Day 2.

Before hitting the road, the couple went to a nearby diner for breakfast. Greasy and dirty, and nothing vegetarian friendly except the fresh fruit and toast. Even those options were a stretch. It wouldn’t have been surprising to find out that the fruit and toast came with bacon bits sprinkled on top of them. Either way, the two needed to eat, and settled for the greasy fruit and iceless water. Despite the unappealing meal that they were barely able to stomach, Julien and Anna managed to smile and laugh in the company of one another.

Ashley was parked across the street. She watched, as her heart crushed in upon itself within the pit of her chest. Tears filled her eyes; she longed to be Anna sitting across the table from Julien. She J-walked to the diner when no cars were passing to get a better view. She stayed near the end of the building, peering in through a dirty window at the couple and their baffling happiness. For a moment she considered turning back; just giving up all hope on her future relationship with Julien, and allowing the couple to live in peace. Yes that would have been the noble thing to do, but Ashley wasn’t exactly a noble person. Let’s just say she has more in common with the old lady throwing cats and screaming slurs of mumbo-jumbo, than she does with Dr. King.

Once her moment of humanity was over, she noticed that the couple had gotten up to pay the bill. Ashley waited hesitantly as Julien paid the cashier. The lovebirds headed to the exit door, at which point Ashley realized was only ten feet from where she was currently standing. Ashley raced for her car, stumbling over her stilettos, and unknowingly stepping off the curb in front of an eighteen wheeler to. The big-rig blared its horn at her, but she paid no mind to it, she couldn’t let them see her--at least not yet.

The obnoxious noise of the semi-truck’s horn startled Anna, and made her jump. Julien laughed.

“It isn’t funny,” Anna remarked.

“Oh it is. You will agree by the time we get to the car. I wonder what he was fussing about. I didn’t see anything in the road, and there’s no trace of anything now.”

It was true. Ashley managed to get her ass, which slightly hung out of her extreme low-rise jeans, into her car without the couple seeing. She panted heavily behind the steering wheel of her car, thanking God for the miracle he produced for her. Her chest was heaving, anxiety racing through her entire body. Her mind was spinning. What the hell am I thinking? she thought. If he sees me, will it ruin or save me. What if they already saw me? Oh my God there they go. Is he coming towards my car? He is! Wait. No. He went around the corner. He’s in the lot. He doesn’t know I’m here. Or does he? Oh God. I love him. Look at his dark shaggy hair. Oh I’ve never seen it down. But he’s just as gorgeous with it pulled back at work. Oh his body must be amazing beneath that old Ramones shirt. Ashley undressed Julien in her mind as he walked with his fiancé to their car. Imagining him on top of her, inside of her, in the car right where she was parked. She remained there, in fantasy, until she saw the couple pulling out of the parking lot of the diner.

As Julien was waiting for the road to clear to make his left, he took notice to the sights. Nothing special really: the diner to his right, the motel across and down the street to the left, a few other small buildings, and a beat up, shabby black sedan dead ahead that could only be seen between the passing cars. The sedan made him shudder, and he carried on down the road.


Ashley remained close behind, but never too close for fear of being sighted. At times she would speed up to be parallel to them across a few lanes, and gaze into the window. The usual sights within the couple’s car were laughter, lively conversation, a sleepy Anna, a content Julien, and all around joy. Gross, was all that passed through Ashley’s mind.

Both cars drove continuously until the sky glowed with a golden light. Julien and Anna once again stopped in the town that they were in when the sun began to set. They took about a half hour to found a cute little inn to unwind in for the night. The same routine took place as night one. Ashley angrily stared at their every move. She watched them exchange money for a key to a room on the first floor. Saw Anna flirt with Julien as they strolled down the pavement, and as he unlocked the door. Anna pulled him into the room provocatively by the belt line of his jeans, and he closed the door behind them. Once again the lights did not turn on for approximately forty-five minutes. Ashley bolted out of her car, and vomited in a nearby bush.