At the Mechanics Shop Ch. 04

Copyright © 2022 : Rae Finley, All Rights Reserved

This work may not be published under any circumstances without this copyright.

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The blaring sound of my alarm woke me up abruptly and I slammed my hand down on it, silencing it. I sat up slowly and rubbed my eyes. It had been an extremely restless night of sleep. And the few times I had actually managed to fall asleep my dreams were filled with nothing but Victor. I yawned and glanced over at the clock before swinging my legs over the side of the bed and getting up.

At this point I really didn't care how tired I was. All I could think about was how excited I was to see him again. I hurried through getting ready as quickly as I could, jumping from a quick shower straight into my hair and makeup before pulling on the clothes I'd picked out late last night.

I knew my expectations were higher than they probably should be. We would be at the shop again and while I didn't regret yesterday, it had happened in the heat of the moment, and I was still extremely embarrassed that it had happened in front of three other people. Not to mention he could have been easily fired if we'd been caught.

Nevertheless I was going to make sure I looked my best. I adjusted the outfit and paused in front of my floor mirror to double check my appearance like I always did. I was wearing a fitted black skirt that hit just above my knees and had a zipper up the front with a deep red top that was loose and covered only the top inch of the skirt.

If I lifted my arms at all the shirt would raise revealing a small section of skin. I turned a few times making absolutely sure everything was perfect before smiling in satisfaction and pulling on my shoes before hurrying downstairs.

I found my father sitting at the island in the kitchen and he looked up in shock when I walked in. He let his eyes sweep over me from head to toe before putting his phone down and staring at me with a look of pure disapproval.

"You're ready early."

I walked to the fridge and got myself something to eat as I answered.

"Yeah, I didn't think it was worth stalling. It's not like it worked yesterday."

"Uhuh, and I wouldn't suppose you're dressed up for any particular reason?"

I sat down at the other end of the island and rolled my eyes.

"I'm not 'dressed up' but I am there to learn. I wanted to look professional."

He watched me carefully and I tried to act as nonchalant about everything as I could. It went on for a few moments before he sighed.

"Very well. But you need to be careful. I don't want you getting involved with anyone there."

I sighed and rolled my eyes again.

"I'm aware, dad. You want me to be established in a career before I seriously date anyone. We've already talked about all this."

"I know I know. I'm just worried about you."

"I know, I'll be careful. You don't have to worry so much."

He nodded and sighed before going back to his phone and I finished eating trying to keep to myself so I didn't draw any further questions. After I finished I put the dishes away and he glanced up.

"Ready?"

I nodded and he got up and I followed him out to the garage. I tried to pay closer attention today to where we were going so I had a better idea of exactly where in town the dealership was and was surprised when it went by fairly quickly.

Usually I was bored and spent these drives focused on my phone. But apparently time went by quicker when I was looking forward to us getting there. When we pulled up my father parked close to the entrance and we both got out. He took my arm stopping me for a moment before we went in.

"Liliana, wait. I just wanted to reiterate what we talked about earlier. I understand the appeal and the desire to want to date guys and that your body might be pushing you towards doing things-"

"Ew dad stop! We've already had this talk, we don't need to go through it again."

I squirmed uncomfortably and crossed my arms over my chest defensively. And he sighed and nodded.

"Alright. Well just in case I might come down and check on you today. I worry about you being by yourself there with four grown men."

"Dad, I'll be fine. I'm here to learn and they're here to work, nothing will happen."

He pressed his lips together tightly and nodded.

"Very well. But I'll still be checking in."

With that he turned and walked into the building. I sighed and followed him in. Guess that itch I'd had burning since last night wasn't likely to be scratched any time soon. We walked in and I was surprised as he turned towards the repairs garage and walked with me down the hall. He opened the door for me and I walked in with him close on my heels.

Inside the garage it seemed much busier than it had been yesterday when I'd come in. Victor's car was nowhere to be seen but there were other cars parked inside each of the bays. I saw Tommy and Marco each working on cars nearby and Tommy smiled and waved at us as we came in.

I returned it with a shy smile and wave of my own. Still wishing they hadn't been there yesterday. We walked further inside and Carl turned away from where he was working and came over.

"Nice to see you again Mr. Scott, and you to Ms. Scott."

I smiled politely and nodded at him as my father greeted him eagerly.

"Wonderful to see you again as well. Is Mr. Orlov somewhere around? We spoke yesterday about Liliana spending some time down here with you all to learn a thing or two."

Carl grinned down at me and nodded.

"Yes, he mentioned that. He's at the back over there."

He gestured to the far end of the garage and my father thanked him as I turned and started walking, trying to hide my embarrassment as much as I could. Not that it seemed to work. The look Carl had given me had definitely made me feel like he was imagining yesterday's events.

