people and the creativity of their costumes. She felt excited to be included in such an interesting new community and be welcomed as one of their own. She had never realised there were this many lesbians in town.

"Are they all gay?" She whispered to Rowan.

"Don't ask her. She thinks everyone is gay," said Megan, who overheard her.

"Well, I can only go by who's slept with a girl at least once, and that's quite a few of them...," Rowan said with a dirty grin.

Riley felt a pang of jealousy. No wonder a few of the girls they'd passed had given them weird looks. How many of them had Rowan slept with?

"To answer your question," Jordan interrupted her unpleasant thought, "yes, this is kind of the lesbian party. We'll have a small thing for our families too, but it turns out most of our friends are lesbians!"

"Anyway, make yourselves at home. Help yourselves to drinks. Feel free to add music to the queue. Basically, do whatever you like, except have sex in our bed," Megan laughed and winked at Riley.

"Awww..." Rowan pulled a sad face, "Sofa is okay, though?"

At that, she received punches from Riley and Megan simultaneously, while Jordan gave her a covert nod. "Yeah, go wild on the sofa. We're going to replace that anyway," she whispered.

As Megan and Jordan walked off to greet other guests, Rowan and Riley helped themselves to some drinks. Rowan had brought her own hip flask filled with her favourite whiskey and grabbed a beer too, while Riley opted for white wine. They looked for a place to sit or perch and found an empty armchair.

"We can fit there," Rowan said decisively.

Riley snuggled on Rowan's lap while they sipped their drinks and chatted.

"We should probably go and be social, shouldn't we?" Riley said, after a while, realising she hadn't spoken to anyone else since they got here.

"Yeah, probably," Rowan said, taking a sip from her flask. "In a bit..." She wrapped her arms more firmly around Riley and grabbed her butt. "I'm still enjoying this."

Riley smiled. Of course she was. Although they still hadn't had sex, their physical contact had certainly increased throughout their later dates, and it had become more and more tempting. And then there were the kisses...

"Me too," Riley said with a naughty grin, "and this..."

She pressed her lips to Rowan's and felt the mechanic respond instantly by welcoming her tongue into her mouth. She could taste the whiskey Rowan had been drinking: a strong residue of smokiness, yet clearly very different from tobacco. She let her tongue caress Rowan's and felt Rowan's hand roam her buttocks. Maybe tonight was the night they could finally take things a step further?

"You know what?" Riley said as she laid her head on Rowan's shoulder a little later.

Rowan went to fondle her breast but Riley caught another girl's gaze and slapped Rowan's hand away. They may be surrounded by other lesbians, they were still in public.

"You should have come as Ruby Rose's character in 'Orange is the New Black'."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Rowan mumbled, distracted by her fingers, caressing Riley's belly.

"She looks like you. She's really hot. But she's not with Piper in the series, so you couldn't be her."