SUE: Don't Honk (David and Jade)

[Event !]

...I don't think that any cars are getting repaired in the foreseeable future.

[Jade Parrish]

Jade had been on her way home from work when her car broke down. She supposed she should be thankful it wasn't on her way to work, but she was still annoyed. There she was, remnants of whipped cream and steamed milk in her raven hair, tied sloppily into a ponytail she'd had it in all day at work and the smell of coffee lingering on her. It'd been a long day at Starbucks. And it was going to be even longer now because she was standing outside an Auto shop, with an unlit sign, wondering how this happened.

Little had she known that when she'd left, shortly after the power had gone out and Starbucks had to close down for the night. And when she'd finally gotten her car towed to the nearest auto shop, she felt her bad luck was getting worse when he told her the power was out city-wide.

"Please tell me you can fix my car," she pleaded David, not something she usually stooped to.

[David Reed]

Dave has been in his father’s… no, his office when it happened. He’d been looking through all of the paperwork he could find. The computer was open, random folders stretched across the screen, but he’d long since abandoned that. No, he was sitting on the ground in the middle of the latest war zone. The filing cabinets had long since died, their contents scattered across the floor. There had been a method at one point, but if there was one now that would be news to Dave.

And then the power went out and he was cast into darkness.

Dave could hear the screech of various motorized tools come to a stop and for the first time in what felt like forever the auto shop fell into silence. Nice, calm silence. Oh how he wanted to just sit and soak it in. But, he couldn’t. Now that he was the boss this was his responsibility.

With a sigh of frustration, he got to his feet and stumbled his way out of the office, paperwork-debris scattering in his wake. Stepping outside, Dave began to investigate. It didn’t take long to realize that this was not a localized situation and that it could be hours before power was restored… longer, if a Meta was involved.

So Dave dismissed the guys until further notice and went back inside to get his own things. It was then that he heard the tow truck pull up.

“Power’s out city-wide.” He said, coming back out. There was sympathy in his voice and a slight grimace on his face, which only deepened at her plea. He looked from the girl to the car. This was why he had no place as an auto-repair shop owner. He was probably just about as lost as she was when it came to trying to figure out why her car was busted.

“I wish I could, ma’am,” he said. Woah, that ma’am felt so weird to say. So formal. “But, uh, all the guys just left.”

Should he have admitted to not being able to fix the car himself? Dave couldn’t tell if that would be the right or wrong thing to say.

[Jade Parrish]

The moment she saw the blonde guy, she was pleading, not something very characteristic of Jade, but this sucked. She'd thought that the power was just out on that block or just at Starbucks, but it turned out it wasn't and now she was standing here begging this guy to fix her car.

She raised an eyebrow at what he said next. "Ma'am?" To Jade, that meant she looked old. That's what her mother should be called, not her. "I'm sorry--please just call me Jade." She ws trying to be polite here, but she was annoyed that things had happened to go this way, even if the guy was really attractive. Rugged. Ugh.

"Well, can't you do something? I mean, you do run this place, don't you?"

[David Reed]

"Sorry, Jade." Dave corrected himself, his lips lifting into a small smile. He was glad that she had corrected him. Calling her by name felt a lot better.

That aside, this was still a tricky situation for him though. So far, the only few people who had come by had been old customers with things he could refer to the mechanics to solve. Dave had been little more than the in-between guy who took payments and smiled politely. This was the first time he'd been stuck as owner and sole decision maker. Oh how he wished Jace was here. But, she wasn't.

So Dave took a wild shot. Jade hadn't wished to be called ma'am, so he went with the informal, honest truth. After all, honesty was what he'd promised himself.

"Eh, yeah, I do. But, honestly, I only just inherited the shop and I really don't know much about cars myself." Dave grimaced a little as he ran a hand through his hair, but there was still the remnants of a smile in his eyes. He wasn't much of a ladies' man, but he was polite and informal socializing was a delight of his.

"If you really need it, I guess I could call one of the mechanics up, see if they'd come back and look at it..." Maybe if there wasn't much wrong with the car they could do something for her now. If not, well... "... or I could give you a lift till your car gets fixed. I mean, it could be a couple of days if the power stays out, but hey. I owe ya, right?" To Dave that seemed fair.

[Jade Parrish]

"Thank you," Jade told him, glad he wasn't going to push calling her ma'am. That would not end well. What he said next, made the smirk fall off of her face. "Seriously? Why would you take the shop if you didn't know anything about cars? People are going to be going to you for help! Like me, and I really don't like to ask for help." He seemed to be sort of sheepish about it and she sort of felt bad for the guy, running a shop he didn't know anything about.

How was she supposed to get to work without her car? She'd have to leave pretty far in advance to walk to the mall, her apartment wasn't too close. When she thought about his suggestion, she declined. "It's fine." Who wanted to be called back to work after they were able to leave? As he continued giving suggestions, Jade just walked to the front of her car and pushed down on the hood, leaning over the inside once she got it open. "I appreciate the offer, but even then, I kind of need my car. This power outtage is bullshit."