Road Trip

Chapter 7

We ran into our first problem in Memphis. Luckily, it was a small one. While it was still spring break, it was quite chilly once the sun went down, and while Blake had a sweatshirt, she was also wearing a pair of cut off shorts that left her legs bare. Not that I had noticed while she had her feet up on the dashboard or anything.

"So, drive straight through, or spend the night here?" I asked. We were sitting at a BBQ place on the west side on Memphis where we had a platter of pulled port, baked beans, and cornbread. We were eating slowly, no need to stuff ourselves and get sick on the road.

"We in a hurry to get anywhere?" she asked.

"Nope. I was just worried about you getting cold. In the car, we can keep you warm, and drive to where you'll be more comfortable. But, you don't see much while driving at night."

"Are you saying you couldn't keep me warm at night in a hotel room?" she pouted.

I stared at her, a little BBQ sauce dripping down my chin until she giggled at me.

"So, you're going to do this to me the entire trip, aren't you?" I asked after swallowing the food in my mouth.

"Yep. I'm sorry, you're fun to fluster," she smiled.

"We could just buy you some more clothes to keep you warm, then crash here and go in the morning." I suggested. "My treat, since I'm dragging you away from the beach."

"Ohhh, I like that plan! Shopping! I sure don't want to freeze my poor little butt off every night." She agreed, rubbing her hands on her thighs to warm them up. "But I'll cover my own shopping thanks, you don't have to pay."

"You sure? I don't want you to have to buy a new wardrobe because of me." I liked her independence, but I did feel guilty that she had to buy things for my trip.

"Split it?" She offered.

"All right, we'll find some stores and get you whatever you need."

"But not till after food, this is too good," she said while eating more cornbread. "Glad you made me search for something that wasn't a chain."

"This is exactly why I did. Much better to go to a local place to get a real taste of a city than to go to one of the chains."

"Well then why were you at Cracker Barrel." She countered.

"I hadn't hired my gorgeous copilot yet."

"Gorgeous?" she blushed.

"Blake, you know very well that you're beautiful. But the doctor's orders are to take a road trip without someone I'm dating, so I'm behaving." I added. All right, I need to keep my mouth shut before I stay more stupid things.

"That makes sense. Doctor knows best. Maybe I should talk to her to see if there is anything I can do to help," she suggested.

"You want to talk to my doctor?"

"Well, only if you're okay with it. I wouldn't want you to feel like I'm intruding. It would be a good way to make sure I don't do or say anything that would set back your therapy too," she reasoned.

I thought about it, and I couldn't see how it could hurt. Weird? Sure, maybe a bit, but was anything about the situation normal? Nope. "All right, I think that might be a good idea." I agreed.

"Really?" She exclaimed, "Okay, dial now!" She pushed my phone towards me.

"Right now?"

"Yes! Right now! I need answers and guidance!" she demanded with a smile.

I picked up the phone and hit Doctor Merritt's contact.

"Hello Ethan. Something wrong all ready?" she answered.

"No, actually. Umm, this may sound odd, but Blake would like to talk to you for a minute. She wants to make sure she doesn't do anything on the trip to upset the therapy."

"Really? All right. Since you're giving me permission to talk to her, then put her on."

I handed the phone over to Blake who looked overjoyed, then scampered out of the restaurant with the phone pressed to her ear. I was either safer or in more danger. I didn't think there was much in between. While I waited, I took another bite of the beans, they were outstanding. Good BBQ beans are like mana from heaven.

I continued to eat slowly in case Blake still wanted some, I didn't want to have her leave hungry. But, with the plan to spend the night here, we could always get a snack. This road trip was definitely different than all of my previous ones. Not having a destination was kind of refreshing. An extra night in Memphis? That was fine, it wasn't like we were going to be late to something at the destination, because there wasn't one. I relaxed as I realized this, and it made me realize that this just might work. Then I realized that Blake had been gone for more than 10 minutes.

The call took longer than I thought, now I was getting worried. Besides, it was still cold and she was in the shorts, so she could be frozen!

I stood to head outside to look for her, and then saw her coming in while hanging up the phone. Smiling, she handed it back to me. "Your sister says hi, she's a real sweetie!"

"What? You talked to Georgia?" I asked, confused.

"Yep, she called while I was talking to Helen, she was glad to talk to me since I guess you told her about me before." She said nonchalantly.

"Well, I probably told her about that trip, yeah." I confirmed. This was getting a little surreal. I should be nervous that she calls Doc by her first name, right?

"And that was brave of you, handing me an unlocked phone. I got to see all of your dick pics," she giggled.

I smiled in return, now she was just egging me on. "Nice try Blake, but unless someone sent one to me while you were on the phone, then there is nothing there. I'm boring."

"Nothing at all?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope."

"So why is your phone locked?" She asked, intrigued.

"Work stuff."

"You're right, boring. Last guy that gave me his phone had texts promising to bring me to attend an orgy."

"What? You did?" I tried not to be shocked, but I knew that people did what they liked, so who was I to judge?

"Nope, that was the dickhead from Cracker Barrel. Evidently, he was taking me to be shared by a bunch of guys, very classy."

"I'm assuming you were unaware of that?"

"I was unaware till he had me open his phone to put the GPS on at the same time a text to that group chat came in and I accidentally opened it." She said with a shrug. "I got lucky."

"Why were you even with him?"

She thought about that for a bit. "I'm stupid about guys. I haven't had a real date in a few years, and lately I've been holding men to a standard that might be unattainable. I met him at a party right before graduation last semester, he seemed ok. He said a bunch of people were hitting the beach for spring break and asked me to tag along. I thought it might be fun, so I went along with it. Pretty stupid to go with someone I didn't even know the last name of."

"It was McDickface," I deadpanned.

She smiled in return, but I could tell she was still upset about the whole situation, and rightfully so. She had dodged a major bullet.

"You ready to go shopping?" she asked, a little excitement in her voice. I could tell she was ready for a topic change, and I couldn't blame her.

"Absolutely, let's go find your store navigator!"