My first story ever...
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STORMY LUST: PART 1
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"...Hurricane Ian is expected to turn into a high end Category four hurricane in the next 24 hours, as it's approaching the west coast of Florida, centering on Tampa Bay. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency and an evacuation order has already been issued for Hillsborough County..."
"Wha- did you hear that???" Natalie gasped.
I held up my hand, "shh- wait, be quiet--"
The reporter's voice blasted through the radio, "...to stay inside and away from windows and roads, be prepared to evacuate to a shelter, and listen to local television or radio for updates..."
"Fuck," she covered her face, "we're screwed."
Indeed. We were in the middle of Route 41 and still three and a half hours away from home. The weather was becoming more and more chaotic, the skies the greyest I have ever seen them, and rain pounding on the windshield so heavily I could barely see the cars in front. Traffic was already moving slow but then we came to a complete stop.
"What's going on?"
"Something blocking the road probably," I answered, trying to get a better look.
"Ugh," Natalie groaned, "that's the worst."
I took my phone, trying to read about any traffic updates, when the cars in front took the right lane, reviling a huge red X traffic sign placed ahead and three officers in yellow jackets signaling us to take the next exit.
"Fucking hell", I hit the wheel, "they closed the road."
Sitting next to me, Natalie straightened up in panic, "you're kidding me!"
"Shit, fuck,", I slowly took the right lane, knowing it leads us to fucking nowhere.
"What are we gonna do?"
Looking at the skies again, I muttered, "call Mom, tell her we need to wait till they open the road again."
"No way! What if it takes hours?!"
"What do you want me to do, ah???" I snapped. "We told you to stay home but you HAD to visit Noah this weekend --"
"I haven't seen him in two weeks!"
"--and Mom lets you do whatever the fuck you want--"
"Right."
"Call her."
She phoned Clara, "hey, Dad says we'll be late... the road is closed... I don't know. I don't know!"
I was looking around, hoping to find an open restaurant we could spend a few hours in, but it was already 7PM and there was literally nothing but old warehouses and closed office buildings.
"Mom is asking if we want her to call Dorothy and ask if we could stay at their place."
"Dorothy, who? NOAH'S MOTHER???" I yelled, "put her on speaker... Clara, you lost your mind."
"She called to ask if everything was alright and offered her basement--" Clara's voice came through the phone.
"No fucking way, besides I'm not driving now an hour and a half back to their place. They're already closing all the highways."
"I don't want you to drive at all, Michael, they are already so many accidents."
"It's fine," I took a right turn to some narrow street, following a glowing LED sign, "we'll eat something and wait till the storm passes."
The sign apparently said "Sweet Inn", and the inside looked as shady as the outside, with red lightning, dusty red carpets, red curtains, red everything; the kind of place people don't plan to stay for more than one sleepless night. Natalie hated it and wanted to leave but I convinced her to stay just for a small bite. Apparently, however, they only served drinks at this hour, and so she and I drank coffee at their small, dark bar at the back of the inn, accompanied by a number of men in suits and what seemed like their one night stand.
When it was already 11PM and the weather was nowhere near to calm down, the bar was closing and we had to go look for a place to stay. The bartender warned us that everything was either booked or closed in a 15 mile radius -- even this inn was fully packed. Turned out he was right, and the receptionist was able to offer us only one room for tonight. Natalie was already so tired she forgot to protest, and we found ourselves walking outside in the pouring rain with a key to room 23.
"What the fuck?" Natalie said the moment we stepped inside.
The room followed the same horrible theme of dark red velvet everywhere, with an old small TV screen and a double bed, but I guessed Natalie was more concerned with the see-through shower at the corner of the room.