Beth waited around an extra half hour for Daryl to take her home so he could work on her oil change that night. She thought about offering to sit around around and wait for him to do it and then she could drive home herself, but the idea of sitting alone with him in his truck was as somehow slightly less awkward and painful as the prior option. Reminding herself that getting into a relationship with her boss would not only be ill advised but it was highly unlikely at the same time, she assured herself that the light flirting meant nothing. She tried to bring her thoughts back to Zach, reminding herself that he would be better for her, closer to her age. They had more in common, more chemistry between them in the short period of time they had known each other. She had every reason in the world to pursue Zach, but something about Daryl kept popping into her mind.
"Ya ready?" Daryl wipes the oil off his hands with that old, ragged red bandana like he did that first day she came into the shop to ask about the job. He gave her the same expression too. Grumpy and moody, smoldering effortlessly, leaving her speechless to a simple question.
"Mmhm." She manages, clearing her throat.
They lock up the office for the evening, turning off the lights. Daryl obviously had his own set of keys and would be back later, but for now, the office was quiet for the night. Heading towards his truck, he opens the passenger seat, offering a hand to help her up, an unlit cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth.
"Thanks." Hopping up into the truck, she fastens her seatbelt as he slams the door behind him. Rolling down his window he lights the cigarette, backing out of the parking lot and driving down the main road.
"Where ya live?"
It hadn't occurred to her she had never explained to him where her family's farm was. Since that first day they had spoken very little about her family, or anything personal really, yet she felt that she had really gotten to know him and had hoped he felt the same way about her. Maybe it was just the familiarity of being around each other so often, working in such close quarters.
"Down the road aways. I'll let you know when to turn."
He nods his head, flicking ash out the window. "Shouldn't take long. Gonna check out yer brakes and a couple other things while I'm at it."
"Oh, Daryl. You don't gotta do that."
He shrugs his shoulders, eyes cast on the road ahead. "Might as well."
"Well, it's awfully nice of you. I really appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it." He puts out the cigarette in the ashtray on the center console, closing it tightly.
"Turn left up here." Pointing to the stop sign coming up, she feels her nerves rising as he gets closer to home.
"Merle should be there to pick ya up around seven. He ain't much of a morning person so don't be surprised if he's a dick to ya."
"Must run in the family." She says to him playfully, smiling coyly.
Cracking a grin at her, he move his elbow to jab her rips, barely any space between them on the seat. "Like I said, don't pay ya enough to put up with my bullshit."
"Maybe I'll get a yearly bonus for all the flack, huh?"
"I'll put in a good word to Dale for ya, I swear. Best secretary the shop has ever had."
Beth didn't know what he felt, didn't know what he was thinking but he felt something there. The nervousness in his voice, him going out of his way to do something for her he never would otherwise. Making an effort to get to know her, to joke with her. Maybe he did have some feelings for her after all.
"Now you're just pulling my leg, Daryl." Cheeks burning, she turns her gaze towards the window, the farm in the distance.
"This it?" Pointing towards it, he drives towards the front gate, close to the house. As he comes to a stop, she unfastens her seatbelt, the awkward tension in the air rising as they're about to part.
"Thank you again for the ride and the oil change." Pulling her cardigan closer to her chest, she looks down, unsure what to say next.
"Ain't a problem. I'll see ya tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Daryl." Shutting the truck door hard behind her, she walks up to the porch, watching him back up and drive back towards the main road.
Heading up to her room, Beth stops to kiss her parents hello. Hershel sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought, reading the magazine.
"Hi, Bethy." He looks up at his youngest daughter. Leaning in to peck her cheek as she gives him a quick hug.
"My boss dropped me off, Daddy. They wanted to do an oil change on my car."
Hershel gives her a strange look. "Really? Don't you usually just take it to the jiffy lube?"
"Yeah but I work at an auto shop now, that's embarrassing. If my boss wants to work on my car I can't tell him I want to take it to jiffy lube instead! Probably fire me right on the spot after he was done dying from laughter!"
"Gotta hand it to ya, honey, I don't know anything about cars so it all seems the same to me." Her mother chimes in from the kitchen sink, peeling potatoes.
"I trust him. They'll take good care of my car."
"Go get cleaned up for dinner, Beth. It'll be done in about thirty minutes."
"Can't." Walking over to her mother, she plants a quick kiss on her cheek. "Goin' out with Glenn's friend, Zach. The one I told you about."
"A date?" Hershel asks, looking up from his paper totally surprised. Beth hadn't gone on a date since high school and it was rarely something she would talk about openly, let alone bring up on her own.
"I guess. It's just coffee." Shrugging, she makes her way upstairs to get ready for the evening, sure she smells like car oil and stale coffee from the long day at the office.
