I've done a lot of trips for a lot of reasons, and to be honest kind of enjoy traveling, unless of course it is driving through blizzard conditions, like I am now. The snow is blowing straight across the interstate so hard I can barely see in front of the hood. I'm not too worried about traction, having a good all wheel drive SUV, but my passenger seems to be much more nervous at not being able to see more than a few feet.
Amanda has hired me many times to provide technical testimony and expert opinions. It's pretty good money, and to be honest, I like working for her. Hell what guy wouldn't? At forty three she is still hot by anyone's account, and she isn't afraid to use her 42 DD chest and slim waist to her advantage in the courtroom. Hell, sitting in the passenger seat of my truck wearing a pair of black spandex slacks and a black turtleneck sweater was almost a distraction. But I managed to keep most of my attention off her close cropped blond hair and strikingly bright blue eyes and on the road.
"This sucks!" she growled. "Do you think we're going to make it?"
"We'll get there." I said as I stared at the driving snow. "I just won't guarantee how fast."
"Damn storm. We'd be there already if we could have flown. Hell we're moving what, twenty miles an hour?"
"Oh, maybe twenty five when it clears." I joked.
"Smart ass." She said giving me a gentle push on the shoulder.
"Hey, I didn't schedule this hearing. Seems to me that the law stuff is your area. I just tell you how stuff works, remember?"
"Yeah I remember." She said smiling at the private joke.
It had been several years since the project where we spent most of the night trying to duplicate how a particular piece of hardware failed. Somewhere along the way I remarked that if it were a fucking vibrator it would be a hell of a lot more fun to test. The joke was more than a bit off color, and to be honest I regretted making it, thinking that it was unprofessional. To her credit she responded that if we didn't get it to work pretty soon she was going to buy that vibrator just to prove I really knew how to make things work. Unfortunately, we managed to prove the hardware failure soon after and she never did carry out her threat to get that vibrator. Although "how stuff works" had been a constant joke between the two of us ever since.
The snow continued to worsen, if that were possible, but I wasn't too worried about hitting anyone, since we appeared to be the only car on the road. Hell, we hadn't even seen a snow plow in nearly twenty miles and the drifts were starting to get pretty bad. I almost drove right past the exit for Sweet Springs, and I was starting to get hungry. I rolled up the snow covered ramp in the deepening gloom hoping for a place to eat.
"Looks like we get Sonic or nothing." I said as I approached the top of the ramp and could just make out the sonic sign down the road to my left.
"Better than nothing." Amanda responded with a frown.
"Ok." I said turning that direction and making my way over the bridge. It only took a few seconds to find the entrance and roll into one of the empty slots by the building. I was almost glad I didn't have to get out to go inside, but on the other hand I was stiff and really wanted a stretch.
We ordered some food and I leaned my seat back to stretch myself for a while before the car hop, skate-less and bundled in a heavy coat, brought out our meal.
"Here you go!" she said a lot more cheerfully than I would have expected, given the weather she was working in.
"I'm surprised you're even open." I said to her as I took the bag and cups.
"Gotta be. With the highway closed we're about the only place to eat."
"Huh? The highway closed?" I asked, startled.
"Yeah, they closed I-70 almost an hour ago. The plows can't keep the drifts down."
"No, they can't!" I answered. "So they closed it?"
"Uh huh. You headed east or west?"
"West."
"Uh uh. Closed all the way to KC. Might as well try to find a room if you can. 'Bout the only place is Peoples Choice. I hear the Super Eight is full up."
"Peoples Choice?"
"Uh huh. Just over there. It's little but the rooms are nice."
"Ok thanks! I appreciate the info." I called as she turned and ran back toward the building in the blowing snow. "Well, that explains the lack of traffic. I guess we better see if we can get some rooms."
"This isn't good. We're supposed to be in court at eight."
"So we'll get up early and head in. Once they get the road cleared we can be there in about another hour and a half."
"Ok." She said with a disgusted look on her face.
I let her hold the bag of food while I backed out and headed for the small hotel she pointed us toward. We pulled up in front of the long brick building and stopped under the overhang. We bundled up in our coats against the blowing snow that was almost obscuring the building we were parked next to. "Ready?" I asked before jumping out and making my way around my truck to the front door. I pulled it open as Amanda approached it and ducked in behind her.
"Hi folks, what can I do for you?" A cheery heavy set lady behind the counter asked.
"We need a couple rooms." I answered.
"Well, we got one left." She said. "I'm afraid that's all there is. Last time I called over to Super Eight they were booked."
"We'll take it." Amanda said quickly. "I don't plan on sleeping in the car!" she said to me somewhat crossly.
"It's no smoking." The lady said quietly as she put the papers on the counter for Amanda to sign.
"That's ok. We don't smoke. Unless you count her bad temper." I joked, receiving a cross look from Amanda as she signed the paper and gave the lady her credit card.
"You sure think this is funny." Amanda said. "I hope you still think its funny when you're sleeping on the sofa."
"Oh there's no sofa." The lady behind the counter said innocently.
"Damn." Amanda muttered as she took back her credit card and stuffed it into her wallet.
"Here you go. Room 108. Just down the side here." The lady said as she handed the key to Amanda.
"Thank you." Amanda said politely before turning and glaring at me. I really wondered what I had done wrong. I followed her back out into the snow and opened the car door for her before running around to my side and jumping in. It only took a moment to find the room and park in front of it. Amanda grabbed the food bag and I grabbed the drinks and followed her to the small door while she unlocked it.
We stepped into a quiet warm room with a single queen size bed a small dresser and a TV. Yep, there was no sofa. "Well, looks better than nothing!" I said as I surveyed the small room. "We might as well eat while it's hot."