A Modern Princess Bride

[ClumsyStageManager]

@ClumsyStageManager

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

@universal silence

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

Today he was going to make his feelings for her known, or at least do a bit more than he had been for the last nine or so years. He was rather confident that she didn't know him from the other mechanics, so today he would give her an origami rose. It wasn't a grand gesture by any means, but it was more than he'd done in the past. It would also give him a chance to see her reaction to the small token. So as usual he was up at five, went to the gym for an hour then came home and showered, finally he got ready for work. This time however he grabbed the rose that had been sitting on the table for a week now and actually took it with him.


He drove and to work and took a breath as he looked at the small flower hopefully she'd know that it meant he liked her, well truthfully he'd loved since the first day he saw her. Rose was the only girl for him and he was as sure of that as the sky was blue, today. If she didn't like him, he wasn't sure what he'd do; continue to work, sure but would stay there or go somewhere else? Maybe go back to school, he honestly wasn't sure. All he knew was he loved her, that red hair, her eyes where that muted green that he found to be the most lovely color there was, she was nice to everyone, and her smile sent him straight to cloud nine.


Jason knew that today his life could change for the better, worse, or possibly just stay the same. He was hoping for the better, and it all depended on her. He took one more deep breath grabbed the flower he'd learn how to make just for her, and stepped out of his car. Jason made his way into the garage, and over to Rose's office and knocked on her door. He put on a smile as he waited to hear her voice call through the door.

 

[universal silence]

Rose's morning had gone like any other. She'd woken up late to the voices of her parents fighting in the other room. After listening for a moment she determined this fight was over breakfast. She groaned and rolled out of bed, running her fingers through her hair, pausing occasionally to untangle a few knots. She stumbled over to her dresser and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and the same polo she wore almost every day. The jeans weren't exactly allowed in the office of the garage, but Rose was too tired to dig through the pile of clothes on her floor to find a pair of khakis. She glanced in the mirror and frowned at herself. Her eyes caught the reflection of her alarm clock in the mirror and she cursed, realizing she was later than she'd thought. Rose roughly pulled her hair into a pony tail. She grabbed her shoes and hurried out to the kitchen.


Her arrival startled her parents, who paused in their fighting to look at her. Her mother scanned Rose and frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, likely a criticism of Rose's appearance, but Rose interrupted her. "Dad," she began, turning to her father, "we're going to be late if we don't leave now."


Max Foster glanced at the clock behind him and cursed, earning himself another glare from his wife. "Right. Well, go out to the car." He planted a light kiss on his wife's cheek, who responded by pushing him towards the door, but the small smile on her face showed that she wasn't nearly as upset as she pretended to be.


Valerie Foster turned to her daughter. "Hurry along, Rosalind. You heard him." Valerie was one of the few people who insisted on calling Rose by her full name. She handed her daughter a granola bar and pushed her out the door.


Rose didn't really listen to her father's chatter on the ride down to the garage. It was mostly stuff about the cars he had to work on, and Rose tuned him out. When they finally arrived at the garage, Rose hurried out of the car and into her office, closing the door tightly behind her. She sat down and began to go through her work for the day- mostly bills and receipts and orders.


A knock on the door startled Rose and she jumped, banging her knees on her desk. She bit back a curse word and frowned at the door, gathering her thoughts. A moment later she called out, "You can come in," before glancing back down at the order form in front of her.

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

He heard a loud bang and hoped that she was okay. The 'you can come in' must have meant it wasn't to serious so that was a relief in. Jason opened the door slowly and stepped inside, he smiled for a second when he saw her then the smile faded. It was a habit he didn't need anyone else picking up on his feeling just yet. So he'd gotten good at hiding the stolen glances and the smile that would always form when he saw her. Then he realized he'd just been standing there not saying anything for far to long in his mind. At least she was busy looking at something so hopefully that meant she hadn't noticed him staring or the smile, just yet.


Jason cleared his throat, "Good morning Rose." He said softly and closed the door behind him, then he made his way up to her desk. "I made this for you." Jason said as he slowly held the red and green paper rose. At least he'd done it, and now there was no turning back. This was either going to go really well or very badly he just hoped whatever way it went he didn't make to big a fool of himself in front of her. "I figured a real rose wouldn't last to long in here, with all the stuff going on in the garage, so this one should hold up better." He explained.


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[universal silence]

Rose looked up when she heard her name. For a moment she was surprised to see one of the mechanics. Jason, she told herself. Typically the mechanics stayed in the garage, and relayed their information to her via forms or her father. She panicked slightly for a moment. Had she forgotten something? The order for a part, or his paycheck?


