An Unlikely Connection: Part 3

Chapter 1: All Is Well

"Jesus," she said, dialing the temp to seventy-five degrees. "I don't know why my dad set it so high." She clicked the garage button below the sunglass holder. It opened moments later.

"That's fancy."

"This whole damn truck is fancy."

I looked at everything I could before she backed onto the road. The digital speedometer transitioned to white before she put the truck into drive. There were physical buttons for almost everything like the volume knob, fan knob, and defrost controls. The touch screen was high resolution, wide, and tall. Her navigation came on when she slid her phone under in a crawlspace below the center console.

"Whoa," I said, pointing at her phone and the navigation. "How did that happen?"

"It's wireless," she said after snickering with the back of her hand over her face. "My car can do it too."

"Amazing." I was impressed. They hid their riches well. I didn't realize the type of wealth her family had to be able to afford such luxury vehicles.

"We'll be there in forty minutes." She turned the volume knob just enough that I could hear the vocals of a rock song playing. "Oh, I love these guys."

She jammed out and sang along to a seven-minute song. I watched her in silence without her noticing I was watching her vibing out to a song she knew like the back of her hand. Another song she knew came afterward. She sang a few lyrics before stopping once she saw I was looking at her.

"Keep going," I said. "I wanna hear you sing." She had the giggles. It took her a moment to regain the confidence and the payoff was amazing. The singer had an early 2000s way of singing that sounded like he was forcing a British accent. She matched his vocal pronunciations perfectly. Once the song finished, she turned down the music with a button on the left side of the steering wheel.

"Joshy," she said, keeping her eyes on the road.

"What's up?"

"What are your New Year's Resolutions?"

"I don't really know," I said, looking out my window to watch the cross traffic at a busy intersection before we reached the highway. "I don't do that sort of stuff."

"Awe. Why not?" I didn't know what to say. The tradition of one making themselves a promise for something they would do in the future sounded lame. I felt if people wanted to do something, they wouldn't need a new year to boost their confidence.

"It just isn't my thing," I said after I told her my stance.

"I see what you mean. But..." I looked at her from the corner of my eye and waited for what I thought would be an argument. Instead, she asked if I wanted to hear what she planned to do for the new year.

"I wanna outshine all of your expectations of me and be the best girl you ever had." Her answer made me speechless. That was a big promise I wouldn't gamble even if I sought to be the best boyfriend she'd ever want.

"You wanna be my best girl?"

"Um," she said, blushing with a smile. "Did that part sound stupid? I know I'm not a—"

"It didn't sound stupid. Those are good resolutions."

"Thanks." She sighed and went silent for almost a minute before she spoke again. "I got a resolution for you to do."

"What is it?"

"Be more of an extrovert."

"Yosefin," I said and rolled my eyes. "I basically am. I'm always going out with you."

"Because I'm asking for you to come. When are you going to take me out?" She asked with a pouty face. "You're supposed to be the man of the relationship. Not me." I burst out laughing a second before she did after I realized the subtle joke. "But seriously."