It wasn't supposed to be this way. She wanted a nice man, a small, smooth white wedding dress. It seemed strange, because she imagined that her family would have done exactly like this RV trip to Mexico, except it would have been real. Her children playing board games around the table, sitting in the passenger's seat as her husband drove, maybe they would have even sung road trip songs like those corny characters on TV. They would have been crossing the border to visit her husband's wealthy parents in Mexico, dressed in bright, innocent clothes not to hide, because there would be nothing to hide. She would be acting on this trip, the way she would have acted in that alternate world, being part of the average middle-class family. She suddenly felt ridiculous, thinking of what could have been, she knew it was pointless. It was useless to think of things that would never happen.
"You alright, dear?" came to her left, and she turned, looking at the Lanky Guy as he held out a single tissue between them. She hadn't even realized the tears that slid down her cheeks, so focused on inner turmoil to notice the physical impact it was having.
"Yes," she said quickly, grabbing the tissue and dabbing her eyes with it "I have seasonal allergies" The man didn't look convinced, but he didn't press her further. She leaned the tissue into her nose, rubbing it vigorously, causing the skin to redden. The silence between them was interrupted when he spoke only a few minutes later
"Here's our night stop" The light had dimmed, and she was only able to make out the slight outline of the sign for Chattanooga as they passed by it. The city wasn't far ahead, and it was beautiful within the dark, all its shimmering lights looked to form their own artificial constellations. By the time they got there, the city was still buzzing with life even in the darkness of night. People walked the streets, some together and others alone, strangers crossing the distance of time. It reminded her of New York, how the place never seemed to fall asleep, instead, it continued to shake without end in sight.
They pulled into an RV park on the outskirts, paying the toll for the night, and driving down the dirt, rocky roads to find an empty spot, passing numerous other vehicles and their occupants already settled for the night. He parked in an empty space right next to a leaning tree, surrounded by the beginnings of fallen leaves, and grass still green, even in the empty light.
The two girls were already asleep on the top bunk of the beds at the back, she glanced at Lanky Guy, wondering where he was going to sleep for the night. Although she had found the seat stifling moments before, there was something about the lack of movement that was renewing. She lifted her arms above her head, stretching out the tight muscles of her back and shoulders, pulling further on the lever to make the passenger seat lean back as far as it would go. The windshield was so large, that she could see all the stars above, doing their little dances between planets. She used to do the same thing when she was a kid, in the darkness of night when she was supposed to be sleeping like the rest of the house. Every time a small light shot past, disappearing into the raven paint sky, she always tried to convince herself it was a shooting star, or a meteor, even though it was most likely a simple plane taking its passengers to far-away places in the dead of night.
She felt her eyes close, pressing her cheek into the hard, warm surface. She had to shift to get comfortable, the RV was cold, and her skin could feel it soaking in. She felt a slight shiver, leaning further into the leather of the seat to try and conserve her body heat. She was hardly conscious when a blanket was draped over her, but she still gripped it in a tight fist, clutching it for the warmth it offered. She drifted to sleep with the fabric tight between her fingers, her mind transporting her out of reality and into the land of every want, trying to convince her that there was still hope, there was still a reason to wish for the things we couldn't have.
YOU ARE READING
His Angel
Romance"You have a name, don't you?" his voice was deep and irritable, but rather calm. Her eyes lifted just slightly, now staring at the edges of dark hair that hung an inch or two from his shoulders. Her lack of answer seemed to annoy him further, she co...
