SNAPS-Body shop virgin.
By: Jstarret78
Editor's note: Memories, fantasies, tales I've heard, they are part of these short stories.
Just had my right fender repaired. It was a simple fix but took an unexpected turn.? My name is Kevin, a straight guys, just out of college. This was a life changing experience, brought on by submissive feelings I can't begin to explain, and left me confused.
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I'm looking at the scrape on my fender and kicking myself for being so careless. When entering an underground parking facility, I misjudged the wall and scraped the front right fender. I've had this car awhile, and I love it. It's a 2016 Hyundai Sonata, black and fast.
That is where this experience begins. It had to be repaired, as there was little room in my budget for another car. I'm new in the business world and have to watch my finances. At 25, right out of college, I'm focused on making use of my accounting degree. My interests revolve around work and a healthy lifestyle. That means trips between my job and the gym.
I'm considered a good-looking guy, five feet, nine inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds. I work out and it shows. When at the gym, I see the results when I pass a mirror. I had it under control and felt good about it.
The damage to the car was not that bad, and I had no intension of going through insurance. I searched Google and found a popular body shop close by. Arriving there, I entered an impressive lobby. A girl sitting at the reception desk looked up and asked if she could be of help, or more like, 'how can I help you,' along with a seductive look. Maybe I should get to know her better.
"I need some body work done," I replied.
With a sexy smile, she lifted the phone and requested help, never taking her eyes off me. Minutes later, a guy came out of a side office and walked over to where I was standing. He said, "where is the car?" I answered, "out there," as he followed me to the parking lot.
When I left the showroom, I glanced back, thinking to myself, 'she would be an easy score.'
He evaluated the damage, even underneath, each time writing something down on his iPad. We returned to the lobby, and he asked for a minute to write it up. As I waited, I decided to make some small talk with the receptionist, but before I could get over to her, the guy came back with the estimate.
When he handed me the estimate, my eyes went right to the bottom line. I hope he didn't see the obvious shock on my face. The quote came to $1500. Composing myself, I thanked him and said, "I'll have to think this over." No way in hell was I going to pay that much. The quote squashed my intension to feel out the receptionist, so I left.
After visiting several other shops, the results were pretty much the same. At one point in my search, I found a shop, whose listing was in small print. 'Black's Auto Body' they claimed to fix all makes and models, so I gave them a call.
I dialed and waited while the phone rang. It rang for a while and I was about to hang up, when the phone was picked up.
"Hello," a voice answered.
"Hey, hi, I need some body work done."
"What kind of body work?"
" Scraped fender."
"Bring it in today or tomorrow. I'll take a look. Anytime, I'm usually here."
"Maybe I'll come by today. By the way, I'm Kevin."
"Ok, Kevin, I'm Carl, see you later."
Entering the address on my GPS, I drove off for the estimated fifteen minute drive. A body shop sign at the end of a driveway told me I arrived, and I turned right into a narrow driveway. In about a thousand feet it opened to a two acres clearing. To my right was a small home and in front of me a shop, well more like a barn with a body shop sign on the front. It wasn't sophisticated and I began to have my doubts. Entering through a door marked 'office' I found myself in a small room with a messy desk and all kinds of automotive parts laying around. It was summer, and inside the office there was no relief, it was stuffy and unusually warm. There was an air conditioner whirring in the window, but it wasn't doing much good. The bell on the door announced my arrival and soon a guy entered from the shop.
He looked about 60 years old, skinny, wearing Oshkosh overalls. Under a Yankees cap he had a crop of messy mixed grey hair with a small mustache and goatee. He was tall and had a few inches on me.
Looking me over he said, "what can I do you for young man?"
I'm Kevin, the guy needing body work done, we spoke on the phone."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember. Let's go see what we got."
We marched out to the car where Carl did his thing. I stood there expecting another expensive quote. Eventually he finished, turned to me, and said, "The repair will be four hundred."
"You'll fix it and paint it?"
"Of course, why?"
"Just making sure."
"Yeah, well, I'm sort of semi-retired and only take on simple jobs. Anyway, you're a young kid, it will help you out some."
We agreed to the work and then stood around for a while talking. As we talked, I grew to like him. He seemed genuine and interested in what I said. I enjoyed our conversation.
The next day I planned to drop the car off, but didn't have anyone to drive me back home. Carl was the only one in the shop, so I couldn't figure out a way to get this done. When I arrived at the shop, and mentioned my dilemma, he said, 'No problem' and drove me back to my apartment.
Three days later, the weather was sweltering. Carl called me to say the car was ready, and he was coming to pick me up. I put on a t-shirt and pair of thin breathable shorts.
When I saw the car, it was perfect, I couldn't tell it had any damage at all. We went to his office to settle the bill. I had forgotten how stuffy the office was. I handed him the cash with a small tip. He asked if I would like a beer or something to drink. I was in no rush so why not?
"Thanks, sounds good."
"Coming right up," he replied.
We talked and laughed for quite a while and got to know each other. He told me he lived alone and managed the shop on his own as well. He didn't need to work but enjoyed body work. He liked living alone in that small house; it suited him. It was isolated from the street and city noise, making it a great location. I ask him if it was lonely to which he answered, 'not really'. He went on to tell me, he had lived with a woman friend for a while, but that didn't last. This turned the discussion to loneliness and frustrations. The conversation eventually arrive at relationships we had experienced, good and bad. We both contributed stories, and some off-color humor, but I enjoyed it.
During a quiet period, Carl asked, so, what are you up to?"
"You know the drill, I pretty much told you everything I was doing," I replied.
"No, I mean, are you dating, how's it going in the hook up world."
We started talking about the world of being single and hooking up. Working on my second beer, I went into detail about some of the dates I had and how life was in the dorms and even the gym. "We're socially uninhibited these days, you know, sexual freedom and all." When I finished the second beer, we were still talking about it. My empty stomach quickly let the beers go to my head.