Perfect Strangers | Sebastian Stan

[4] First Impression

JANE was sitting cross-legged on the floor of Scott's air-conditioned office, seeking refuge from the unforgiving summer heat. Dressed in her shop shirt and gym shorts, she told the guys she would be taking her break in Scott's office to cool down. Occasionally taking a bite from the sub Jay bought for her, her eyes was fixated on her computer screen, clicking different links and reading articles upon articles until her eyes were watery.

"What'cha doin' nerd?" Jay walked into the room, his t-shirt soaked with sweat.

Jane looked up and immediately grimaced at the sweaty Jay standing before her. "Gross, stay away from me you sweaty ogre."

"You researchin'?" Jay asked as he plopped himself to one of Scott's couches.

She nodded and turned her laptop around to face Jay. "I'm looking at turbo kits for my baby."

"A turbo for the GT-R?"

"Yup!" She said, popping the last 'p'.

Jay laughed with his hands on his stomach. "How the hell are you going to afford a turbo kit, kid?"

"I'm not an idiot, I know I can't afford it. Look at this" She clicked a tab on her browser and showed Jay a web page. "this guy's shop is selling a kit and they cheapest one they have is nine grand." She shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, there's a price for quality."

"I know, that's why I'm using my brilliant mind to come up with a kit of my own." Jane flashed her pearly whites to Jay.

"You're going to build one from scratch?" He sat up, eyes widened at Jane's idea.

"Mhm, I know I can do it, and it gives me flexibility in choosing the materials and the components. Plus, I don't have to spend so much in one sitting, I can do little by little."

"But how are you going to do this, exactly?"

"Psh, easy peasy! You keep forgetting I'm a genius."

Once the break was over, Jane was forced to go back to the torturing heat and humidity of the main floor and work alongside Jay to fix a cracked turbo shell. Sweat was dripping furiously down Jane's face and back, quickly soaking her shirt. Halfway through the repair, Jay was called up to the office to receive a phone call, leaving Jane to handle the repairs alone.

Fixing things and doing daily repairs used to be a thrill for Jane when she first joined the crew. She realized that by doing repairs on different cars each day, she learns so much more than just doing a one-car project. Now that her skills were increasing, she finds the daily repairs to be tedious and boring, she would prefer to put all her energy and resources to one car and giving it all that she could.

Jane was bend over under the opened car hood, trying to unhook a stuck wrench when she heard someone coming up behind her.

"Hey, mind giving me a boost? I got the wrench stuck real good." She groaned with her head basically inside the engine bay.

"Oh baby, I can do more than that."

SMACK!

Jane gasped and hit her head against the hood of the car as her head shot up in shock when she felt a hand slapping her bottom. She quickly scrambled to her feet and her once flushed skin was now pale as a ghost. The two assholes from days ago were back and Jane was stuck to face them without help as the crews were taking their break, taking turns with Jane and Jay.

"What do you think you're doing?" She mustered out with a pathetic attempt at a menacing tone.

"What you asked, I was helping a lady out." The short one said with a cocky smirk on his face.