Ridgefield Fuck Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Apparently Fuck You, Too

What a fucking rip off. He’d just take the fucking bus. He was already paying out the fucking ass to get his car fixed and they wanted to charge him that for a rental? No fucking way.

Whether or not Saul was right in his thinking here he certainly allowed himself to get blindly angry as he is one to do. So it should be a surprise to no one that when he swung open the Enterprise door that led to the sidewalk he made a very serious mistake.

He heard it before he saw it. A loud crack and the sounds of fumbling and moving feet. He turned to look in horror at the person he’d just obliterated with a piece of metal carpentry and rushed to their side.

”Holy shit are you okay? I didn’t see you I’m so fucking sorry.”

The rain had petered out into a frustrating scatter of fat droplets. Elena shook her umbrella and frowned as a singular bead of rainwater escaped the curve of her hair and slid down her forehead. At least her clothing was dry and she had escaped any disastrous falls in her low, sensible heels.

Her umbrella was tilted away, like a sword completing a riposte, as Elena pressed onto the tubular clip to fold the fabric closed. She managed halfway down when suddenly an impact had her lurching forward. The umbrella struck a moving object with a resounding crack and her grip on the clip faltered making the entire thing spring open like a pop-up tent.

She wobbled then, sensible shoes be damned, and Elena fell onto the ground with an undignified "Oof!"

Overall, it didn't look like he'd struck anything truly attached to her which was an immense relief. He could have done some major damage to her had he struck skin.

He knelt down and extended a hand.

"I sincerely didn't see you, that was hundred percent my fault.'

Elena did not usually have the wind knocked out of her and blinking into awareness she grimaced at the grimly, wet pavement that now saturated her back. The umbrella still locked in her grip, Elena pried her fingers loose, listening to the clatter of plastic as it fell the last few inches.

"I apologize - " She spoke mostly on instinct, voice even to the unease in the man's tone. Her training response activated at the sign of distress.

A palm was spread flat and laid out to her side, using it as leverage to push up to a seated position. Grisly bits of gravel clung to the flesh and Elena itched to pick them out and fling them off into the night.

They would wait until she had properly reassured her company. "I did not see you either."

Saul was shaking his head at her apology.

”No way you could’ve, I came out of that place way too hot.” He remained knelt in case she wanted to accept his help but wouldn’t press the issue further.

He really needed to get a grip on his anger.

She slipped her hand delicately into his, the help wasn't necessary but an opportunity for someone to do a good deed should be seen through.

With a clever nose, Elena noted the man as a psychic and her grip pinched just a little as she used him to slowly pull up.

"Could you grab my umbrella for me?" She asked once her feet were flat against the sidewalk again. She would use the time to surreptitiously pick the offending gravel bits from her palm.

"Yeah, of course." Saul helped her up and turned immediately to grab her knocked aside parasol. He closed it for her and handed it to her handle first as if it were a pair of scissors.

"You didn't drop anything else, did you?"

Elena brushed a loose strand of hair aside, tucking it behind her ear. A light sigh. "Only my good mood."

She accepted her umbrella, letting it drop to hand in the crook of her elbow. "Were you hurt?" Elena asked, peering at the man.

Saul cringed a bit at the statement. He couldn't blame her. After all it could have been a much worse situation had he connected with a part of her body.

"No, no, I'm totally fine." He sighed. "Anyway I can make it up to you?"

Saul wasn't totally into the idea of having to do something for someone today that would likely involve money, but he kinda owed her now.

How unexpected. Elena paused in her ruffling, head slowly tilting upward.

"Make it up to me?" She repeated, inflection going up in a clear question.

But that wasn't her true motive. Elena's eyes glided up with her head to pierce straight into his. Curious, she was, if he'd return the contact.

Unfortunately for Saul he was wrapped up in the idea of what he’d done wrong, so yes, he looked her dead in the eyes out of respect and apology.

”Can I buy you a new umbrella if it’s damaged? Anything. I feel horrible.”

It had been the touch of his hand, with Elena's fingers lightly placed when he helped her up. The contact had been too tempting not to let her power slide through and feel.

A wave of anger and frustration had greeted her. It had made her finger twitch and her lips thin slightly. The expression vanished before she had raised her head. The poor dear. What a terrible day he must be having.

And yet, he was still so very kind. Elena found grace within the young man and found she must do a good deed in return. Therefore, the umbrella was the least of her worries.

"You need not worry. My umbrella is fine." Her lips lifted into a soft smile.

"However, if you must reciprocate, do what makes you happiest tonight when we part." Elena blinked slow, deliberate. "And perhaps walk me to my car?"

---

Success.

He felt something wash over him. A large desire to put this day behind him and do something that brought him immense joy. Maybe he’d go see the place he’d spent with Violetta. Yeah. That’d be nice.

Saul sighed and let a smile draw across his lips.

”I can do that.” He said warmly. ”Where are you coming from?”

Elena watched in amusement at the sourness melted off and gave way to blissful contentment. A job well done on her part.

She bent to hover her arm on top of his with a light press of fingers into the fabric of his sleeve, pointing with the tip of the umbrella in the direction they were to go.

"Work at the hospice center kept me late tonight." Elena answered pleasantly.

"I was heading home –" She wasn't, there were many wakeful hours still to spend, but it wasn't the story she wished to tell. "–when we had our fateful encounter." A blessing, she believed. A higher power had merged their paths together for a reason.

