No Second Chances

by Beverley Hollowed

  “Like I care what you meant.” She turned to face him and realised just how close she was to him. She could smell his aftershave and it smelled divine. Then she noticed his very well fitted black suit, complete with black shirt and tie. They were just about visible underneath his long black Crombie. He looked perfect, sexy and hot as hell, almost like he had just stepping out of a magazine.

  UGHH. She shouted at herself in her head. This guy is an asshole. No! He’s a sexist asshole. Why the hell do you care how good he smells or how damn hot he looks?

  “Look, we seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot,” he said and gave her the most dazzling smile she has ever seen. Her heart almost stopped in her chest. God he really was gorgeous.

  “I’m Cole,” he said and he extended his hand. Ally stared at it for a moment. She was still trying to decide if she should just turn and get into the car and leave him standing there. But her stupid conscience would never let her do that.

  “Ally,” she replied and nervously took his hand. The moment their hand met a bolt of electricity shot through her body and, despite the freezing cold, she was instantly warmed head to toe.

  She quickly pulled her hand from his grip and dug both her hands into the safety of her pockets.

  “So you think you can fix my car?” he asked but this time there was no trace of amusement in his eyes.

  “Well I was willing to take a look to see if I can help,” she replied as her eyes flicked from him to his car. “I mean its freezing cold and you could be sitting here for hours waiting for a breakdown truck in this traffic. But you obviously have issues with a girl mechanic looking at your precious car. So I’ll just say goodbye.”

  She turned and pulled open her car door.

  She was so sick of the same macho bullshit she had to put up with ever since she chose to become a mechanic. Even back in trade school she got nothing but crap of the other students because she was the only girl. It was a regular occurrence that male customers would have some kind of comment or another. She knew she worked in a man’s world, but after school and then six years at the garage it was getting old.

  On more than one occasion Gus was asked if there were no other mechanic available, but Gus would always answer that if it were his car that needed service, he’d be calling Ally himself.

  “I didn’t mean any disrespect,” Cole said as he took hold of her car door. “I was just surprised when you knocked on the window.”

  She stared at him for a moment and he gave her a heart melting smile.

  “Fine!” she sighed as she slammed her door closed again. She went to the back of her car and pulled out her tool bag and torch then followed him back to his car.

  She walked to the front of the car as he reached in and popped the hood.

  As Ally leaned in to have a closer look at the engine she could sense him standing behind her. She knew he was watching her, she could feel his eyes almost burning into her.

  Suddenly she became aware her jacket wasn’t very long and he had a clear view of her ass in her skinny jeans. She instantly shook that thought from her head.

  Why the hell would he be checking her ass out? A gorgeous guy like him could probably have his pick of girls and judging by his expensive clothes and his very expensive car, he was probably loaded too. What girl wouldn’t want him?

  Me! She thought and sighed deeply feeling annoyed with herself for allowing these thoughts to fill her mind. Ally didn’t do rich men. She found them lacking in character and far from dependable. Everyone said she shouldn’t compare all rich men to her father but she couldn’t help it. She had lowered her guard a little for Jason and even though he wasn’t rich, he was successful and climbing the career ladder very quickly so he was certainly very comfortable. And look how that turned out.

  No, from now on she was going to stick to hard working guys who didn’t think their bank balance gave them a God given right to do what they liked.

  “So can you tell what’s wrong?” he asked suddenly pulling her back to the here and now.

  “It appears to be a loose connection on the alternator,” she replied and she stood up straight and turned back to him. “It’s simple enough to fix. Didn’t you see the warning light on your dash board?”

  “A warning light?” he asked, looking at her blankly.

  “The battery warning light should have been on,” she explained and tried her hardest not to laugh at the total confused look on his face. “And in this car there would be an actual alternator fault display on the centre console.”

  “I have no idea” he said honestly and Ally thought it was a little sweet that he actually looked embarrassed.

  “Can you fix it?” he asked his eyes locked with her and she could feel her face now burn even in the very cold temperatures.

  “Yeah it shouldn’t take long,” she replied and leaned down and began rooting in her tool bag. When she found her torch, she handed it to him, asking him to point it at the engine. “Once I tighten up the connections, I’ll jump start it and you’ll be good to go.”

  She tightened all the connections, checking each one thoroughly. When she was happy everything was tight and secure, she returned to the boot of her own car and pulled out her portable battery charger and returned to the Rover. She connected the leads to the battery and told Cole to start the engine.

  He climbed in behind the wheel and started the ignition and the car engine roar a little roughly at first but then began to purr.

  “Wow!” he said as he stood out of the car. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “No problem,” she replied as she looked down at her oil stained hands and sighed. Shit! She though. I have no cloth to wipe my hands.

  He turned back into the car and reached into a bag on the passenger seat and pulled out a snow white, fluffy towel and offered it to Ally.

  “I can’t take that!” she said.

  “It’s clean!” he protested.

  “I am sure it is,” she replied with a smiled. “But I don’t want to ruin it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he sighed sharply and surprised Ally. “It’s the least I can do. I don’t want you to ruin your jacket or your very lovely jeans… which may I say look amazing on you?” He raised his eyebrow and gave her his best smile.

