"Well fuck me." AJ pulled the hood of the car down just far enough to see clearly past it, but the vision didn't change. Justin fucking Timberlake, standing there with his hands on his hips, looking around the place. Not a bodyguard in sight. No barbie attached to him at the hip. "Jerry, I'll be in the back. Sorry to bail on you like this."
The young man looked up from where he was scratching numbers onto an invoice, lifting both eyebrows. "What's up?" he asked, looking straight at AJ, then from side to side across the lot. "You didn't cut yourself again, did you? I got the first aid kit right here now ... " He reached for a drawer in the beaten-up, wooden desk but didn't open it before getting at least a response from AJ, which he was too frozen to give him.
"No, no," said AJ finally, lifting the hood of the car again so he was out of sight. "It's just ... someone I know. Don't know what the fuck he's doing here, though. Guy can buy ten new cars without blinking, no reason he'd wanna be on a used car lot. None that I can think of, anyway."
Jerry just gave him a shrug and craned his neck to see what AJ had seen, but he was at the wrong angle and the car AJ was working on was blocking him. "Sometimes people find what they're looking for in the strangest places," he said, standing up. "Guess I'd better give your friend a hand. He got a name?"
"Justin," said AJ with a snort, resting both hands on the front bumper of the car and leaning into it. "And I didn't say anything about friend."
Jerry lifted his eyebrows at him again and while the expression was pushy, it was comforting, too. Familiar. Jerry had his back. "Someone you don't want to be seeing?" he asked, sounding like he already knew the answer to that. "Yeah, head inside if you need to, I'll let you know when he's gone."
"No good's gonna come of him seeing me here," said AJ, standing up and grabbing a rag to wipe the grease off his hands. "Some things I don't need to be explaining to the world. I'll grab you a Coke from the corner, how about? I could use the walk." Jerry gave him a nod, stretching to look over the car before rounding it to the lot.
"Oh," he said suddenly, giving AJ a significant look before he could go. "*That* Justin. Better hurry then, he's ... "
Jerry never got the chance to finish the sentence before AJ heard Justin's voice cut in. "Good morning," he said, getting closer with every syllable. He even made *that* sound cocky, AJ thought with a sneer before leaning forward onto the bumper again. If Justin was that close already, there was no getting inside without getting noticed. He silently willed Jerry to move faster, to meet Justin on the other side of the car and lead him away, but Justin obviously moved faster.
"Mornin," said Jerry, sounding as friendly as he ever did with his customers. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, I'm looking for a car," said Justin, then laughed like he thought that was just the wittiest thing. AJ's knuckles went white on the bumper but he couldn't get *too* annoyed with the kid. After all, Justin sounded an awful lot like him. "Something ... completely not flashy."
"Well, we've certainly got an awful lot of that -- "
"Kinda like this one, actually," Justin interrupted him, his voice getting closer still. "This for sale?" He reached the front of the car, lay one hand on the hood. AJ just hoped he wouldn't rest any of his weight on it and send it crashing down on AJ's head. Punk kid. "Or ... looks like you're still working on it." AJ knew he was in plain view, side profile, and lifted his hands to make it look like he was doing something so Justin wouldn't look too close. "Say, you know, you look an awful lot like ... " Too late.
AJ looked to his left, catching sight of Jerry's apologetic look, then let out a heavy sigh and stood up straight, cracking his back before turning to his right and looking Justin in the face. The look on Justin's face almost made it worth it.
"Yeah, I'd imagine I do," he said, resisting the urge to smirk at him. He figured no good could come of that either, if this situation could even be salvaged at all.
"Backstreet thing not working out for you, then?" Justin's confusion was quickly masked by amusement as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked AJ up and down.
"I'll ask you not to harass the staff," Jerry cut in sharply before AJ could say a word, or even react at all, really. "This one isn't in saleable shape yet. Can I show you something else?"
Justin hadn't taken his eyes off AJ, though. "Go buy a car, Timberlake," he muttered, wiping his still grease-stained hands off on his coveralls. "I don't have time for this shit." Justin just nodded, still staring. "I'm serious," AJ went on when he showed no signs of moving on, a little louder this time. "I have things to do."
"If I promise to buy a car will you tell me what the fuck's going on here?"
Jerry interrupted again before AJ could answer. "I don't need your business so much I'll let you treat AJ here like that," he said. "Now can I show you something or do you want me to refer you to Cal's place up the street ... ?"
