That One Rainy Night (A Short Story)

Curiosity Gets The Cat A Free Ride

"Some people feel the rain.
Others just get wet."

~~~~~~~~~~                                        ~~~~~~~~~~

She smiled. Entering the pizzeria. She sat down by the window and looked out to see the view. Her favorite thing to do everytime she went here. She saw the cars going past each other and the honking of their horns as they almost get into an accident. She unconsciously smiled. For most people it was weird, to smile at that kind of situation. But in her mind, she was in ecstasy.

Images flashed through her mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey! Are you blind? This is only a one way road. You almost crashed into my car, you idiot!" She yelled at the man who she almost got into an accident with and flipped him off. She saw him whimpering. His lip was quivering and any moment now she feels like he'd pass out in his car crying. She sighed, exasperated. (Why did I have to get into this?) she thought to herself. She took off her seatbelt, opened her car door and slammed it shut, and walked over to him. Then knocked on his window.

"Lower it down will ya?"

He complied. "Blame the rain. I'm not in the mood to have a screaming match right now. Please." His voice was manly deep. As he said that last word, his voice broke. She felt bad for him. That was normal. But what wasn't, was the urge she was feeling to hug the man and comfort him all night. She was awfully curious about him. It was truly itching every vein and nerve in her body to report to her brain and slap her with mighty force. Because he was a stranger. Because she didn't know him and he didn't know her. If that's what she'll think everytime a random stranger almost crashes their car into hers on a rainy evening crying their sockets out, it'll be a waste of time, right? They won't agree to it, right? And here she was, soaking in the rain, considering something she might get into court for (attempted assault). In the end she just cursed to nobody and nodded at him.

"It's alright, just..be careful. Cry later and focus on driving. Have a good one, sir." She didn't wait around to hear his reply or to even know if he heard it. She just ran inside her car. She restarted her car but it won't. She twisted her key again and again but her damn car was too old to handle a few minutes of being left alone. So in bottled up frustration she resorted on hitting her poor stirring wheel. She sighed. (It's been a long fucking day I'm too tired for this shit.) Flipping through the channels on her radio she closed her eyes and listened to whatever was on it. When she opened her eyes she noticed the guy from earlier still hasn't left. He was just gripping the wheel while his knuckles turned white and his head lowered doing what she presumed as...crying.

She thought to herself, (Can I hitch a ride with this guy? I mean I could just get a taxi but...he looks really really depressed right now. I wanna cheer him up.) So without thinking about any of it, she took out her key, grabbed her purse and ran through the rain.

"Hey! Helloo!" She repeatedly knocked on his window until he raised his head to reveal a handsome man. It made her swoon a bit. He looked broken. His eyes were red and his nose looked like rudolph's. (Damn what I'd give just to see how he looked when he smiles. It must've been gorgeous. Who wiped that smile off his beautiful face?) She was dumbstrucked when she realized how furious she felt as she thought about it. She shook that thought away and body slammed it to the back of her brain.

He slowly lowered his window and looked at her. Serious. He looked so serious. And boy did that look attractive. "What?" It was a straight answer. And she felt something flutter in her stomach. Maybe her lunch? Though it should make her hurl. It took her a moment to snap out of it and think of an answer.

"Uh..I..uh..car was..because um.." She spluttered on anything she could grasp out of this situation. The guy looked impatiently annoyed. "Can I come in your car?" She hurriedly said before he'd burst at her.

He just looked at her like she she was growing a second head, keeping his serious demeanor. He propped his elbow on the opened window of his car door and slowly let his hand feel the raindrops. "And why would you do that?" It sounded condescending. She was starting to get ticked off by this guy's insolence. She was the one who was patient enough to understand his situation. (Why can't he be the same?! At least try to listen! Ugh stupid gorgeous face. I wouldn't have tolerated this if you weren't this cute.)

"My car won't start its engine and there aren't any places to shield me from the rain so-"

"So?" They stared at each other for a good 20 seconds. "Fine. Get in." He put his arm back inside and closed the window. Motioning his head to the passenger's seat, she took it as a sign to get in and ran off to that side. When she sat down she immediately regretted it. It wasn't leather. The seat absorbed the water from her soaked clothes. She winced.
"I'm so sorry." She muttered and he only nodded once looking straight ahead. She put on the seatbelt cautiously as he started to drive.

The car was filled with awkward silence. For the past 5 minutes she caught herself repeatedly glancing at him and quickly turning her head to face the road when he caught her staring. "Are you okay?" The guy asked still looking ahead. His voice was still hoarse and her heart melted as she heard it. (If I develop an unrequited crush on this guy because of this one night I swear I'm gonna drag him with me when I fall.)

"Yeah." She managed to say. "I'm sorry you had to take in the girl who just cussed at you." She looked at him. He sighed.

"What a wonderful world." A ghost of a smile tugged his lips upward for a short while. He looked at her and asked "Where do you wanna be dropped off?"

She considered for a moment when suddenly her stomach answered for her. She let out an awkward laugh. They drove around looking for somewhere to eat. She saw a pizza restaurant at her side. "Wanna eat pizza?"

"Uh..sure." Even when he answered he seemed distracted. He parked the car.

She took off her seatbelt and opened the door when he stopped her. He grabbed a bag from the back seat. Opened it and handed her his spare clothes. A hoodie and a pair of jeans. (Those look too big I wonder what I'd look like when I wear them. Welp still better than nothin.)

"Here. Wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

When they entered the restaurant they were greeted by the light chatter of people at their tables, the laughter and snickers of some high school students and the moans of satisfaction whilst eating their food. "Looks like we came to the right place."

"Maybe." He walked over to a table without waiting for her.

She looked over at the cold-hearted guy as she stalked past him. "Are you this cold to everyone." She said as she took a seat across him.

"Maybe I'm just extra cold today."

"I couldn't tell." She huffed. The guy looked a little livid. She needed to say something to cool him down just a notch. "I was being sarcastic." That didn't sound too well either.

"Really? I couldn't tell either." He smirked and looked away.

She was too irritated and had to explode somewhere else. "I'm gonna change in the ladies' room." He lifted his eyebrows in response. When she went inside she immediately looked at herself in the mirror.
(Ugh my hair looks like a banshee wot da heck!) She came back and took a seat. She placed her head on her hands.

"Hi I'm Charlie and I'm your waiter for today. Can I get your order?"

"Uh yes." The guy sitting across her 'lightly' kicked her shin from under the table. She snapped her head up and glared at him. She looked at the menu and they both said their order to the lovely Charlie.

"Why the hell you gotta kick me man?" She confronted him.

"What was I supposed to do." He said in the most nonchalant way. He shrugged then leaned back on his seat.

"Oh I don't know..lightly tap my shoulder and call out my name?" She smiled bitterly.

He paused for a moment. "But I don't know your name." He looked down at the table.

(Oh yeah. How foolish of us. We never asked each other's names.) She realized. "Melodie. Nice to meet you." She smiled warmly at him.