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

[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.

She took a couple steps closer to rear of her Mini Cooper, careful not to trip in her heels, and got a much better look at the man with the truck. He was close to her age, if she had to guess, and good looking in a way you usually only saw in magazines or movies, which was neither here nor there, but she couldn’t help but observe that. “I have roadside assistance, but I’m a little worried they’ll strand me out here for hours,” She admitted, “Which just would not work with my schedule for the day.” She hadn’t meant for that to come off self important, but it might have, mixed with her still lingering irritation with the situation.

[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.

She weighed her options. Wait and end up having to reorganize her day more than she would already need to, or let this absolute stranger change her flat out for the spare. It really wasn’t rocket science, but she couldn’t help but notice the state his truck was in; it ran, but it looked a little concerning to her. “Are you sure you know how?” She asked him, not purposefully being rude, but it wouldn’t do her any good to end up on the side of the road for a second time in one morning because her spare tire hadn’t been put on correctly. She glanced over her shoulder at her car, wishing she had bothered to read her manual so she would have a better answer for his question. “I’m not certain about the kit, but the spare is underneath the car.” She replied, “Or it should be. I couldn’t get down far enough to check.” Because as stupid as it seemed, she hadn’t wanted the hem of her dress to get gravel dust on it.

[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.

Jasper leaned in to look in the back of the tiny car, though after a moment, he worried that he was getting too far into her personal space. She didn't seem bothered, though, so he wasn't going to worry about it, focusing instead on the task at hand. "Maybe," he commented in a low voice. He spotted a long, narrow black bag that looked promising, and reached out to pull it to him, his arm brushing hers as he did so. As he pulled the zipper open, he grinned. "Well there we go, a shiny new kit," he said as he stepped back and straightened up, bringing the kit with him. He set the kit down and went back down to the ground, moving to get the spare out from under her car.

[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.

Miranda hadn’t noticed the close quarters until she realized he was kind of in her space. She didn’t mind necessarily, even if she wasn’t used to strangers being so close, and she was more aware of it when his arm brushed hers as he reached for the kit, though she didn’t mind that either. It wasn’t like he had meant to get into her space on purpose. At least it hadn’t seemed like the case to her. “You are over thinking, Miranda.” She said to herself quietly before raising her voice to ask, “Is there anything you need me to do?” She suspected there wasn’t, but she felt useless just standing there while he did all the work.

[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.

Stand there and look pretty probably wouldn't be an appropriate response, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be received well, so he said, "Not for the moment." He took the spare and her kit over to the flat tire and got to work. He set up the jack with a practiced ease, and in no time at all he had the small car raised enough to change the tire. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt before picking up the wheel nut wrench and getting to work taking the flat off her car. It only took a couple minutes before the spare tires was on and he was putting the tools back in the little black bag. He stood up and nudged the flat with his foot. "D'you just want that in the back with the kit?" he asked, unsure if the regular sized tire would fit where the spare went.

[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.

“Okay.” She replied, hesitating momentarily before walking back to the front of the car for her phone. If he didn’t need her help for anything then she should call the office and put things in order. Thank goodness she had Mark’s direct line programmed into her phone, so it didn’t take more than a few minutes to get him set up to cover for her and assure him that yes, she was fine and would be on her way in shortly and no, she didn’t need someone sent out to pick her up. She did tell him that she appreciated his concern, and had someone not stopped she might have needed to take him up on his offer.

Miranda had just made her way back around the car when he finished up and asked about the flat. “Oh, yes, please.” She answered, “It will be easier to drop off for repairs that way.” She should have asked Mark to find her a repair shop before she got off the phone, though she thought she had an app downloaded that could find one for her also. “And thank you, I really do appreciate the help.” She smiled, “Hopefully I haven’t managed to make you too late for wherever you were headed.” She wondered if she should offer to pay him for his time, not knowing what was proper.

[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.

Jasper waved a hand to brush off her concern about making him late. "Not on a time schedule today," he assured her. "It's my weekend." Daniel wasn't expecting him for a little bit, and he was sure his brother wouldn't be bothered if he was a little later than expected due to helping someone stranded on the side of the road. Though she really hadn't been completely stranded. And he was starting to over think things. "The spare seems pretty solid, but you don't wanna drive on it too long," he said, thinking that it couldn't hurt to let her know as she hadn't seemed to know much about cars. "Anyway, you sounded like you've got a pretty busy day, so I should probably let you get back to 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.

