Magnum Opus I

Chapter 3 (Full)

Over 12 hours had passed, but it had seemed like an eternity. Octavia had been awake all night planning her trip to the tiny town that rested on the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. She had done all of the calculations and had found out it would take approximately 14 hours of continuous driving. That means if she started driving at four in the morning, made her way up through Idaho and over to Oregon, she would get there by six-o-clock PM, leaving her some daylight time to find a hotel, sleep for a night and find the house the next morning.

Derek showed up at her doorstep, his eyes kept falling closed as she was telling him her plan. She threw her entire closet into one of her hiking backpacks and packed another full of food and water for the road. After packing them in Bruce, she insisted that Derek slept for a few more hours at her house before trying to drive back home half asleep. As soon as he laid his head on her pillow, he began to snore. She couldn't think about anything besides how freaking in love she was with him.

Octavia leaned over and gently brushed her lips against his forehead. She slowly closed her door, and made her way down the stairs. Her mom was waiting for her by the door with one of her famous homemade blueberry muffins; Octavia's favorite. "One for the road?" her mom asked. The expression on her face was sad. She had heavy bags under her eyes that made her look about ten years older, but she was still strikingly beautiful, having the same dark red hair and bright blue eyes that Octavia had.

"Thanks, mama," Octavia hugged her tightly.

"Be safe, sweetheart. Call me whenever you stop to pee so I know you're safe."

"Will do, home slice."

She made her way out the door and and hopped in Bruce. She checked her phone, "Right on time," she read aloud to herself. Pulling out of her driveway and beginning her 14 hour road trip. It wasn't until now that Octavia realized how truly exhausted she was. Her eyes were slowly closing shut; the sound of her tires on the road sounded like a soft lullaby to her ears. She needed something... she needed coffee. She drove a few more miles down the road and to her right, was a small gas station. Two pairs of gas pumps were aligned next to each other, the pavement on the driveway had been turning into small pieces from all the wear and tear over the years, there was a blood red roof with large windows, one of which held a flickering "open" sign.

She pulled into a parking space under a glowing light and pushed herself to build up the energy to get inside. Slowly stepping onto the cracked pavement, she felt a small rock crack under her black Timberland boots. The air was damp and cold and a soft grumble rolled in the distance, she could see the sky getting a little bit lighter, however, the actual sun was hiding under a blanket of dark grey clouds. She made her way through the glass door and was greeted by a large man behind the cash register. The gas station smelled of warm, rich coffee and fresh doughnuts. Octavia found her way to the coffee station and filled up a large cup to the brim, only adding a bit of cream, no sugar. Looking around, she found herself craving a muffin. She opened the little glass door and put a double chocolate chunk muffin in one of the thin plastic bags, then slowly walked up to the counter. The large man smelled of cigarettes and cheap aftershave.

"This all?" His raspy voice proved her theory that he was a smoker, at least a pack a day.

"Yeah... this is it. Needed to wake up a little." He let out a grunt that was supposed to be a sign of understanding.

"Att'l be... two-oh-four, miss."

Octavia handed over three dollars and stuffed the loose change in her pocket. She grabbed her coffee, still too hot to drink, and the little bag that contained her muffin, and after saying her goodbyes to the large man at the counter, walked back out to Bruce.

"Alright, Bruce. It's about time we actually start this trip," she stated out loud to herself. The sky was even brighter now. It was almost 6:30 in the morning and the storm clouds were rolling in faster. Grumbles from the sky seemed louder now and Octavia could see the tiny pellets of water that were just beginning to fall. She plugged her cassette tape-aux cord in and started her playlist that mostly contained slow, relaxing songs by Iron & Wine, Jack Johnson, and Lana Del Rey. She took a quick sip of her coffee that was finally beginning to cool down and started back on the long, straight highway of Utah.

"This better be worth it..," She whispered to the air.