For the Better

Nancy loved being Tim's girlfriend. It wasn't just the perks of being with him, the sex, the attention, but it came with a certain level of notoriety as well. Friends at school, once they found out that Tim and her were a thing started treating her differently. Even her professors began to be nicer to her, drop her notes on what questions would be on tests, give her extensions on projects she was struggling with. Her mom had commented on it as well. If she had meetings in her office and they noticed the picture she now kept on her desk of her and Tim, it suddenly became much easier to make a deal. Not that they didn't have to work for what they wanted, it was just that it suddenly felt like everyone around them wanted them to succeed.

"And then he said, 'Oh, I didn't know you were his girlfriend,'" Sarah had told her about a conversation with her boss at the coffee shop when Nancy met her for a drink the night before, "And then he smiled and winked at me as if there were some sort of secret between us and changed the shift schedule so I'd get all the shifts I wanted."

"Weird," Nancy said, thinking back on her week and realizing only then that she had also been on the receiving end of preferential treatment, "It's not like we've changed or anything..."

"You don't think so?" Sarah asked, "I totally have. I mean, first of all, I've never been into a guy before. But beyond that, it's like I'm, I don't know, more confident. As if being Tim's girlfriend really settles me down, even more than being married did. I know I can trust him, that he'll take care of me, but also that he's, like, a really good and respectable guy."

Sarah had a point. The whole next day Nancy became much more aware of herself, how she was feeling, how she was acting. It was like her normal insecurities were turned down a notch or two. She could still feel them, just not as loudly. Was this was it was to be in love? Or was it just what it was to be in love with Tim?

The sound of knuckles against the window of her mother’s car brought her attention to the parking enforcement officer looking at her. She rolled down the window.

“Can I help you?” Nancy asked.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you can’t park here,” the gruff voice said, pointing at the ‘No Parking’ sign next to the car.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, not wanting to get I to trouble, “I’ll only be here for another hour.”

“Is that some sort of joke?” Asked the officer, unimpressed.

“No, sir,” she said, blushing, “my boyfriend told me to wait here while he finishes his date.”

“You’re boyfriend told you to…” the officer seemed confused by the statement, “I don’t care if the Queen of England told you to park here, you still have to move the car, or I’ll give you a ticket.”

Nancy didn’t know what to do. Of course she didn’t want a ticket, but there was no way she could disobey Tim! He had been very clear that after he was done having dinner with Raven, that they would be returning to the car, and that she should wait for them right where she had parked. Nancy had no wiggle room.

“Please, sir,” she pleaded, “I’m a university student, and so I really can’t afford a ticket. Honestly, my boyfriend told me to wait for him and his girlfriend,” she pointed to the big glass window of the restaurant, “See? He’s right there.”

The officer turned and looked at Tim and Raven, then he turned back to Nancy.

“That’s your boyfriend?” He asked, awe in his voice, “I’m so sorry ma’am. I didn’t know…”

“I’m sure it’s okay,” Nancy said.

“No,” the officer continued, “Please accept my apologies, and congratulations on your relationship. If you’re with him, then I don’t think that I was showing you the proper respect.”

“No, really, it’s no big deal.”

“I should go,” he was the one blushing now, “You don’t need to have a lout like me hanging around your car. Have a great night, and park for as long as you’d like.”

Then the man scurried off.

Wow.

That had been amazing. Nancy had played the Tim Card, and it had worked! She wondered what else she would be able to get away with.

Well, she had time to think about it. Another hour, maybe more, and then her boyfriend would be back. She was so happy that she was able to help him out while his car was broken. Seeing him so happy with his new girlfriend, someone who, by their antics in the back seat on the drive to the restaurant, wasn’t shy about showing her physical affection for Tim, warmed her heart. He was, after all, the man she loved, a love bigger than she had imagined she could ever feel.

Sarah must have been right. Nancy had been changed. And for the better.