"No, it's okay," said AJ, holding up a hand to Jerry while looking Justin in the eye. "I'll take care of Justin, since clearly he can't have anything going on in his little world that he doesn't know everything about." He returned Justin's amused look, nuance for nuance, and held out his hand to him. Justin looked at it with distaste for a moment before gingerly reaching out and giving it a weak shake. "Good, we have a deal, then."
"I guess we do," said Justin, but AJ was already turning his back on him, turning back to Jerry. Jerry's eyebrows were up again, just as AJ'd expected them to be, but AJ just gave him a little nod and a shrug and the tiniest smile, which seemed to relieve Jerry's worry at least a little.
"Come find me if you need anything," Jerry said softly, then sat back down at his wooden desk to take care of some more paperwork.
"You know I will." AJ turned back to Justin then, who was standing there looking affronted and impatient. AJ had been expecting that, too. Pop stars were so predictable sometimes. "Come on Timberlake, let's go for a walk."
Justin waited until they were practically out in the middle of the deserted lot before speaking. "So what the fuck?" he blurted out, grabbing hold of AJ's sleeve before remembering that it was filthy and letting go again. He was lucky for that; AJ wouldn't have been so gentle shaking him off. "You work here?"
"I help out a friend," AJ replied with a shrug, not letting anything he was thinking show through on his face. He hoped. "And he helps me out. A pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. Now what were you looking for? Teaching Brit-Brit to drive and looking for something she won't feel guilty banging up?"
"Oh, fuck you," said Justin, his arms going over his chest again. AJ'd hoped he could come up with a less predictable defensive maneuver, but at least this made him easier to read. "You're seriously gonna show me cars?"
"Why not?" AJ challenged him, still giving nothing away. He'd done this before, when Jerry was busy. No one had even recognized him yet, or if they did couldn't believe their eyes enough to confirm their suspicions. "I know the lot just about as well as Jerry goes. Got half of these babies in working order myself, in fact. So? You got anything in mind?"
Justin just shook his head at him disbelievingly. "When's someone gonna walk out and tell me I'm on Candid Camera?" he asked. "I think it's about time for you to start explaining this whole thing. I don't have all day."
"If I remember our deal right," said AJ, "you have as long as it takes for me to sell you a car. Which at this rate is gonna be all day. So at least walk with me here, and you can ask what you need to ask so you can feel secure in your understanding of the world again."
"Do you need me to spell out the ridiculousness of this whole thing?" asked Justin, gesturing broadly, but at least he started moving again. AJ found it a lot easier to deal with things when he was doing something, not just standing trading barbs. "You're a fucking millionaire and apparently you're about to sell me a used car."
"And you're a 'fucking millionaire' and you're about to buy one," AJ shot back. "Want to explain that?"
Justin just scowled and looked at his feet; AJ scored himself a mental point. "You first," he muttered.
AJ sighed and stopped next to a Malibu that was only a couple years old. He was pretty sure Justin wouldn't set foot in anything that was the remotest bit beat up. "It's not about the money," he said. "Obviously. I told you, Jerry's a friend. He lets me work on cars."
"A lot of people wouldn't consider that a privilege," said Justin, shaking his head at the car.
"I'm not a lot of people."
Justin snorted, but AJ knew he couldn't argue with that. "How about you just start at the beginning? And ... I'm looking for something that, I dunno, an ordinary guy would drive."
"An ordinary guy would drive a Malibu," muttered AJ, but they moved on. What the fuck would Justin know about ordinary guys, anyway? "The beginning? I met Jerry at AA, if you really need to know. I like having something to do with my hands sometimes. He gives me that, and someone to talk to. I give him a hand with the business. He won't take my money, so he gets my time. And it's as fucking simple as that. Okay?"
"Okay," said Justin, so mildly AJ had to stare at him for a moment to really believe he'd accepted the explanation at face value. "The car's not for Britney, she wouldn't be caught dead in something worth less than forty thou or so. And that's only if she's slumming. I just wanted something ... that wouldn't get me noticed."
"Now there's a first," snorted AJ, giving him a sidelong long as they continued down the row of vehicles. "Justin Timberlake not wanting to get noticed?"
Justin looked like he was going to snap at him, but to his credit he bit it back. AJ knew he probably would have deserved whatever he was gonna say, though. "First time for everything," was all he responded finally. "I've been on a roll with first times lately. So how about that one?" He pointed out a car in the next row over.
"You really want to look at an '92 Honda?" asked AJ incredulously, but he led him over there anyway. "Miracle that thing hasn't rusted out yet. It's in great shape, though. I took it for a test drive all over downtown a couple weeks ago. Runs really smooth and ... yeah, definitely wouldn't get you noticed. You sure you don't want something newer, though? We've got a '98 around here somewhere, different model but runs just about the same. Same color, too."
