Author's note: I was purposefully vague with the descriptors of my characters throughout the story. I didn't want to mention any height, weight, hair colour, etc. giving the reader a chance to fill in the blanks themselves with their own fantasy and maybe reach a wider audience. Though I may have alienated some of my audience with all the butt-play. Oh well, enjoy.
All of the characters within the story are 18+
Monday August 28th, 2021
Every weekday evening at 6pm I am in the same place. I sit at the wheel in my Pontiac Sunfire, and stare mindlessly at a series of never-ending brake lights. If every commuter in T-O weren't sitting on the highway around me, I could have made it home in 20 minutes.
I spend most of every day in this car. My pride and joy, Sunny. She's been with me for just over 6 years now and had already run the odometer over before I got her. Sadly, she's an old lady. Sunny needed a lot of work when my Uncle bought her for me. She was a gift for my 16th birthday, and looking back, also completely inappropriate.
Sunny had a manual transmission--which made commuting so much worse--that stuck a little when going from P to R. She never had power locks, only power windows, and the ones in the back stopped working long ago. The previous owners must have been smokers. Cigarette burns spotted the upholstery on every seat, and in the Winter the smell from the heat vents makes me gag.
Despite all of her rusty parts, and many faults I still love Sunny to pieces. My first car, and I will never forget her. She is my love.
However, this year Sunny's thrice-repaired air conditioning conked out again, and on this scorching August evening, she is also my worst enemy. I keep both front windows down during the entire trip, but it's not been enough. In the stop-and-go traffic there is no cross-breeze. The only air coming in the window is humid engine exhaust.
For two years I have been making deliveries for a grocery company. People make orders on the website, and I pick out the food at the grocery store and bring it to them. It's a good job for introverts like myself, and when the pandemic struck I was working overtime every pay period.
My mother was worried when I first told her I had gotten this delivery job. She thought women shouldn't be delivery drivers. She said to me, "Cassandra, you will get yourself kidnapped, or worse!" On a day like today, I think I would prefer if someone put me in their freezer.
I can feel the sweat beading across my brow and just before I could wipe it away a gap opened up beside me. I turned the wheel like a madwoman and accelerated into the small gap in the middle lane before anyone could cut me off. I can hear the sound of angry honking behind me, and flip the bird toward the rear window in response.
In the rearview mirror I could see the flailing fat arms of a small bald man in an oversized jeep. His voice is muffled by the traffic, but I'm sure he's saying some horrible things. The bastard is probably just upset because he's ugly.
I also caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I am a cutie. Even in my uncomplimentary work uniform I look good. The uniform is a tan collared shirt and matching baseball cap that sport the logo of our company on them: A stork flying and holding a bindle in it's beak, but instead of a baby in the cloth, there is several groceries.
The shirt buttons up in the front, and most days I keep it fastened right up to my neck. I don't work for tips and a bit of cleavage isn't going to make the job easier, so I try to keep it professional. Not like I have much to show off there anyway. My Baby B's--as my friend Kristal calls them--are kept firmly in place by the supportive undergarments I wear. I sometimes feel a bit self-conscious about the size of my tits, but I am constantly making efforts to maintain their perky shape and smooth complexion. My mom has always been very body-conscious and passed that down to me, though I am much more modest than her.
I reached up to my neck to undo the top button of the shirt. The collar pulled away slightly and suddenly the world was privy to see more of my pale neck. That was another reason I never minded keeping that top button done up. I was cursed with the curse of the pale. The kind of skin that is sensitive to even the least amount of sun and occasionally people ask if I feel unwell. No, that's just my natural hue, thanks.
Just after releasing the button I got a honk from the guy on the left of me. Fuck. It was the angry, ugly guy from earlier. He had a passenger who was now looking down on me and once our gaze met he winked at me and pretended to take a picture with an invisible camera. The guy looked like a younger--but just as ugly and fat--version of the driver but with more hair. Just as he brought his fingers to his mouth in a 'V' shape, I was able to move into the collector lane, and didn't have to watch as he wagged his tongue around in the air.
------
The elevator door quietly opened in front of me and the smell of curry permeated what was beyond them. I wish I could say that I enjoyed that smell, or that it was a rarity, but it welcomes me home almost every night.
This is my new digs. The Stillwell Apartment Complex located just off the highway. I moved into a 2-bedroom apartment with my Mom and younger brother two years ago. We had been a typical family unit up until that point. Mom, Dad, Bro, and Sis. We were framed to be the perfect cliché family until just before my 20th birthday when our father had an affair with my uncle. Yeah, the same uncle that bought Sunny for me; my Mother's brother. They announced their love for each other, and also their departure. They had tickets to fly one-way to Greece. For a while we were all too gobsmacked to be sad or angry. It took a few days for it to sink in that Dad wasn't coming home.