I stopped at the last car and looked around the side of it and saw Victor crouched low as he pulled off one of the back tires. He lifted it with surprising ease and turned towards me, spotting me immediately.

He looked me up and down quickly and I felt an arm slide around my shoulders as my father stopped next to me. Victor turned and set the tire down before wiping his hands and coming over to us.

"Mr. Scott, it's good to see you and your daughter again."

I glanced over at my dad and saw the hard look in his eyes he always got when he was feeling overprotective.

"You as well. I see you're busier today than you were yesterday."

Victor glanced around the shop and nodded.

"Yes, unfortunately yesterday was pretty uneventful. I heard there was a scheduling mix up. But it seems to be resolved today."

"Indeed. So are you all going to be this busy all day?"

Victor nodded again.

"Yep, we've got a full day lined up. I'm not sure I'll have much time to spend teaching, I'm afraid."

My dad seemed to brighten slightly at this news but I found myself disappointed.

"That's alright. Just show her what you can, if she starts getting in the way though don't be afraid to send her up to my office. I don't want her causing you any difficulty."

"Of course sir."

My dad nodded and finally removed his arm from my shoulders.

"Wonderful well I'll leave you to it then. Liliana, try not to be too much of a bother, I'll stop by later to check up on you."

And with that he turned and walked away. I watched him until he left and the door clicked shut behind him before turning back to face Victor once more. I was shocked to see he was staring down at me with a cold look.

"What?"

"What did you tell him?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I didn't tell him anything. I'm not an idiot."

He cocked a single eyebrow and frowned.

"Then why was he acting like that? He didn't have a problem with me yesterday. Now he does."

I sighed and glared at him.

"How should I know? Maybe you did something."

He scoffed and shook his head.

"No. I didn't. Maybe it has something to do with your outfit."

I glanced down at my clothes, suddenly very self-conscious.

"What's wrong with it?"

He rolled his eyes and looked at me like I was stupid.

"You're here to work in a garage. It's hard, dirty work. You'll ruin it."

I cursed myself mentally. He was right. My dad's suspicions started when I came down wearing this. I had only been worried about how I looked when I saw him again. Not what my dad might say or about how I would actually be able to do anything in it. Victor sighed and jerked his head motioning for me to follow him.

"C'mon I might be able to find something else."

I followed him out of the garage and he opened a door leading to a stairwell so I could go first. We walked up it in silence and I wanted to just curl up and die of embarrassment. How could I possibly have been so stupid. I'd never thought of myself as shallow or vain before, but I was sure feeling that way now.

At the top I went to open the other door but he put his hand on it stopping me. I looked up in surprise and he sighed pulling me gently to the side so he was standing with his back to the door facing me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You look beautiful."

"Thanks but you're right. I wasn't really thinking about having to work in it. It's definitely not practical."

He smiled slightly and leaned back crossing his arms over his chest.

"So why did you pick it then?"

I froze and chewed my lip as I glanced up to see him smirking at me.

"I- I don't know, I just thought it looked nice."

He raised his eyebrow in a look that said he wasn't buying it at all.

"So the skirt with the zipper wasn't for, I don't know, easier access? Hoping we could pick up where we left off yesterday?"

I could feel my face start to burn with embarrassment. He was exactly right but I didn't really want him to know that.

"Of course not! It's just a cute skirt."

"Right, sure. Well either way your ass looks great in it. I was watching the whole way up the stairs."

Then he turned and opened the door stepping out into the hall leaving me standing there with my mouth hanging open like a damn fish. I jumped forward, catching the door and pulling it open to follow him out.

"Hey, wait! You can't just-"

I cut off my sentence short as I saw a few other employees further down the hall looking back at me curiously. My face reddened further and I waved an apology before turning to glare at Victor who was grinning back at me and laughing. He opened another door labeled as the men's locker room and gestured for me to follow him. I was still angry but I did step in whispering as the door closed behind us.

"Are you sure I can be in here?"

" 'Course, the only ones who use it are us mechanics and the guy's who clean the cars but they'll all be down working."

I quickly looked around making sure we were alone as I followed him further into the room. It looked like half the room was made up of lockers and the other half had a few shower stalls. An image of Victor showering popped into my head and I shut my eyes quickly trying to erase it.

He opened one of the lockers and I looked inside to find a stack of clothes wrapped in plastic. He looked through them quickly before pulling one out and opening the bag.

"Here this is the smallest we've got, hopefully it'll work."

He held out the uniform that seemed to match his minus the nametag and I took it from him gratefully before turning to walk towards one of the shower stalls.

"Where are you going?"