"Come on, you stupid piece of crap, don't play up now!" I urged, hitting the steering wheel with the palms of my hands.
The car trembled with effort, stuttering along the quiet road. "Come on, come on, come on!" I begged.
The life of the engine flitted out and I pulled the car right over before it conked out in the middle of the street. I breathed a massive sigh and leaned my head on the wheel, silently begging any and all deities to not let my car die on me now. I turned the key over, but only a sputter of sound came from the engine.
With a defeated grumble I hopped out of the car to open up the hood and take a look. Once I got it open, it only confirmed what I knew all along. I knew absolutely nothing about car engines. I slammed the hood shut and turned to lean against it. For the first time I got a good look at where I had ended up. The sign a while back told me I was passing through a small town called Forks, in Washington. My first impression of the place was not good. It was dark and gloomy and eerily quiet, with thick woods visible in almost every direction. Everything looked damp, and the air felt damp too.
A block away from where I was I could see a small diner, with a sign overhead that read 'Sal's' I was getting hungry and figured that if I stopped there I could at least ask if there was a mechanic anywhere nearby. I made my way down the street and could count on one hand the number of other cars I saw in that time. This town must be tiny.
The door opened with a loud bell ringing and I was hit with warm air and the smell of coffee. I let myself relish the comforting feel before marching inside to a free booth in the back corner. It was upholstered in red vinyl and made a squeak as I dropped into it.
I had just picked up my laminated menu to browse it when I looked up, only to see every pair of eyes glued to my face. This surprised me; there was nothing particularly special or noteworthy about me. I had red curly hair, about shoulder length and slightly tanned skin skimmed with light freckles. Not only that, but I was short, so it's not like I was an imposing or intimidating figure. It then occurred to me how small this town must really be if people could recognise me as new that easily. Shrugging, I dropped the menu and crawled out of the booth, having lost my appetite. Instead, I almost jogged up to the small counter where there was one round, grey-haired woman to greet me.
"How can I help you today?" she politely smiled at me, with curiosity burning in her gaze.
"Hi there, my car broke down about a block down and I just wondered if there was a mechanic nearby?"
She looked pitiful when she replied "Sure thing, if you take a right out of here and walk straight for about five minutes you should come across the best one in town." She glanced at the clock behind her before turning back to me "If you hurry you should be able to reach them before they close up shop for the day."
This made me glance at the clock in puzzlement; it was only three in the afternoon. The waitress, whose name read Yvonne, must have sensed my confusion because she gave a hearty chuckle before leaning in to whisper "We really are a sleepy town." I merely nodded and thanked her before marching out the door, still hoping to reach the mechanic in time.
Despite the fact that the wind had picked up, I was warm by the time I reached the auto shop from running almost the whole way to get there in time.
Before crossing the street I could see a very tall man, with tanned skin and dark hair begin to start tugging the garage door down. This made me panic and I rushed out onto the street without even looking for passing cars. I was halfway across when I yelled out "Wait!" The man looked up, and I must have looked frenzied because his eyes widened and he stopped his work on the door.
I made it over the road and up to the main entry way, puffing and leaning on my knees in exhaustion. "Wait…you….can't..close…yet." I held up my hands to halt him, "my car….stopped working….down the street, and I need you to fix it." He continued to stare at me like I was mad. I forced myself upright to try and seem more normal. I thought he was going to turn me away, but then a smile broke across his face and he held out his hand to me.
"My name's Jacob." He offered.
Taken aback by his change in demeanour and friendly attitude it took me a moment to relax and take his hand in mine, "Raine."
His grip was firm and warm and I opened my mouth to comment on it when he wrenched his hand out of mine, "You're not from around here are you?" He had asked a question, but his face showed no real wondering. He already knew the answer.
"No I'm not. I was just passing through, but my car had other plans. I really wouldn't like to have to stay here any longer than necessary so if you could fix my car I would really appreciate it." I smiled at him from under my lashes, hoping he would be weak against feminine charms. It had never worked for me before, but I was hopeful it would someday.
My attempts only made him smile more, but in an amused way, "Sure, I'll get the tow truck to bring it down and see what I can do. You can wait in the lobby if you like." He pointed to a small room that looked like it had been attached only recently. I nodded at him and told him my car was a white corolla. He saluted me before heading back outside.
I went inside the small room and was greeted with only two mismatched seats. This room was definitely an afterthought. I picked up a near car magazine to browse white he returned with my car. It only seemed like two minutes had gone by when I hear him return. He didn't back the car in like I thought he would. Instead, after I heard him unhook it from the truck, I saw him pushing the car under the garage door like it was a shopping trolley. My jaw dropped on its own and I just stared.
I hadn't given this guy a proper look before, but now that he was doing some physical work, I noticed his muscles ripple and tense under his black work shirt. He couldn't have been much older than me, maybe 23 or 24. But even for a young guy, he was huge, both in height and build. He caught me staring and merely gave me a wink, which made my entire face and neck burn with embarrassment. I came out of the little room once he had popped the hood and was staring intently and the engine.
"So what's the damage?" I hesitantly asked, still embarrassed but mainly afraid of how badly in need of repair the car was.
"I'm not gonna lie, it doesn't look good. It's probably going to take me a week or two to fix it since I have to order specific parts for you." He said without a hint of the amusement he had before.
I couldn't help but frown, "Right. Well I guess I'll just leave it here with you then and pick it up when it's ready?"
One side of his mouth twitched, "That's how it works. Why don't you give me your number and I'll call you when it's ready to be picked up."
This only made me more uncomfortable, squirming under his open gaze I answered, "Well, I don't have a cell phone and I'm only passing through so have no idea where I'm staying…" I trailed off, once again embarrassed that I had to explain so much to a total stranger.
"Alright. There is a bed and breakfast that caters to tourists and other out-of-towners, you could stay there."
I perked up a little bit with hope from that, "Ok. Can I borrow the phone here to call and make sure they have an opening?"
He didn't respond to that, he merely walked to a desk in the back corner and returned a moment later with a phone in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. The paper said 'Little Ducks Inn' with a number below it. I smiled at him and accepted both before calling the number. Within five minutes I had secured a room at the bed and breakfast, had taken my one bag from the boot of my car, had thanked Jacob profusely for all his help and was on my way to my temporary home.
Despite the relief at knowing I had a place to stay, I couldn't help but silently hope I could be back on the move very soon, I couldn't afford to get caught in this sleepy little town.