𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕀𝔼𝕊 𝔽ℝ𝕆𝕄 𝔸 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝔻 ～ 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘔𝘤𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘺

55 - [D] Mulligrubs

M U L L I G R U B S
noun [muhl-i-gruhbz]

Ill temper; grumpiness

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Dennis sat quietly in the waiting area of 'Rent-A-Wreck', a car rental company. He observed the other customers sitting and at the counter. He felt extremely uncomfortable in this place, he wanted to get out as soon as he could.

"Mr, uh... Dennis?" A man called out, confused about the surname box being blank on the rental form he held in his hands. Dennis turned to look at him then got up, refraining from touching the metal and leather of the seat for support.

He followed the man to the back of the building where all the cars for rental were parked. Dennis made a note of all the kinds of cars, especially lemons that still worked good enough for users to rent out.

"There you go Sir, your rental," He gestured to a white car parked towards the end of the row. Dennis furrowed his eyebrows, looking around on the spot then chuckling.

"Are you s-sure that this is the car?" Dennis questioned with dread and the man looks at the papers in his hands once more for confirmation.

"Uh, a Toyota Corolla  E90, 1994, rented out to Mr Dennis," He narrated, "White, license plate SPT-1702. It checks out Sir."

Dennis ran a hand over his scalp and sighed, shutting his eyes to try to calm his nerves. The man held out the car keys and Dennis took it from him, picking them by the edge of the key chain with his thumb and forefinger.

As he walked away, Dennis turned his gaze back at the car staring right back at him. "You have got to be joking," He mumbled to himself and shook his head with disbelief.

Dennis quickly took out his phone from his pocket and dialled your number in haste. He tapped the sides of his thigh out of anxiety as he waited for you to pick up-

"Hello?"

"Hi [y/n], how are you?" Dennis asked nervously.

"I'm alright, did you get the car?"

"About that..." Dennis bit his lip and squinted his eyes.

"Did you not get it?" You asked with concern and he shook his head.

"No, I got it alright. It's just, huh... It's not what I was hoping for," He walked over to the side of the car and bent down to look at its interior through the driver seat window.

"What do you mean Dennis? Is everything okay?" You started to feel worried about his attitude, and he stood up straight quickly.

"Yes!" He blurted out a little loudly then rubbed his face with exhaustion, "I don't like the car, that's all. It's old and grimy, and inadequate for me to drive."

"Oh come on Dennis, you just need it for a week while they repair your car!" You argued, "Get over your OCD and-"

"It's not that easy [y/n]," He whispered through his gritted teeth, watching the people in the lot to see if he was capturing their unwanted attention, "This car is creaky and I can see old newspapers and... oh my lord, there are crumbs on the seats."

Dennis covered his mouth and moved away from the car to take a breather.

"Have you sat in the car yet-No wait, have you even opened the door?!" You questioned with irritation and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Dennis walked over to the car once more and reached to wrap his handle around the door handle to pull it open.

CREAK!

He flinched then let go of the door, wiping his hand on his trousers and blowing on them to get the dust off as best as he could.

Dennis took a deep breath then bent to sit inside the car. He shut the door then resumed breathing, but immediately regretted it.

He placed the phone on the dashboard and put the call on speaker phone then opened the driver and passenger windows so that he wouldn't die from suffocation.

"So how is it?" You asked after the rustling sound settled.

"Fine...?" He forced out of his lungs and you sighed.

"You're going to pass out Dennis! Stop exaggerating," You said, rolling your eyes.

It's not like you don't understand how OCD can affect a person. It's just that you've been with Dennis long enough and his OCD is way too extreme. The only way he can cope with it is to stop avoiding normal situations.

"You're in this situation because you didn't listen to me and took the car regardless of me telling you that you needed rest and I would drive you. Now toughen up and bring the car home!" You instructed with no empathy in your voice.

There's a period of silence and you listened closely. "Dennis-"

You heard him groan, followed by a low THUMP! from him picking the phone from the dashboard. "Oh my-There's gum stuck near the speedometer," Dennis said in a rush then hurried out of the car.

THUD!

He slammed the door shut and stared at it with horror. He hastened around the lot to anyone he found that worked at the rental company.

"H-Hey, excuse me!" He called out and a man with a name tag that said Zachary turned around, "I have a complaint about the Toyota Corolla E90, parked over there. It is utterly filthy and I need a replacement right away."

Zachary stared at Dennis flatly and shook his head in refusal, "I'm sorry sir, that car is under our basic package. We are not responsible for interior conditions. If the car's running smoothly and passes our automobile tests then we are approved to rent it out."

"B-B-But there's gum and crumbs and DUST!" Dennis exclaims and Zachary places his hands out in front of him.

"Dents, state of seats as well as scrapes and scratches, tears and worn out upholstery is not of our concern. The cars get a deep cleaning every first of the month and..." Zachary looked at his watch and raised his eyebrows, "By the looks of it you're twelve days late."

"Th-This is unacceptable! I demand another car!" Dennis yelled and Zachary clenched his fists then forced a smile on his face, "Replace my car NOW!"

"DENNIS, YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM THIS CONFLICT!" You shouted through the phone in hopes that he would hear you.

Dennis glanced to his phone, forgetting that it was still on speaker phone. Zachary took a deep breath, "If you upgrade your package then I can help you, but it will cost you another one hundred and fifty bucks."

Dennis frowned and looked to the ground, "I can't spend any more..."

"Then I'm sorry sir, you can organise your own cleaning externally. The front desk has details for some reasonable rates at car washes," Zachary suggested then walked away.

Dennis stood there, sad and disturbed... but mostly frightened ar the state of that car. For someone without OCD it would be bearable, they may not even notice it but for him? He couldn't look ag it one more-"

"Dennis, get your ass home NOW!" You scolded him.

He sighed with frustration then walked back to the car. "Alright," He sulked, "Thanks for your ever-growing support [y/n]!" Sarcasm dripped like acid from his lips and you felt guilty at your behaviour.

"I'm... I'm sorry Dennis. You know I love you and I'm trying to help," You explained and he smiled slightly.

"Fine, just... I'll be home in an hour," He said, "I need to find the deepest cleaning I can for this car."