The mechanics of it all
“You don’t have to do this, you know. I can get by on my own.” I said between bites of my sandwich.
Steve tilted his eyebrow, “You sure?”
I shot him an angry glare at that. Yes, I was damn sure. I wasn’t some charity case.
“I’m just teasing. I know you can. But the thing is, you don’t have to. There are always people who can help. Who want to.”
I knew Steve was right. But I kind of didn’t want to think about all that now, so I just let my feet and Steve take me where ever we were going. It ended up to be his hotel room again.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Steve asked after a while, probably already having guessed I was fired.
I shook my head, “No, that dick called Pierce fired me because I was a dollar short.” I said, feeling the anger boil up again.
“What a prick.” Steve huffed, “So what now?”
“I don’t know. I probably won’t be able to pay next month’s rent unless I find a new job. Preferably a more legal and less dangerous one.”
“Well, what kind of job would you be looking for? Any special skills?” Steve asked.
“Ehm, I know a few languages, so a translator could be something.” I considered it, but I don’t think I would like it. Too boring.
“How about something in economics?” Steve proposed.
“Nah, not that smart.”
“A secretary?”
“Nah, I keep forgetting appointments. My memory’s terrible sometimes.” I huffed. “But I’ve always been interested in mechanics, I’m just not really good at it. Maybe something else.”
“Well, a friend of mine is a mechanic. Quite a good one at that. Maybe you could go meet with him just to see how things would go?” Steve proposed, smiling.
My face lit up, “That’d be amazing! Just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.”
~
“Good morning, Tony. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Steve asked after he heard some rumbling on the other end of the line after Tony picked up.
“What-, no, no. What’s up, Cap?” Tony asked.
“I’ve got a pal of mine who needs a job. He likes mechanics and I know only one mechanic that is awesome, so...” Steve ended lamely.
“So? He was on a vacation so you decided to call me?” Tony joked.
“Ha-ha. Very funny. But I’m serious. He’s nice, honest, works hard and has the muscles and the brains for it if you ask me. So?”
“Fine, fine.” Tony laughed, “I’ll meet him Tuesday at the Tower, say four P.M.?”
“Yeah, great. Thanks a bunch, Tones! See ya.” Steve greeted before ending the call and selecting Bucky’s number and dialing.
“Steve? What’s up?” I asked.
“Hey, Buck. You got an hour to spare Tuesday at four P.M.?”
“Sure, why?”
“Because you, my friend, have got a job interview with a friend of mine. He works as a mechanic and he’s great.”
“No way!” I scoffed in disbelief. “You are great! Thank you so much!” I exclaimed.
I could not fuck this shot up, cause if this guy paid a little better than Pierce did I would still be able to pay rent and eat this month.
“You’re welcome. So, how about I pick you up and we go and eat before your interview? If you want, that is.” Steve ended lamely.
I grinned to myself, Steve was kind of a dork. “Yes. I’d like that. Pick me up at two at Pershing Square. D’you know where that is?” I asked, just to be sure he didn’t drive all the way to Alaska or something. Somehow, Steve looked like the kinda guy that didn’t know how to make Google Maps work.
“Yeah, I’ll find it. See you then, Buck.”
~
“Damn, you’ve got a nice car.” I whistled at the sight of Steve’s ride, “Oh right, language.” I snickered as I got in.
Steve drove off, immersing the two of us into a comfortable silence, listening to the car rumble underneath them. After a while I whipped my head to the side and looked at his profile, which I found to be quite attractive. I spoke up, “Language? Really? You were a soldier, right? The army is more swearing than it is physical training.”
Steve snorted at the sudden start of a conversation, “Yeah. So? I can still watch my language.”
“Doesn’t sound right.” I snickered as I shook my head, “You heard of the saying ‘Cursing like a sailor’? I think that applies to the army too, at least as I can remember it.”
That’s when Steve’s head turned, “You were in the army?”
“Yeah. Not for long though. I quickly got shot” I pointed at my left shoulder, “And I figured that it just wasn’t my thing. I felt controlled, having to act on others orders, reporting back and stuff. I felt like a tool.” I explained, “I didn’t like it, so I got out.” I noticed I’d begun rubbing my left arm and stopped. “Sorry to hear about that. You mind me asking what exactly happened to your arm?” Steve asked carefully.
“Can’t say much except that a mission went sideways. Bad guys came in, we tried to get out and on the way out I got shot in my upper arm. Bullet went straight through, hitting a nerve or two, so I had to recover for a long time, but I’m almost back to full capacity. After that the doc told me I wasn’t gonna be any good in the field for the coming months or even years with my injury. Likely never to return to the capacity I once had. And I like work where I can use my hands. So, all those reasons put together were enough to get me to quit. And I never looked back.” Just when I finished my story, Steve stopped the car and turned it off, then turned to look at me.
“Thanks for telling me. Are you okay?” He tilted his head slightly. It made him look like a giant Labrador puppy. Kinda cute.
I smiled and looked him in the eyes, “Yes, I am. Let’s go get something to eat.”