"First used car salesman who's ever tried to talk someone out of buying a car," snickered Justin, shoving his hands in his pockets. Well, at least that was a little different, if still defensive. "Sure, show me the other."
"Like you'd know what it's like to buy a used car," said AJ, goading him just a little. "You watch too much TV, kid. But yeah, well, I'm not much of a salesman here anyway. That's our day job. Here I'm mostly just a plain old mechanic." Justin's skeptical look was amusing. "You don't believe me? Just ask Jerry. He taught me everything I know."
"Oh, I believe you," said Justin, glancing down at AJ's stained and lightly scarred hands again. "You look the part. It's just ... weird. I ... don't think I understand."
"Another first," said AJ, giving Justin a not-quite-open grin for the first time. "Justin Timberlake admitting he doesn't understand." Before Justin could object, though -- and he did look like he wanted to object -- AJ went on. "I'm not sure I can explain if you don't know what it's like, though."
"So, what, you won't try?"
He was actually surprised by Justin's interruption, though he probably shouldn't have been. Here was a kid who was used to getting what he wanted. "Why should I?" he asked as they wove through the lot to the '98. AJ remembered where he'd parked it last week, and looked like no one had taken it out since. "What good's it gonna do us if I give you my sob story? Working outside the business, it gives me perspective. We all could use perspective sometimes."
"Well, maybe a '98 Honda will give me a new perspective," said Justin. "That it there?"
"Yeah, that's it," confirmed AJ. "You sure you want to do this? Not that I want to talk Jerry out of a sale. But if Britney won't set foot in it, you're setting yourself up for some pretty lonely rides around town."
"Read the papers tomorrow," said Justin curtly, the same voice that AJ used when he was cutting off a conversation cold. "That won't be a problem. You say it runs good?"
"Runs perfect," said AJ with a nod. "Another one I tested out myself. So you guys are, what, over?" He knew he had maybe a fifty-fifty chance Justin was going to answer that question. If he was lucky. Which apparently he was.
"Yeah, over," he said, running a hand over the side of the car, right up to the passenger side window. "And between you and me? Management's gonna refute part of the article, but it's all true." When he turned away, AJ knew the conversation was over for real that time and he'd just have to wait until the next day to find out what the hell Justin meant by that. He made a mental note to pick up a paper first thing in the morning. "I'll take it."
It took AJ a minute to figure out just what the hell he meant. "The car?" he said stupidly. "Don't you wanna take it for a test drive? Don't you want to know how much it is?"
"Nope," said Justin, still facing away, running his hand over the roof and feeling the sun-warmed metal. AJ hoped he wouldn't get burned "I trust you. This is what I was looking for. Just tell me where to sign."
"You'll just have to talk to Jerry," said AJ a moment later. He had more questions, but he knew that Justin didn't have any more answers. Not yet, anyway. And that he'd be pushing his luck by asking which, frankly, he'd done enough of already. Really, he didn't much feel like pushing Justin's buttons anymore anyway -- they guy looked pretty down, staring away from him and through the window into the back seat of the car, and AJ knew what it was like to be there. But suddenly he found himself hoping that he would find another chance, someday, to ask. "I, uh, need to finish up some stuff ..."
Justin nodded like he'd been expecting that. "I can find him again," he said, not dismissively, but close. "Read that paper tomorrow, AJ. And who knows, maybe we'll run into each other again. At least now I know where to find you."
"Yeah, well, don't spread it around," muttered AJ, but at the same time he was fishing around in the pocket of his coveralls for a scrap of paper, an old receipt or maybe one of Jerry's business cards. When he found one, only slightly crumpled and stained with oil, he pulled the ballpoint out of his breast pocket and scrawled his number on the back. "Listen," he said, and curled his hand around Justin's shoulder to get his attention.
When Justin finally turned, a long moment later, AJ handed him the card. "Here," he said, almost thrusting it into Justin's hand. Justin stared at it blankly for a moment. "It's where to reach me," he added. "If, you know, you have any trouble with the car. Just gimme a call, I'll give you a hand. It's what I'm good at."
"Thanks," said Justin, pulling his wallet out and placing the card carefully inside. It was only when he'd shoved the wallet back into his back pocket that he looked up at AJ again, and suddenly gave him a genuine, uncomplicated smile. "I will."
He was still smiling when AJ finally gave him a shaky wave and turned and walked away.