Somewhere In Seattle

I’ve been staring at the lights flashing from the tail light of this car in front of me for half an hour now. I am now stuck in this heavy stressful carmageddon under this stupid rain. I buried my head into the steering wheel, “Why now?” I exclaimed to myself while imagining Sied’s furious face and his parents’ mocking stare. 

I sighed as my mobile phone vibrated from the passenger’s seat. Now what? Do I have to listen to his scary voice, too? The car in front of me began to move so I wore my Bluetooth earpiece and answered the call with my breathy voice, “Hey! I’m sorry Sied, I was stuck in this stupi-”

But before I could finish my sentence, “Hey, Ava. The dinner’s canceled. My parents have to go to a council meeting in Parish Church,” he said in a hurry as if he’s running the race. His voice is unstable. My heart leaped with the good news he shared, my smile widened and suddenly the heavy feeling was lifted. 

“Oh really?” I said trying to cover up the happiness in my voice. “That’s too bad. So, what’s our plan? Maybe we can just drop by in a nearby bar. It’s been a while since we have our last d-”

But then again, he cut me off. This guy has a habit of cutting people off. My nails dug into the steering wheel because I know where this conversation will end, then, I heard his voice again. “I am on my way back to the office now for a meeting. I just need to get some stuff from my unit.”

So that’s why he’s been running. Probably, he’s been asked to run some errands again by his boss. Tsk. Meeting my ass! I frowned. Why do I even expect a decent meal with him? With lots of thoughts clouding my mind, I parked my car on the side trying to calm down. Or else, I might get caught in an accident because of careless driving. 

I bang my head onto the steering wheel. Unintentionally, the car horn blew all of a sudden which disturbed people standing nearby my car. An asshole put his middle finger up to my direction. Oh, great dickhead! I bowed my head and gestured an apology. 

I slouched and muttered to myself, “What a night!”

The rain started to pour heavily adding more grimace to my not-so-lucky night. Should I just go home? Maybe I should call K. I grabbed the phone excitedly and sped up to dial her name. To my dismay, it went through her voicemail, “Sorry! I’m out with my man. Can’t contact me ‘til tomorrow morning! Ciao!”

Oh, shoot! I forgot. It is Tuesday, it is Nikolai’s night for Kendra.

I sighed and looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror. Now I look more depressed. What should I do? I stretched my legs away from the gas and brake pedals and raised my arms upward touching the ceiling of my car. I noticed that I am wearing comfortable heels that match my fuchsia silk dress very well. 

“Oh no! I ain’t going home, grandpa! I will make you regret ruining my night! I’m going to have some fun tonight alone.” I said to myself with a flirty smile on my face. Bitch switch on! I step on the gas pedal and gear my car up a little, “It’s time to have some fun!!!”

I accelerated my car not minding the upcoming cars from the next lane. I ignored every red light in this busy stretch of Seattle. This boredom is killing me, so I try to have some by violating some traffic rules. I want to shake off what Sied has instilled in my mind. He’s wrong! When you follow the rules, it will get you nothing. 

The next thing I know, I was restrained by a police officer. He asked for my driver’s license and charged me a ticket. Uh-oh. He’s never going to be happy about it. Despite my declaration, I smiled. It’s been a while since I felt freedom. 

***

Later that morning, I asked my boss for a leave. I went straight ahead to my workroom in the afternoon. When I say workroom, I mean the business Kendra and I put up, ‘Events for Keeps’ office.

I stared at the screen of my laptop with a blinking cursor at the G****e search bar, arguing whether to search or not. But then, it’s too late, because my fingers have mind of their own. They started moving unconsciously searching for the letters,

O – N – E      N – I – G – H – T      S – T – A – N – D

H – O – O – K     U – P – S

C – A – S – U – A – L       S – E – X

 

Shit! I finally did it, biting my thumb out of mixed excitement and nervousness while waiting for the related articles and images to appear. I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed deeply, I guess there’s nothing wrong with what I am doing. It’s not cheating after all. I am just one hell of a curious woman.

When I opened my eyes, tons of forums, blog posts, and websites appeared. I started clicking them one by one. My butt tightened and fitted comfortably at my throne here in my own personal space. I wet my lips as a sign of concentration. I thoroughly read every word and sentence about this thing called casual sex. I gulped at every image, blinked at every testimonial video I watched, sweat flew underneath my clothes with every confession I read. Everything is new to me.

Everything is damn great.

Everything is astoundingly big for me. 

I was so lured by what I am reading that I didn’t notice someone barging into my personal space. My eyes were still locked to my laptop screen like a vicious predator patiently watching its prey when somebody knocked on my desk.

 

Not aware of someone’s presence, I continued to scroll down, click, and visit more websites. Then, after a strong tap on my glass desk and clearing of throats, my attention was finally caught.