Rise of the Dunamy (10 page)

19

A
s she reached her car, Sofia sent Lucian a quick text to let him know that she was on her way. Not wanting to waste a single second waiting for the train or any of the stops, she opted to take her car. Atlanta traffic was relentless, but there were a series of windows that opened throughout every day that allowed for a reasonable drive. Since it was nearly ten o’clock, all of the morning commuters were at work, and all of the mornings wrecks should have been cleared away. Sofia cranked up her car and exited the parking deck.

As expected, the traffic was light. During her drive, Sofia began to take note of all of the idiotic things that other drivers were doing that she usually didn’t pay any attention to.

It’s no wonder Lucian doesn’t drive, she thought.

Suddenly, the car that she had been stuck behind released a large cloud of thick, black smoke and began to slow.

“Oh, no. No, no, no!” Sofia said to herself, as she realized exactly what was happening. The car that was in front of her was an ancient, rusty, bucket of a car that had no business being on the road. She was in such a hurry to get to Lucian she had employed the “tailgating” technique to try and persuade the car to speed up. She was traveling so closely that she now had no room to go around as he came to a halt in the middle of the interstate. Sofia began to panic as she looked up to notice the never-ending stream of traffic that was swerving around her, making escape impossible. She watched with great frustration as the people behind her continued to jump over into every available spot before speeding past her, only to be replaced by another car that did the same. She could see freedom just beyond the hood of her rust colored captor, but knew all too well how far from that freedom she was.

From what she could see, the man behind the wheel was very old and doing everything that he could to try and restart the car, which appeared to consist of turning the key, holding it in place, and bobbing his head in an effort to “will” it to work. Realizing that there was no chance of him trying to push the car out of the way, or doing anything to help himself, Sofia angrily squeezed her steering wheel, and clenched her teeth so hard she thought one might actually crack.

After what seemed like an eternity of trying to find a chance to get past the scrap pile that had imprisoned her, Sofia finally placed her car in park, turned on her flashers, climbed over to the passenger’s seat, and out into the emergency lane. She approached the vehicle and tapped her shield on the glass.

“What!” Shouted the man, startled by Sofia’s presence.

“I’m just trying to help you, sir. Roll down your window.” She shouted back.

“Can’t! Handle’s broke; Door handle too! What do you want?”

“Of course it is.” Sofia muttered to herself. “Well, I’m in a hurry. I’m just going to push; you steer the car over to the emergency lane!”

“I got no power steering, do you know how hard it’s going to be to turn this thing!?”

Sofia’s usually calm demeanor in these situations instantly turned to anger as she shouted out, “I’m about to push your giant, rust covered, trash heap of a car with no help! Do you know how difficult that is going to be?! Now either get ready to push or get ready to steer!” She was generally exceedingly polite to those in need, but this was no time for niceties. This man was costing her precious time with Lucian, and that was about to end. Knowing the great amount of risk she was taking on rather than just waiting for help to arrive, Sofia propped her feet on the front bumper of her own car and placed her hands firmly on the trunk of the jalopy.

“Should’ve taken the train.” She grumbled as she prepared to manhandle the beast. Lowering her head, Sofia eased into a strong, steady push. The car lurched forward for a second before coming to an abrupt halt. Sofia nearly face planted into the back window of the car. Slamming her hand down on the trunk, she screamed “Come on! NEUTRAL!” She saw his little head pop above the headrest as the sound of her hitting the car had clearly startled him once again. He began to flail about as if he couldn’t find the gearshift. Locating it, he slammed handle into neutral and Sofia again began pushing.

The sound of the rubber pushing the loose pieces of asphalt and the creaking of the ancient axles under the weight of the car were two of the greatest sounds that Sofia had ever heard. The ground was flat enough so that the car gave very little resistance and began to coast rather easily once she got it moving. Sofia felt the sweat beading up on her forehead as she continued to work to get the car off of the bustling interstate. Sofia tried not to laugh as she looked up and saw the little man struggling feverishly to turn his dilapidated wreck into the emergency lane.

The little man finally straightened his wheels and pulled the car completely out of the way of traffic. Sofia ran up to the driver side window, which he promptly opened for her. “I’m going to call you a tow truck.” She huffed as she attempted to catch her breath. “Don’t you EVER bring this car back out on the interstate, again!” She yelled over the traffic noise. Normally, Sofia would have waited around to make sure that the tow truck found the man and gotten him home safely; but this was not a normal day. Jogging back to her car, Sofia climbed back over to the driver’s seat and started back towards Lucian.

