On the Road Again

Part 3, Segment 2

The miles passed in quick succession. The couple had planned to drive all the way through Nevada down I-15 into Las Vegas, and then spend a couple days relaxing before finishing the trip into Los Angeles.

By Gary’s estimation, they would make it to Vegas by about 8 or 9 PM, right around the time the sun went down and it got dark. For once, Gary was upset that it was summer. When winter rolled around (or what passes for winter in California, he thought) the sun would go down a lot earlier and he wouldn’t have to wait so long to become more than human.

The long drive also gave Gary plenty of time to think about things. He knew that he wasn’t going to be happy with life the way it had been. Despite having been a vampire for all of a few hours, he was sure that a work-a-day life wouldn’t satisfy him the way it used to. For that matter, he had never been particularly satisfied. His job was okay, and it paid the bills, but he felt like he never really tested himself. Even this move was just a change, rather than a real improvement.

More importantly, though, he thought about Lisa. And what Vanessa had told him. From now on, she could be just like she used to be, or she could be his total **** with a thought. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it gave him a shudder.

That reminded him of something else which Vanessa said. She said she could tell that Gary was decent. What the hell did that mean?

Gary’s reverie was broken by the blasting horn of a semi behind him. Gary noticed that while he had been thinking, he had slowed down significantly. When he moved the car back into the slow lane, a dozen cars and trucks pulled by. Some of the drivers had less than pleasant things to say to Gary. One woman was particularly rude, flipping Gary off while cursing at him. Gary made it a point to remember that woman’s car. He had always believed in karma, and he expected he’d see her stuck by the side of the road with a flat tire someday.

“How’re you doing?” Lisa asked. “Do you want me to take over?”

Gary looked at the woman sitting next to him. He loved her. He loved her angelic face, and her expressive eyes. And the fact that she loved him. He couldn’t accept her as his ****. Well, maybe on special occasions... He shook off that thought. Decent. Ugh.

“I’m fine right now. We can trade when we get gas later.”

Lisa looked back down at the book in her lap. Gary was jealous of the fact that Lisa could read anytime and anywhere. It made him nauseous to try reading in a car or on a plane. Lisa, on the other hand, could lose herself in a book easily.

“How’s the book coming?”

“It’s frustrating. The heroine is torn between wanting to be noble and important, and also wanting to make her family happy.”

Gary thought about that a moment. “Why can’t she do both?”

“Her family doesn’t think women should be heroes. They think women should be... women.” Lisa shrugged slightly, another gesture Gary had always adored.

“What would you do?” Gary asked.

Lisa closed the book and stared out at the quickly passing landscape. “I feel you have to be true to yourself. If you’re supposed to be a hero, you’re supposed to be a hero. If you’re supposed to be something else, then you do that. Trying to please everyone else doesn’t make any sense if it doesn’t make you happy.”

“I love you, Lisa.” She laughed a bit. “I love you too. Where did that come from?”

“What, do I have to have a reason to tell you that I love you?”

“No, it just seemed out of place in that conversation.”

He caught her eyes for a moment. “I’m just glad that you believe in being yourself.” He felt somber with the thought. “Promise me you’ll never stop feeling that way.”

Lisa reached across the seat and put her hand on his, wrapping her fingers gently around the steering wheel. “I promise. I’ll always be the pain in the neck that you love.”

What a choice of words, he thought to himself.