Moving Past Heartbreak (Lesbian)

six - i get a sucky flashback

Everything's ugly here. Not a single sign of beauty is found in the five hours we spend in this Godforsaken traffic. I'm gripping my steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white. Impatience courses through my blood as we finally get out of the highway and actually move more than a measly mile in an hour. I can't enjoy the city as we drive through it, despite how pretty it is.

Tossing my phone in Nevie's lap, I grunt, "Tell me where to go from here."

If Nevie's miffed from being ordered around, she doesn't show it. In a smooth voice, she directs me through the streets of Alexandria. Between directions, she looks out the window, 'awing' and 'oohing' over anything that catches her eye.

"Turn that frown upside down," she encourages when I let out a growl of frustration over the car honking at me from behind. "You shouldn't devote so much time to how annoying it was being surrounded by horn-happy people."

"I can if I want to," I bitch.

She scoffs at my unwillingness to participate. "Pull the car over."

"What?"

"Pull. It. Over. I'm not going to repeat myself again."

Since I don't want to get on her bad side already, I do what she says. It takes a long time for me to find a spot that I don't have to pay for or risk getting towed. She helps with the searching until we find one that I can fit my truck in.

"Get out," she orders. She smacks my arm lightly when I don't move immediately.

"Okay, crazy! I'm moving!"

"Well, you're not going fast enough."

I slip, catching myself a split second before I could have fallen hard on the ground. My heart speeds up and down while I adjust to my feet after being on the wheel for so long.

"Alright. Why are we stopping and wasting such valuable time?"

Nevie goes around and puts her hands on my shoulders. Oh my god, her hands are bigger than I expect, and so soft, too. If they feel nice on my shoulders, then I wonder where else would feel nice.

She waits until I'm looking at her in the eyes. For some reason, I expect her irises to be ocean-blue. They're not; they're light green. "Close your eyes until I say you can open them again." When I raise an eyebrow, she adds, "Please, don't argue with me."

"Okay," I mumble. As soon as my eyes are closed, I roll them.

"I saw that!"

"Damn it."

Awkwardly standing at the side of the road, I keep my eyes closed and wait for Nevie to say something. I can hear her taking deep breaths, causing me to do the same. "Okay. Now open them and look around."

"I'm not really sure what the point of this is—" I start at the same time I open my eyes. Nevie steps back and lets me see Alexandria again.

So many trees around us, stripped of leaves and waiting for the next batch in the new few months. The sky's colored in a beautiful shade of grey, and the sun's still out but faded. The air has a nice tang compared to earlier. When some wind flies by me, I shiver. Immediately, I feel refreshed and airy, like the day just started and nothing has happened yet.

"Do you feel better?" Nevie asks.

"Yeah," I admit. "It made up for the traffic."

She beams. "Really?"

"Well, almost."

"Good enough. We can go now."

The rest of the drive to Tools 4 Cookin' is peaceful. Just pausing for the moment puts a spring in my steps, and we enter the small store in a good mood. When the middle-aged man behind the counter waves in greeting, I return it too enthusiastically. Fortunately for me, the good feeling fades to normal as I disappear into the cramped aisles.