We were left with a lot of debt. I had been attending university for two years. I had wanted to pursue a career in zoology. I had always wanted to work with animals, but the courses were expensive. On top of tuition there were the expense of books; lab equipment; food; and a room in a dormitory. There were two incomes in our house at this time, and it wasn't enough to keep up with all of the mounting costs. Mom and Dad took out two separate loans to finance my post-secondary education, the latter of the two was against the family car.
So Dad fucked us all hard when he left after having his homosexual awakening. Mom doesn't even know where he is to serve him divorce papers.
All of that is why I now live with my Mom and younger brother again, but now in Currytown, Ontario.
"Hello! I'm home! Why is it so hot in heeerrrreeee?" The question was rhetorical, I know exactly why it is so hot in here. It's hot because our landlord is a cheap, slum-lord, son-of-a-bastard who won't fix the AC.
A quiet chortle from Jeremy ahead of me was the indicator that I wasn't alone. I removed my shoes and moved into kitchenette beside the front door. Dirty dishes were still in the sink from when Mom and Jeremy presumably had supper. I opened the fridge for a can of iced tea, cracked it open, and started to chug. Soon the whole can was gone.
"Oh my God. I must be completely dehydrated." I spoke at a louder tone to reach Jeremy. The kitchenette was tiny. So narrow the oven door doesn't go all the way down, because it hits the side of the fridge across from it. There is only one way into the kitchen and a load-bearing wall separated me from my Brother at the moment.
I grabbed another can of iced tea and left for the bathroom. Across from the kitchenette portal we have a dining table sitting in the middle of a high-traffic area of the apartment making it so I have to walk around the right side of the little round table to get to the bathroom.
Stopping just before the bathroom door, I look down the hallway next to it. The light is on in our room, Mom must be home. Mom and I took the larger of the two bedrooms, and she set up an office for herself in it as well. She landed a job as an accountant for some Australian manufactory, and now regularly works from home. She often is in a meeting when I return home, I think the work day starts in Australia when mine ends.
I smile to nobody in particular then set the iced teas beside me on the dining room table. The pressure to use the washroom became more urgent, and I rushed in before pulling the door closed behind me. I reach down and undo the buttons on my jeans before pulling them down with my panties and mounting the throne. Sweet relief...
The toilet flushes and I turn to the mirror while I wash up. Yeah, I'm still hot. I stand and admire my body in the mirror on the wall. The counter is low, and the mirror covers most of the wall almost up to the ceiling. I pull off my hat and pull the elastic out of my hair, releasing the ponytail then give my head a shake disheveling my hair.
I was considering having a shower, but was unsure about whether I would be able to get my clothes when I was done. When Mom is in meetings with the door shut I leave her alone until it is over, and for the last week has been consistent in taking over the bedroom from 6pm to 8pm. During this time I usually lay down on the couch across from Jeremy and we watch tv.
I pull open the bathroom door and in front of me is Jeremy, and to my shock he is laying facing me--eyes glued to the tv on the wall--and stripped down to only his boxer-briefs.
"Whoa, bro. That's new, you don't usually lounge around like that." I glanced around the room awkwardly trying not to stare at anything for too long.
"Yeah, this apartment is too small, and it's way too damn hot for me to care anymore." Jeremy shrugged at his new ambivalent opinion about his nudity. "Is that second iced tea for me?"
"Yeah, aren't I the best?" I beamed while I grabbed the cans and moved over to the couch ahead of me in the sitting area.
The couch was a large sectional we had picked up from Craigslist years ago. It was in need of cleaning, but still the most comfortable piece of furniture we had. The long part of the couch spans the entire wall of the sitting area. It slipped in perfectly to the spot, and will never move until we burn it in a field. The shorter length of the couch runs along the sliding glass door which leads to our tiny balcony. A floor-length curtain runs behind the small end of the couch and across the door, darkening the room. The part of the couch that Jeremy prefers--and that he is now resting upon--is actually a bulbous blanket hideaway, shaped similar to a comma.
I tossed Jeremy his can before rolling dramatically onto the couch to face the tv. "What are we watching? I popped open the iced tea; there was a mild explosion from the hole that caught me on the lips.
"Scream-athon. They're going to play Halloween movies every evening from now until then." Jeremy popped his iced tea with a much bigger spray than mine which caught him full in the face.
I laughed, but he took it in stride and wiped the excess iced tea from his naked, hairless chest.
The movie came on almost immediately: Orphan. This wasn't my first time seeing it, and I was nearly bored to tears the first time. This is going to be a wasted 2 hours of my life.
