Chapter 2
The next day she was sitting in a traffic jam on her way to the mall, with the
windows down, listening to the Millennium c.d, getting quite impatient, when she
noticed a side street she thought she'd be able to turn down. Rachel pulled out
of the line of cars and onto the alley, when a red Expedition seemed to have had
the same idea, and came right up behind her. Who ever was in the car, seemed to
be in a rush, because they
were honking their horn profusely, and waving for Rachel to move out of the way.
She
glanced in her mirror to see what the problem was. She realized the driver was a
man and
he was yelling something at her. Not being able to understand him clearly, she
turned
down the music, only to hear a very loud
"Get the hell out of the way, woman!
Hurry
up!"
Now she got worried, thinking there was an emergency or something, so
Rachel
did as he said, and pulled over as much as possible on the narrow road. Not far
enough,
as she found out, because the Expedition grazed her car and slightly bent the
side
mirror.
"Shit! What an asshole!" she yelled as the car sped off down the
street.
Rachel was about to follow it and at least try to get a license
plate number,
but just as fast as the Expedition had driven off, another car came right after
it,
preventing her from pulling out. It didn't end up going very far before turning
back
around and going out the same way it came in.
"Well that was weird" she
thought to
myself. "And what the hell am I going to do about this car?"
The car had
also been a
"gift" from Multimedia, and she was sure it had been pretty expensive.
Her
mind
raced wildly, "I can't ask them to pay for the repairs! I've only had it one
day, and its
already ruined it!!"
She figured she would now have to pay for the repairs
herself,
with the little money she had brought. Rachel started the car and turned the
c.d back on,
not quite so loud this time. Immediately she felt better, hearing the boys
sweet voices,
and decided that a scrape and a bit of a bent mirror shouldn't cost too much.
She was just
about to proceed down the alley when she noticed the notorious Expedition
heading her
way. Rachel reached for the door handle, to get out and give the guy a piece of
her mind
(if he slowed down that is) but then noticed the driver screeching to a halt and
hopping
out of his car.
"He better have a good explanation" she thought angrily. Pen
and
paper also seemed like a smart idea, to take down a name and number. She reached
into
the backseat.
"Where did I put that pad of paper?" she asked myself outloud,
fumbling through the junk that had already collected in the back. "Ah ha, here
it
is."
When she turned around she was surprised to find the driver already
standing
right outside the door smiling, causing her to let out a slight
scream.
"Sorry didn't
mean to scare you. I also wanted to say sorry about the car." he muttered.
He
looked
and sounded a little familiar, but Rachel couldn't put her finger on how she
knew him,
since he was wearing a hat and sunglasses, which made his face almost impossible
to
see.
"Sorry is right. You can also apologize for being so rude and actually
making
me pull over in this alley for what seemed like no apparent reason."
"I know
I was
really bad about that. Believe me, I'm normally not like that, really. But these
girls were
chasing me in my car with cameras, and I didn't want them to get a shot of the
license
plate otherwise I won't be left alone for God knows how long. Hell, Orlando's
whole teen
population would.."
"How extremely traumatic for you" Rachel said
sarcastically,
interrupting him."Now although I'd love to sit here and listen to more about how
girls
chase you, I have to get to an autobody shop, because no this isn't my car, it's
my
company's, and I have to explain how, in only 24 hours, the mirror got
bent."
"Look, I
said I'm sorry, it was an emergency"
"Yeah nice emergency." This was the last
thing
Rachel needed right now, some strange guy damaging her car and then pretending
like it
was nothing. But the distressed look on hs face let her know that he was being
sincere so
she figured she would soften up a little.
" I accept your apology ok? But I
still need a
name and phone number for insurance purposes, as well as your license plate
number."
She still hadn't gotten a hold of a pen and was looking for one when the guy
pulled one
out of nowhere.
"Here you go darlin, now I didn't catch your name, what is
it?"
"Its Rachel. Thanks for the pen. Oh and by the way, it was nice you came
back to
apologize, seeing as you had such an important "emergency". I appreciate
it"
"It was
the right thing to do. And do I sense a nice tone to your voice? For most of the
conversation you've been kind of nasty. Not that I mind, or that I don't deserve
it, but I
don't often get a woman talking to me like that, and it's a nice change believe
it or
not"
"Oh right, the girls that chase you and your ego. There really sweet to
you, I'm
sure" Rachel said, the edge returning to her voice,"So you still haven't
answered my
question. Name and number?"
Rachel noticed he looked a little annoyed that
she
wasn't quite taken in by his charm. The smile he had been flashing, turned into
a tight
line.
"Well the names A.J McLean, but I won't be under that at the DMV or
whatever, it will be Jim McLean there, for privacy. Here's my card with my cell
phone
number on it. I don't think you're the type to photocopy or sell it or anything,
so I feel safe
giving it to you. If you have any problems call me or my lawyer, who's number
is also on
the back. Sorry again about my attitude, my ego and the car." He started to
walk away,
but turned around with a slight grin on his face and said "By the way, good
choice of
music."
And with that he walked back to his car, hopped in and drove
away.
"Oh..my..God" was all Rachel could stutter. For half an hour she just sat in
shock.
Finally she snapped out of it.
"So that's why I thought I recognized him."
She drove
home in a daze, forgetting completely about the mall. By the time she got home
Rachel
had only an hour to get ready and get down to Multimedia for the meeting.
Chapter 3
INDEX