Day 1.

The morning they were set to leave, Anna stopped by her doctor’s office for one last visit. She was due for her depo injection that week, and would not be able to get it along the way. So with the car packed up to it’s full capacity, Julien waited in the parking lot for Anna to finish up with the nurse that was giving her the shot of birth control. Lucky for him, there was no wait. Their trip up north was barely halted at all.

Pulling out of the parking lot the only sights to be seen were several cars already racing the streets, a red light, one homeless man pushing a Ralph’s shopping cart, two shady looking guys behind a building, and a beat up black sedan in the review mirror. Despite what others may think, LA was not the place to be for Julien and Anna. At least not any more. Anna, a writer, could be anywhere and be perfectly successful. Julien, and accountant, wouldn’t have trouble finding work either. Yes, everything seemed to work out perfectly for the two. Everything was already going according to plan.

The light turned from red to green. Julien made his left, and headed for the freeway.


Anna had fallen asleep within the first forty-five minutes of driving, her arm sore at the injection site from earlier that morning. Julien, bored to tears in silence, nudged her awake.

“My arm!” was the first thing Anna announced as she woke up.

“Sorry babe. I forget that it gets sore afterwards,” he replied.

“It’s okay. Just didn’t expect it I guess. What’s up? How far did we get?”

“Hardly anywhere. We’re sittin’ in traffic. Can’t you see? I’m bored out of my damn mind. Just needed company.” He smiled at her, and she returned the gesture. They continued on in conversation about the shitty traffic, the stank of LA, and how much they couldn’t wait to escape from it all.

The couple remained in bumper to bumper traffic for a little over an hour. No car ever going more than ten or fifteen miles per hour. They both people-watched the others in the surrounding cars. Julien leaned his head on his hand, and noticed a woman waving in the car beside him. Ashley. He rolled down his window, gave her the finger, and rolled it back up. He figured there was no better way to bid a bitch farewell. Even a woman of Ashley’s oblivion understood what that hand signal meant. She frowned and faced forward without glancing back the couple’s way until their car managed to pass her up. Anna and Julien laughed hysterically for a few moments, and then just smiled contently.

“I’m kind of glad she was there. Last time I ever have to see her, and I am completely satisfied with our parting,” Julien said.

Anna nodded and grinned in agreement.

Ashley remained a few cars back until traffic let up. Once the speeds were high, Julien and Anna took no notice of what happened to Ashley’s car, a rugged-looking, black sedan. Their journey up was in good time now. They had conquered LA’s traffic at last. The city that was fading behind them had already become a distant memory.


Ashley furiously raced down the freeway. She continued north towards the office, but never actually stopped in for work. I never did anything wrong. I only like the man. Sure I like him a lot, like a lot a lot, but that’s no reason to disrespect me. I mean yeah, he always said to get out of his space, but I thought it was just a game. Is this a game? Yes, of course. It’s a game like all the other times. But can it really be a game, if he’s leaving? Maybe it will continue on cyberly. Yes, yes. Through the internet. He’s gonna keep up the morbid jokes through Facebook….But I don’t have his Facebook. So how? How? Anna pondered Julien’s middle finger action more and more until she finally said aloud, “He meant it.”

Ashley had still been on the same freeway as Julien and Anna. She knew their plans were to go to Seattle, and she knew the best way to get there was to continue on the same freeway she was currently speeding down. She hit the accelerator harder, and remained at speeds of eighty, ninety, and even a cool hundred until she caught up with the happy couple’s car.

From two lanes over, she peered into the passenger side window, and saw the couple singing along to their music and sharing laughs. How disgusting, she thought.


The sun was just beginning to set. Their idea was to spend the night in each town they were in when sunset came. They didn’t know the name of the town they were in, but it was fairly small. Anna described it as having a “home sweet home” kind of feel. They found a decent motel with a lit vacancy sign and headed in for the night. Their drive to Seattle was to begin bright and early the following morning.

Ashley watched the couple check in from her shabby little black car. She chose not to rent a room for herself, for she was afraid she would miss the couple leaving in the morning if she was not watching. Julien and Anna skipped gracefully to their room. Ashley watched Julien unlock the door, and, once opened, saw Anna push him fiercely and passionately into the darkness of the room. Nearly an hour passed until the lights turned on.

The jealous ex-worker knew what had been committed in the shadows of that motel room. It infuriated her. A few cups of coffee kept her awake all through the night, although her rage would have been plenty enough to keep her eyes from blinking. She watched intensely until several hours past sunrise, when the couple was off again.