Hospice work. Must be demanding. Had to be a strong individual to handle that sort of thing. He definitely got that vibe from her. The physical contact was odd but not off putting. Just wasn’t used to it. Nonetheless he followed her the way she was headed.

Saul scratched the back of his head.

”Yeah, my anger got the best of me. My car just died on me recently and renting one is a pretty penny. Lost my cool about it.”
Didn’t help that he had to feed a vampire the same time his car had broken down.

She kept their pace slow, the light touch acting as a tether. Her chin tilted down toward her shoulder so she could listen with an open ear. Most people simply needed a little heart-to-heart conversation to finally feel at ease.

Luckily for this young man, Elena thrived on such things.

"That would have made me frustrated as well." Elena agreed with a small bob of her head. "If there were no consequences what would you have done? Taken a car and driven off into the night?" Her tone amused as if imagining that very thing.

He chuckled at the idea. He'd never been a petty thief before. Though he was no stranger to crime. That wasn't something to bring up.

"Well, maybe. If things had gone my way, my car would be fixed by now. But the world throws curve balls every day."

Just as today had been. It was never ending.

He was a such pleasant person when in a good mood. Elena could help but smile at her work.

And if he thought it was an agreeable smile from his words, then all the better.

"I do feel awful about your car. Do you need it for work?" A most understandable situation if so.

He shook his head.

”No, I live near the business I own. I can get by on transit while it’s in the shop.” This was…. Nice.

”How long have you been working in hospice?” Felt like he talked about himself too much.

If his transportation issue was so easily fixed, Elena suspected there was more to the boiling anger from before.

But this wasn’t a confessional. Instead, she pressed a little more of her power through the finger tips that rested on his arm.

To his question, she answered happily. "Many years. It is a difficult job some days. However, I do enjoy the quiet peace I can bring."

So many people feared death. Elena saw it as simply a fact of life. A end of a beautiful journey and then onto the next step of a glorious new beginning.

Saul nodded. There was so much uncertainty in death. It was a terrifying conclusion through a bumbling life. What she did was necessary, and beautiful.

”I commend you for it. It takes an intense amount of strength to do what you do.”

Elena hummed softly. "Thank you. Though, I believe the real strength is with the patient and the bravery it takes." She doubted he wanted any stories. Morality was a frightening thing, even to Elena. Her path was a different one, but even she did not know what came with the great beyond. God's promised land was only for those ready to see it.

They were at the turn and she stepped forward to guide them down a more narrow street.

"Tell me, what is that you do for work?"

That was something that irritated him with people who worked with people. They always seemed to undersell themselves. While being overtly cocky was a bad look, too, he wished they'd valued their own effort a bit more.

Saul smirked.

"I own, operate, and bartend at my bar Franklin's out in Rice Bluff. Not quite as altruistic, I'll admit."

A light shift in his emotions, too quick for Elena to grasp and decipher. It made her hand shift from his arm and float gently to her side.

Own, operate, and bartend. My my, he was a very busy man. One that was supposedly quite used to running a tight ship with a set schedule. No wonder his temper. A car dying unexpectedly upheaved so much of that careful control.

He lightly condemned his business and Elena's lips pulled up, shaking her head. "I would offer a compromise. You provide good service to your customers, yes? Listen to them or give them time to quietly contemplate." A pause to step just a little closer. "Sounds very familiar to my line of work."

He couldn’t possibly agree. But he didn’t need to say that. What she was doing was kind and she was being so after he’d hit her with a door. That was an unbreakable and honest kindness you never wanted to see stripped from someone.

”I appreciate your words. You’ve a lot of practice in seeing the good in things, I noticed. Been that way your whole life?”

She could see her car in the distance, sitting alone in the empty car park. But, his words stirred something in her. Elena kept their light pace, buying time.

"For most of it, yes." Elena's smile grew wistful, gaze floating up to rest on Saul's profile. "I am one of those that believe in a higher being and put faith in leaving all final judgments to God. I am simply here to serve."

Ah. That was it. Well, she was at least doing it for good. Saul loved Jesus, as a concept. But he wasn’t a bible thumper. There was a lot of good to be found in those teachings, but he’d seen a lot of people use it for the wrong thing. Hell, even he had.

”Well,” opinions about that aside, ”I think you’re doing a wonderful job. I’m sure He’d be happy to see you doing His work.”

Filled, she was, with intense love and holy affection. There were no sweeter words than to be regarded as a disciple of her God. It warmed her in a way she had forgotten, like the sun's rays kissing skin.

Elena reached over to squeeze at the fabric of his shirt once more. "Thank you." She said, recently. "Those words fill me with such joy."

They were right at her vehicle and suddenly Elena was loath to part. But, he still had much to do tonight. His own joy to seek.

As they approached the vehicle Saul stopped and broke away from her grasp. She was a sweet woman, if not a little batty. But then again, who the fuck wasn't?

He turned to face her; warm smile plastered across his wrinkling face.

"Thank you for the lovely walk. I apologize again about the sudden intrusion to your day. I hope your trip home is safe."

What a very good lad. Elena might have reached up and pinched a pinked, stubbly cheek if she had truly looked her age.

"A gentleman and a charmer." She complimented. Her eyes caught his again, but her magic was already spun.

"Have a wonderful night."

And then Elena reached for her keys, feeling lighter than before. She would wait until he left and then continue on her evening. The night was still young and by outward appearance, so was she.