First of its kind

4

Marcus

"Now this is going to be an ineteresting night."

"I have the time," I told the woman sitting next to me, "I will be driving all night before I reach my destination, plus I could use some excitement. Can't turn on the radio because it makes me sleepy." The woman let out a short shigh, deciding whether or not she should tell her story to a complete starnger.

"Well, if you want excitement that much," she started, "then I guess I have the right story for you."

She told me about how she met a man, who works as a writer and how they lived in an apartment together and how everything felt like a fairytale. Atleast for her it did. She also explained how she got an excellent job as a waitress and having fun times with her colleauges, who also became her very good friends. But then they decided to buy a house of their very own and after that, most of the things seemed to go downhill from that point. She had less and less time for her friends, till eventually they stopped communicating and now she doesn't even know if they are friends anymore. And soon after she and her man started having heated arguments. The woman stopped talking, thinking if she should continiue or not.

 "Your guy, James is his name, right? He seems like an absolute toilet brush to me. What kind of a moron treats a woman he loves, this way? Making you lose all your friends on top of that." I knew I didn't have the actual right to rant about this, but it was just so wrong I didn't care if she wanted my opinion on this or not. "There is more..."she added, "today I found out that I'm pregnant and tried to run away from James. But he came after me obviously. That is how I ended up the way I am right now. "But what about your parents?" I asked her "I'm sure they would be glad to help you with raising the little one."

 The woman let out a snort. "My parents simply stopped talking to me when I moved in with James. Gently said, they were not happy me dating him, but I guess moving away was the last drop in their cup. But I don't mind at all. Who needs parents, who love you only when they see it fit?" I decided not to reply to that but I couldn't help but start thinking about my parents. We still talk to each other and sometimes I visit them. More often during spring and autumn, when there is so much chores to do and they would not manage without a helping hand. We've had arguments too, but I could never imagine them cutting off all the communication. I suppose it is harder to imagine when it isn't happening to you. Moment later I heard quiet snoring coming from my side. I didn't have to look to know the woman must have fallen asleep. Poor thing, I would have liked to know her name atleast but I guess it has to wait. Hopefully I won't fall asleep too because there was still quite a distance to go before reaching my parents' house. And how am I suppose to explain this to them? Letting out a weak chuckle as I pictured my mom getting all giddy over me bringing a woman along, which I have never done so far. She would be convinced the moment she sees the woman, that this is my girlfriend or something and possibly would start planning our wedding the very next day. Dad, on the other hand, would stay quiet most of the time and just observe how things go and this is exactly why I liked my father bit more than my mother. But how will the woman next to me react to all this? Maybe it's better if I stay the night somewhere and continiue driving in the morning. My parents can wait a little longer, plus it's not safe to drive when feeling sleepy, and that I was. Even more now that I had this cute little snoring working as a lullaby and making my eyelids more and more heavy. I pulled the car over to the roadside and took out my phone to check for any bed and breakfast or motels nearby.  Luckily there was a place called "Daisy's duty" and the reviews were good. Best part, it was just 6 km away from where I was, so didn't have to drive for too long now. About ten minutes later, I stopped my car infront of a tiny motel, which looked like something out of a storybook. The outer walls were covered with smoothened timber, cut in half and the windows were edged with old wooden frames. There was even an outdated oven made out of bricks and mud, waiting to completely fall apart at the left corner of the building. The only modern thing I noticed was a big, lit up sign of a daisy hanging above the front door. The lights inside the building were still on, so I assumed there would be someone at the reception.

   I got out of the car, walked to  the passenger side, opened the door and stopped. I didn't want to wake up the poor woman, but I also didn't dare to leave her alone outside like this. I bent down to undo her seatbelt just to see it was never fastened. That made the job little easier for me, but also made me worry if something were to happen and she had her seatbelt undone like this. I shook my head and dug the woman out of the car, holding her in bridal style. She stopped snoring and adjusted herself in her sleep, burying her face in my chest. To my suprise, she was alot lighter than she looked. I walked to the front door of the motel and with little difficulty, opened it. Few steps further was the reception counter and behind it an older woman with screaming pink hair, her eyes completely fixed on the phone and chewing bubblegum. Gosh, the fashion these days... "Hello, I would like to book 2 smaller rooms just for the night please," I said as I reached the counter. The lady didn't show any sign of hearing me, so I repeated my request. "Two rooms for the night, please."  Bubblegum, as I decided to keep calling her in my mind from now on, lifted her eyes from her phone and gave me one bored look."We have only one bigger bedroom available right now. Everything else is booked," she said before turning her attention on the phone again. "Could you please check, if there isn't any more rooms available?" I tried to stay polite. Everything about her seemed more and more irritating. "No, there isn't. Only one bigger bedroom. Take it or leave it." And she kept looking at me like she'd rather have me leave the place so she wouldn't have to get up and do some work. "I will take that one bedroom then," I replied, "But please let me get this woman in bed first. Then I'll be right back to fill the documents and pay for it aswell." Bubblegum took few moments to think about my offer, then grabbed the room key, got out from behind the counter and motioned me to follow her. I guess this way was easier for her aswell, rather than starting to argue and waste more of her valuable time which she could spend using her phone. The bedroom was on the ground floor, so we didn't have to walk too far. The lady unlocked the door and pushed it open. The lights in the hallway shed enough light to my room, making the bed and few other furniture items visible. I left Bubblegum waiting at the door, while I walked to the bed and laid the sleeping beauty in my arms in it. Trying not to wake her up, I snuck out of the room and the pink- haired lady closed the door after me. We returned to the reception to fill the documents and make the payment. "She your long lost wife or something?" she asked me with unpleasant voice. "No, she's just a very good friend of mine who just had a rough day," I replied to her, not wanting to get into details. "Alright, whatever. It ain't my business anyway," she said as she picked up a list and started reading it to me. "So no smoking in the bedroom, you can smoke outside or inside, in the special smoking area. NO pets allowed. No loud music or noise after 10 p.m. And breakfast will be from nine to ten in the morning. No, we do not deliver it to your room. If you want to eat in the bedroom, you have to get it yourself and bring the dishes back to the dining area. I hope you know how to behave yourself, so I don't have to get into every single detail of this list." She looked up to me to see if I heard her. I simply nodded in understandment and asked "Can I make the payement now? It's really late and I need my goodnight sleep." 

"Ok, just sign here and here and today's date over there," she said while pointing on the paper. "We take both card and cash. How would you like to pay?" "I'll pay with card," I replied as I pulled out my credit card.

As soon as we were done, Bubblegum gave me the same list as a reminder and went back to whatever she was doing on her phone, completely ignoring me. I took it as my cue to leave and so I did with relief. When I got back to the bedroom, I saw the lady I had picked up was still deep in her sleep. And that led me to another problem of where would I be sleeping. The bed was completely out of question because I didn't want to look like a creep who picks up random women on the highway and then climbs into bed with them. I turned on the flashlight in my phone and looked around a bit. Luckily for me, there was more pillows and a smaller comforter folded neatly at the end of the bed. I also noticed there was an armchair. Atleast I didn't have to sleep on the floor. I grabbed a pillow and the comforter and made myself cozy in the armchair and even before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.