Roadside Assistance

[grinofthecat]

{First time posting a story...be gentle?}

Roadside Assistance

It had started snowing while I was in the gym. ‘That’s what I get for going late at night.’ I thought to myself as I pulled my hood over my head and jaunted across the frozen parking lot to my car. I slid a little on some black ice near the rear door. Catching myself against the dirty black Soul I rolled my eyes, “People are going to be driving like idiots.” I murmured to myself. Opening the back driver side door I shrugged off my backpack tossing it in the back seat. I checked my phone for any messages closing one door in favor for another. I climbed into the driver seat and fired up the engine. Killing some time, I scrolled through my Facebook feed giving my car a few moments to warm up.

After a chuckle or two I dropped my phone in the cup holder and started to back out cautiously. If the mall parking lot was any indication of the road conditions then I was in for a longer drive that necessary. Fortunately enough for me, once I got out on the main road, it wasn’t so bad. The time of night also provided that there weren’t many cars out anyway.

A mile or so from the gym I was heading down the hill towards the college when I saw red and blue lights passing over the surrounding trees and houses. As I got closer to the three way stop light I saw ahead there was an accident where the road bottle necked. The curve was sharp and people should know better. The light was red, I sighed resting my forehead against the steering wheel. “It’s not like we shouldn’t be accustom to this weather, its western effing Pennsylvania.” I said out loud to no one. I glanced over into the ominous blackness of the back road that created the T at the light I was sitting at. The main road would be clearer, but there was an accident. The back roads may be a little slick, but I would bet dollars to donuts that they were abandon.

I gave the wheel a sharp turn and wedged myself out of the stand-still traffic. “The road less traveled…” I echoed my father’s advice. Turning down the dark street cautiously I tested the road to see if I would slide. I was lucky; the road was just wet – for now. I bumped up the volume on the radio and started singing along with The Cure. A few miles in I turned the corner by the cemetery. There was a jolting bump then a terrible rumbling as my car started to shimmy and thump. “Oh my god…oh my god…oh my god…” I chanted under my breath pulling over on the burm.

I put the car in park and sat there for a moment. What did I hit? I was certainly paying better attention than most days since the conditions were sketchy at best. I don’t recall seeing anything. I took my phone off the charger to use as a flashlight and got out of the car. Loose gravel crunched under my sneakers as I walked around the back of the Soul inspecting the tires. My heart sank and my jaw dropped. The back passenger side tire was shredded as if I’d run over Wolverine. I crouched for a moment touching the tattered rubber and cursing under my breath. The wind blew and the remnants of sweat from the gym felt like it froze to my skin. I got up and started walking along the roadside sweeping my phone from side to side. I found nothing. There was nothing in the street and I could see nothing on either side of the way that looked like it could have caused that damage. I shook my head; maybe there was a bubble in the tire? They were only a couple of months old it couldn’t have been worn.
Sighing I turned and jogged back to the car. Opening the trunk hatch I started adjusting things in the back seat to access the jack and spare. I pulled them out of the little hidden cubby hole and closed the trunk.

Great fluffy snowflakes started to fall on me. “Perfect.” I grumbled setting the tire against the guard rail. I laid down on the ground in my thin hoodie and running shorts. I tried using the light from the phone and sense of touch to adjust the jack into the correct spot. It took some finagling but eventually I was able to find the right spot. I got up damp and a little muddy. It was easy to raise the Kia off of the back tire and remove most of the lug nuts. Of course the last one wanted to be stubborn. I struggled and grunted with effort trying to loosen the last of them. It wouldn’t budge. I was out of upper body strength, “This would happen on arm day.” I panted standing in the flurry of snow and glared at the tire. The cold and damp started to seep into my bones accompanied by a mild level of frustration. I hammered a kick down on the tire iron. The shadows played tricks on my stressed mind and my wet sneaker glanced right off of the cold metal. I lost my balance falling backward into the spare tire. I ended up on my butt in the mud. The spare squeezed its way through the guardrail and disappeared into the shadowed depth of the little gully on the other side.

“Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!” I shouted into the night as I held the back of my head turning to look over the guard rail. I fished my phone out of my kangaroo pocket and tapped the flashlight app. Holding the phone over my head I shone the white light down into the hard darkness. “Fuck.” I muttered under my breath as I got up rubbing my butt and wincing slightly.