20

I
t was no surprise to Sofia how crowded things were when she arrived at Atlantic Station. It was a beautiful day, and everyone was taking advantage of the sunshine. The warmth of the sun was increasing as it climbed higher into the cloudless sky, but a delicate breeze found its way down every avenue, helping maintain the comfortable temperature.

Upon arriving and parking her car, Sofia had texted Lucian to let him know that she was pulling in. Lucian responded by telling her that he was running a little behind and asked that she just come and meet him at his apartment. She agreed and he texted her the directions.

Sofia took a brief second to look around the beautifully secluded little community. Elegant shops lined the streets in every direction. The sidewalks were packed with window shoppers and a number of people eating at the outdoor seating areas. The air was filled with the smell of freshly cooked bread from the bakery across the street from where she stood. Unable to stand in the same place too long due to the heavy foot traffic as well as the desire to find Lucian, Sofia decided it was time to press on.

Before heading in the direction of their meeting area, she ducked into a restroom to freshen up. Her encounter on the interstate had left her a bit sweatier than she had hoped to be. Taking a few minutes to clean her face and hands, retouch her makeup, check to make sure she hadn’t damaged or dirtied her clothes while in contact with the disgusting pile of rubble she had encountered on the interstate, she dashed off once more. The only thing keeping Sofia from breaking into a dead sprint to get to Lucian was the fear of showing up for their day together stinking and sweating through her shirt. She accepted the fact that she was nearly there and carried on at a modest pace towards Lucian’s condo. Finally, she arrived at his building and couldn’t help but be impressed by what she saw on the other side of the lobby doors.

“At the door,” she texted, not wanting to deal with the call box. The buzz came shortly after and Sofia entered. She was instantly impressed as she entered the lobby of the building as the sounds of a running fountain caught her attention. She glanced around, her mouth slightly agape at how elegant the building was. The room was filled with various artworks that had been placed with inspired precision. From where she stood Sofia could see into a large common room filled with bookshelves. A pedestal chessboard sat in front of an unlit fireplace inside the room that created an unbelievably comfortable appearance. She continued to scan the room, taking note of each of the corridors that led off to unknown areas that she could only assume contained equally mesmerizing amenities. As she scanned around to her left she made eye contact with a surprisingly underdressed young woman sitting in a second, smaller seating area. The woman appeared to have been reading a book as she relaxed in her terrycloth robe, her crossed legs fully exposed through the opening beneath the belt. She was now staring at Sofia with a smirk.

“First time here?” She asked Sofia knowingly.

“Is it obvious?” Sofia replied.

“Yeah. That’s a pretty common look from people who have never been here. I did the same thing when I first came in.” Her warm smile helped make Sofia feel more comfortable in the posh surroundings, and made her feel slightly ashamed that she had thought anything negative about her. “Anything I can help you with?”

“I’m really just looking for the elevators.” As she said the words the familiar ding of an arriving elevator drew her eye in its direction. Lucian emerged from the elevator with a huge smile and approached Sofia.

“Hey Lucian!” The woman who had been talking with Sofia chirped. Sofia was looking right at Lucian as the woman spoke and could see his eyebrows rise just a little in a look of surprise as he heard her voice. Turning his head slightly, but never slowing his progress, Lucian took Sofia’s hand and pulled her back towards the elevator.

“Hey, Sandra. Sorry, I don’t want to miss this elevator. Good to see you this morning,” he replied quickly as he hurried over and pressed the button to re-open the doors. The doors didn’t immediately open and Lucian’s mouth curled down into a comical frown as he stared up at the rising floor counter. Pulling his attention back to Sofia he realized he had yet to greet her. “Hello beautiful. You look lovely as always.” Sofia was excited to see him but couldn’t help but notice that Sandra was paying particularly close attention to their conversation.

She said, “You look really nice this morning, Lucian.” The other woman’s voice was no longer pleasant to Sofia as it had been when she was trying to help her before. It now seemed shrill and desperate, even though she was fairly certain nothing had actually changed.

“Thanks, Sandra. How’s Eddie doin’?” Sofia could tell that Lucian was uncomfortable with the conversation, but he seemed to be trying to cover it as he spoke to her.

