George gave a small nod, the kind of nod that expressed appreciation for the offer but didn’t need to make a show of it. He stepped forward slowly, his shoes clicking against the concrete floor in that quiet, steady rhythm that made some people nervous without knowing why. His stare didn’t linger long on Lucy, just enough to read her tone, her body language, the slight shift in her voice. He caught it all. Perhaps she knew who he was or perhaps it was just the normal nervousness upon meeting someone new. 

“That’ll do fine,” he said in a low and calm voice. “Doesn’t need to look flashy. It just needs to look untouched. Like it’s never seen a bad day.”

He turned his head slightly, eyeing the empty space she pointed to, then looked back at her. That faint glimmer of hesitation in her eyes didn’t go unnoticed. He didn’t comment on it, but he let the silence after his words hang just long enough for it to be felt.

“I know how to keep things quiet,” he added, almost as an afterthought. “And I respect those who do the same. You won’t have to guess with me, Lucy. If I ever need something more… tailored…” he let that word linger, “…you’ll hear it from me directly. Not someone else.”

He offered the barest trace of a smile. It was not warm, not cold, just enough to let her breathe a little easier. Then he turned and walked toward the car, tossing a glance over his shoulder as he opened the door.

“First time’s always the quietest. Let’s keep it that way.”

George looked around the garage.

”This place sees a lot of work. I know because I see people here at different hours. How long have you had this place?”

"Ever since I stepped into the country and had enough money to buy it. It's been quite a while."

Lucy spots her worker, Ralph, standing up the moment he sees the man's car come in.

"It's alright Ralph. I'll take care of this one. Why don't you go take a break?"

Ralph was experienced at that point. He knew what that meant. With no questions asked, he made his way to the staff room.

Lucy turns back to the man.

"The shop's been seeing a lot of customers recently, but not a whole lot of my more 'demanding' services."

Lucy paused for a second once again.

"It's likely that the shop will get quite busy later. If you'd like, you can give me a phone number and I'll call to let you know when it's ready. Don't worry, this car will have my personal touch..." she said.

George watched Ralph leave without a word, his sharp eyes following the man until the staff room door shut behind him. No tension in his posture, just that same composed stillness he always carried. When Lucy turned back to him, he was already studying the garage like he’d been there before taking in the walls, the layout, the exits, even the photo of her on the wall with who he thought looked like the Godfather of Detroit but he couldn’t be sure from the distance he stood. He looked at her, expression unreadable but polite, and nodded once when she mentioned her more “demanding” services.

“Those kinds of customers don’t show up often, but when they do… they always come back.”

He reached into his coat, pulled out a folded card—nothing flashy, just his name, a number, and a stamped crest. He handed it to her like he was passing a quiet promise.

“This line doesn’t go to anyone else. There are very few individuals who have this number. You can call when it’s ready, or if anything comes up that needs the kind of attention you can’t list on paper.”

George stepped back with that same deliberate pace nodding once toward the car.

“I trust your personal touch, Lucy. You come highly recommended by people I trust. If you would just do me a favor and make sure it doesn’t look like anyone’s touched it at all, I would be very appreciative. I’ll wait for you to call.”

With that he turned and walked out into the afternoon light. George disappeared into the street before the engine cooled. He didn’t need updates. He’d agreed to wait for her call.

After a quick inspection of the engine, Lucy shouted for Ralph.

"Ralph! Come out here!"

Ralph emerges from the staff room, sandwich in hand.

"Listen I need a favor. You are gonna have to man the reception AND the customers for a little while. I need to work on this car. Don't let anyone get in my way alright? I need to focus."

"Are you sure? I can handle it if you want."

"No. This one is mine." she said.

Ralph shrugged it off and got back to eating his sandwich at the reception, waiting for customers. Lucy got right to work. After cleaning it as best as she possibly could, she looked at the engine. She tuned it as little as possible and turned the engine on.

"Too loud.." she thought.

She then tried to suppress the engine a little bit before another customer stopped her while Ralph wasn't looking. He wasn't a fine dressed man. Instead he was a youngster like her wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.

"That's perfect yo! You tune it more and it's gonna explode or something."

Slightly annoyed, she put on a bright smile and turned around to the customer.

"I'm not trying to tune it further. I'm trying to do the opposite. Plus, this isn't even close to the limit sir." she said, giving the 'I thought I was clear' glance at Ralph and returned her focus on what she was working on.

"Sir. Please don't disturb the other mechanics." Ralph said, dragging the young man back.

After a few more attempts, Lucy managed to find the sweet spot. She turned the engine on and let out a big sigh of 'I finally made it'.

"Juuust right..." she thought.

Ralph interrupted her.

"Have you had anything to eat yet? Why don't you take a quick break? I'll go get us a pizza or something. Shop's usually quiet at this hour after-all. I'll only be gone for a minute. Come on my treat, what do you say eh?"

Lucy glanced at Ralph. Under normal circumstances, she'd have laughed and told him to get back to work. However, a pizza did sound good. She looked at the clock, it was already afternoon. With a grumbling belly, she reluctantly agreed.

As Ralph took off, she sanded the surface and masked off the areas that needed to stay untouched. After giving the car a quick clean once again, she could smell a fresh pizza margarita coming in through the shop's door.

"Look what I brought." Ralph shouted.

