K.

Chapter 41- Parking

After I put a stop to things with Alex, I didn't see him for a long time. He didn't even show up to the concert with me so I ended up taking a close friend of mine from work. I completely misunderstood his absence until he mentioned that the band had started getting busy with the Europe tour being on again. He had shows every other night, non stop for over a month since the night after the concert.

I selfishly thought it was nice that he was going away for a bit. I couldn't stand seeing him while I was in the process of getting over him. At first it seemed to work. I wasn't that upset after he left for the tour. But as I lived a few more days through his absence, things changed. Like they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. I started to miss him so much that I felt my feelings almost double and grow strong like never before. It even came to the point that I started questioning and partially regretting my decision. Because I'd now lost the one excuse that brought us closer: intimacy. When we were hooking up, it was almost as if we were living together. Now we would go back to how it was again. Meeting once in a while,  mostly with the rest of the group. Maybe grabbing dinner once a few months and then that would be that.

Regardless, what was done was done. At the end of the day, I knew I'd made a healthy decision for myself. I just had to learn to get over him somehow. The whole ordeal seemed impossible until something perfect happened to help facilitate it.

                                ***

It was a typical weekday morning. I was parking my car in its usual spot when out of nowhere, a navy Ford Mustang hit the back of my car. By the time I could get my window down to question the reckless driver, they drove away as if nothing had happened. Infuriating. Anyway, I immediately got out of my car to check for damages. It wasn't as bad as I'd pictured in my head but there was a little but noticeable dent. I wasn't angry that such a mishap had happened because things like that happen all the time in a crowded city like LA. What bothered me was how the person responsible for it just took off without taking any accountability.

"You seem to be in a good mood." A colleague joked when I got upstairs to my office, looking visibly irritated.

"Oh the damndest thing just happened. Someone hit my car while I was parking and then just drove off." I complained.

"What car was it? Maybe it's someone we know." Charlotte asked.

"It can't be someone from our office. I've never seen that car here before. I've also never had such a thing happen in the 2 years of working here. And I think it was a blue Ford Mustang."

"Blue Ford Mustang you say?" Lorraine, one of my friends, interrupted the conversation.

"Yeah, navy."

"Ugh... that has to be my brother." She said with a guilty look on her face.

"My car's at the mechanic's so he came to drop me off."

"Are you sure that was him?" I asked.

"Positive. I can't believe he did that. What a jackass."

"Well, he seems like one." I said sarcastically.

"How bad is it?"

"There's a little dent in the back but nothing else really."

"Gosh, I am so sorry. I'll tell him to pay for the damages." She said angrily as she began to look for his contact on her phone.

"No need for that. I'll take care of it."

"You have to let me."

"Come on, he's your brother. I won't accept money from him."

"He'll be picking me up in the evening. We'll discuss it then." Lorraine put an end to our conversation as she knew I wouldn't accept.

We continued with our work as usual and in the evening, when it was time to go home, Lorraine introduced me to the culprit.

"Kristen, this is Aaron."

A tall man with chestnut hair and baby blue eyes stepped out of the car. Mr. Clumsy was far more attractive than I expected and I have to say, it caught me a little off guard.

"Uh hi," I said as he looked at me strangely.

"Aaron, this is one of my good friends, Kristen. Remember hitting her car this morning?" She said, mocking him.

"Oh god. I am so sorry." He started getting flustered as he apologized.

"It was an accident, I swear. I'm not someone who usually does such a thing but I was in a real hurry this morning. I got a call from the clinic and I just had to get there on time." He explained himself.

Clinic. I immediately regretted calling him a jackass earlier.

"Oh I had no idea. You're a doctor?"

"Yeah you know how it is for us..."

"Yeah yeah, I totally understand. Your sister never told me that." I turned and gave Lorraine the death stare. I felt beyond embarrassed that she'd let me  come up to the parking lot with a slightly confrontational attitude.

"So what if he's a doctor? It doesn't mean he can just damage someones car." She shrugged.

"Please let me know what the damages add up to and I'll pay for it." Her brother completely ignored her as he kept the focus on our conversation.

When he hit my car this morning, I was expecting him to be a careless jerk. But he turned out to be quite the opposite. He seemed like a very well mannered gentleman.

"No no, I couldn't. It's just a little dent." I replied.

"I must. Please." He insisted.

"Lorraine's a really good friend of mine. I will not accept it, I'm sorry." I said strictly.

"Okay then, let me make it up to you somehow. It's a request."

"I'm telling you Aaron, it's fine."

"This is not me being nice to you. It's just so I can get rid of my guilt. Do it for me." He chuckled.

"Alright, fine." I smiled.

"What about getting some dinner friday night? I assume you'll be free."

"Sure, I'd like that."

"Okay then, I'll get your number through Lorraine. I'll text and let you know." He gave a nod as he got into the car with his sister.

"Okay, it was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too," He smiled as he rolled up his window.

I waved as they drove off before getting into my own car and driving home.