Annie's Story: The Road Trip
Annie waved as her mother drove away. They had transferred her bags into the other waiting car, hugged and kissed each other goodbye, and parted, just like that. At 18, this was Annie's first major trip away. She had answered an ad in the Melbourne paper: "Wanted: driving to Perth, female needed to share driving and costs, phone Beth on...." And here she was, getting into the front seat of a car belonging to someone she had met less than a week ago, and heading off across Australia for a 3000 klm journey to see her father.
Beth climbed in behind the wheel of the white late model Ford sedan that would be their home for the next 4 days. During Annie's "interview" she had found out that Beth was an electrician and was heading to Perth for work but couldn't figure out why someone would drive 3000 klms when perfectly good jobs were available in Melbourne. Annie also found out that Beth was very focussed and in control. She was shortish, about 5 years older than Annie, with a fuller figure than hers and large round breasts, but not fat at all. Beth's D cups made Annie self conscious about her large A's, or small Bs as Annie preferred to think of them as.
Beth settled herself behind the wheel, her old jeans and buttoned up tight-ribbed top looked comfortable for the long journey, if somewhat plunging in the neckline, showing off a large amount of cleavage. The good bra she wore showed off her ample charms, which were accentuated even further by dividing them with the seat belt. Annie herself had chosen her lose fitting pleated skirt and a blouse to look presentable, yet comfortable.
"Ready to go?" Beth asked, beaming a smile across the car.
Annie smiled and nodded.
"Ready when you are."
A young man around Annie's age bounded down the front steps of the house and ran to the curb shouting.
"Hey Lizard! You almost forgot your watch!"
Beth lowered the electric window and reached out for the watch. The young man handed it over and lightly punched Beth on the shoulder.
"See you Lizard" he spat playfully.
"See you Donkey Boy" she spat back, equally as playfully.
As the car pulled away from the curb, Beth saw Annie's quizzical look.
"That's my little brother, he couldn't handle 'Elizabeth' as a toddler and it came out something more like lizabet and as he got older and more of a little shit, he changed it to lizard-breath...Lizard for short!"
"And Donkey Boy?"
Beth smiled "I walked in on him in the shower when he was about 15. He was...er... 'washing' himself...down there...and it was as big as the donkey's that used to live in the field near our school...so I nicknamed him Donkey Boy"
Annie smiled in return, with a mental image of the young man with a donkey's genitals slapping around his calf muscles.
She relaxed a little more as the journey got underway, slowly leaving the traffic of the city behind them as they headed west. She was still a little apprehensive about the journey; after all, she had never been this far from home and there was still that awkwardness of being thrust into a long journey with someone you didn't know. What if she didn't like Beth after today? What if Beth didn't get on with her? What if she had a lot of flatulence? Annie had worried over these things in the preceding days but also thought she was being a bit silly. Beth had come across as a sensible, likable woman, fairly self assured, and with a strong personality, so Annie dismissed the thoughts and went ahead with the trip, but now they came flooding back to her...now that it was too late to change things. "Ah well" she thought, "It's only 4 days, not much can happen in 4 days...can it?"
It took them an hour to get out of the city and as the highway stretch before them; they were fairly quiet with only the crackle of the UHF radio installed for the trip as noise: truck drivers chatting to each other as they passed, giving road reports, a crash here, a police radar there. Beth looked across at this quite young woman next to her who sat with her chin on her hand, gazing at the fields and fence posts that whizzed past. There had been a couple of takers to her ad, and the choice had been an easy one. While Beth thought herself a bit of a tear-away, the other girl seemed a little...off the planet, she thought, but that didn't do it justice. Besides, she thought that Annie while a little reserved, was certainly more intelligent and would be able to hold a half decent conversation, although conversation had been a little sparse so far.
"You ok?" Beth enquired.
Annie turned slowly away from the window.
"Ah...yeah...sure... just a bit sad and bit excited...all at the same time" she replied, looking into the deep brown eyes of the older woman. Beth returned the look, trying to figure out what was going through the mind of this young woman. "Young woman?" She thought, she was only 5 years older than this 'young woman'. She decided it was time to get to know her; otherwise it would be a long, long journey if Annie was going to be this quiet for the next 4 days. Besides, she had always wanted to do a road trip having seen it on the TV and was hoping to have a good break before seeking work in the West.
"So why did you answer my ad? Why are you heading west?" Beth asked.
Being a little shy, Annie actually welcomed the break in the silence.
