Friendly

Chapter 2

Monday.

I called the shop and asked to speak to Daryl as promised. He told me to stop by the shop around 11:30. As soon as we hung up and I started searching my closet for something cute to wear. Finally deciding to keep it simple with a loose tank and ripped jeans. I slid on my favorite ankle boots and checked myself out in the mirror. Cute and casual. Just what I was going for. I finish doing my hair, opting to leave it down in loose curls rather than throw it into my typical ponytail. I finish my makeup and do my homework for class the next day. By the time I'm done, it's time to head to Dale's. When I pull up, I go into the office and meet Rosita. She calls out into the shop for Daryl. He meets me in front of the office and follows me to my car. Even covered in grease the man still looks amazing.

"Daryl, meet Tink." He scoffs as I introduce him to my car, a 92 Toyota Corolla. She's a natural blue and has lots of dents. She belonged to my parents who passed it down to Maggie, who passed it to my brother Shawn and then to me. When Shawn bought his own car, I got Tink, and she was in rough shape. My dad and Otis (a family friend) tried to help by replacing some parts, but she still is in need of some TLC.

"Let's pop the hood and I'll take a look." Daryl looks at her for a few minutes and then tells me she needs a tune up and a couple of other things. He assures me it won't be expensive and I'm thankful. I have some money saved from working at the clinic, but not a lot. And I really don't want to spend all I have on repairs. "You'll need to leave it here for most of the day. I'll call you when it's done. You got a ride home?"

"Maggie's working. I can just get an uber."

He frowns at that. "Give me a minute and I can give ya a ride. I was gonna take my lunch after you left anyways."

"Are you sure? I'd hate to take up your lunch."

"Yeah. Give me five minutes and I'll be ready to go." He disappears in the shop and I can't believe he's going to take me home. I try to remain calm. In the past, I get too excited too fast about a guy and then am left disappointed when I find out they just don't see me that way or they aren't looking for a relationship. After a several stacked up disappointments, I told myself I wouldn't get too excited about a guy again. Not until I know he for sure is interested in me too. Daryl may have flirted with a couple of times. but that doesn't mean he likes me back. He's just being friendly, I tell myself. "You ready to go?" I smile and nod as he directs me to his truck. I tell him where I live which is less than 15 minutes from the shop. "Ya hungry? I get a full hour for lunch. We could grab a quick bite on the way there?"

"Sure, sounds great."

A few hours later...

"Bethy, I am home." Maggie calls.

I get up off my bed and head to the living room to meet her. "Hey how was work?"

"Good. Not too busy. How was your day?" She shrugs off her cardigan and sets her purse down on the kitchen table.

"It was good. Dropped my car off at Dale's this afternoon. Daryl is supposed to call me when it is done." I say as I sit on the couch.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot you were doing that today. You should have reminded me, I would have picked you up. How did you get home? Did you take an Uber?" She asks as she plops down on the couch next to me.

"Actually... Daryl took home on his lunch break." I try to keep my face neutral.

"Oh." She looks at me intrigued. "He must like you if he offered to take you home and sacrifice his lunch."

"No, he doesn't and he didn't sacrifice his lunch. He gets a full hour. We stopped and got lunch on the way here." I explain.

Her eyes get bigger at that. "You two went on a date and you didn't tell me?" Her voice gets a little higher.