Eminem Fan Fiction Shorts - I

Marshall's Busted Car

A few weeks later, I was tooling around Detroit in my car, trying to get some inspiration for my next album. I had three songs already recorded, but I was struggling with the feel of the fourth. It was banging around in my brain; it just wouldn't settle into anything solid. So, in an effort to force myself to have a different perspective, I was driving randomly.

It wasn't long into the drive that I began to recognize the neighborhood. I was fairly close to where Ellie's place was. That my subconscious had taken me here didn't surprise me in the least. In the time since I'd seen her, I'd had no less than three dreams of chocolate eyes and a quiet smile. As I drove past her place, though, I noted that it was unlikely she'd be there.

It was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. Given the state of her place, I knew she couldn't afford to go long without a job and so I was certain she'd gotten right back into the search the day after she'd lost her position with the restaurant. I scoffed as I thought of the place.

The owner had reached out to Paul to try to get me to return, going so far as promising a cleared room and a dedicated chef for the night. I'd been there when Paul had gotten the call. Although he hadn't told the owner what I'd suggested he say, he'd left no confusion about it:  there was no way I was returning to a place that treated its employees the way the manager had that night.

It was as I was smirking over the remembered sputtering of the owner that my car started to jerk. I looked down to the display, finding that the check engine icon was illuminated. Something had gone wrong in the couple of hours that I'd been wandering my hometown.

On the thought, my car's engine nearly died and I pulled to the side of the road. I'd refused the in-car service that would allow me to talk to someone who would send out a tow, but I at least had AAA. Making sure that I was fully off the road, I looked around before I dug through the glove box. I was in a more deserted part of Detroit, a fact that may mean it would take ages for a tow. Fuck.

"Triple A. How may I help you?" A voice called into the line. I looked around again, picking up a couple of cross streets and spoke.

"My car just choked on me. I need a tow and a ride." I said. The man on the other end got my member number, car model and address and then cut out for a moment.

"Alright, sir." He said. "There's a garage located just a mile or so away that can come out. They should be there in the next ten minutes." He noted and I nodded and thanked him before hanging up.

With nothing better to do, I sat in my car and waited. As I did, I tried to soak in the feel of the city around me. Unfortunately, nothing was coming as I sat there, and I knocked the back of my head against the head rest as I closed my eyes. Getting frustrated wouldn't solve the block, but I wasn't able to stop the feeling.

I was still sitting like that when a tentative knock rapped on my driver's side window. I opened my eyes, coming to full attention as I stared into Ellie's Hershey colored eyes. I scrambled out of the car, my brows coming together on my scowl as I saw her dressed in a mechanic's coveralls that practically swallowed her.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked, my concern for her coming out in the form of an assholish question.

She pointed to a tow truck and then to my car. "I'm here to rescue you." She said softly, that tiny smile hitting me square in the gut. I shook my head to clear it as she moved to the back of my vehicle, getting on the ground to look underneath it for something to attach the tow to.

"You've got to be kidding me." I said, still at a loss. Ellie stood and shook her head as she worked. She didn't say anything more as she quickly and efficiently hooked up my car and began to lift it into position for a ride. My eyes must have given away my disbelief, because she chuckled as she looked at me from her position near the hydraulics.

"I worked in my dad's shop once upon a time." She explained, her eyes twinkling. I nodded and stepped closer.

"That explains being qualified, but not you being out here." I said, unable to stop the flashes of injuries that a lone woman could end up having from streaking across my brain. "It isn't safe." I argued and Ellie shrugged as she finished lifting the car.

"Hop in, Marshall." She instructed, completely ignoring my concern about her well-being and driving me fucking crazy as she did it.

I stomped to the front of the tow and got in, pulling on the seat belt in silence as Ellie did the same. When she started the rig up, I noted that she didn't even have a radio on. I reached for it but Ellie stopped me when she spoke.

"It's not hooked up." She said and I shook my head as I looked out the windshield. "You pissed at me?" She asked, her quiet voice sounding curious.

I huffed but didn't speak. I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye. Interestingly, she didn't pester me about why I was angry. She just drove to her shop in silence, letting me stew in my frustration.

When we got to the garage where Ellie was now working, she literally hopped out - the cab of the tow was too damn tall for her - and strode over to the open bay doors. A couple of mechanics walked up as she spoke to them quietly. Her soft voice didn't carry, but I saw her point to my car so I was sure she was directing them to handle it. Still miffed, I walked over to the office to see about checking in. It was as I was filling out paperwork that I heard the back side door slam open and raised voices.

"You have to let her go, Damon." One man was saying. "She's going to fuck up the entire shop." He continued. An aggravated sigh came in response before another man spoke.

"How? Despite her experience, you won't let her do anything but oil changes and tows, both of which she's done very well at. How the hell is she going to fuck up the shop?" The second man asked and I tilted my head in consideration as the first spoke again.

"Because she's too..." the first man paused as he argued. "I don't know!" He concluded. "Look, the guys are already all half in love with her, and it's only been a week." He said and I smirked. I could see Ellie in my mind's eye. If they had her wearing that huge mechanic's uniform all the time, the combination of her presence, size, and the clothes would absolutely secure a man's interest.

"You want me to fire her because the guys all want to date her?" The second man asked, his tone clearly indicating how stupid the idea was.

"They don't want to date her." The first said. "They all want to fucking marry her." He groused. "She's like a damn princess or fairy or some shit. She's turning them all into fucking gentlemen in their efforts to get her attention."

I almost chuckled at the picture the first man painted when I saw tiny feet come into view. I looked up to Ellie, who was eyeing the hallway where the voices were coming from with a disappointed look on her face. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to take the look away - to make her smile again. I half stood, but she raised a hand and shook her head. 

In silence, she slipped her coveralls off her street clothes. She then folded them and walked around the corner. I heard the second man say something, but I didn't catch the words. Instead, I waited until Ellie's soft voice stopped speaking. When she stopped, she came back around the corner. She gave me a little wave, her eyes sadder than I ever wanted to see, as she walked out the door.

"I hope you're fucking happy now, asshole." I heard the second man yell as a door to the back slammed again.