It had been a grueling 6 hours driving already and they had at least another 2 hours to go if the weather didn't get worse. The radio weather reports running every 15 minutes didn't give her a great feeling about making it all the way tonight. It was still misting and the weather had dropped below freezing. Bridges were going to freeze. She and her young male companion were going to have to find a place to stop for the night. She mentioned this to him and received the thousandth "huh, ok" of the trip as he barely looked up from his iPad.
How her long road trip had turned into the world's longest Uber fare was a blur to her. Denise, her best girlfriend and host the last week, hadn't mentioned anything about it until the last day of her stay. "Hey, you wouldn't mind taking Randal back with you would you? He has a soccer tournament this week in San Antonio and it is so close to you!" She barely had time to think about it before she grumbled a non-committal "maybe". Denise took that as a yes, as she had every time she reluctantly agreed to many of her suggestions throughout the years. Denise told her stepson to get upstairs and pack his bag. The plan she would later learn was to drop him at his Mother's or meet her half way when they made it in to town.
When she was packed up and ready to go, Randal came loping down from his room with his bag on his shoulder and his electronic device snuggly in his right hand. He was a cute kid; make that young man as he had just turned 18 a few months before her visit. He was tall and skinny in that soccer player way with brown hair that feathered across his forehead. He was at least 5" taller than her 5'6" frame so she figured at least he could help with cleaning the car windows at gas stops and she wouldn't have to lean over the dirty car.
The trip had started out very uneventfully. He had plugged in his device to keep it charged while they drove, she had started up some podcasts, and they had rarely stopped other than to talk about hunger and bathroom breaks when needed. It turns out that his height did come in handy and each stop at a gas station Randal dutifully cleaned the windshield. During one of those stops she couldn't help but laugh when she noticed a car full of high school girls staring at him in his winter garb as he worked. She was used to getting her fair share of stares, comments and flirting but it was entertaining to see it happen in the other direction as well.
As they approached Waco, she hit the first bridge that had a bit of ice on it. The car fishtailed but she kept it straight and they made it across. Randal looked up from the iPad and yelped "Holy shit! Holy shit!" If she hadn't been scared herself she might have laughed at the first emotion she had seen from him so far. Driving was scary enough that she just immediately started looking for places to stay the night and get off the road. With knuckles white she continued looking for the next exit. She told him they needed to find a place to stay and could continue tomorrow in daylight on roads in better condition. He had quickly regained his composure and gave his emotionless "ok" response.
After what felt like hours more of driving but in reality was more like 15 minutes, she saw the first Texas roadway sign that listed lodging. She slowly worked her way over to the exit. The motel was one of those typically found on the side of the interstate just outside of a town. It was two stories with doors facing outside for each room. The parking lot was pretty crowded. She wasn't the only one that was done trying to drive on ice.
She entered the lobby, which was basically a counter with a middle-aged woman behind it and a few racks of pamphlets and advertisements. She silently hoped they had something available. She really didn't want to have to get back on the road. She and Randal headed over to the front desk and she couldn't help but notice the lady behind the desk scan Randal up and down as they approached.
"Please tell me you have a room for the night. The roads are terrible and we slid on the bridge and it was awful and..." She drifted off realizing she was rambling and certainly wasn't telling the lady anything she hadn't heard.
"I hear you, they didn't know this little ice storm was coming, did they?" The clerk was typing on the computer terminal in front of her while she spoke. "Well, you want the good news or bad news first?"
"Give us the good first please." She said with fingers crossed.
"We literally have one room left" as the clerk said this, she smiled knowing what a relief that was to hear. "However, it only has a single bed." She continued looking at Randal.
"Oh, oh, uh huh, I see...and is there a sofa or even a chair or something in the room?" she asked.
"No sweetheart. The rooms are barely big enough to have the bed and the TV. I wish we were a Hilton." The clerk said with a little giggle.
She thought for a moment about it and knew that she really had no choice. They would just have to make it work. "We will take it.", she said. Randal's eyes shot open with a bit of shock, but he quickly returned to his normal state of teenage aloofness.
They drove down and took a parking spot near the room number the lady had given them. The room was on the first floor in the middle of the motel. Randal jumped out when they stopped and started collecting bags. She thought that was nice of him to grab her stuff as well. Her trip was only for a week, but she never packed lightly. With one bag over his shoulder and wheeling hers along beside him, he followed her over the room. She unlocked the door and they entered the smallest room she had ever seen. There was a bed, an AC/Heater unit on the window, a small chest with a TV on it, two tiny nightstands with lamps on them, and at the back there was a closet and the bathroom. The décor was dated but it did at least look clean.
Randal walked to the back of the room squeezing by the bed and did his best to shove the bags in the closet. They fit, but just. She sat down on the edge of the bed and Randal headed back out to the car to get the last few items they left in it.
When he returned she said, "Thanks for getting all of that stuff in Randal. I know this isn't ideal but I sure feel better getting off the roads."
He replied as he sat on the other side of the bed, "sure no problem. I understand, that was kinda scary on the bridge back there." She could tell he was a bit nervous as his eyes sort of darted around.
It was just after 9PM so she wasn't really sure what they were going to do before bed. "I think that I will take a quick shower", she said as she stood and walked the three steps to the closet to grab her toiletry items and something to sleep in. She normally slept nude or just in panties, but she was glad she had been traveling and brought a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to sleep in while at Denise's.
As she soaped up her body, she wondered what had Randal so nervous. Was it just the overall situation and sleeping in a room with someone he didn't know that well? Was it because she was a woman? Did he even see her as a woman or just an old lady that knows his Step Mom? Her thoughts drifted as she soaped her ample breasts. She knew that at 42 she still had it going on. She could see the looks and wanton desire in men's eyes when she went out, but these were usually men closer to her age. Did all the Pilates and yoga matter to an 18 year old man? She shook herself out of her reverie and silently punished herself for having such thoughts about such a young man. She quickly finished washing and toweled off, wrapping the towel around her as best she could when finished.
She stuck her head out the bathroom door and said, "Randal could you turn your eyes away please? I need to come out to get dressed. It is way too small in here to do it."
