“Come on, come on, come on...” He muttered, gripping the steering wheel even tighter as he eased the gas pedal down. “Come on, don’t do this to me. Please, don’t do this to me. Not now.” But the engine seemed to ignore his begging as it sputtered to a stop on the side of the road. He turned the key in the ignition, hoping that it would turn over but it clicked a couple times before it died.
He hit the wheel in frustration. Everything that could go wrong went wrong and it all went wrong on the worse possible day. He woke up late, his alarm clock set for pm instead of am. The hot water tank in his crappy apartment building had gone out which meant that he had to take a cold shower. And now his car broke down on the side of the road minutes before he had to be in the city for a job interview.
There was no way that he was going to be able to make it. And if he didn’t make it to the interview then it meant that he was going to have to move out of the city, back home to his parents, right back in their arms like they said he would when he left five months ago. The city was no place for a guy like him. He needed to stay on the farm, settle down with some girl there, have a couple of kids and bail hay for the rest of his life. But he didn’t want that. Desperately didn’t want that.
With a sigh he pulled out his wallet and pulled out the small business card that was handed to him when he bought the car in the first place. The salesman made a good pitch, saying that if the car was taken care of then it would be alright but just in case, he gave him the number of a mechanic.
The guy on the phone sounded nice enough and he said that he should be able to get there in thirty minutes or so and then hung up. Sam rested his head against the wheel. He barely had enough money for a tow, much less to get his whole car fixed.
His thumb hovered over his parent’s number, internally debating about calling them and saying that he needed a plane ticket back hime when a honk down the road pulled his attention away.
There in front of him was the tow truck of the company that he just called and the mechanic, probably the one that he spoke to on the phone was getting out of the cab.
It seemed that his day had gotten even worse because the guy who was currently walking toward him was too beautiful to be a mechanic. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans with holes in them that looked like they were there from wear, not because he bought them that way. He was wearing a gray tight shirt that clung to his chest in all the right places and hanging off his shoulders was a plaid button down. And his face. Even from the distance that he was, Sam could see that it was practically created by the gods. Green eyes and freckles and a jaw that could cut stone.
Sam climbed out of the car and met the mechanic at the hood.
“You must be Sam.” He said with a smile and Sam nodded. “I’m Dean and I’ll be your ride for the day. Before we go though, you wanna tell me what happened? What she sounded like before she died?”
“Uhh... Well, I don’t know really. It sputtered to a stop and when I tried to turn it back over, all it did was click.”
“Okay. Did you buy it new or what?”
“No. When I just moved here, I bought it from this used car lot. I mean, I got a good deal on it and the guy said that if I took car of it, it should run alright but...”
A knowing smile crossed Dean’s face. “Let me guess, you bought it from Crowley?”
A dry chuckle erupted from Dean. “Let’s just say that I’ve worked on plenty of cars that came off his car lot that were supposed to ‘run alright’. Don’t like the fact that he sells clueless saps like you cars that don’t work but at least it keeps me in business. Gotta thank him for paying my bills.”
Sam looked off to the side and swallowed thickly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um... about that. I don’t... I don’t think that I have enough money to pay for repairs. I barely have enough money for the tow. I was actually on my way to a job interview when it died so... you can keep the car. When I move back home with my parents, I won’t need it anyway.”
“Woah woah woah woah.” Dean said. “Hold up, there’s no need to jump to conclusions like that. I can take you to the job interview and when I fix up your car, you can pay me back a little at a time. I don’t mind. And I promise my rates are affordable. I’m not interested in putting you into debt.”
But Sam shook his head. “There’s no use. My interview was an hour ago and I probably wouldn’t have gotten it anyway.”
“Well...” Dean said with a wide smile. “I could always use a secretary at the garage. I’m good with the cars, the paperwork, not so much. If you’re interested, you could work there until you pay off the work on the car.”
Sam stared at Dean in disbelief. “You barely know me. Are you sure that you want me working there? I’m sure you could find someone more qualified.”
Dean just shrugged. “Ehh, you look qualified enough.”
