Side Job
The sprawling interstate near California easily ranks as the absolute busiest stretch of highway in the entire country.
The sheer volume of civilian vehicles creates a dense, impenetrable wall of moving metal.
Even the furious, bloodthirsty bikers could not simply execute a dangerous U-turn through that chaotic traffic to get back to the exit ramp and keep chasing them.
The weird, terrifying late night drag race ended just like that, dissolving into the neon haze of the city.
"All right, we are completely safe," Arthur Sterling declared, his voice steadying as the adrenaline slowly began to recede from his veins.
Taking absolutely no chances with their safety, Arthur took a massive, twenty kilometer detour through the winding suburban streets to finally drop Mia Toretto safely at her place.
He silently thanked his incredible luck that he had completely filled the vintage bike's gas tank that very afternoon on his way home.
Otherwise, never mind actually getting Mia home safely, during that intense freeway blast his old bike might not have lasted at all.
Mia had known they were completely safe for a while, but she still had not lifted her helmeted head from Arthur's solid back.
The intense, adrenaline charged chase had left Arthur's entire body buzzing with electric energy.
Raised by Dominic Toretto, Mia had expertly picked up solid [Driving] skills herself over the years.
However, until today she had exclusively only played with four wheeled cars.
Riding with Arthur let her truly taste the raw, unadulterated speed and passion on two wheels for the very first time.
Even after he softly told her they had finally arrived at her destination, it took her a long moment to come down from the intense emotional high.
"Thanks," Mia murmured softly, her voice slightly breathless.
She gracefully swung off the old bike, pulled off the heavy safety helmet, and handed it back to him.
"Pretty slick riding," she complimented him, her amber eyes shining brightly in the dim streetlights.
Mia smiled warmly.
The exact moment he took the helmet from her hands, the stunning beauty stepped in closely, rose up on her tiptoes, and brushed a soft, lingering light kiss directly on his cheek.
"Thanks for the ride home," she whispered, her breath ghosting across his skin.
"That was one incredibly wild trip!".
"Hmm?" Arthur murmured, his eyes widening slightly in genuine surprise.
Arthur did not expect to be ambushed by her affection and could not help but be completely stunned for a long moment.
When he looked at Mia again, he clearly saw a beautiful, faint blush creeping across the young woman's cheeks.
Then, she glanced at Arthur somewhat shyly, her usual tough exterior melting away.
She turned around and walked toward an apartment building not far away, her steps light and quick.
"I should go back inside. Remember to help me fix the car tomorrow and drive it to the repair shop," she called out over her shoulder, her voice floating back to him.
Watching Mia walk home with her back to him, she raised her hand and enthusiastically waved goodbye.
Arthur reached out slowly and gently touched the exact spot on his cheek that had been kissed for a long while.
The corners of his mouth also curled upwards into a slight, victorious arc.
What an incredibly passionate girl! he thought to himself, completely captivated by the unexpected turn of events.
Arthur truly did not expect this girl to be so proactive and wildly enthusiastic.
However, she was an undeniably sexy and deeply charming beauty.
Although she had not been in direct contact with him for very long, she was very proactive and clearly seemed to have a significant amount of genuine goodwill toward him.
Faced with such a stunning girl, how could any man not find her completely lovable?.
Arthur was absolutely no exception to this rule.
He felt like he was rapidly starting to truly like this beautiful girl.
Sorry Brian O'Conner, it looks like your future wife is officially gone, Arthur mused internally, a smirk playing on his lips as he thought about the original timeline of the Fast & Furious universe.
After the brief but intense contact over the past few days, Arthur felt that Mia was truly a charming, captivating beauty.
At the very least, he had quite a good, deeply rooted impression of her.
Originally, he was still actively considering whether or not to actually flirt with this beauty and risk Dominic's wrath.
As for right now, had he not just clearly seen how beautifully proactive the girl was?.
Arthur felt that if he remained passive and indifferent, he would have truly wasted his miraculous transmigration into this cinematic world.
Thinking of this promising future, he smiled broadly and waved back at Mia, whose slender figure was already safely out of sight inside the building.
Then he turned around, confidently restarted the vintage motorcycle, and rushed straight home into the night.
The very next day, Arthur woke up early, the bright morning sun streaming through his small window.
He was completely out of money, so he naturally had to go to the repair shop honestly to earn some much needed cash.
After he meticulously checked Mia's modified car in the morning light, he found the exact root of the problem.
