RP: Morning hiccup

[miranda_jackson]

Date: November 14, 2011
Characters: Miranda Jackson, Jasper Woods
Location: The side of the road, somewhere between Fort Worth and Dallas
Status: Private
Summary: Miranda has an unexpected and not all together pleasant start to her work week.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[jasperwoods]

It had been a really long weekend. Just as he'd expected, Abby had been all too aware when Demi did not come over on Saturday, and when she'd asked about it, Jasper had had no choice but to explain that he and Demi weren't dating anymore and that Demi was going to be moving to New York. Abby had taken it so much better than he'd anticipated, and when she'd asked if she could call Demi to wish her a happy birthday, Jasper had let her. It had been difficult for him because he'd wanted to talk to her himself, wish her a happy birthday himself. He was far from happy with her not being a part of his life anymore, but as he kept reminding himself, it was his own fault, his own choice, and it had been the right one. He wasn't holding her back, keeping her in limbo, and as much as he was sure she was hurting, time and space would heal her, he was sure of it. And he just needed to focus on Abby to get through it, because she was the most important thing in his life right now

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda was surprised out of her serious - but ultimately useless - investigation of the back tire by an unfamiliar male voice calling out a question to her. She straightened back up quickly, bracing her hand against the car so she wouldn’t stumble into it, and she hoped her face wasn’t too red from the way she had been bent over. “Maybe,” She called back a little undecidedly, “I’m not certain what’s actually wrong with it.” She laughed softly at herself, at the way she had phrased her last statement. “Well, beyond the tire having gone flat, I mean.” She corrected with a smile

[jasperwoods]

Jasper was pointedly not looking directly at her until he noticed her straighten. When she explained that she wasn't sure what was wrong beyond the tire being flat, he grinned and pushed away from his truck, though he still didn't fully approach her. "Y'know, I think it's pretty safe to say it's flat," he joked in a light, friendly way.

Rocking back on his heels at her admission, Jasper paused for a moment before taking a couple steps toward her. "Well, there's not a whole lot I can do with cars, but changing a tire I can manage, if you'd rather not risk the wait." She looked very well put together, and he wondered what she did, if she was on her way to work or not. Maybe she was a socialite who took her social engagements very seriously - it really wouldn't be fair to assume. "Do you have a kit in your car?" he asked, though he was getting the impression that she probably wouldn't know. "If not, I've got a jack and stuff in my truck, so long as you've got a spare tire."

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda quirked an eyebrow up and smiled again, “Oh good, I was so concerned I was wrong.” She responded somewhat dryly, brushing her fingers through her hair in an attempt to smooth it back out. She wished she had bothered to put it up this morning, because now she was concerned that she would get to the office and look more disheveled than she had intended

[jasperwoods]

Jasper's grin grew to a full-blown smile at her dry response. He could appreciate a quick comeback as much as the next person.

Jasper noticed the look she gave his truck, and he bristled slightly, defensively. "Yes ma'am, I know how. And that truck's been good to me. She was my dad's first, then got passed down to me. I take good care of her, and she takes care of me." And he would defend that truck with his dying breath. She might not have been the prettiest, but he'd take reliable over pretty any day. He couldn't stop his eyes from flicking over her at her words. "No, I can't imagine it would be easy to check in that," he commented, almost under his breath. When he reached her car, he went down to the ground to look under it for the spare. "Yep, there it is. You wanna open the back up so we can check for a kit?"

[miranda_jackson]

Oh, this was just perfect, Miranda thought, she had managed to make him defensive; and then he called her ma’am. She knew it was a manners thing, but she didn’t think she looked old enough for ma’am. She scrunched her nose a little in distaste, then hoped he didn’t catch it. “I,” She started to say, then bit her lip, thinking over how she should phrase her words and straightening her posture, “I apologize, it was clearly a misjudgment on my part. Obviously she’s more reliable than mine, so I don’t have much room to judge.” And men could be so funny about their cars; she would never understand getting attached to scraps of metal and rubber.

Miranda furrowed her brows, and wondered what his muttering was about. Maybe he had decided stopping to help her had been a bad idea; she hadn’t exactly been making a good impression. “Sure,” She said, then opened the back of the car and gave a cursory look to the contents inside, doing her best to push her gym bag into the backseat out of the way. “Would it have some sort of label?”