  Ally could not believe he had just said that. She looked at him for a moment but then said nothing, choosing simply to take the towel and clean her hands. She stared intently at what she was doing, refusing to allow her eyes to meet his.

  “Can I have your number?” He surprised her by his question as he stepped a little closer to her. Once again she could smell his aftershave and again her heart began racing at his closeness. God Damn it! she sighed inwardly. Stop being such a pathetic girl. Snap out of it, you so don’t want to go there.

  “You’re actually asking me for my number?” she asked finally allowing her eyes to meet his. Did he really just ask for her number?

  “Of course!” he replied and grinned broadly, before adding. ”So I can pay you for fixing the car.”

  You idiot! Ally screamed inside her head and turned a deeper shade of crimson. Why the hell else would he have wanted her number.

  But she felt a tiny stab of disappointment and that just made her angrier.

  “It’s fine,” she snapped back and quickly gathered up her tool bag and stepped back from him. She felt so stupid and mortified. “Call it an early Christmas present.” She turned quickly and headed back to her car.

  “Don’t be absurd,” he protested as he followed her back to her car. “I have to pay you for your time.”

  “Seriously there is no need,” she insisted as she opened her car door and turned back to him. “I would have stopped for anyone. But you might want to get your dealer to check it over. And you should drive a little slower for the time being. Stop abusing your car, you’re not driving in the Silverstone. Nice to meet you, Cole.”

  She quickly got into her car and pulled the door shut before he could say another wor
d and started the engine. She popped on her indicator and, after checking for oncoming traffic, she pulled out into the early evening traffic which was now finally starting to move a little quicker.

  She glanced back into her rear view mirror and saw him still standing at the side of the road watching her car as she drove away.

  She turned back on her CD but for some reason she didn’t feel like singing along this time.

  Chapter 2

  By the time she reached her grandparents’ house for dinner she was tired, hungry and in a foul humour. She had to ring Gus and tell him she wasn’t going to make it back to the shop before he locked up. She told him she was stuck in traffic but decided against tell him about her Good Samaritan deed. The first thing he would have asked her would have been, ‘was she paid?’ and he wouldn’t have been happy when she told him she turned payment down.

  As she walked through the front door of her grandparent’s house, the smell of roast chicken hit her, it smelled gorgeous, and she felt like she was home.

  “Is that you, Ally?” her grandmother called from the kitchen.

  “Yeah, Nan, it’s me,” Ally replied as she took off her jacket and hung in on the coat hooks by the door before she headed off towards the kitchen. When she opened the door she found her grandmother busy working away and her grandfather, or Pops as Ally called him, sitting at the kitchen table with his head buried in the evening newspaper and sucking on his pipe.

  “Hey, Pops,” Ally said as she kissed her grandfather on the forehead. “How’s the cold? Any better?”

  “I am grand, Pet,” he replied and gave her a wide grin. “Sure with your Nan flapping around all the time sure I was right as rain in no time.”

  “Hey, Nan,” she said kissing her on the cheek. “You need me to do anything?”

  “No sweetheart,” her grandmother replied. “I am all set.” Molly Brody was a small woman in stature. Standing at exactly 5 foot compare to her husband Tom, who stood exactly 1 foot and 2 inches taller. She had tiny features and looked very fragile but she had the heart of a lioness and even at the age of 72 she was a force of nature and very independent.

  Tom Brody was a gentle giant with a heart of gold. His once jet black hair was now elegant silver that made him very distinguished looking. His face was still very striking despite the lines and wrinkles cause by time and the heart ache of losing his youngest child and only daughter to cancer at the age 39. Nan & Pops both loved Ally more than life itself and were so proud of the strong independent woman she had grown into.

  Ally came to live with her Grandparents about a month after her mother’s funeral when she had a refused to live with her father anymore. Ally had found out her father had been having an affair the whole time her mother was sick. In fact the night Rachel, Ally’s Mom, died he wasn’t there with them but off somewhere with his bit on the side.

  Ally never forgave him for betraying her Mom the way he did. Every time she thought of how her mother called for her father as she took her last breaths, Ally filled her with so much rage and heart break. She swore she would never speak to him again. And now almost 12 year later she never had.

  “How are you doing Ally, love?” her grandmother asked as she place the dinner in front of her and Pops on the table, and returned to the counter to get her own plate. “Have you talked to Jason yet?”

  “I am fine, Nan,” she replied as she picked up a glass of water and took a long sip. “And no I haven’t spoken to Jason, nor will I be any time soon.”

  “I don’t understand, Ally,” her grandfather said looking up from his dinner. “He seemed like a decent lad. You know you are 27 now. Maybe it’s time you thought about settling down.”

  Ally rolled her eyes but didn’t reply. She hadn’t told her grandparent why she and Jason had split instead she just said they had grown apart and decided to go their separate ways. She was too mortified to tell them she had fallen for someone that was no better than her lying scumbag father.

