I had this idea while listening to "Don't Speak" by No Doubt. Shorter than a lot of stuff I've written and posted lately.
Carol walked through the mechanics shop up to the front desk, slapping her finger over the bell. Her fiancee, Shane, had taken his car up to the local mechanics shop the week before and she'd gotten a call from the shop this morning while he was at work. She had some time to kill during her lunch break, so she thought she'd come pick it up for him. She only worked down the street at a friends restaurant, it wouldn't take her long. Even if it did, Michonne would understand.
"Help you?" The man, Edwin as his name tag said, asked as he came up. Carol flashed a smile and nodded.
"Yeah, my fiancee's car is done, I got the call this morning? Shane Walsh?" She asked.
The Edwin turned and typed on a computer for a moment before he turned back to Carol. "Yeah, it's done." He said before walking back into the back office to fetch the keys. He returned and handed them to her, though Carol couldn't understand why he hadn't done it with his clean hand. She took the keys from him and reached into her bag to find a tissue and wipe it off. "Cars out back, come with me."
Carol followed Edwin out back to Shane's car. "What did Shane even had done to it?" She asked.
"Ain't sure. You'd have to ask the mechanic who worked on it. Want me to get him?"
"No, that's alright.." Carol said. Shane had already paid for the work that was being done on his car, so Edwin left Carol to deal with the car on her own. She sighed and unlocked the car door, climbing into it and leaning back against the drivers seat. She sat in the car for a few moments before she caught glimpse of another mechanic walking towards one of the cars. She could have sworn she recognized him, but she hadn't seen him in almost ten years.
Carol climbed out of the car and locked it, walking towards the mechanic. He was now bent over one of the cars, head buried in the engine. She could hear him muttering to himself and she knew right away that it was him. It was her ex boyfriend, the last time she saw him it was the day before he had to go to jail for eight years for armed robbery. He'd broken up with her that day, told her he didn't want her to sit around and wait for him. While he was in jail for the first few years, Carol had tried to stay in touch with him, tried to call, write and even tried to visit him. She was always turned away.
It had taken two years for her to actually start dating again, that was when she met Shane. She loved Shane, but nothing ever compared to your first love.
Carol had thought about turning around and walking away from the man, getting in her car and going back to work, forgetting about ever seeing him. But she couldn't just walk away from him. "Merle?" She asked.
Merle jumped as he heard the voice next to him, dropping the tool he was using. "Godfuckingdammit, what?" Merle snapped, turning to look at whoever the hell was bothering him. When he saw it was Carol standing ten feet away from him, his face softened and fell as his eyes fell on his ex girlfriend. "Carol?" He asked, staring at her. He had really hoped that she would have left town, moved on. But here she was, staring at him.
"Hi.." Carol said in disbelief that he was standing there just a few feet away. Her first instinct was to run into his arms and kiss him, but the engagement ring that suddenly felt really heavy reminded her that she couldn't do that. When she looked up again, Merle had come closer to her. "I didn't know you'd gotten out of jail."
"Made it that way." Merle said honestly. Carol looked up at him, really wishing she could have had a better poker face, but she knew that she didn't. "You're better off without me." His eyes fell down to the hand that was clutching her purse, the diamond ring on her fingers almost blinding him. He'd heard from his brother about her engagement to one of the sheriff's deputies, Shane Walsh, but he had hoped it wasn't true. Hoped she hadn't gone off and shacked up with a fucking cop. As if he needed another reason to hate cops.
Carol knew he'd seen her ring, but her bottom lip trembled. "That wasn't your call to make." Carol said, crossing her arms and blocking his view of her ring.
He laughed. "Yer getting married, Carol. Moved on from ol' Merle."
"You told me to. You never answered my calls or my letters, never let me visit you." Furious tears came to Carol's eyes and she brought her hand up and she pressed her finger into his chest. "I loved you. And I would have waited for you. I would have stood by your side because you fucked up but you were still my Merle. I hated you for so long, hated you for leaving me, hated you for pushing me away." Merle let Carol yell at him, let her push on his chest. He even stumbled back so she'd feel better about it. He didn't even say anything about it when her hand came up and she slapped him. "I wish you'd never gotten out of jail."
Both Merle and Carol were surprised at her words and she turned around on her heel, covering her face with her hand as she walked back to her car. Merle followed the path and stopped, watching as she climbed into Shane's car and his stomach churned as he watched her break down and cry.