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]

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.

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda wondered how she managed to luck out and find an honest to god nice guy to help her. For a Monday that seemed to be starting out less than ideal that was one bright spot in this whole thing. At least it hadn’t been some condescending jerk that had stopped, bent on ‘rescuing’ an incompetent woman from her car troubles. No, Jasper just seemed to honestly be one of those guys that would stop for anyone, just because he thought he might be able to help. “Thank you.” She said, before turning on her heel to find her phone.

It didn’t take quite as long as she expected, the Yellow Pages app managed to locate a well reviewed shop that was near her office, she took down the address so she could program into her GPS, then went back to let Jasper know that she was set. “Found a shop,” She called over to him, “I’m going to program it into the GPS, so hopefully I don’t get turned around trying to find it.” Not that she was too concerned; she was fairly familiar with the area of Dallas near the main office. She smiled at him one last time before getting into her car again, flipping off the hazards and turning the engine over, checking the rearview to make sure he had started his truck before she pulled back into traffic.