Tell Me Again, One More Time - SOA

18.

After she finished up her salad, Lia huffed and grabbed her car keys as she had to go to yet another day of work. She adjusted her hair into pigtails and adjusted her uniform top, then pulled on a pair of heels and walked to the entry way of her house. As she walked by the table, she snatched her white purse off of it and threw it over her shoulder, then stepped out of the house.

She made sure to lock the front door, closing it tightly before she headed to her warmed up car.

As she opened the front door, she groaned as she heard the same ticking noise - that she had just gotten fixed.

"Are you serious?" She huffed and slipped into the sleek black Nissan, inserting her key and stepping on the break to start the car. As she successfully started the car back up without it turning off, she put the car into drive and pulled out of the driveway.

Lia pressed on the gas and looked into her mirrors cautiously, then jumped as she heard a loud thumping sound and a beep from the car. She pressed on her break, then looked down at the gauges, reading the words and seeing the light that popped on.

It was an odd shaped object, and of course she didn't know anything about cars.

"What the hell!" She cursed, frustrated that she hadn't even made it two streets away. With a huff, she opened her phone and called the mechanic's office that she had been to a few weeks before, despite hearing her friend Lindsay's voice in her head, warning her.

They couldn't be that bad, Lia thought to herself.

Lia listened to the dial tone, then grinned as the call was picked up.

After all, she thought it was too late.

"Teller-Morrow," The man spoke on the other side of the phone.

"Hi! I was just in last week, and I got a ticking sound fixed in my car." Lia spoke, "And it's happening again and my car is screaming at me, it's showing lights on the dashboard.. and I don't know what's going on. I don't know what to do, what it is or-"

"Miss?" The man asked. "What does the light look like?" He chuckles as she rambled.

"It's.. yellow." Lia spoke.

"Not what I meant, but come on and bring it by." The man chuckled again, "I was getting bored anyway."

"I thought you guys were closed, I didn't expect anyone to answer. But thank you so much!" Lia grinned, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes." She said softly and jumped as her car started whining and beeping again at her.

"Perfect." The man spoke, "is it driveable?"

"I think so." Lia spoke and put the car back into gear, wincing at the loud whine.

"Well, give us a call back if you need a tow."

"Okay! Will do, again, thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it."

With that, the call was disconnected and Lia, sighed. She leaned her head on the window and navigated through her contacts, stopping on her boss' contact.

She quickly shot him a text.

Hey!
I'm so sorry, but I'm not going to be able to make in tonight. I was on my way and my car completely broke down on me. I'm heading to the mechanics now. Again, I'm so sorry! -lia

With another sigh, Lia set her phone in the passenger seat and started making her way to the mechanic shop. Once she pulled up, she parked in front of the open garage bay and then slipped out of the car, after opening the door.

Lia took a deep breath and stepped into the relatively well it up garage, cursing as her pumps clicked loudly on the cement. She peeked around in the garage, before calling out.

"Hello?" She asked, "anyone here?"

Almost on que, a tan man walked out from the door that attached onto the other side of the building. As he looked at her, his eyes seemed to light up. "What can I do for ya?"

"I just called.. Uh.. having car trouble?" She spoke, although it came out more like a question. Lia became nervous under his direct stare.

"You're lucky, I was just about to pack up for the night." He spoke, his voice low and gruff. "I didn't know anyone else was coming- maybe Tig answered the phone."

"Oh- I, uh.." Lia spaced out and crossed her arms against her chest. "I can come back, maybe..tomorrow."

"No," He said firmly. "Can you pull your car onto that lift?" He asked and looked at the woman, then towards the lift that he started to lower.

"To be honest.. I have trouble driving already." She looked up at the man. "I don't trust myself."

A small smirk was earned from the man and he brushed by her, adjusting her seat before he slipped into her car. He watched as she loved out of the way, then pulled her car onto the lift with ease. Once he got out, he made sure to turn the car off and pop open the hood.

"So, that light in there..." He trailed off, "That's an engine light." He looked over at the woman, who adjusted her hair on her shoulder and nodded slowly. Before she opened her mouth, he spoke up again after grabbing the code reader from the cart. "It could be one of many things,"

"Great. All expensive, I'm sure." Lia huffed and watched as he kneeled down onto the ground, next to her front seat.

Another chuckle from the man.

Lia wrapped her arms around herself and sighed, taking a peek underneath her hood, where she only got more confused. She took this opportunity to look back at the man and to study his features.

Tan, dark skin. Piercing brown eyes, with a nose and lips that seemed to fit his face just right. A strong jaw. And a constant look of cold, mystery and distance.

He was quite skinny, but had some muscle on him and tattoos.

Happy smirked as he caught the woman staring at him, then pulled the code reader from the drivers side and stood up, closing her door.

"You need new sparkies, oxygen sensors, an air flow sensor too." He spoke up, then glanced over at her, while she was trying to occupy herself by looking underneath the hood, from the embarrassment.

"I don't know what any of those do, or what they are." Lia whispered as she looked up at the man.

"Let's start there." The man spoke and turned around, digging through the drawers of a cabinet.