Everybody Hurts

Chapter 18

 The following Friday, Sam rode from school over to Trusty Transmission, the garage where Eddie worked. She'd never been there before but this morning, as Eddie snuck up behind her, arms around her waist and gentle kisses against her shoulder while she was getting her coffee for work, he'd informed her that her car would be ready and asked if she could stop after work to pick it up.

He seemed pretty excited about it and honestly, so was she. She loved riding with Eddie but it would be nice to have her own set of wheels, a sense of independence to go wherever she wanted without having to make a call and ask a favor. Her bike worked for anything in town while the weather was nice but if she wanted to head to the city for anything, she would need a car or a ride.

She caught sight of Eddie's van as she hopped off her bike, placing it in the rack just to the side of the entrance. The building sported brown siding with a red roof, the name across the front in red as well, and multiple garage doors out front for cars to be pulled in for service. To the left was a parking lot where, Sam assumed, cars waited for their turn. Being the only mechanic shop in Hawkins, it had to do decent business, leaving no one any other option.

As she pushed open the door to a world of dirt and oil and metal, she was pleasantly surprised to see the garage was bright and clean. Large windows along the sides allowed plenty of natural light to cover the space as well as intense fluorescent lighting overhead. A car lift sat in the center and mechanics covered in black grease worked on cars throughout the place with a sense of productivity. A faint smell of oil hit her nose while the sounds of motors and tools echoed loudly throughout.

"Hey there, sweetheart, can I help you?" asked a man in dark blue coveralls, wiping his hands on a rag as he approached. He looked to be about fifty, salt and pepper dotting his dark beard and short hair. His name, Dave, was stitched in red across the front.

"Yeah. I'm actually looking for Eddie."

Eyebrows rose up in interest, an amused smile crossing his lips, "Oh, so you're her."

"Sorry? I'm who?"

"Munson's girl," he grinned knowingly. "The one he's putting in all that free time for. The little Honda is yours, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam nodded, heat warming her extremities like sitting in front of a fire after hours in the cold, at being referred to as Munson's girl. Did he talk about her like that at work? He had to have talked about her enough for this guy to think she was his girl.

"Man, he's been working crazy hours to get that thing back in shape, staying long after his shift is over. You must be something pretty special for him to do all that work for free." He laughed, shaking his head. "I never thought I'd see the day Eddie Munson finally settled down with one girl. I don't know what the hell you've done to him, but it's definitely for the better so keep it up, alright?"

"I...I'll try," she stammered. Had Eddie really spent hours working on the car? She'd just assumed it had taken so long because he'd fit it in where he could. Had it needed more work than he'd told her? Sam had never wanted him to give up that much time for her.

"Come on. Follow me," Dave said, waving his hand and Sam trailed behind him, following him up to a black pick-up, familiar coverall clad legs with two black boots sticking out of the bottom. "Munson! You got a visitor!"

Fingers free from their usual chunky rings wrapped around the front bumper of the truck as he rolled out from beneath it. Sam was horrified when an audible whimper escaped from her lips at the sight of him. A black bandana was wrapped around the top of his head, smashing his bangs flat to his forehead, damp from sweat, the rest of his hair in a low bun to keep it out of his face while he worked. Grease stains, like strokes of paint crossed his cheeks. He was dirty and grimy and Jesus Christ, he was so damn hot. Sam wanted to pull those coveralls down and climb that man like a fucking tree.