"I'm not gonna make it. I'm not gonna make it," I mumbled to myself. I was racing down the interstate and even though I was going 85 in a 55 mile-per-hour zone, I was going to be late to work. "Even if I got on a helicopter, I'd still be late," I murmured.
I was passing cars left and right when suddenly I looked up into my rear view mirror and I saw him. His white police cruiser had its lights flashing and once I turned my radio down I could hear his siren blaring. He was hot on my tail and I cursed out loud. Now I knew for sure I was going to be late.
I slowed down, signaled, and moved into the right lane. I continued over until I was on the shoulder of the road and I stopped, rolling my window down. Heat from the morning rolled in, already competing with my frosty air conditioner. Today was to be a scorcher, and it was already hot out.
I blinked a couple times, looking at him in my rear view mirror where he sat in his cruiser behind me. My heart was thundering in my chest. This was so unlike me, driving so fast, but I'd been warned - I'd already been written up once for my tardy arrivals at my job. I really couldn't afford any more.
But today I had blown it.
Big time.
I sat, waiting for him to come up to my car to have a chat with me. He was still in his cruiser, probably running my plate through his system. I didn't have much to worry about there - I had a pretty squeaky-clean record. I'd gotten a warning once about a year ago but that was for a burnt out taillight. And, I usually drove close to the speed limit.
Usually.
I watched through the rear view mirror as he got out of his cruiser. He was a nicely built guy, but he was taking his time, and he finally slowly sauntered towards me. When he finally did appear outside my driver's side window, I was a nervous mess.
I looked over into his handsome face and into his aviator sunglasses that reflected myself, and I could see what he saw: I was a pretty average sized woman, five foot seven and around 160 lbs. I was wearing a red sundress with white polka dots on it that came a little bit above my knees. My legs were bare and I was wearing strappy sandals. My golden-brown hair was piled up on my head and I'd even swiped on some lipstick earlier. After all, it was Friday and on Fridays the dress code at work was thrown out the window. My lack of pantyhose and my bared toes proved that.
He disarmed me with a smile, and he was slow-chewing a piece of chewing gum. "Ma'am, license and registration, please," he said.
I nodded and fumbled in my purse that was on the passenger seat beside me. My hands shook as I took my license out and handed it to him.
"My registration is in the...the...the thing," I said, pointing, not being able to find the right word.
"In the glovebox?" He asked.
I nodded.
"Go ahead and grab it," he said.
I did, though it took me a few seconds to find it as I had to dig through a bunch of clean napkins and tissues and around my car manual and through my oil change receipts.
Finally I handed it to him too, and he took it. "Be right back," he said. "Hold tight," he added, and he slowly walked back to his vehicle.
I sat twiddling my thumbs. My car was mine and not stolen, and my driver's license said I weighed 145 pounds when I no longer did, but that wasn't a crime. I sighed. My cell phone on the passenger seat rang and I noticed that it was my boss. I cringed, not answering it. I figured I needed to concentrate on the matter at hand. As a habit I checked my watch. I was late for sure now.
The cop was gone for several more tortuous minutes. Finally he came back and he handed my license and registration back to me. "Everything checks out, ma'am, but I have to ask why you were going 90 in a 55 mph zone?" he said.
"85," I said.
"What?" He said.
"I wasn't going 90. I was going 85," I said.
He grinned another huge smile at me. "85, then," he said.
"I'm late to work?" I said.
He shook his head, still slow-chewing his gum and he shot me another grin. "If you had left fifteen minutes earlier you'd have been to work early and would have gotten there much safer," he told me.
I nodded. "I know. I'll do that in the future," I said.
To my horror he brought out his ticket book.
"Are you writing me a ticket?!" I gasped.
He nodded. "You were going quite fast, ma'am," he said.
I put my hand over my mouth. It seemed like everything in my house was breaking. I'd had to replace my water heater, my washer, and my air conditioner all last month. I truly didn't have any extra cash for a ticket. In fact, I was going to have a pretty hefty credit card bill the next time it came in the mail.
I explained my problem to him. He took his sunglasses off and looked down at me. He stared at me for a few seconds, and then his brown eyes began to wander. Was he looking at my breasts? Then his eyes moved down to...to maybe my bare knees?
I frowned. Was this cop checking me out?
He put his arm up and leaned on my car door and he smiled again. "I'll tell you what. I'll make a deal with you," he said.
"Um. Okay?" I said.
"Follow me," he said.
Bewildered, I watched as he got back into his cruiser. He drove around me and I followed him back out onto the interstate. He took the very next exit.
He drove to an older suburban neighborhood and pulled into the driveway of a little one story white house. I pulled in behind him and cut my engine. I got out when he did.
"What are we doing here?" I asked him. I walked up to him and he was several inches taller than I was. I had to shade my eyes from the sun to see him.
"If you want me to forget the ticket, you'll need to do me a favor."
I felt my eyebrows knitting together as I frowned. "A what?" I asked, wondering if I had heard him correctly.
He nodded. "A favor," he said.
"What are you talking about?" I asked him.
He smiled at me. "Come closer," he said.
I leaned in a little towards him. He motioned me to come in a little closer still. When I did, he leaned in and put his lips right next to my ear.
"Fuck me, and I'll forget the ticket," he said.
I reared back and my eyebrows shot up so high they almost flew off my face.
He just grinned at me.
"Did you say what I think you just said?" I hissed.
He just shrugged. "Fuck me and I'll forget it," he said again.
"This...I mean...the rules...you have to be breaking about a hundred rules asking me to do that!" I spluttered.
"What can I say?" He said. "I'm a rule-breaker. I like to drive 90 on the interstate too," he said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "I wasn't going 90, I was going 85. And if you think...if...if...well, I am not going to fuck you just to get out of a...a like what, a 200 dollar speeding ticket?" I said.
He threw his head back and laughed long and loud. The sound was deep and jovial and it echoed off of the mature trees all around us. "Who said it was only going to be 200 dollars?" He finally said.
I just looked at him, a little confused.
"You were speeding through a construction zone," he said. "So we're talking more like a grand," he said. "Maybe even jail time," he said.
My jaw fell open. "One thousand dollars?!" I squeaked. "Jail?!"
He chuckled. "Yep," he said.
"But I can't...I mean...it's too..." I spluttered.
He looked at me again. "Like I already told you: Fuck me and I'll forget all about it," he said.