I straddled over the steel barrier and attempted to judge the steady decline of the ground to the flat bottom. “It doesn’t seem that bad.” I shrugged and started down the hill with small measured steps. The snow was starting to stick in a few places which made me nervous. I tried to avoid the small fluffy patches, but the long grass was slick and caution be damned, I slipped and slid down the hill on my already tender backside. I lay on the ground at the foot of the slope and stared into snow the speckled night. I’d gone from damp to wet and the ‘mild frustration’ exploded into totality. “What else?” I wondered loudly to the night. I patted my hoodie and found that at least my phone stayed put. It took a lot of effort to get back up on my feet, more than I had anticipated. The flashlight on my phone was certainly getting its full use this evening as I clicked it back on and slowly drew it across the darkness once again.

AH HA! There was my tire no more than ten feet away. Once I got it, I had no idea how I was getting back up that hill but I’d figure it out, I was sure. I held the light up at shoulder level still moving it about to make sure there was no wildlife around. I started off to retrieve my tire when, with a grand fall and splash, I found myself stomach deep in freezing cold water and shrieked. It was kind of like that “phantom step” feeling, the slow motion sensation when you step down and feel like you are falling when in reality you’re depth perception was just a little off. (Way off in this case.)The snow and sleet had thatched down the grass over a small marsh. I had been so focused on what I was after that I didn’t even notice the glittery cattails around me.

My heart leapt to my throat and banged against it to get out. I bit back a scream of rage and just huffed as I tried to move forward. I was already soaked may as well complete my task. At least I had managed to not drop my phone. When I moved forward I felt my foot sink. The bottom of the swamp was below frost line which left its bed thick and sticky. Wrestling against the mud I continued but sunk further and further. I started to shake as I stood there slowly being swallowed by the earth. It gripped the low curve of my calves with cruel restraint. I looked at my phone, it was so late. “Please be awake, Cowboy, please be awake.” I breathed as numb fingers fidgeted with the touch screen to call the only person I could think of to help me out of this.

‘Oh he answered, thank god.’ I thought. I don’t think his voice ever sounded as sweet as it did at that very moment. “Cowboy, you are never going to believe this….” I started and quickly explained exactly what happen. There was silence when I was finished. “Hello? Hello?” I felt the furrow in my brow and looked at my phone, the cold killed the battery. How much had he heard?

My heart sank right down to my muck covered feet. I started to tremble all over. I wasn’t sure if I was just cold or if I was also scared now. I tucked the phone inside my bra strap since the rest of me was under water and struggled until I was able to turn back towards the road. Icy dampness climbed up the thin fabric of my pull over. I shook harder. Pulling and fighting, I freed my foot but the ground won my obnoxiously purple sneaker. I had all my weight on one foot and I dropped down another inch. The water was at my chest.

Teeth chattering I tried again to travel towards the solid ground, but putting my socked foot back into the viscous bog floor ended with the same result. Mud reached up and pulled me down regardless of how gingerly I attempted to move. I hugged myself and rubbed my arms furiously trying to control the tremors that racked my body. I tried wiggling my toes to keep the blood moving and to focus on something other than the panic that was inching into my brain.
Did I hear someone clucking their tongue? A bright light shown into my eyes paralyzing me then moved out of my face. “Only you, Princess. Seriously.” I heard from the road above. When the spots dissipated I saw him standing at the top of the hill with one foot up on the guard rail. He leaned forward on his knee peering down at me with a gentle smile resting easily on his lips as he shook his head.

“Yeah. I know. I know.” I chattered rubbing my arms again. “Don’t come down here. I think it’s wider than it looks.” I called back with a broken voice while glancing around.

“Oh, I’m not.” His tone was strong and confident as he held up a coil of rope for me to see. He watched me looking up at him, shivering helpless and doe eyed, for a few moments that felt like decades. He sighed and shook his head again tossing down a generous length of rope with a D ring on the end.