As he closed the door, though, Rose realized something else was happening. She watched with a mix of confusion and mild amusement as he presented her with the origami rose. She smiled and blushed slightly, a little unsure about what the gesture meant. Was it just to be kind? Did he like her? Rose leaned forward and picked up the rose. She leaned back into her chair, examining the rose, twirling the paper in her fingers. "Thank you," she said finally. "This is very sweet."


She glanced back up at him, a silent question in her eyes. Why had he given her the rose?

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

Jason smiled she was cute with that slight blush on her cheeks. He was mesmerized by every little movement she made as she looked the small token over. Jason had made her smile and that sent him over the moon, he could have the worst day of his life today but that wouldn't matter because she smiled. "I was happy to make it for you." He replied. Granted he's be happy to do anything for her, clean toilets, anything. Then again she was why he did most everything and learned all sorts of things for her so he was usually fairly happy.


He looked into her questioning eyes and smiled softly. "I like it when you smile." Jason said simply and rubbed the back of his neck, "Have a good day Rose, I should get to the garage." He said as he turned and went to the or he opened it stepped out and closed the door behind him. Jason had a spring in his step and was happy to be getting to work. He knew that soon enough he'd be covered in grease, dust, and all sorts of other things but it made him happy he enjoyed his work and today was going to be even better because she smiled.

 

[universal silence]

Rose watched as Jason left, and she felt just as confused as she had when he entered. She looked back down at the flower, and then back at the door. With a sigh, she set the flower aside and turned back to her work. She was only half-focused at the task at hand, and kept glancing back at at the origami rose. After a few hours of poor work, Rose realized she was getting no where. With a groan, she pushed herself to her feet. Taking one last glance at the flower, she stepped out of the office.


Her father stood behind the main counter, going over the final details of something with a customer. He glanced at Rose as she entered, but continued to help the woman in front of him. Rose walked over to the table that sat behind the counter. She pulled herself up so she sat cross-legged on the table. After the customer left the building, Max turned to look at Rose.


"We've talked about this. You're not supposed to sit on the table."


Rose shrugged. "It was just Mrs. Hotovy. She's in every other week with car troubles. She knows what I'm like."


Max sighed. "Whatever. Did you need something?"


She shrugged again. "Not really. I was... just wondering... if you needed me to do anything. Run errands. Get papers from the garage. Stuff like that."


Max raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He frowned slightly, thinking. "Not right now, Rosie. Don't you have anything you should be doing?"


"Nah. I finished most of it." It was mostly true. Rose had finished the most urgent documents.


"Fine. You can watch the front counter. I'm heading into the garage."


Rose watched her father leave. She leaned over slightly, trying to catch a glimpse inside the garage, but the door closed too quickly. She sighed and turned her attention to the main door, propping her head up on her hand.

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

Jason was right, before he knew it there were three cars in the garage. He and Alex quickly began the first oil change and tire rotation of the day. Jason was still on cloud nine and nothing was going to change that.


"So when are you gonna tell me or any of the other guys about your girlfriend? " Alex asked casually he removed the first tire.


"I don't have a girlfriend, I don't know why you all keep insisting I do." Jason replied as he changed the oil filter.


"Because you hardly ever go out for drinks with us and you're usually happier than any single guy would be and what guy in their right mind would take a cooking class alone?" Alex said as he continued to work on the tires.


"I don't like to drink that much, and I don't need a girlfriend to be happy, but I'm sure having one wouldn't hurt. As for the cooking class I live alone and would actually like to enjoy my cooking, not only that but I believe it's rumored that women like a man who knows how to cook." Jason answered getting a bit annoyed that this particular conversation topic hadon't died yet, but he was relieved that on one knew who he was head over heels for.


"Whatever, keep her a secret. You are happier than usual today, so I know you have someone making you all smiles today. I just want to know who she is what what she did to put you in such a good mood is all-"


"No you want to meet her and sweep her off her feet, because you think that will make you happy too." Jason cut him off, "Good thing I don't have a girlfriend." He said as he poured in the new oil.


From there the two finished rotating the tires and fired up the car making sure that there weren't any leaks. Once the car was done it was driven out to the owner, and from there they waited for the next car or went back and forth helping some of the other guys with this and that. Jason would try and get glimpses of Rose but he never seemed to be in the right place to see her. So he would replay her smile over again in his head which kept him on could nine.

 

[universal silence]

Rose was sitting at the counter, practically asleep. She held a pen over a paper, but her writing had long past being anything legible. She blinked a few times to try and wake herself up, but nothing seemed to help. She sat with her head resting on her arm, staring roughly in the direction of the clock.


The bell situated above the entrance for the main office clanged suddenly, waking Rose up. She jolted into an upright position, blinking blearily at the new customer.


The woman was probably in her early thirties, blonde, and reasonably good-looking. Or so Rose assumed. She didn't quite pay close enough attention to fashion to know if the bright pink top the woman wore was chic or whatever, but she seemed to wear enough jewelry that it didn't really matter. The woman pulled off a large pair of bedazzled sunglasses as she approached the counter.


