The Kings IV II

51

Jo

I pulled off my sunglasses as I stepped out of my car, looking around the garage for Brian. As soon as I saw him roll out from under a car, I leaned against the hood of mine.

"Shoot," he jumped, his breath obviously hitching, "h-hey, Mr. King. You scared me a little."

I folded my arms over my chest, nodding as I looked around the garage. "Some nice cars in here."

"Yes, sir," he cautiously said, standing up. He wiped off his hands and quickly held out his, his eyes locked on mine.

I shook his hand, pulling away shortly after. "So you guys work on luxury vehicles, yeah?"

"Yes, sir," he answered, "is something wrong with Fran's already?"

"No," I said, "surprisingly, not yet."

He smiled, his eyes fixated on my car.

"You do detailing, or anything like that?" I asked.

"Uh, no, sir," he answered, "but we do have guys that do, they're in the b-"

"What do you do?"

He looked taken aback, tilting his head over. "I do, you know, like, internal mechanical work. A-and I fix dents, scrapes, scratches, you know. Just stuff like that."

"Well, pretend I hit a curb, or something," I said, "how much?"

He shook his head. "I-I can't do that, Mr. King. Is there something else you might need worked on?"

I jutted out my bottom lip, letting out a sigh. I walked around to the drivers side and opened my door, holding up a finger. I slipped inside and turned the car on, backing up and intentionally driving it into the concrete pole in front of me.

"Oops," I yelled, leaning out the window.

"Mr. King," he said, jogging over to me.

I backed up and drove back into the garage, getting out. I walked around to the front bumper, sucking in a breath. "Looks pretty bad, huh?"

Brian stared over at me in disbelief, looking down at my car.

"I mean, I've got a rep with my vehicles, you know?" I asked, "I-I can't be driving around with my shit dented up."

He let out a sigh, looking over at me. "Mr. King, really-"

"How much?" I asked, "and do you get paid, like, directly from it?"

"I get paid hourly, sir," he softly admitted.

"But you can accept tips?"

He subtly nodded. I could tell a lot about Brian, just from the few exchanges we'd had- he was a humble kid who wanted to make it in life. He wasn't relying on his parents' money, or anything besides himself, and that was admirable to me. He was a good example.

"So just bill me," I said, nodding as I pulled out my wallet.

"I'm gonna have to get my manager," he said, "I-I'll be back."

He hesitantly began to walk away, but stopped and turned around.

"Why'd you do that, Mr. King?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

I shrugged, looking around the garage. "You looked bored. Thought you could fix this to pass the rest of your time."

He clenched his jaw and nodded, jogging into the offices.

~*~

Fred

"Hey, can we pretend like we're seventeen again?"