An uncomfortable chill surrounded the air around her as Ophelia set her backpack into the back of her car. With every breath, a trail of fog left her lips and met with the below zero temperature the air held. She quickly got into the driver's side, putting the key into the ignition and turning it. The engine stalled, making her groan in frustration. She hit the steering wheel before trying again. Still, nothing. Her car hardly started in the dead of the summer, she wasn't sure why she thought it would start now. She fumbled in her coat pocket for her phone, trying to stop her hands from shaking just enough to pull up Jessie's contact. It took her minutes longer than she would've cared to admit, the cold getting the best of her fingers. She felt a wave of relief wash over her when she began to hear the ringing, putting the phone on speaker. After three rings, Jessie answered the phone. "What's up?" She asks, and Ophelia took a deep breath.
"Can you please come get me? My car won't start and I'm pretty sure if I try walking, I'll freeze to death." She says quickly, her teeth chattering between nearly every word. "Oh, shit, yeah. What building are you at?" Ophelia turned her head to try and describe her location in great detail, describing the buildings around her and what she could see so Jessie could get to her as fast as possible. "Be there in five. Try not to get hypothermia." She responds, and Ophelia nods with a laugh that almost hurt her. "I'll try. See you in a minute." She let Jessie hang up, in fear her fingers would go completely numb if she attempted to use them again. She decided to try her luck with starting the car one more time, feeling the slightest bit of hope when it stalled just a little slower than it had before. And then, nothing. She groaned, resting her head back against the seat and hugging herself to keep warm.
It wasn't even five minutes before she saw Jessie's car pull up behind hers, and she almost yelled with excitement. She grabbed her keys, pushing her door open and getting out quickly. She took her bag from the backseat, locking her car before speed-walking to Jessie's car. She went to open the door, but it was locked. She knocked on the window, too cold to think about anything besides the heat that was waiting for her inside the car. She wished she had known that the heat wasn't the only thing waiting for her. After an obnoxiously long period of time, she heard the click of the lock, and opened the door so hard she was nervous it would fly off the car.
She took her seat in the passenger side, letting out a sigh of relief when the heat and seat warmers encompass her. "Better?" A voice says from the driver's seat, and Ophelia turns to look at him. "Seriously?" She groans, seeing Sam sitting there with a wild grin on his face. "That's all I get? No 'thank you for dropping everything and coming to rescue me, my savior'?" He asks, putting the car back in drive before speeding down the road. "Slow down! There's ice, Sam!" She exclaims, holding onto the handle above her. "Oh, live a little, James." "And for the record, I will never, ever, call you 'my savior'."
"It was a joke. Relax." He says, his tone clear with annoyance as he continues at a speed way faster than he should've been going. "Seriously, Sam. Slow down." She warns, turning up the heat a little bit. "Fuck." He exclaims, seeing a police car turn on it's sirens as he passed it. "I'm not even gonna lie, I saw him a mile back. This is completely on you." She says, leaning against the door as Sam pulls over. "You are so unbearable. If I get any more points on my license they're gonna take it away." He takes a breath, watching the cop pull up behind them. "I told you to slow down." Ophelia shrugs, glancing over at him and noticing the nervous expression on his face. The cop gets out of his car, making his way up to them slowly. "My dad's gonna fucking kill me." He clenches his jaw, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. She sighed as the cop knocked on the window, motioning for Sam to roll it down.
Ophelia knew she shouldn't have saved him. She had absolutely no reason to, considering how fast he was going, and that he was putting her life in danger. She wasn't even entirely sure why she leaned over the console, putting her head on her hand as she looked up at the cop. As soon as the window was all the way rolled down, the officer gave the two of them a look. Ophelia couldn't help but notice how Sam seemed like he was about to have a full blown panic attack. "Do you know why I pulled you over today?" The officer asks, and Sam shakes his head quickly, "No, sir." "Is there a problem, Officer... Flynn?" Ophelia asks in the most flirtatious voice she could muster, reading his name tag halfway through the question. Sam turned to her, giving her a weird look. "Well, Ma'am, your boyfriend here - I assume this is your boyfriend-" He looks at her for confirmation, and she gives Sam a once over before returning her gaze to the officer. "Nothing too serious, Officer. You were saying?" She raises an eyebrow, putting her hand on Sam's arm and running her finger up and down his skin.
