I belonged to another man. I was in the home of another man. I was in the bedroom of another man. And yet, there I was, my lips pressed to someone else.
"How's it going?" I asked Joe as I walked into the open garage.
"It's going," he responded, a smile on his face as he closed the hood of an old Chevy. "I didn't expect you to come in so soon."
"I know, but my lunch plans kind of fell through so . . . here I am." I smiled.
Before I had arranged to have lunch with Ariana, Joe called me to come in for an update on a new issue that he found with my Lambo. At first this news timed well with my plans for the day, as the driver Will had hired for me was on a specific schedule. But after my fight with Ari earlier that morning, everything I had set out was derailed. So there I was, at the shop with Joe, two hours earlier than I'd planned on arriving.
"Well, it's great to see you again," Joe said as he approached me. "How are you today? It's been a while."
"I'm doing good; super busy and what not, you know? Plus Christmas is coming up, so..," I trailed off as I took a seat on the stool beside his toolbox. Joe nodded.
"Understandable," he muttered. I watched as Joe made his way over to the wall, and pressed a large red button. After a few moments of loud creaking and noisy machinery, my car came down from the lift it was upon, until it was just low enough that Joe could slide beneath it with ease. "Unfortunately," Joe began, removing his hand from the button, "since I hadn't planned on your being here, I haven't completely finished identifying the new parts I need to order. It could be a while before I can-,"
"No that's totally fine!" I interrupted. "I actually am gonna kinda be stuck here a while, since I messed up my driver's schedule. I was hoping I could just, hang out for a bit? Maybe I can wait in the lobby, if that's what you'd prefer."
As I was speaking to him, Joe was gathering tools from his tool box and sliding them into his belt. He maintained his focus on his job with every word that we exchanged, while still respectful of the fact that I was present.
"That's perfectly fine, Miss Demi. You're welcome to hang out wherever you're comfortable."
He pulled himself beneath my car then, and for a while it was pretty silent. To pass the time, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my twitter timeline. I glanced down at Joe every few minutes, my impatience making me agitated. Even with my own mental reminders that Joe had to focus on his job, it was strange not having his attention. I couldn't call Ari, who I was sure had made it back to work somehow, and I couldn't call Will because he was at the office. Every game on my phone quickly became hopelessly tedious to sift through.
Eventually, I locked my phone and let out a heavy sigh.
Joe slid out from beneath the car, and looked over at me with a crooked smile.
"Bored yet?" He asked, wiping his sweat from his forehead with the back of his wrist. Awkwardly, I ran my fingers through my hair and giggled a bit.
"Is it obvious?" I bit my lip.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.