Who was she? That's the question I've been asking myself for the last several months. Everyday that I drive to work, I pass this mystery woman going the opposite direction.
The area I live in is in a rural part of the U.S. My drive to work consists of travel on 2 lane highways and old county back roads. I live in a smaller town with a population of about 15,000 people and I drive about 30 minutes to an equally sized town where I work as a finance manager at a privately owned heavy equipment manufacturer.
I've been making this drive for about 10 years now. I almost always see the same people everyday. That was until about 8 months ago. She appeared one morning and since that time, it's given me something to look forward to on my otherwise mind numbing drive.
I first noticed her vehicle. I can almost set my watch to when I'm going to see a particular car. The lady in the red Camry? I see her about 10 minutes into my drive. She turns left at the intersection of highway 16 and highway 120. The guy in the silver F-150? I'll see him about 20 minutes into my drive. He pulls off of county road 6 and heads the opposite direction from what I'm traveling. In addition to them it's the white Rav 4, the black Kia Soul or the beige Chevy Traverse. I see them everyday.
But that day, I saw a new car. A blue Ford Escape. I noticed the blue right away. It stood out in the sea of boring colored vehicles, such as my silver Explorer. I just figured that someone had bought a new vehicle. Maybe the lady that drove the old Taurus finally upgraded?
Nope! When the blue Escape passed me, I noticed the driver was a younger woman with long, curly blonde hair and she was gorgeous! Who was that?!
I guess I should inform you about me, if you haven't already figured it out. I'm a lesbian. Unfortunately, I'm a lesbian that is stuck in the middle of rural America, where there aren't a lot of other women that are into other women. I've dated a few ladies who were very curious, but I soon discovered to be married to men. I'm not going to lie, the sex was pretty damn good, but that road was a dead end. Sometimes I'll find a random woman that's in town for the night and we'll have a nice little romp, but again, it's just a hook up and there is no hope for anything long term.
Its a lonely existence, and if it wasn't for my occasional flings, I'd probably lose my mind. I know that I need to get out of this area and move somewhere where I have a better chance of finding someone to have a relationship with. I don't know why I insist on staying here. My job isn't great but it pays the bills and I do ok for the area I'm in, but I guess mostly I'm just comfortable.
Anyway... this woman in the blue Escape. I first started seeing her sometime in August I think. Ok, it was August 14th to be exact. It was a Wednesday. My schedule is Monday through Friday and judging by the days and times I see her, her schedule is similar to mine.
As I said, it's been 8 months since I first saw her. Some days her hair is down, some days it's pulled back. She doesn't often wear sunglasses, but I haven't seen her ever make eye contact with me. If I had to guess her age, I'd say about 24-25 ish. I know this probably sounds pathetic, but I look forward to seeing her everyday. It's only for the few seconds as our vehicles pass in the morning and late afternoon, but it still makes me happy.
I know I'll likely never meet her. I've thought about turning around and following her, but that's just too damn creepy. Besides, she's surely straight as an arrow and not even remotely interested in an average 30 year old redhead. Who knows, maybe she has some huge character flaw like being a raging bitch or she is a redneck racist. Maybe she has tentacles instead of a human lower body? On second thought, what could she do with those tentacles...? No, I'm sure the whole package is just as beautiful. So, I just enjoy the little glimpses of the most beautiful woman I've laid eyes on in this area.
Today is a day just like any other. It's April, so it's officially springtime and the weather is overcast and rainy. The good part is that I'm going to see my blonde beauty in the little blue suv. Oddly though, there aren't any headlights up ahead? As I travel further down the old county road I'm still not seeing any.
I'm just getting to a heavily wooded area when I see what appear to be headlights in the ditch up ahead. Well, it's not really a ditch. The shoulder slopes down several feet before the ground flattens. There are also trees all along both sides of the road.
I start to slow my vehicle and I activate my emergency flashers. As I'm pulling up to the scene, I realize that it's blue Escape girl! Oh shit! Her vehicle is in bad shape. The front is smashed into a tree, the windshield is badly cracked, and there is a rather large, and very dead deer resting on the hood.
I can see that the airbags have deployed and she is sat back in her seat with her head resting against the headrest. Oh God, is she dead?
I try to open her door but it's jammed shut. I dial 9-1--1 and tell the dispatcher what the situation is. Luckily, blue Escape girl's vehicle automatically alerts 9-1-1 in an accident, so help is already on the way.
I bang on the window and yell to get her attention. Soon she opens her eyes and I can tell that she's in a daze. She looks around and finally notices me. I watch her as she looks at the door and then reaches her hand over. Surprisingly, her window rolls down. Even though she just wrecked her car, had an airbag explode into her face, and is bleeding from her lip, she still looks gorgeous. What?! I can't help it, ok?
"Help is on the way. Just sit there and wait for the ambulance." I tell her.
"Wha...what happened?" She asks. Damn, even her voice is beautiful. It was so soft and airy. What?! Don't judge me.
"Uh, it appears that you hit a deer and then wrecked into that tree." I said.
"Fuck. Yeah...I remember now. He jumped out right in front of me. Son of a bitch. I just bought this car." She replied.
"I'm sorry, but thankfully you're ok. A car can be fixed or replaced. I'm Mina, by the way. I'll stay with you until help arrives." I said.
"Thank you. I'm Kate, by the way." She told me.
"Well, Kate, you're a lucky girl." I told her.
She nodded then put her head back against the headrest.
I could hear sirens approaching and in no time an ambulance pulled up followed by a rescue squad truck and a county Sheriff's deputy. While the EMTs and firefighters worked to get Kate out and stabilized, I gave my info to the deputy.
I glanced up and watched as they put Kate into the back of the ambulance. She smiled and offered a tiny wave before the doors were closed and they were off. I finished with the deputy and returned to my vehicle. I called work to let them know what was happening and that I'd be a little late.
Now I had a name. Kate.
Work was uneventful as usual. I found myself thinking about Kate throughout the day. Damn, she was pretty. Her voice was so soft and angelic and from what I could see, her body was just as beautiful. I should have felt bad for checking her out while she was sitting there all banged up from her wreck, but I guess I'm a perv.
I was sitting in my car in the parking lot at work after punching out. I was just about to put my car in gear when I had an idea. I dug the deputy's card out of my purse and dialed the number for the Sheriffs office. I inquired about Kate and they said they hadn't heard anything more about her status. They probably couldn't give me much information anyway due to privacy concerns. The closest hospital was only about 15-20 minutes away in a fairly large city. There were actually three hospitals, but I was pretty sure which one she would have been taken to.
I walked to the front desk and asked which floor I could find my "friend" on. I explained that she had been in a car accident earlier and I was given a vague answer to where she might be. Once I reached that floor, I found the nurses station and asked about Kate. The nurse told me that she couldn't tell me if she was a patient or not. Damn.
I was just getting ready to leave when I heard my name being called.
"Mina. MINA! In here!" Kate yelled.
I turned around and saw her laying in bed in the room across from the nurses station.
"Hey! How are you feeling?" I asked her.
"Ugh. Sore and woozy. Even with the airbag, my head feels like it was hit with a brick." She replied.
"You didn't have to come all the way here, you know." She said.
"Yes I did. I wanted to make sure you were ok. I was worried about you." I admitted.
"Well, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for this morning. I'm so lucky that you stopped to help me." She said.
