Damn it, she was late! Driving down the dark, lonely highway in her red mustang, Laura started to pick up speed, hoping to make up some time. She was thinking it was almost eerie at how little traffic she saw while she was driving. Although, she did see one trucker awhile back, she had seen no one since. Smiling to herself, she remembered how the trucker had picked up speed just to pass her so he could peek into her car window. He seemed to enjoy the eyeful of bare thigh as Laura drove. Grinning from ear to ear, the big burly driver tugged on his air horn to display his appreciation of the lovely view she offered as he passed her. Laura could not help but grin, silly or not she was flattered.
Laura thought about how angry Chrissy would be and she could picture her now, pacing and muttering in their hotel room cursing Laura not realizing it wasn't her fault that Laura wasn't there two hours ago, as she should have been.
Her best friend Chrissy had won tickets to a Sarah McLachlan concert complete with back stage passes and a free hotel room for two nights. Laura was really thrilled when Chrissy had invited her to join her.
That is why Laura was really ticked when her boss had come out of his office at the last minute asking her to do some research for a big proposal he had to offer first thing Monday morning but Laura knew she had no choice but to do it. It set her back in time but she was driving like a maniac to make it up.
When Laura had started out it was daylight but after a very short time darkness fell. Laura hated driving alone and at night, especially when she was not sure of the way. She hadn't seen any other drivers on the road and it made her question if she was even on the right road.
She saw nothing; and hadn't for some time. Not a restaurant; a gas station; not even a house for her to pull over to ask for directions. She decided to just keep going. She picked up speed with every mile she went. At first it was because she was late but soon she realized that she was speeding because she wanted to get somewhere where there were people. She felt the seclusion and didn't like it. She decided to turn on the radio hoping to take her mind off of things like being alone and late. As if reminding her to hurry up the radio poured out the sweet sound of whom else? Of course, it was none other than Sarah.
In the arms of the angels, Far away from here From this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you feel.
Laura sang along passionately even if she was a little off key.
You are pulled from the wreckage Of your silent reverie In the arms of the angel May you find some comfort here?
As Laura sang her heart out, she looked up into her rear view mirror again and saw the familiar but tummy lurching red lights flashing from the car behind her. Quickly, she peeked at her speedometer and cringed knowing that if she could not talk her way out of this one, it was going to cost her points as well as a lot of money. She banged her right fist against the steering wheel and muttered, "OH FUCK!"
Following procedure, Laura slowed down the mustang and pulled over to the side of the road. She turned Sarah off in mid-sentence, listened to the hum of the power window as she lowered it and shut off the engine waiting expectantly for the inevitable. Nervously, she peeked into the mirror and saw that he was still not coming, so she twisted the mirror to check her make up. Her long curly red hair framed her lovely face offsetting her green eyes. High cheekbones shaded with a little blush and her plum coloured lips were full and sensuous. Putting the mirror back, Laura watched the uniformed officer stride towards her car. Her heart pounded so loudly in her chest she was sure he would hear it too.
"Good evening, Mam" the officer said politely, and as she had expected the rest of the sentence came out as a question. "Do you know how fast you were going?"
Laura was nervous but wanted to make a good impression so she offered up her best smile. She answered him respectfully, "I am so sorry officer, I assume it was too fast since you pulled me over. I honestly didn't notice. I'm late so I suppose subconsciously I was a little heavy footed"
'Shut up, Laura.' She admonished herself silently. 'You are acting guilty.'
"License and registration please, Mam." The officer did not return her smile.
Thinking that this is definitely a bad sign, Laura handed the officer her license and registration. Using his big flashlight, the officer looked at the license in his hand, and then he looked back at Laura, comparing the person in the flesh with the picture. Surprisingly, he handed them back to her, rather than the usual, "Be back in a minute." that she was expecting. She thought the procedure was to take them to his car radio and call them in to see if she had any outstanding tickets, but he didn't. Laura couldn't help but hope that this was a good omen and that the officer was going to let her off with just a warning. But she soon realized this was not the case when she heard him ask her, "Step out of the car, Mam."
Without hesitation Laura complied with his request. She opened her car door and stepped out. One long leg followed the other, her skirt riding high to offer a healthy glimpse of thigh. Laura glanced up quickly and saw that he did not miss the view. She stood next to him, her high heels making a loud crunching noise as she stepped onto the gravel. Just then the moon suddenly came out from behind the clouds brightening the evening considerably and illuminating the way for them both as she followed his directions. She noticed that he looked to be a very big man in his uniform but then she admitted to herself that she had not seen very many small cops. Looking up into his blue eyes, Laura saw that even though his actions were brisk and professional, his gaze was not.
Wasting no more time, the officer told Laura to close her eyes and with her arms outstretched bend her elbow to touch the tip of her nose with her finger.