“Eh. The same I guess.” The woman’s face soured as she spoke about whomever they were referring to.

“Well, tell him I said hello,” Lucian continued plainly, still trying to be as pleasant as possible. “I’m gonna…” he said, indicating towards Sofia in an effort to end the conversation.

“Oh, sure! Sorry. I was just saying hi. I haven’t seen you in a while.” Sandra added uncomfortably.

“It’s good to see you, Sandra.” Lucian said with a final smile before turning his attention back to Sofia. “Anyway. You look great this morning.”

“Thanks.” The awkward conversation had torn Sofia from her joyful state of excitement at seeing Lucian. Now she felt uncomfortable and awkward as she and Lucian both stared up at the floor counter as it descended. After a few more excruciating moments waiting for the elevator, the doors finally opened. The pair snuck in as quickly as they could after the occupants emerged and Lucian began pecking at the button to try and close the doors as quickly as possible. Sofia looked up one last time when the doors finally lurched back to close to see Sandra on the edge of her seat trying to get another peek at Lucian before they left.

The elevator began its ascent and Sofia looked over to Lucian to see if any sort of explanation was coming. She couldn’t help but wonder what must have happened to cause Lucian to act so unlike himself. Usually his interactions with others were so smooth and pleasant, and he always tried to make other people feel comfortable. While he had been pleasant with Sandra, he made no attempt to make her feel comfortable. Lucian looked down to Sofia and smiled innocently.

“I’m really glad you came over. I’m not sure what we’re going to do, but I’m guessing we’ll have fun.” Sofia was a little surprised he didn’t even address the odd encounter from the lobby. Not wanting to take away from their time together, Sofia tried to put Sandra out of her mind.

“I’m glad you didn’t feel the need to play games,” she replied.

“Yeah, that’s not really my style. Either you like someone, or you don’t. Either way, you make it obvious. I’ve had girls tell me to do the whole ‘not calling for three days’ thing. When I hear that, it’s a dead giveaway that someone is into games. When someone tells me that, I don’t call…ever. You like someone, you spend time with them. That’s just how I do it.” Lucian was definitely straightforward, which was a quality that sent a surge of energy through Sofia’s body. Each time Lucian said something about or insinuated that he liked her it gave Sofia chills and an instant rush.

As they exited the elevator, Sofia turned to him quickly and put her hands around his neck. Lucian wrapped his arms around her and lifted her gently off the ground. She was surprised at how easily he picked her up. As thin as he was, Sofia had always assumed that he would be very weak, but he made lifting her seem effortless. The thoughts fled from her mind as quickly as they came as she was overtaken with excitement and joy at being in Lucian’s presence again.

“Sorry I was running late this morning.” He said quietly as he craned his neck to kiss her.

“It’s okay. I got a little sidetracked, too.” They kissed several more times as Lucian held her there, but his hold remained steady.

“You got here quicker than I thought you would and you had a holdup? Good Lord, woman! How did you get ready so fast?” He asked as he lowered her slowly back to the ground. Not wanting to make her frantic race to see him sound too crazy, Sofia decided a little white lie wouldn’t hurt. “Oh, I was already out of the shower and getting ready for the day when you called.”

“Oh, wow. You get going early on your off-days, huh? What was the holdup that made you run late?”

“Oh, some little old man’s car broke down in front of me on the interstate. I got out and helped him and I think I scared him a little.” Her mouth curled back into the same playful smile she had approached Lucian with moments before.

“You scared a defenseless little old man whose car was broken down in the middle of a busy interstate, while you were helping him? You’re terrible!” Lucian exclaimed as he tried to refrain from laughing.

“He had it coming,” she mumbled, before straightening her face back out and saying rather seriously, “Plus, his car was a hazard.

He should never have been on the road with that thing. And, he was driving super slow. I almost plowed into him while his car was actually still running!”

“Oh, well, in that case, I’m glad you lit that old man up! That’s exactly what I meant about people having cars that shouldn’t be driving. You know full well he probably hops in that car every day knowing it’s probably gonna break down on him. But does he care? Hell no, he doesn’t!” Lucian stopped himself for fear that he might begin to rant, which would detract from their afternoon together.

“Sorry about that. I really get worked up about traffic sometimes.” His face softened as he cut his eyes towards Sofia. Opening the door to his condo, Lucian rolled his arm through the doorway. “Well, let’s get in here so you can check this place out,” he said warmly as they entered his home.