As Arthur expertly expected, the main battery connection was simply loose.
He took out his wrench, tightened it securely again, and it was instantly fixed.
However, he was in absolutely no hurry to immediately drive the powerful car back to the repair shop.
Just kidding!.
Arthur still desperately wanted to create natural opportunities for Mia to come and see him proactively.
If he really delivered the car right away, how would they easily meet in the near future?.
Was Arthur supposed to blindly take the initiative to go directly to her heavily guarded door and see Mia?.
Did he really think that just because Dominic Toretto allowed his best friend Vince to relentlessly pursue his sister, he would just sit by quietly and watch other unknown men approach Mia?.
Besides, Arthur's current identity in this dangerous life was just an ordinary, struggling worker at a local repair shop.
Returning to the busy repair shop again after a few days of medical leave, the atmosphere felt incredibly stifling.
Except for the main person in charge, a somewhat fat white uncle who kindly took the initiative to ask Arthur about his concussion situation, absolutely no one else paid him any attention.
The fat uncle's name was Lewis Parker, and everyone in the garage usually just called him Old Parker.
Old Parker was about fifty years old, his hands permanently stained with thick motor oil.
It was widely said that in his early years, he had been heavily involved in the underground street racing circle and was actually a somewhat famous, highly respected racer.
But later, after a devastating car accident shattered his nerves, he retired completely from the dangerous racing circle.
He used the illicit money he earned in his early years to officially open this legitimate repair shop.
Later, for some completely unknown reason, Dominic took a massive financial stake in this very repair shop.
Usually, Dominic and his loyal subordinates' high performance cars would be regularly sent here for specialized repair and maintenance.
The actual scale of the repair shop was not very large.
Including Old Parker and Arthur, there were less than twenty active employees in total.
Three of those workers, exactly like his predecessor, were merely young apprentices recruited less than half a year ago.
After all, the repair shop was not big, and the hourly pay was certainly not high.
However, the actual technical content of standard car repair was not impossibly high.
As long as most people were genuinely willing to learn the trade, they could usually solve most basic problems vehicles encountered within a month or two of training.
His predecessor was exactly like this, having only worked at the dusty repair shop for over four months.
Basically, his predecessor could easily solve some of the standard problems civilian vehicles encountered on a daily basis.
And when encountering highly complex problems that could not be solved easily, he could always ask the older veterans for technical help.
Because the entry threshold was not high, after working here for a period and gaining valuable skills and experience, workers at the repair shop would usually seek other, better paying opportunities elsewhere.
Especially the frequency of apprentice turnover, which was notably quite high.
Arthur was a solitary figure in the repair shop.
Because he was the absolute youngest worker on the payroll, he did not have any close friends here before the accident.
Plus, everyone in the garage might be highly wary of him for visibly offending the violent Vince, deeply fearing they would be cruelly implicated by association.
Therefore, when Arthur finally returned to his station after resting for five days, he quickly discovered that he seemed to be getting aggressively pushed out by his peers.
Not only did the older workers who used to casually ignore his predecessor ignore him even more pointedly now, but along with that cold shoulder, Arthur also found that a massive lot of grueling work was being intentionally thrown at him.
As for those specific [Repair] related tasks, he did not refuse any of them at all.
Because completing them could rapidly increase his [Repair] skill experience points!.
But as for other demeaning, non technical chores, Arthur did not even bother to pay attention to them, simply walking past the brooms and trash cans.
Fortunately, Old Parker was a very decent, observant person.
After discovering the bullying problem, he quickly and loudly reprimanded a few restless, lazy workers on the floor.
Seeing that Arthur was incredibly focused and very serious about the actual [Repair] work, he did not say much more, letting the young man's sudden talent speak for itself.
As for that dangerous fellow Vince, he did not come back to the repair shop to cause any more violent trouble again.
Along with him, Mia did not come to the shop either.
Arthur just did not know if she had been strictly grounded by Dominic for returning too late the other night.
And Mia's sudden disappearance lasted for a full, agonizing four days.
On this particular day, after finally finishing a long, exhausting day's work, Arthur was just about to pack up his heavy steel tools and prepare to leave the suffocating garage.
Suddenly, Old Parker called out to Arthur from across the grease stained floor.
"Arthur, wait a moment," the older man shouted, waving a heavily calloused hand.
"There is a highly lucrative side job coming in a bit, do you want to take it?".