Is that buddies? (for je_nesaisquoi)
"You..." Kowalski tipped his head to the side and walked up behind her, holding back the smile until he was sure it was her. She turned. It was. Bingo. Wattage smile alert.
"Again," she finished for him, matching his expression and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Back so soon?"
"Yeah." This was weird. Kowalski let out a small laugh, "yeah, the Goat's still playin' up. Tell you the truth," he leaned in and lowered his voice, "I don't think the guy here knows much about cars, let alone classics." '67 Pontiac GTOs couldn't be touched by just anybody. And he'd told Vecchio that, over and over, but no, this dude was family so he'd do it cheap. When Kowalski had asked if he was any good, Vecchio had turned away, back to the dishes, before answering with a shrug and a "'course he is. He's my cousin."
For some reason, family wasn't enough for Kowalski to put his trust in. It wasn't like he'd let Frannie anywhere near his car. But he came anyway 'cause Vecchio could be pretty insistent when he wanted to be. And the blowjob in the Riv had kinda sealed the deal...
"Oh, I know someone who might agree with you there." She made her way over to the water cooler, pulling out a plastic cup.
Kowalski hesitated before following. "...Angela, right? I'm not," he waved a hand by his ear, "so good with names. I tend, tend to forget 'em." Even when they were the names of pretty cool women who knew about cars.
She nodded, offered him a smile. "Ange to my friends." At his wary expression, she added, "Ange to you too."
Relief on Kowalski's face. "Right. Thanks. I'm--"
"Ray. I remember." She handed him a cup of water which he gratefully accepted. "It's not a name I forget easily."
Kowalski's mouth quirked. "Corvette Sting Ray?"
"No, uh," she shook her head with a laugh. "Ex-husband actually."
"Ouch. Sorry."
A hand waved off his apology. "Long time ago."
A silence fell, not so awkward that Kowalski felt like he needed to leave, but he did pull his cell out of his pocket anyway, asking Ange to excuse him while he made a phone call. If the Goat wasn't going to be ready today like the guy had promised, then Kowalski was going to need a ride home and since Vecchio was the one who'd made him come here, he figured it was only fair that he came to pick him up. It was astonishing how much bitching two guys could get into a thirty second phone call, but Kowalski was triumphant and within a minute, he was back sitting next to Ange on a shabby old couch, chatting away with her about cars and shitty mechanics like they'd known each other as long as they'd had their not-so-shitty cars.