"My Dad left for Western Australia when I was about 7, to get a job, what with the mining boom and all. He was going to get settled and send for Mum and me, but, time went on, and in the end he...." Her voice trailed off.
"...found someone else?"
Annie looked up from her lap and smiled, but not a happy smile.
"Yes. They say 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' but in his case it was 'Absence makes the heart go wander'...he traded Mum in for a younger model"
"Funny how that happens eh?"
"He keeps in contact, we talk on the phone a few times a year, there is always a birthday card and a Christmas card, and he always sent Mum money every fortnight, but I wanted to get to know him. I have a year off between school and university and he was keen to have me come over and meet the 'younger' model" Annie smiled at the thought.
"And what about you?" Annie asked "Don't they need electricians in Melbourne as much as Perth?"
"I suppose" Beth said wistfully "...but in the West they pay the big bucks, cars, housing, top dollar. I can earn 3-4 times more over there than I can here...and there isn't anything here for me" she replied, a sombre expression falling over her face.
"Too depressing!" Beth exclaimed "Let's change the subject..." She reached into the back to her handbag and brought out a piece of paper. Across the top, Annie could see the words 'Ice Breakers' written, and she smiled. Beth consulted the list and read out the top line. "What's in your handbag?"
Annie laughed. "Oh gawd...you're not serious" she said reaching for her own handbag.
They both laughed and giggled while Annie went through the contents. While it only contained her purse, some makeup, and some ancillary bits like, tampon container, keys, and other small bits, it was enough to kept them talking and laughing about things. The biggest laugh was when Beth pulled out an empty condom wrapper! Both Beth and Annie enjoyed the discussions and after a couple of driver changes, before they knew it, the sun was lower in the sky and they were approaching Port Augusta north of Adelaide for their first nights stop.
They found a motel and booked in. It was a small room with a queen sized bed and a single. They tossed a coin for the big bed and Annie won. They went out to fill the car with petrol and decided they would get some takeaway fish and chips and eat in their unit, they were after all, very tired from their first days travelling and the excited build up in the days leading up to it. They ate their food and collapsed into bed and, with the aid of a couple of premixed cans of scotch and coke, were soon asleep. Beth's bed was close to the window and as in many motels, the lights outside and the noise conspired to wake her in the night and keep her on that edge of sleep that was sleepy enough to make her stay in bed and try for deeper sleep, and awake enough to prevent a good night's rest.
When Annie awoke the next morning, she looked blearily over to Beth's bed to find it empty. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock, it was 7.45 am. The door to the small bathroom was open as Annie walked over to it, smoothing down the fabric of her pink satin pyjamas with cute little Snoopys on them. Rubbing her eyes as she walked into the bathroom, she was surprised to see Beth sitting on the toilet with toilet paper in her hands. Annie spluttered an apology and went to leave, but Beth stopped her.
"Hey, just finished, no problems" as she stood and wiped herself. "There you go" she said, indicating the now vacant throne.
Annie looked around, quite unsure what to do as Beth stood before the mirror, inspecting her face and tying up her shoulder length brown hair into a pony tail.
"Don't mind me" Beth said "I'm not proud." and scraped at some unseen mark on her oversized knee length T-shirt that she had slept in. Annie didn't know where to look. She didn't want to appear like a prude, and they had got on very well yesterday, and she was going to have to share small spaces with this woman. Still, she was very unsure, never having pee'd in front of anyone before. She shrugged and slowly pulled down her pyjama pants making sure not to reveal anything by keeping the pyjama top pulled low.
Before Annie could worry too much about things, Beth slipped her t-shirt over her head in one swift movement, leaving her completely naked, not 2 feet from Annie. Beth turned on the shower and stepped in, without revealing anything other than her back to Annie. Annie looked on in shock. She instinctively turned away from Beth, but not having seen another woman naked before, couldn't help but sneak a few peeks at the round lose flesh of Beth's bottom as it jiggled as she washed.
While Beth washed her shoulder, her peripheral vision caught Annie furtively sneaking a peak at her while she washed. She smiled. Annie finished, washed her hands and left the room very quickly. When Beth came out drying herself, Annie was already dressed in jeans and frilly white blouse and took the opportunity to leave the room and pack things in the car. When Annie returned, Beth was dressed in the same top she had had on yesterday, but in a knee length skirt.
Not having slept too well, Beth had Annie start the driving for the day, and they headed off for day two, both somewhat quiet after the morning's events. They drove north, then turned west again at the intersection, where a large sign proclaimed 'Northern Territory' to the right and 'Western Australia' to the left. They turned left.