  “She will settle down when she is good and ready, Tom,” her grandmother barked at her grandfather. “She is only a young one. She has plenty of time to settle down and have a family, if that’s what she wants.”

  Ally smiled gratefully at her grandmother and she just winked at Ally in return.

  It was after 10 when she kissed her grandparent’s goodnight and having reassured them about a dozen times that she was completely fine about her and Jason’s split.

  She reached her apartment just off the Navan Road a little after half ten. When she walked into the apartment she noticed the light on her answering machine flashing telling her she had messages. In fact she had three; one each from both Caitlin and Hannah, and one from Jason.

  She listened to the messages as she pour herself a glass of white wine and flopped on her sofa and pulled her legs up under her. The girls were both checking that she was still going to meet them the following night. Then she listened to Jason’s message.

  “Hey Ally... (sigh)....this is crazy…can’t we talk....I miss you so much...I’m so sorry...I swear it will never happen again....I love you.”

  “Your damn right it will never happen again!” she shouted at the answering machine. “Because I am never taking your sorry, cheating ass back!”

  She switched on the end of the late evening news, while she knocked back the rest of her glass of wine before she decided to call it a night. She headed to the en-suite in her bedroom and turned on the shower. She tied her long blonde hair up tightly and made sure not to get it wet as she stood under the shower.

  Why am I in such a rotten mood? She thought to herself as she stood beneath the hot water. She felt tense and angry and she really didn’t understand why.

  It wasn’t Jason and his voice mail. If she was honest she wasn’t that bothered about what happened anymore. Oh sure, the night she came home she after she caught him she was hurt and angry as hell. She had paced up and down her apartment for hours questioning how she could have been so stupid to be taken in by Jason and his bullshit about loving her.

  She had spent a restless night tossing and turning feeling angrier and angrier with herself that she had let him make her feel so stupid and used.

  The following day she sat wallowing in self-pit before she realised she was more upset with herself for falling for someone who could do that to her than she was at Jason for what he had actually done.

  Nor was she upset that her grandfather had delivered the “You’re not getting any younger; it’s time to settle down.” speech just like he did every time he saw her.

  Then suddenly his face popped into her head.

  Cole.

  The God in the posh car!

  And that was when she realised. That’s why she was in a bad mood. She was pissed at herself for letting him affect her so much. She had acted like a stupid teenager and made a complete fool of herself.

  “Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!” she cried, smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand. She never did the girlie thing. What had gotten into her? At least she would never have to set eyes on him again. But to her surprise a tiny stab of disappointment shot through her at that thought.

  Snap out of it Brody. She scolded herself as she switched off the water. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. She dried herself quickly before putting on her favourite pink check PJs and brushed her teeth before she climbed into bed. She was exhausted so she thought as soon as her head hit the pillow she would be out for the count. She was wrong. She took forever to drift off and even when she did she woke again and again. She just couldn’t seem to relax properly.

  When the alarm sounded the next morning, she groaned and rolled over. She was still tired so she hit the snooze button; she need ten more minutes.

  Suddenly she sprung up in the bed and checked the time. It was twenty five to nine and she was due in work at nine. She hadn’t hit the snooze button. She’d hit the off button.

  “Shit! Shit! Shit!” she exclaimed as she leaped out of bed and quick
ly pulled her wardrobe doors opened. She grabbed a pair of black jeans and a red long sleeved top. She rushed back over to her bed to sit down to put her shoes and socks on but on the way she kicked the end of her bed and hurt her baby toe.

  “Son of a bitch!” She screamed as she dropped to her bed and grabbed her baby toe. ”OUCCCHHHHH!”

  Maybe she should stay in bed. She had a sinking feeling it was going to be one of those days.

  At least it was Friday. And she had the night out with her friends to look forward to. She sighed and pulled herself up and put on her shoes and socks before she got up and limped to the kitchen. She pulled opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice and then opened the cupboard next to the fridge and grabbed a glass. She poured herself a glass and drank it quickly.

  She ran back to the bathroom to brush her teeth and then she hurried to the hallway and grabbed her coat, keys and handbag and headed out the door, but then had to double back when she remembered her mobile phone. She ran back into the sitting room to grab it from the sideboard and finally she was on her way.

  “Jesus, Ally,” Sid, one of the other mechanics said as Ally barrelled into the staff canteen twenty minutes after nine. “You look like hell.”

  “Thanks a bunch,” she retorted as she grabbed her mug from the sideboard and poured herself a cup of coffee.

  “Are you feeling ok?” he asked, putting his newspaper down and regarding her with concern. She and Sid got on really well. In truth he was one of her best friends. He would shamelessly flirt with Ally but she knew he never really meant it. And she was always ready for him with her witty replies when he did. But today she was in no mood.

  “I just didn’t sleep very well,” she snapped and took a large gulp of her coffee. “And I don’t need any of your shit today.”

  “Wow you really are in a bad mood,” he laughed as he picked up his newspaper.

  Ally just sighed and took another gulp of her coffee before she threw the rest down the sink. She grabbed her overalls from her locker and grabbed her iPod from her bag before she threw it into her locker and slammed the door shut.