Linzi turned to Urgo, and his entire world was consumed by her crescent moon smile. “This is your ride?” she asked, pointing at the mangled underbelly of Urgo’s truck.
“Ah, yeah. It, uh-“
“It got fucked hard,” said Gray, hanging a light on the chasis.
“Oh, jealous?” Linzi teased, her lips curling into a grin. Then her eyes shifted to Urgo’s soaked clothes. “Mike, are you seriously going to let him catch a cold? He’s drenched!”
Mike held up his hands defensively. “We just started looking at the truck, babe. Relax. We’ve got to make sure he even wants the work done before anything else.”
“Why wouldn’t he want the work done?” Linzi asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gray let out a faint raspberry. “Well, with parts and labor, it’s not gonna be less than three thousand,” the tech said, tapping on a loose piece of metal. “Got insurance?”
Urgo clenched his teeth. “Just enough to keep it legal.”
Mike suddenly brightened. “Oh, well, that’s probably a good thing.”
Urgo frowned. “How is that a good thing?”
Mike smiled. “Yeah. We can knock a little off, especially since we don’t have to deal with your insurance company. We can get it started this morning, have you out of here before noon. Can you cover three thousand? Do you need financing?”
Urgo sighed. “No, I have a credit card. Guess I’ll be getting some frequent flier miles.”
Linzi smiled. “Awesome! Now, let’s get you into some clean clothes.”
Urgo blinked. “I’m- what?”
Linzi grabbed his hand and started dragging him away. “Come on. We put in a washer and dryer in the back room so we can just wash coveralls and shop towels and stuff. Shower, too.”
Urgo frowned. What the hell kind of garage had a shower? “What the hell kind of garage has a shower?”
Linzi said nothing, just smiled back at him. She led him through the shop and the storage area to a door marked “EMPLOYEES ONLY” with a keycard lock on it. She produced a card from her coat pocket and pulled him through the door.
“Wait, do you work here?”
Linzi let out one loud laugh. “The only part of a car I’m familiar with is the back seat,” she said, giving him a wink over her shoulder.
The room she led him into was nicer than he expected. It had decent carpet from wall to wall with an overstuffed brown couch sat against one wall next to a standing wardrobe. The opposite wall had an undersize fridge next to a counter with a kitchen sink, microwave, toaster oven, and coffee pot. There was a double door cupboard hanging above it. And next to the counter was, indeed, a basic washer and dryer stack. Next to that was an empty clothes hamper. On the wall opposite the door was an open bathroom door with toilet, sink and single shower stall.
Urgo was nonplussed. “Huh. This garage has a shower.”
Linzi had dropped his hand and gone to the wardrobe. “Aren’t you glad it does? You’ve got to be freezing. At least you’ll be able to warm up while you wait.” Linzi pulled a pair of athletic shorts and a tee shirt with the shop’s logo on it out of the wardrobe, along with a towel. “This will probably fit. Just toss your clothes out here when you’re getting in the shower and I’ll get them started.”
Urgo could feel all the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Part of him felt like he was going to be robbed. Part of him thought he was going to be humiliated.
Urgo realized he was being ridiculous. The lady was being nice. He really could use a shower and a clean set of clothes. So what if it was a little odd? This was great. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Thanks,” Urgo mumbled. He wondered if she knew she was making such intense eye contact. He grabbed up the spare clothes and towel and stepped into the bathroom.