Rose cleared her throat and glanced at the papers around her before finding the one she needed. By the time she had grabbed it, along with a pen, the woman was studying Rose with a rather bored look on her face. Rose coughed again before addressing the woman. "Hello, and welcome to Max's Auto Repair. How can I help you?"


The woman glanced towards the door. "My car is making odd noises, and the steering feels off. I need the car fixed now." With that, she practically slammed her keys on the counter and pulled out her phone.


Rose frowned. "It may take a few hours to figure out what's wrong, Ms..."


"Rugen. Mrs. Jennifer Rugen. And I don't have a few hours." She looked pointedly at the keys on the counter, then back at Rose. "It's the red Porsche out front. Can't miss it." She walked over to the small sitting area and sat down. "I'm waiting," she said rather loudly.


With a sigh, Rose looked down at the paper. "I need your license plate number and insurance."


Mrs. Rugen looked up from her phone. "The information should be on file from the last time my husband came in. Michael Rugen. And the plate is JEN 3. You'd know if you walked outside." She went back to scrolling through messages on her phone.


Rolling her eyes, Rose found the information she needed. Taking the keys, she hurried out to the garage to find her father, remembering just as she stepped in that he'd gone out for lunch. The door to the office closed behind her, and she leaned against it with a groan, closing her eyes in frustration. Somehow, she'd have to get someone to take a look at Mrs. Jennifer Rugen's car, if only to get rid of the woman.

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

Things had been going better than he expected other then everyone still assuming that he was seeing someone. Jason certainly wished he was but only Rose no other girl in the world compared to her. The only problem was how would his boss react, Max wasn't a bad guy but Jason doubted that he would want his only daughter dating one of his mechanics. That and despite his best efforts he was rather confident Rose still didn't know that he was hopelessly head over heels in love with her.


He looked up for a moment when the garage door to the office opened. He was hoping t would be Rose but it was just Max. So he wentered back to work without a second thought until the door opened again. This time it was Rose and she didn't look to happy anymore, so Jason figured he should try to help as usual. Even if she still didn't know why he was always willing to help her.


He set his tools down, and made his way over to Rose and smiled slightly, "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked curiously and a bit eagerly. Whatever it was that had upset her was hopefully something he could handle on his own. He guessed it probably had something to do with the keys in her hand, new costumers could be a pain at times. For a number of reasons one, they thought they knew what was wrong with the car and were to stubborn to let you do your job until you checked what they thought was wrong, or they were totally clues about cars and either nothing was wrong with it or they weren't very helpful when you asked them questions to eliminate what could be wrong with the car.


Regardless of what these keys lead to, if they were, or rather the owner was the reason for the look on Rose's face when she came in. Jason was going to do a good job to help Rose out and to be professional as well, it was important to continue to bring in new clients regaurdless of how difficult they could be.

 

[universal silence]

Rose opened her eyes in surprise at the sound of Jason's voice. As she focused on his face, she blushed slightly, remembering their exchange that morning. She still wasn't sure what it was about. She cleared her throat and, looking at him seriously, filled him in on the situation. "There's some lady in the office demanding her car be checked and fixed immediately; she's not leaving, and she's very rude, and she won't give me any information about her car or the problem." Her words rushed together, a clear sign of her distress.


Rose sighed and glanced at the door, then back at Jason. She contemplated the situation for a moment. Was she overstepping her bounds by asking for his help? And did he have time to help? Rose was afraid he would feel pressured into taking a look at the car, but that he was already busy. She hadn't seen if he was working when she came in. Cases like this certainly weren't usual. Finally, she decided she really didn't have a choice. The woman in the office wasn't going to go away anytime soon, and Rose doubted she could stand five minutes of the woman, much less the rest of the afternoon. "Is there any chance you could take care of it?" she pleaded.

 

[ClumsyStageManager]

He smiled seeing her blush, then he focused more on deciphering the words that left her mouth rather abruptly. Jason nodded slowly, one those customers who thought they were better than everyone else. It was never pleasant working with them but they usually had money or influence sometimes both. Unfortunately you needed people like that to like you so thud keep coming back. "That makes things difficult, but I'm sure can't be that bad." He smiled reassuringly.


Jason watched Rose intently and smiled at her request when she finally made it. He nodded, "As you wish." He replied and took the keys from Rose. Then he stepped into the office he smiled as kindly as he could at the blonde, "Hello Ma'am, I'm Jason I'm going to go take a look at your vehicle now." He informed her, "What may I ask was the first thing that made you bring your car in today?" He asked doing his best to mind his manners he didn't want to lose a customer especially one who seemed to be wealthy, she was good for the shop well her business was anyway. She may have been concidering beautiful by some but Jason still only had eyes for Rose.