The Fix - Chapter One

The Fix

By Rune Xavier


Chapter One

Really? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Come on! I just sewed the hem to this dress last week after I ripped it getting out of the car.

Michelle Briar needed luck and she needed it in the worst way. Highly clumsy and unlucky, she was completely hopeless and perhaps clueless might fit the description as well. There wasn’t much in her world that had survived. With countless jobs, not to mention the fact that she was still in college at the age of thirty due to changing her major so many times. She couldn’t keep adequate transportation either and was constantly changing apartments. Hell, Michelle didn’t even bother with unpacking anymore.

Michelle pulled her dress free from the bush next the steps of her apartment complex. She wearily watched as her groceries spilled out of the bag tumbling and rolling across the sidewalk and ground. She stooped over to pick up cans of tuna and oranges not even caring that she had just torn the whole backside out of her dress. Michelle was certain that if anyone living close by saw her ass they would eventually get over it. She unlocked her door and pushed her way inside spilling the contents of her arms onto the counter and watching a pear roll of the other side. Michelle just simply shook her head. Way to go dumbass. She shrugged her shoulders and started for her bedroom.

Looking into the mirror, she couldn’t find one thing about her that was extraordinary. Her limp and lifeless jet black flat hair fell over her shoulders. Her hair swirled down around her less than desirable small yet slightly perky breasts. Her large green eyes seemed to bulge a bit and her pale milky white skin was blotchy and her lips were plump but dry. Michelle turned to the side a bit and glanced down to her torso in the mirror. If she didn’t know better herself she would swear she was pregnant. Michelle never was a dieter, she loved food and now she was paying for it. Years of overindulging herself on junk food and tons of bread had finally caught up with her. Her metabolism seemed to have just given out. She turned some more to look at her backside.

“Sheesh, what an ass.”

She rolled her eyes and walked to her closet. Michelle shrugged and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a tank top and threw them over her shoulder. She knew that a long hot shower was in order after the day she’d endured. Michelle crawled into the shower and let the warm water fall around her. She closed her eyes for the briefest moment and heard the phone ring. Michelle reached down the cut the water off when she lost her balance and fell forward smacking her face against the wall. Catching herself on the side of the tub, Michelle step out of the shower and searched for her towel. Ugh, Satan on a cracker! Who the hell is calling me fucking up my oh-so-nice shower? Michelle wrapped herself in the towel and raced for the bedroom phone. It stop ringing. She sighed heavily and didn’t even bother with looking at to see who it was.

Michelle had left home when she was seventeen to attend a small community college in her hometown of Campton. She had originally studied photography before learning that schooling for it was ridiculous. Besides, the instructor hadn’t cared much for the way Michelle destroyed the dark room. She wasn’t learning anything she didn’t already know anyway. Marketing was next and then her decision to try nursing hadn’t lasted long either. She realized that working that close to others might not be such a good idea. Journalism was her latest venture. She could write and take pictures. Simple right?

Michelle’s father ran a modest dry cleaning business that she worked part-time to get extra cash back then. Her father convinced her that "spreading her wings” and trying different things was probably what she needed to do. He was tired of replacing his equipment. Michelle had been working there since high school, but at her father’s advice left to pursue her interest in photography. A two week stay with the photography studio at the local Sears hadn’t worked out well. A series of other tiny jobs followed. None of them lasting over a few months at best. Her aunt was the chief editor at the only newspaper in town and had offered her a position in being her assistant. Michelle spent hers days running errands, writing a short column and taking pictures. So far, so good.

At the moment she was staying in the Sunset Apartments. Michelle knew she was safe there for now till she broke something and pissed off the tenant manager. She was trying to keep a low profile, the less she knew about her neighbors the better. No sense in involving others in her bad luck.

A hot shower is indeed what she needed. Michelle sighed with satisfaction as she sunk into the sofa with a smile. She reached for the latest issue of Woman’s Day on her coffee table and sat back and flipped pages. The phone rang and Michelle started with surprise and then rose to go answer it. She had attempted to lay the magazine back onto the coffee table and it slid off the edge and fell in front of her feet. She tripped over it, sending it into a bizarre twist as she fell forward onto the carpet between the sofa and table. Slight pain raced to her face and Michelle lifted her head and tried to get herself off of the floor. Finally reaching a stand, she continued toward the phone. It stopped ringing.

Michelle sighed and picked up the receiver to look at the caller ID. It was her brother Adam. He was probably coming over to look at her car that was overheating again. She called him back and confirmed her suspicions. Michelle felt around her face to see if there was any damage this time. Those suspicions were also confirmed and she headed for the bathroom mirror. A small oval shaped carpet burned glowed over her right eyebrow. Michelle shook her head and proceeded to clean the wound and then tried sweeping her thin bangs over it. A day in the life of Michelle Briar was indeed uneventful.

Opening the front door to her apartment she looked in all directions hoping to avoid any visible neighbors lurking about. Michelle started for her car when she faltered and tripped over a small bush in her path and nearly fell again. She scanned the ground between herself and her car and decided against it. She stood like a statue with her hands planted firmly on the outsides of her thighs. Michelle watched her brother pull into the parking lot and park next to her car, but he wasn’t alone. She glared through the windshield to see who was with him, but didn’t recognize the man. Her bother step out of the car and cocked his head to one side as her looked at her.

“What the hell are you doing?” Adam tried not to smile as he walked toward her.

“Oh, just standing here. I’ve already fell for the third time today and it’s probably in my best interest to just stand here.”

“I see.” Adam chuckled and shook his head and turned toward his car and nodded to the man getting out of the passenger side. “This is our new neighbor Jared. He’s a mechanic. I ask him to come out with me since I’m not as good with my hands.”

“Clearly…pfft. Ask him how his venture of trying to fix my mom’s dishwasher went? Michelle mused and then stifled a laugh.

“Ha ha. I know, I know. Now she has to wash the dishes by hand and all that shit.”

“Mmhmm and maybe you should be doing that. You live there. No?”

Michelle lifted her head to meet the man’s gaze and smiled. Holy shit! He’s yummy! Why the hell didn’t I know mom and dad had a yummy neighbor? She watched him walk around the front of Adam’s car and move toward her with grace. Jared was at least six and a half feet tall with broad shoulders and a narrowed waist that disappeared into his relaxed jeans. Michelle could see the bulge of each thigh muscle and then darted her attention to the rounded biceps peeking out from under the sleeves of his black t-shirt. Damn, where has this guy been my whole life? Michelle looked up at him with dreamy eyes and soaked in the strong square jaw and the long straight layered locks of crimson and black that fell around his shoulders. His dark smooth skin and Native American features revealed a strong nose and black eyes with long lashes. Michelle’s mouth nearly watered as she viewed the slight dimples and the fullest lips that moved to speak to her. Omigod Michelle! Snap out of it. He’s talking to you and you have no clue what he’s saying!

“What? I’m sorry I’m a bit distracted today.” Michelle felt heat rush to her faced as her embarrassment rose.

“I’ve heard a lot about you since I moved in next to your parents.” Jared smiled with flattery and then looked to Adam who had twisted his mouth in interest.

“Well that can’t be good. My parents love to embarrass me.”