It landed close enough that, even with numb clumsy fingers, I could snatch it from the water before it started to sink. I pulled it around myself just under my chest and clipped the ring shut on the chord itself. I watched him wrap the other end around the guardrail to use it as leverage to help me out of the freezing marsh.
Progress was slow. The cold slimy mud held strong like tentacles wrapped around my legs. It forced me to fight and bob in the water sending fresh waves of shock along my skin. I gazed up at him, strong and steady. I felt a heavy black close in on me when I heard him call down, “Not much farther, darlin’! Stay with me!”
His statement was punctuated with me coming up against an edge of solid ground. I swallowed hard and pried my eyes open resting weak hands on the stable landing. I couldn’t even feel the cold anymore. I feebly clawed my way out and lay again in the snow covered grass at the bottom of the little hill. Panting shallowly my eyes became heavy and my skin felt as if it we being assaulted by thousands of pins. There was a tug at the rope that jerked my body, it happen a few more times in rapid succession. I was exhausted of mobility. “C’mon, Princess, I need you to come to me, okay?” His voice was still confident and the sharp pull of the rope was just an extension of that strength.

“Okay.” I breathed and pushed myself up slowly.I couldn’t stay on my feet so I crawled up the incline slipping here and there but never back sliding.

When I finally got to the road I climbed up the guard rail to get to my knees. Then I was pulled up and steadied before being helped to the other side of the steel barrier. I was slick with dark sticky mud that began to glimmer in the flickering street light as the snowflakes nested in it. My teeth chattered uncontrollably as he unhooked the rope and let it drop to the ground before he fished about in my back seat for a blanket out of my massage table. (Thank goodness my business was mobile). He draped the dry fleece blanket around my shoulders and pulled it tight around me firmly rubbing my arms then pulling me close to him and continuing on rubbing my back, “So,” his voice was very low at my ear, “what to do want to do? It’s kind of late for a spare. Do you want to call a tow?”

“No…to hell with this.” I chattered burying my face in his shoulder. “He is far enough off the road. I will come back for him tomorrow.” I shook hard a couple of times as the feeling started to come back into my limbs. “Would you just take me home?” I asked between clicks of my teeth.

“Of course.” I could hear the smile in his voice as he responded with a tight squeeze. He held me for a few more moments until the worst of the tremors subsided. Then he stooped to pick up the coil of rope and looked up at me with a smirk, “Lost a shoe?”

“Yeah….” I frowned wiggling my toes, “I liked those ones too.”
He chortled quietly as he stood and guided me to his truck, which he’d left running. He tossed the rope in the bed as he opened the passenger door. The heat reached out and affectionately caressed my face. Sanctuary. I looked at him, then the very clean interior of the cab, then at myself. I was so sticky and wet I’d started to soak the blanket. “It’s fine.” He nodded.

I tried to climb up into the seat without becoming unwrapped and slipped a little. He gave me a swat on the ass which made me jerk forward as I yelped and landed in the seat. It was like all of my nerve endings came sparking to life and I could feel the shape of his hand linger on my backside. I shot him a sideways glance but he was already closing the door.

A second later he’d swung himself into the driver’s seat not hiding his amusement. Soon we were pulling off the shoulder of the road and heading for my house. He also took the time to call my friend Geno at the local police department and let him know the vehicle wasn’t abandon so to speak.

Silence followed the phone call. The truck’s heater was cranking out hot air and he had focused the vents on his side of the truck on me as well. I sighed and relaxed back against the seat. The mud started to dry and tighten on my skin by the time we had gotten to my house.

We pulled up in front of my little A-Frame. “Thank you, Cowboy. I really appreciate this.” I said as I opened the door. He turned the truck off and as I looked over he was already closing the driver’s side door behind him. He came around and reached for my hand. I felt a demure smile crawl across my lips and I put my hand in his as he helped me down. I limped a little to the house on the count of having only one shoe on. He followed me up the steps and I kicked the one muddy shoe off on the porch.

“You might want to leave the wet blanket too.” He said as he gently took the keys from my hand. He was right, I dropped it where I stood then also pulled my mud encased socks off. He pushed the door open and pointed right up the stairs, “C’mon, you’re a mess.” He smirked. I frowned and rubbed my arms that were now just damp but being assaulted by the night air. His expression didn’t change as he rephrased, “A beautiful mess.” He tugged the strings on my hoodie and I stumbled closer to him. He kissed me on the forehead and I felt the familiar tingle of blush high in my cheeks.