She smoothed a non-existent wrinkle in her skirt, unable to argue that her day wasn’t busy. Though, now she hoped she hadn’t come off rude about that earlier; stranger or not, she had been raised with manners. “My days are always busy,” She said with a small shrug, “I was warned it’s one of the hazards of working in the corporate world.” Somedays she felt a little like a mouse on a wheel - a lot of motion, very little progress. Perhaps he wouldn’t understand that though, she could assume if he wasn’t headed to an office on a Monday morning that he wasn’t working in a corporate environment. “But yes, I really should be going, my coworker can only cover for my absence for so long.” She smiled and pushed her hair over her shoulder, “It was nice to meet you…” And she trailed off, realizing that she hadn’t ever caught this man’s name. What was that she had been thinking earlier about having manners? “I’m so sorry, what’s your name?”

[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.

Grinning, Jasper said, "Yeah, I think I've heard that somewhere." He might not work in the corporate world, but his dad had, and his dad had always been a busy man. He thought she was lucky to have a coworker cover for her at all, but figured that might come off wrong if he did say it. "Jasper, I'm Jasper," he answered with a smile. "And I'd offer to shake your hand, but mine are kind of dirty," he said, holding his hands up for her to see. And she was so clean and pristine-looking that he didn't like the idea of getting any part of her dirty. "And it was nice to meet you, too."

[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.

Jasper. That was an unusual name, not nearly as common as Josh or Adam; easier to remember in a way. Though she didn’t think she would forget her ‘rescuer’ with the dimples very easily at all. The thought made her fight down a blush. She was being silly, it wasn’t so unusual for people to be nice, and it shouldn’t matter that he was good looking. It wasn’t like she would ever see him again after today. Shaking the thoughts away, she smiled a little, scrunching her nose when he offered up his dirty hands to back up not extending his for a handshake. “Miranda.” She offered up, since it was only polite she introduce herself in return, “And in this case I don’t mind, so don’t worry about it.” She smiled at his last statement, “Though, I would have expected one had we met under different circumstances.” She added with a soft laugh, “Have a good day.” She didn’t know what the exact protocol was for saying good bye to someone that aided you on the side of the road, so instead she took a few slow backwards steps, waiting to see if he would walk to the cab of his truck.

[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.

Jasper couldn't deny that he was pleased to have a name to go with the pretty face. The pretty face that happened to look kind of adorable with her nose scrunched up like that. He dropped his hands to the sides of his jeans, brushing them against them again to try to dislodge more of the dirt. "Well then, I won't," he assured her. His lips curved up in a crooked grin. "Oh, naturally. I'd've offered, and in fact, I should've introduced myself right away, so I owe you an apology. Should we meet again, I promise I'll have remembered my manners," he assured her, his grin growing to a wide smile, even though he probably would never see her again.

"You too," he said, watching for a moment as she started walking backward. A thought occurred to him, and he lifted a hand to scrub through his hair, ducking his head as he wondered if it would be inappropriate to offer. "Would it be inappropriate to offer to follow you into Dallas in case that spare gives you any trouble?" he asked as he looked back up at her. He really hoped he wasn't coming off as creepy.

[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.

[jasperwoods]

Jasper ducked his head, biting back the laugh that wanted to bubble up because his mother would have chided him for his lack of manners in this case even as she would have praised him for stopping to help in the first place. "Well then, we'll both have to make sure to remember our manners should we meet again," he told her, his lips curving up in a crooked grin.

Jasper had to admit that it put him at ease that she was seriously considering his offer and not just making an impulsive decision. She didn't know him, and even though he knew it didn't pose any kind of threat to her, he'd be concerned if she didn't consider the possibility. He was of the opinion that young women really couldn't be too careful. "Well, all right then, I will," he said with a decisive nod. "I'll wait, I'm really not in a rush." He just wished that he could direct her to a good shop himself, but he figured she had the resources to find one. He tucked his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he went back to his truck and leaned against the front of it as he waited on her.