It was that time of the year again when you needed to take the car to a garage in order to check it over, likely cost a lot of money and then be able to drive it again for another 12 months. At least you had already paid for the test to be taken place on your vehicle, and it didn’t seem like there was too much that needed doing to it.

Trying not to get too distracted when you park up, and see the open garage area where you can see a bit of a selection of older mechanics and apprentices. All of them each wearing a dark grey set of overalls with a slight bit of orange trim on the edges, with the company logo mostly still visible on the back. The colour scheme picked most likely to hide all of the dirt from working on cars all day while still making the workers look “presentable”.

You enter the small office area where you drop off the keys, confirm everything was still good to be completed that day and then start a bit of a walk to leave the industrial estate. The industrial estate like most is designed for cars and industry, not really for walking around, but it was a relatively pleasant walk home at least. And then to attempt to start work for the day and hope the car has passed without a problem.

Later the day you get the inevitable call saying there was problems that needed to be fixed and you’ll need to pay for some parts to be replaced. You agree, there isn’t really anything you can do apart from submit to their demands unless you knew how to fix most of a car, of which you didn’t.

Thankfully the next day in the afternoon you get told the car is finished and you just need to walk down, pay for the repairs and then be on your way with a working vehicle. Eagerly you get walking down towards the industrial estate, around the various parts and then finding the garage you make your way through the sea of cars and into the small office.

Entering the office you can see the usual office manager incredibly stressed on the phone. It looked like some customer was giving him a hard time on the phone. He takes a second to tell you to just grab a drink from the coffee machine in the corner and he’ll be with you as soon as he can.

You go across to the machine and grab a cup, and then realise for some reason the last cup in the stack is covered in grease and you try to run it off onto your clothes. At the very least you could throw them into the wash once you are sorted and on your way home.

The coffee is mediocre, as you’d expect and you sit down to enjoy it and wait patiently. You didn’t want to cause any further stress than the person on the call.

Then the door connecting the office to the main garage area is opened and one of the overall clad workers comes through, realises the office guy is on the phone and walks past to the coffee machine you just used. He did look over to you, and then looked at the cup which was still quite dirty.

“Ah mate, think it was one of us that dirtied that cup. It’s all over you - pain to get out as well” he apologises

You mention it’s no bother, and he mentions they’ll get you sorted. He takes his coffee into the back, and then comes back with a bundle of fabric and hands it to you, pushing you to put the coffee down. You realise how tired you kind of are, and just accept the bundle, kinda seeing into his grey eyes. There was something almost easy to loose in them and you realise how attractive he is especially how the overalls fit his muscular body perfect. What a lucky workforce you think, having such a good looking boss

“Probs best for you to put these on” he mentions, his eyes showing over to the door to the small toilet in the office. You just slightly nod and take the bundle to the room.

In the bathroom you notice how much grease you got all over your plain light t-shirt. It did look quite dirty, so you removed it, and then also realised how much had also got all over your trousers. Removing your trainers and your dirty clothes, you slide into the overalls provided. You worried they wouldn’t quite fit your office worker shape, yet they just felt snug.

Looking in the mirror, you look back to see a body you knew was yours wearing a pair of overalls, just like the others. Something wasn’t quite right. Your eyes looked empty, but something just looked right. You looked good, kinda hot. Something stirred inside of you as you buttoned everything up.

You open the door, to find a pair of boots placed outside. You pick them up without many thoughts going around in your head at this point and take them back to where you were sitting. You decide to pull at the laces, and surprisingly they fit you perfectly.

Standing up, the only thing you notice is everything felt slightly lower down and disorientated. Sitting back down, and taking off your glasses, you felt a bit better and put them down next to your coffee. You finish the rest of the cup, and just sit waiting. The call is still going on and you just sorta block it out.

The boss comes back out and notices you, and you stand up to meet him. Something pulls you with him, as he pulls you into the main garage area. He mentions something to the office worker, and then brings you to a vehicle up on a stand ready for maintenance.

He tells you to get some tools and start removing the wheels as the customer isn’t happy. You nod and as if you had worked for years, grab the right tools and start getting to work.

The boss disappears and then comes back with something in his hand. A patch of some kind, and then stick it onto your chest, and realise you have a complete uniform. With a name on it, but it was your name right?

Nothing felt lost as you work away at the car, grease staining the overalls making them as dirty as any other mechanic. The boss shows where you stay in the garage, the overalls staying on, and your life cements itself with the others.

Eventually the fix car that was never collected gets sold, owner never turned up. But nobody seemed too bothered as it seemed to happen now and again at this branch.

Thanks to Koinu who gave some inspiration behind this story