I turned and went into the house and right up the stairs. He followed me in shutting the door and was quickly up the steps behind me. I flipped the bathroom light on and looked at myself in the mirror. “Nope, just a mess.” I mumbled scrutinizing my reflection. There were mud splatters across my face and my hair was half out of its ponytail so I pulled the hair tie out and freed the rest of it. I ran my hands back through my hair looking at the once light gray sweatshirt. It was now a dark coffee color.

I felt his hands on my hips before I saw him in the mirror behind me. “Let’s get this off of you before you start to get sick.” All I could do was grin as his very warm hands slide slowly up my sides gathering the hoodie and tank top at the same time. I raised my arms as he pulled the filthy clothes off of me and dropped them on the floor. Turning to face him and he replaced his hands at my hips pushing me back until I am sitting on the counter beside the sink in my muddy running shorts and black sports bra.

I sat there on the sink watching as he stretched past me to turn the water on in the tub. It came crashing out against the porcelain and he ran his fingers under the cold water then flicked it at me leaving little drops splattered across my chest. “You know, this could have waited until it was warmer outside.” He grinned, standing and placing a hand to either side of my thighs and leaning forward slightly boxing me in.

A fresh pink blush blossomed high in my cheeks and my eyes flicked up to the ceiling, “Well, trust me, had a planned this…it would not have been for a nineteen degree night.” I let my eyes roll back down and rest in his for a moment.

I watched as a sly grin slowly appeared on his lips, “So…you’ve thought about it?”his voice had an edge to it that sent a shock along my spine and deepened the blush to a hot crimson. “It’s okay, you don’t have to admit it out loud.” Though quieter his voice still had that same sinister tint. He raised his fingertips to brush against the warmth in my face. I felt my heart speed up at the simple gesture as it matured into him tracing the color along my throat and down to the clasp on the front of the bra. The faint sound of it clicking apart whispered in my ear. He left it and watched his own hands slide down my ribs to rest at my hips. The room was filling with steam but I knew by the way he felt feverishly warm against me that my skin must still be cool to the touch.

He curled his fingers under the waistband of my running shorts and looked up at me his grin widening. I bit my lip but it quickly released into a smile, I don’t know what it is, I just can’t resist him. Pressing my palms into the counter I lifted myself up enough that he could peel the soaked spandex from my skin. My shorts were smeared with mud and clay to the point where there were dark spots across my thighs from silt having seeped through the material. From the knees down I was caked in mud. It was starting to dry and some of it flaked away as he tugged the wet material off of me. I set myself down then slid off the counter letting my bra fall from my back into the sink.

Carefully I stepped into the tub, the hot water rushing over my feet felt like heaven. I turned to close the curtain so I could turn the shower on but he put his hand over mine holding it open. I lifted a brow quizzically when he reached up and took the shower wand down from the cradle.

“What are…” He cut me off before I could finish

“Did you or did you not call me to get you out of the mud?” His voice carried a mischievous tone that echoed in the predatory sparkle of his hazel colored eyes. The corner of his mouth hitched wickedly as he cocked his head to the side scanning over the shadowed stains dappled across my skin.

“I did.” I answered quietly smiling. I closed my eyes and shook my head.

“Well,” he purred, “far be it from me to leave a job unfinished.”
He pushed the button on the faucet and splashed me a little using the showerhead; I jolted looking up at him trying to hard line my lips to squash out the grin. I couldn’t, I was hardly in a position to argue. Point of fact I didn’t want to. I unfurled an arm and tugged at the bottom of his shirt. “You’re wasting hot water.”
He replaced the wand and pulled his shirt over his head tossing it behind him.

‘How do I get myself into these situations?’ I wondered.

[Rusty Shackleford]

This was great, thank you for sharing. A very nicely developed story with a plot and some resolution. Personally, I wasn't sure of the gender of the protagonist for the longest time in the story (which was really great, because it lets the reader fill in those gaps, I thought it clever). I hope to see more from you!

Rusty

[grinofthecat]

Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I really appreciate it. I am glad you enjoyed the story.

[PM2K]

Nicely done!

[grinofthecat]

Nicely done!

Thank you.
Hope to contribute more in the future.