The Fast and the Furious

Adrian took the freeway home when he got off work. He had an hour before sunset since his work hadn’t scheduled him for a full shift. Most weeks he’d have been mad about the light paycheck, but today he was happy to get off early. He had things to take care of.

To that point his phone vibrated in the seat next to him. Reaching over he thumbed through to his messages: ‘Seven o’clock. It’s a date then.’ Complete with a kissing emoji.

That was one more thing checked off his list, and it left him plenty of time to stop by the art supply store. Adrian was beginning to feel like he had a handle on things, right up until the siren started to blare. As the red and blue lights flashed in his rear view mirror Adrian let out a long slow breath to compose himself. Of course out of all the cars on the road the cop had decided to pull him over.

Shaking his head, Adrian flicked on his blinker and go over to the side. The cop pulled up right behind him. After making him wait a minute - cops loved to take their sweet time - the officer stepped out of her car. She had brass skin and carried herself like a woman in good shape, although her uniform made it hard to be sure. Adrian guessed that she was about his own age, which was unfortunate for him; not great news for his pocketbook. In his experience rookies liked to flaunt their newfound authority.

As she strolled up to his window the officer favored him with a scowl from behind her reflective glasses. Adrian marked a faint limp on her left side, though she hid it well.

“License and registration,” she said through the window. Strands of her short dark hair danced chaotically in the wind. Adrian knew the drill and handed over his papers without a word.

“You know why I pulled you over?” she asked as she gave his ID a once over.

“I’m not really sure, officer,” he answered politely.

She leveled a stare at him. “Right. You’re ‘not really sure’ if you were going fifteen over?”

Adrian strongly resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Was I going that fast? I hadn’t noticed. Sorry.”

“Mhm” she replied flatly. “So what’s the rush? Where are you headed tonight?”

None of your business, he wanted to snap off. “Just going home.”

“Are you being short with me?”

No, mom. Wouldn’t dream of it. Jesus, who did she think she was? “Didn’t mean to cause any offense, mam. I just got off work. Maybe I’m a little tired.” He offered her a weak smile. He really couldn’t afford the ticket, but playing nice didn’t come easily to him.

The cop’s glare didn’t break, but she was **** to bite her retort off at the bark of her cruiser’s radio. “Wait here,” she instructed. “Leave the car off.”

Adrian leaned his head back against the seat while she walked back. She was definitely no stranger to the gym, he noted. Not even those unflattering blue fatigues could hide the shape of her ass. Too bad she was a pain in his. Adrian checked the clock. He’d probably still have time to do the shopping he needed. He hoped the store carried black candles.

A minute after she had left his window she came striding back up to return his license and registration. “Looks like its your lucky day,” she told him with a tone that left no doubt as to how she felt about that. “I’m going to let you go with a warning. But if you make me pull you over again I’ll make you regret it. That’s a promise.”

Adrian could hardly believe it. What a break. Now he could…

Wait.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Fuck. She’d just made him a promise. That ruined everything. His prescription from Dr. Merrill was worthless now. His mind raced. He could fix this. Maybe he could make an emergency call to Dr. Merrill’s practice. He couldn’t afford to wait until next month to do the ritual so he’d have to get the doctor on the phone tonight. What if he said…

Then he had an idea. Adrian’s heart sank into his stomach. He closed his eyes, resigning himself to what he needed to do. He could fix this, it was just going to suck. Adrian had to **** his next words out. “Yeah, that’s right. Walk away.” He made to sure to mutter it just loud enough so the officer could hear him.

She froze, then spun back around. “What was that?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Hm? Oh, nothing.” He made it sound as smarmy as he could. “Wouldn’t want to interrupt your very important business.”

“No, really” she said, face cast in fire. “Say it again.”

Adrian had to be careful here. Push her too far and she’d find some excuse to arrest him. Instead, he let his shit-eating grin falter, then slip. He spoke softly with downcast eyes. “Sorry, officer. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He wasn’t sure that his performance would have won him an Oscar, but if he gave the game up the cop was too angry to tell. Maybe she was used to people folding in front of her. “That’s what I thought,” she muttered darkly. “Wait here. Don’t. Move.”

Adrian twiddled his thumbs, wishing he had been smart enough to figure a different way out, until the officer was done writing up his ticket. She reached through his window and slammed it down onto his dashboard. “For you,” she sneered. “Get home safe now.”

He watched her storm away before reaching up for the ticket. At least it had worked. There, at the bottom, was the signature of the issuing officer. He hoped it was worth it.