"So you're a secretary? What's that like?"
"Mmm, it's mostly pretty boring."
"For what? A doctor or something?"
Laughing at the thought of Daryl as a doctor, she wipes the latte foam from her mouth with the back of her hand. "No, it's for an auto shop. They do mostly run of the mill stuff, some custom work."
"Better than slanging pizzas all day, that's for sure."
"It's not so bad. Glenn seems to like it."
"Glenn's not picky about much. He's easy going, you know?"
"I keep waiting for Maggie to dump him for not being motivated enough but they've been together for all this time, still going strong. Her last boyfriend was the total opposite. I don't get it."
"Opposites attract or whatever, right? I thought the same thing the first time Glenn introduced me to her. She's a real ball buster, huh?"
"Oh yeah." Beth raises her eyebrows, thinking back to all the times she had seen Maggie hand her boyfriend's their balls on a silver platter. "She's always been kind of high strung like that."
"What about you? Should I be wearing a cup next time I see you just in case?" Giving her a mischievous grin, he takes another sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving hers.
"I like to think I'm a little more laid back than Maggie. If you wanna make pizzas your whole life, that's on you."
"I prefer to think of myself as a pizza artist, thank you very much."
"A pizza artist?"
He shrugs, putting his arms out for emphasis. "I'm at a standstill right now. I don't know what I want to do with my life. If that makes me a deadbeat, then I'm a deadbeat."
"There's nothing wrong with that. A lot of people having a hard time to admitting to something like that." Beth knows if it weren't for this job, she would think the same thing of herself. Before this, before the hospital, she didn't have a whole lot going on in her life.
"I tried community college for a while. Took some graphic design classes, some general ed stuff. Nothing really caught my interest, you know? So, I dropped out."
"I don't want you to think I'm judging you. Because you work at a pizza place and I'm in some stupid office, filing and typing up papers. Doesn't make either one of us any better or any worse than the other, you know."
"I didn't think you were." Biting his lip, his eyes scan her face, serious now. Not expecting things to have gotten to heavy, so intense so quickly, she lets out a small giggle.
"I'm sorry." Putting her hand to her chest, she feels her heart beating like a trapped bird in a cage, fluttering around, shaking her up.
"Don't be." Finishing their drinks, they sit in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company. After a while, they walk outside the coffee shop, around the park and the main plaza.
Telling Beth a story about he and Glenn having to deliver over a hundred pizza's to a huge frat party last summer, she laughs so much her cheeks hurt from smiling. When they first got there, two of the frat boys took the pizzas from their hands and held them both down, emptying about half a bottle of tequila each down their throats. They had both ended up so unintentionally plastered, not only had they forgotten to get the money, but they had gotten so drunk that Maggie had to come pick up the car.
It not having entirely been Glenn's fault, she couldn't be too mad but the next day when they had to go back and retrieve the money, things were a little less exciting. They ended up getting it back one way or another, the other way involved Glenn walking off with a couple of laptops as the frat boys had been so intoxicated they hadn't remembered Zach and Glenn's faces let alone ordering a hundred pizzas to begin with.
"Yeah, you should have seen him. It's true what they say about the Asian glow. By the time Maggie came to get us, Glenn looked like Rudolph."
"Wow."
"Needless to say, I haven't drank hard alcohol since that night."
"I can see why."
"Yeah." They stop for a moment, the cold air catching between them, Beth feels her teeth chatter. "Hey. C'mere." He takes her hand, warming it with his, taking a step closer.
Surprised by his boldness, but not deterred by it, she leans into his body, inhaling deeply, memorizing his scent. He smells like coffee and mint and sweat and something else she can't put her finger on just yet.
"Do you want to do this again? Maybe go see a movie or something next time?"
"Okay. I'd like that." Squeezing his hand, she smiles dreamily at him, hoping being this close would give him the confidence to kiss her, because she knew she couldn't muster the strength to do it herself, still too shy to make the first move.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Licking her lips, she looks him up and down, wondering if he tastes as good as he smells.
"I like you, Beth." He wraps one arm around her waist, securing it tightly around her slim hips, fingers caressing the sliver of skin between her coat and jeans.
"I like you too." She whispers, locking one small hand on his bicep, the other around his neck. Realizing they're about the same height, the same size, she thinks they fit perfectly together. Closing his eyes, he dips his head down slowly to meet her lips. They're firm but soft, sweet and new and everything she had hoped for. The kiss sends a shock through her body, through her bloodstream, pumping from her heart, all throughout her body. Gulping hard, she kisses him back, pressing back into his mouth slowly.
He pulls back, fluttering his eyes open. "Good."
