Who: Chase Stein and Gaby Teller What: Chase is taking his car (aka his baby) to the mechanic When: Recently Where: Gaby's Garage Rating/Warnings: None really. Status: Complete when posted
Chase was trying to learn how to take care of his own maintenance stuff around his apartment because of Old Lace but his raptor was just going to have to deal with him being gone when his car needed repair. He’d noticed a leak from something in the engine and he wasn’t going to try and fix it himself and take a chance on making it worse.
He felt Old Lace sulking and a little lonely in the back of his mind and reminded himself that he needed to get with Danny to go tortoise shopping so that she’d have company. He sent soothing thoughts to her through their bond, deciding to stop on the way home and buy her a brisket for dinner. An extra special treat since she’d been left alone most of the day and it didn’t feel like she was in one of her destructive moods.
He’d gotten the name of this garage from one of his teammates and a quick search had shown more good reviews than bad so he’d decided to go there. Driving his corvette into the lot with the radio blaring as he found a parking spot and made his way into the office area, playing with his keys as he waited for the girl behind the counter to finish what she was doing.
****
Gaby finished filing the last of the paperwork from the previous client, phone held between her neck and shoulder as she nudged the filing cabinet closed with her hip. ”Ich weiß, ich weiß... Ich verspreche, ich werde sie morgen anrufen... Ich muss weg...Ja, ja auch ich.”
Hanging up the phone, Gaby replaced it on the cradle and turned to face the young man who was playing with his keys. She tilted her head a little, offered him a polite smile and rested her hands on the reception counter. “Good afternoon,” she settled on saying, her accent a little thicker than normal as it always was after she’d been speaking German. “Is everything alright?”
****
Chase gave her a friendly smile as he stepped up to the counter when he saw her hang up the phone. “I was hoping a mechanic here would be able to take a look at my car today. I noticed a leak somewhere in the engine a couple days ago and I have no clue how to fix it and I didn’t want to risk messing anything up worse by trying to fix it myself. Best reviews I found were for a mechanic named Gabby working out of here. I’ll pay extra if I have to to have them working on my car.” He’d waited too long for this car to not want the very best looking after her.
***
Gaby’s eyebrows lifted. Reviews? Oh, yes, she forgot that people left comments on the internet after she’d serviced their vehicles. She’d always operated a business largely on word of mouth, so it was always a surprise to her (flattering, but still a surprise) when someone said that they’d seen a review of her business and that was what had made them come to see her. She wiped her hands on a rag she pulled out of her pocket to make sure they were clean before she stepped out and around from behind the counter, holding her hand out for the young man to shake.
“I’m Gaby,” she said finally, “I own this garage.”
Tilting her head, she indicated they should head outside. “Would you like to show me your car? Where was the leak when you noticed it, under the front or the back of the car when parked?”
***
Chase shook her hand, his grip firm like it had been drilled into him it should be. His tutor had decided that her job included making sure he had manners and used them when he needed to.
“Nice to meet you Gaby.” He filed away the way she’d pronounced her name, trying to say it close to that so that he wouldn’t accidentally call her the wrong name again. “Makes me feel even better about bringing my car in specifically for you to look at.” He gave her a flash of a smile as he walked outside with her, leading her to his car.
The 1970 black Corvette Stingray was parked in a space near the end and she’d cost him a lot but everytime he slid behind the wheel it reminded him that she was worth every penny he’d put into getting her and keeping her in top condition.
“This is it. I noticed the leak a couple weeks ago near the front when I went to take her out. I wasn’t sure if it was from my car or the one that had been parked there earlier and I just hadn’t noticed when I pulled in but I kept noticing it so I figured it was time to take her in to the shop.” He leaned in through the open window to pop the hood so that Gaby could take a look under it if she wanted.
***
Gaby whistled as they approached the Corvette, glancing up at the owner and then at the car. He’d done a good job of taking care of her, at least on the outside, she was immaculately put together and shining, looking almost like she was brand new though Gaby knew that wasn’t the case if there was a leak in the engine. Still, sometimes leaks happened even if you took great care of the car, since so many moving parts were bound to break eventually.
She listened, nodding and lifting the hood as it was popped, securing it with the rest and pushing her hair back, tucking it into her headband and pulling the lengths into a messy bun. The bun always meant business.
“It is the right call,” she told him where she was disappearing into the engine, bending over the car, one foot lifted slightly to keep her balance, “it is better to get these things checked out.”
Carefully, she moved her hand through the parts of the engine that weren’t too hot to touch, cautious not to burn herself before withdrawing, fingers covered in grease as she rubbed at her cheek, leaving a smear behind on her cheekbone.
“If there is a leak, it is likely to be underneath. I’ll need to take her into the shop and lift her up. But it should only take a couple of days.” She wasn’t expecting it to be complicated to locate, to fix, perhaps. The engines of these older cars - even when re-fitted and re-built - were often intricate and slightly more complicated than some of the newer cars. Just the way they were built. Craftsmanship from the time before everything was put together by a machine. She leaned around the hood to look at him. “Do you think you would feel comfortable leaving her here for some days while I work on her?”
***
“Yeah. I think I can handle that. I’ll need to call a friend to come pick me up and drive my van for a few days but I should probably drive it for practices more anyway.” Chase said forcing himself to sound more casual than he really felt at the prospect of leaving his car for a few days. This was supposed to be one of the best shops in the city and she was the owner so what better hands could there really be for her?
“And I’ll need it in writing that you’ll call me to authorize before any repairs are done once you find out what’s wrong with her. My finance guy would scream at me if I didn’t get that. Plus I’ll have to move some funds around to be able to pay the bill depending on how much it is.” It was weird to him still. Having that much power over his money after years of none.
***
Gaby’s eyebrow lifted at the request for something in writing. She didn’t have contracts, per se but she there was a line in the official paperwork that he would need to sign which outlined the major points of her service and pro-actively gave her permission to start work once she’d told him how much it would cost following initial diagnostics.
“There is paperwork to sign that should cover that off,” she said after a moment. “You’ll find it is common courtesy for most garages to call the vehicle owners before starting repairs; sometimes it is too expensive and they would rather just not.”
She had another quick poke in the engine before she carefully closed the hood and ran her fingers along it. Beautiful car.
“It should take no longer than three days, if I need to order parts. I should be able to give you a better estimate tomorrow afternoon.”
***
“Well if you hadn’t figured it out - this is my first time dealing with a garage for my baby. My lawyer used to bring her in for me when she needed work and then just add the bill to what I owed him.” Chase said sheepishly. He was still learning how to manage all the things they’d done while he was a minor and then fighting for emancipation and control of his finances with his parents. He was learning it all though.
“Take your time with her. I’ve got a van that I can use and I think she’ll be in good hands.” He said shooting her another grin as he forced himself to appear confident again. “Alright so - paperwork and my writing my number down for you to call with the estimate? Is that where we are?”
***
Gaby’s eyebrow lifted, his lawyer? She could think of a few unsavoury garages that might have ended up taking advantage of someone who was clearly new at this. She was glad, suddenly, that he had walked into hers.
“Yes,” she reassured, reading his lack of confidence and worry in the uneasy edges of his smile. “I promise I’ll take good care of her. Lock her up and come back inside with me. I can talk you through what happens next so you know.”
***
Chase felt a little bit of relief at Gaby’s words and he turned around to close the hood gently and make sure it was latched before double checking his pockets for the keys and locking the car up to follow the mechanic back inside. “Alright. Let’s do this.” Calm. Decisive. He could pull this adult thing off. When he had somebody to help him through it.