[jasperwoods]

Jasper bit back a grin at the way her nose scrunched up, though he couldn't keep it contained when she apologized. "No harm done," he said, waving a hand. "She just gets judged a lot on how she looks. If trucks could feel, I think it would hurt her feelings. As they can't, I figure I gotta stand up for her myself." He might have been playing it up just a little for his own amusement, but he did really love his truck. "And ya can't really base a car's reliability on it's tires. They'd go out on as quick on a fancy little car like this as they would on my old truck," he pointed out with a crooked little grin

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda relaxed when she caught the grin on Jasper’s face after her apology. Oh, he had dimples. “How very noble of you,” She said, smiling back at him, “And I’m sure if she had feelings she would appreciate someone defending her.” Miranda had always appreciated someone standing up for her, not that she required it all that often. She wasn’t a damsel, current situation notwithstanding. “I’ll admit, though I’m sure you’ve already figured it out… but I don’t have much knowledge on what you do base a car’s reliability on.” She just tried to stick to the maintenance schedule, and took it in whenever it was making a sound or doing something that seemed out of the ordinary. “I didn’t even pick this one, my daddy did. He told me he thought it would suit me.” And she wasn’t going to argue it, because she did like her mini cooper and it had been a gift

[jasperwoods]

Jasper nodded, his smile stretching just a little wider. "Yep, those were my thoughts exactly." And he had to admit to himself that he liked that she'd agreed with him on that point. It shouldn't matter if a complete stranger agreed with him, but after her earlier thoughts on his truck, it was nice to have her agree with him now. "Common problems the model is known to have and how long it lasts before breaking down would probably be the things to look at for reliability," he said simply, though he realized then that she probably hadn't been asking. "Well, if he thought it would, then it must." God, would there come a day when he'd be expected to help Abby pick out a car that would suit her? He didn't want to even think about that for a long time

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda bit her lip to keep from smirking at the way he offered up information she hadn’t asked for, but didn’t mind hearing. It might come in useful when she was required to research a car on her own. Or if she ever fell into a conversation regarding cars, one never could rule out that possibility. She nodded at his last comment, smiling. “He knows me well.” She said and wondered briefly if she would ever grow out of being a daddy’s girl; at twenty-four she still called him often to talk and ask for advice

[jasperwoods]

Jasper nodded when she pointed out it would make it easier, and he bent to pick the tire up, moving around the car to place it carefully in the small back of her car. He went back for her kit, then, and put it in the car, too. "You're very welcome," he replied with a smile as he dusted his hands off on the front of his jeans. "It really wasn't any trouble at all." And it hadn't been. It didn't take long to change a tire, and it always felt good to help someone out. And, if it meant her day wasn't as disrupted as it might have been if she'd had to wait for roadside assistance, then it was worth it

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda smiled a laughed softly. “That I did know,” She said, not surprised that he had told her that. It wasn’t as if she was making herself sound like she knew anything about cars beyond how to make one move. “You wouldn’t happen to know any decent repair shops in Dallas?” She asked him, though maybe he wasn’t familiar with the area. He had said that this was his weekend so it was possible he was just visiting. “If not I can find one with my phone, I think.” She hadn’t ever had to locate repair shops before, but it couldn’t be any more difficult than finding a restaurant

[jasperwoods]

Jasper just grinned when she laughed, glad that she'd not been offended by his words. He was just a little distracted, now that he wasn't preoccupied with the task of getting her tire changed, by how pretty her smile was, but that thought was immediately followed by a feeling of guilt. He knew it shouldn't have because they were broken up, but he felt like he was betraying Demi somehow by thinking another girl was pretty. He'd brought this on himself, though, and he'd get through it. "I don't," Jasper said regretfully. "Know a few in Fort Worth, but I don't make it out to Dallas often." He thought about asking Daniel, but figured his brother hadn't lived in Dallas long enough to have found a good repair shop yet

[miranda_jackson]

“It’s okay, I wasn’t really expecting you would.” Miranda replied and assumed that he must live in Fort Worth if he knew repair shops there. Which only made her wonder more why he was headed into Dallas. She refrained from asking though, not sure if he would think she was trying to pry. “If my phone fails at finding me one I can always call my coworker back or my father.” She didn’t make a habit of calling Charles at work, but knew if she did - and he was available - he would help

[jasperwoods]

Jasper nodded slightly, relieved that she at least had resources for finding one. "Well there ya go, then," he drawled lightly, smiling at her

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda bit back a laugh and tried to give him as serious of an expression as she could manage. “See that you do, a lack of manners is just reprehensible.” Her tone was more teasing than her expression. He really had better manners than some men she had met, and oh, she was trying not to focus on the dimples again, but she just couldn’t help it, he was smiling so wide. “Apology accepted, since I should’ve introduced myself earlier also and didn’t.” Though manners hadn’t been the first thing on her mind when he stopped, it still wasn’t like her to forget them all together.

“Oh,” Miranda paused in her movement, tilting her head to the side in consideration. She didn’t think she needed to be concerned about Jasper following her in, and it would be nice to know he was there in case she did run into more trouble, “No, I don’t think so.” She answered after a moment, “I’ll just need a minute to find a repair shop.” And she really did hope it wasn’t much of an inconvenience to assist her; she really did appreciate it.