Lucy rushed to the reception.

"My favorite. How did you know?" she asked, looking at the margarita.

"I know you like the simple things. I told them 12 slices because I'm quite hungry myself."

Without hesitation, they both grabbed a slice and enjoyed the cheesy grease that this pizza had to offer. In just 17 minutes, they had cleared it out.

"Alright I better get back to work. Stay here and wait for customers." she said to Ralph.

The hours that followed were some of the quietest the shop had ever seen. No customers coming and going except for maybe one or two, no sirens passing by, no one calling in to complain about trivial bullshit with their car. No. Just the sound of Lucy's spray gun spitting paint.

The next day, the paint was dry, and it was time to remove the masking tape and start polishing. It was a very tiring process, but not too difficult. It just took time. But the end result was a car so shiny that it would blind anyone if they stared at it too long.

It looked brand new, untouched. Just what the man asked of her. She looked at the clock. 6pm. Paint jobs were always time consuming. Feeling confident enough, she called him.

"It is ready for you." she said.

The bell above the dusty glass door gave a tired jingle as George stepped back into the garage, the smell of motor oil, old rags, and fresh paint settling around him like a familiar coat. His eyes scanned the place, sharp and slow, taking in every detail without rushing. Lucy didn’t greet him right away—she didn’t need to. The car said everything. There the car sat, perfect. Not showroom shiny. Just clean and untouched. It was as if it had been parked in a private vault and never seen sunlight. George approached it with a quietly.

“Looks better than the day I bought it,” he said excitedly, running his fingers across the polished edge of the hood. “You even managed to keep the attitude under the engine without lettin’ it bark. That’s talent.”

He turned slightly, giving Lucy a look that lingered—not invasive, just respectful, with a hint of something more. A rare thing from George: approval.

“You said it’d have your personal touch. You weren’t lyin’.”

He reached into his black coat, pulled a small envelope wrapped with two rubberbands, and handed it over without ceremony. Thick. Clean bills. A little extra then expected.

“For the work... and for the quiet. You didn’t cut corners. That matters.” He walked around the car once more, slow and deliberate, like a man appraising something sacred, then opened the door and slid in. The engine purred when it turned over. Not loud. Just confident. George leaned out the window, looked back toward Lucy.

“I don’t say this often Lucy but keep a line open. If I need something real done again, I’ll call. And if you ever need something done that don’t come with a receipt…”

He gave the faintest smirk, then shifted into gear.

“...you’ve got a friend who drives quiet.”

With that, the car rolled out into the dying light of evening, its polished skin catching the gold of sunset leaving behind only the scent of clean paint, grease, and a name that now carried weight in Lucy’s garage.

angelo drives in White Mercedes 500k 1936, and jumps of the cabrio with finese as Magic Mike would.

Hi Lucy, do You think, You could paint it midnight blue and change the numbers? 

also there is some clank in the trunk. If You could check it.

Lucy sees Angelo pull up and greets him.

"Slick ride! Very smooth looking. Just beautiful."

Lucy listens to Angelo's request.

"Sure, I should have it ready in a couple of days. 4 days tops."

Lucy signals Ralph to park it inside, while Lucy gets a sticky note and writes down an address, along with a string of letters and numbers, then hands it to Angelo.

"Pay this guy a visit. Take your current papers for this car. Tell him I sent you. He'll fix up your paperwork for the new license plates."

Lucy pauses for a second and shouts to Ralph.

"Ralph! Don't open the trunk ok?"

Then she turns back to Angelo.

"What's in the trunk if I may ask? I don't know what you mean by clank. And I don't want to be... umm... Surprised when I open it..."

angelo looks at the trunk and says

You know, I have no idea. I heard something in there when I was driving here. So I thought I will not open it on the street, we just have to open it here, in lets say... sound proof garage... as it could be a dog, a baby... or just some tools flying around when I did corners.... 
Who the hell knows what people put to they trunks in DT.

angelo takes the paper, reads it and shoves it down his inner pocket in his green vest. 
angelo jokes

Do you mean pay him a visit, or make him pay during the visit?

You want me to open trunk alone, or You and Ralph want to accompany me with this strange discovery?
 

Nicki turned and and drove into Lucys motorworks. He had scored a very nice Chrysler 300c and he needed a new paint job and new license plates.

Bringing the car to a screeching halt he got out and looked around to see if anyone was there to talk too. While waiting he admired his new car, the 300c was really top of the line. He was happy to have taken over the car and since the previous owner had a bad cocaine habit it had been a downpayment for his drugdebt. The owner had not been interely happy about this change of ownership so a paintjob and new plates was a good precautionary step.

After hearing Darius's request, she immediately gets Ralph to work on the paint job while she writes down the address of the forger and gives it to Darius. She knew who he was. Quite famous in Queens, New York. She had heard the stories but she had never done business with anyone in New York.

Sensing this as a good opportunity to expand her horizons, she immediately put on a professional look.

"Oh I promise you I will not disappoint sir! I'm looking forward to doing business with you. Now, please visit this address with your current papers for this car and he'll get them done in the blink of an eye. Tell him I sent ya. Come back in two to three days and I'll have it ready for you!"

As she is discussing the details with Darius, she spots Nicki, looking around. She waved.

"Right here sir! What can I help you with?"