Page 104 of Off Limits

Isaac snickered. “That was one of the best days of my life. Watching Nate lecture you in front of that Karen to makeher go away, then giving you the rest of the afternoon off as compensation for having to deal with her was everything.” He shook his head. “She really thought she did something.”

“Wait,” Luka said as he came out of the back room with Zander to start their shifts. “I only caught the tail end of that. Did you really get in fake trouble for talking back to a customer?”

“Yup.” I turned off the water and pulled a few paper towels from the dispenser.

“What happened?” Luka looked between me and Isaac. “You’re like the chillest person ever. And so not scary.”

I shot him a look and finished drying my hands.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Luka winced. “I just mean you’re like a goth angel and the least confrontational person I’ve ever met..”

“He talks back when he wants to,” Zander assured Luka. “Be thankful he hasn’t unleashed his ire on you. Asa doesn’t hold back when he’s pissed.”

“I believe it,” Luka said. “Is that what happened with the customer? They pissed you off and you snapped?”

“Pretty much.” I tossed the paper towel in the trash. “She kept arguing about her bill and refusing to pay it.”

“Why?” Luka asked. “What work did you do on it?”

“Replaced her brakes and topped up the brake fluid.”

“Why did she get so bent out of shape over that?” he asked. “Did she bring the car in for something else and you found the brake issue by chance?”

“Nope, she brought it in because she heard a weird squealing sound when she braked and noticed it took way longer than usual to actually stop.” I shrugged. “The fluid was dangerously low, and the shoes and pads were basically metal on metal at that point. It’s a wonder she didn’t fuck up the whole system and was able to stop at all.”

Luka shook his head. “How the hell did she expect you to fix her brakes if you weren’t supposed to do anything to her brakes?”

“I have no clue. She said something about oiling them to make the squealing sound go away. I tried to explain that the only way I could make the sound go away was by actually fixing the problem. She refused to listen and accused me of trying to cheat her and do unnecessary work on her car when all she wanted me to do was make her brakes less loud.”

“Did you tell her you’d have to fix whatever problem you found because her car wasn’t road safe and we legally couldn’t release it back to her until it had working brakes?” Luka asked.

“Yup, when she dropped the car off and told me what was going on,” I confirmed. “And she wasn’t pleased when I reminded her of that.”

“And by remind her, he means he told her that she should have listened when he’d explained it to her the first time, and it wasn’t his fault she’d let things get to the point where her car wasn’t safe to drive,” Isaac added with a big grin.

“She didn’t appreciate that,” I said.

Luka grinned. “I imagine not. Was that what you got in fake trouble about?”

“Nope.” Isaac made a “go ahead” motion. “Tell him what really set her off.”

“I may or may not have told her I had three siblings under ten, so her tantrum wasn’t going to get her anywhere, and I’d listen when she decided to use her adult voice and words.”

Luka laughed. “Oh my god, that’s amazing. And I’m guessing she wanted the service comped and demanded to speak to the manager.”

“Yes to the free work, but she went right to demanding to see the owner.” I grinned. “Nate came out and listened to her rant about me. Then he asked me if all that was true. It wasn’t, sheembellished a lot, but I just said yes because it was easier than doing a whole back and forth and rehashing things.

“Nate lectured me about the customer always being right and how important it was to always be respectful and a bunch of other crap. That made her happy, and Nate sweet-talked her into paying the bill and accepting a gift certificate for the cost of the service as compensation. As far as I know, she hasn’t come back to cash it in, and I doubt she ever will.”

Luka shook his head, still laughing. “I love it. She really thought she did something there.”

“Me and Nate were listening to the whole thing behind the separation wall,” Isaac said. “So he knew half of what she said was bullshit. When she was finally gone, he told Asa he could leave early after dealing with all that drama.”

“Did you go home?” Luka asked.

I shook my head. “Nah. I only had a few hours left, but the offer was nice.” I hooked my thumb at the back office. “I should go before Dev starts thinking I got lost.”

Luka started telling everyone a story about another entitled customer he’d dealt with at his old shop, and I made my way to the office.

---