Tabbs

Chapter 13

The next day, Tabbs joined her car with a row with, what many would consider, far higher class cars then hers. The kinds without dents, with what were likely their original doors, and Tabbs' most envious feature, powered windows. The old rust bucket Saturn choked and sputtered till it eventually died in the frontmost space of the strip mall. She checked her phone and compared it with the address of the glass window.

Suite nine hundred, Geico Branch Office. All looked right. She backed out of the GPS, waited for her phone to catch up, and landed back on the profile page of Dakota Gibbons. A man with blond, close cut hair and a strong-looking chin stared back at her from a background of green foliage. From the looks of the Northface everything, it appeared to be taken during a hike. The Dakota she knew would have never stepped outside if he could help it, but then again, she probably wasn't much like the Tabbs he knew from back in the day either. She tapped open their exchanged messages and scrolled down to the bottom.

'Meeting up sounds great! I got my lunch around 1:30 Tuesday. Work for you?'

Tabbs looked at the digital clock at the top of her phone. Five minutes late, but she doubted it would be much of a problem. She got out, slammed the door shut with a loud, whiny creak and approached the branch office. She cupped her eyes around the glass and peered inside to be greeted by a giant mural of a smiling lizard, and just below was a tall, muscular man talking jovially with a shorter, presumably husband and wife, couple. Tabbs smiled and threw open the door.

"I'm glad we could reach a figure that works for you, Mr. Lee!" The tall man extended a hand in the direction of the shorter man.

The man adjusted his glasses, a wide line spanned across his and his wife's faces. He took the proffered hand and did his best not to yelp at what looked like a death grip. "Yes, well, thank you for all your attention mister... sorry, what was it again?"

"Mr. Gibbins, but please, that was my father's name. Call me Dakota." The tall man whipped out a business card from his breast pocket and offered it over.

"Yes, of course." The man gently plucked it free and nodded politely, "Thanks again for your help." The man wrapped a protective arm around his wife, who, from the look of her puckered lip was about to say something quite to the contrary, and began pushing her toward the door.

"Any questions or problems at all, please don't hesitate to call my direct number!" Dakota called after them as they pushed past Tabbs and out the front door.

Dakota's steely blue eyes snapped from the fading forms of the couple to Tabbs. "Hey, how you doing? Waiting for Mom to pull around the car to get your first insurance plan?" he said, summoning an overly white smile.

Tabbs looked over her shoulder, then back to Dakota. "Me?" she pointed at her own face.

"Yes you! I'm actually about to go out to lunch, but I can set you up with Coleman and he'll treat you right!"

Tabbs arched a brow, a smirk tickling her cheek. "Dakota, its me you asshole."

Dakota's brows furrowed tight enough to hold a pencil. "Um, exu-" He blinked, checked his watch and looked back at Tabbs. "Oh! Tabbs?"

"Duh!" She slapped him on the shoulder, leaving a crease in his well-pressed dress shirt. "How you been, man? You look so-" she gestured to his tight-fitted khaki pants and dress shoes, "official."

"Thanks! Comes with the territory." He glanced over his shoulder towards a hallway and back at her. "Lets get out of here before I get another couple of fascinating people to sell insurance to."

He strode past her and through the door with Tabbs following behind. He dug his hand into his pocket and produced a key. He clicked a button and a massive red pickup blinked its lights at the end of the lot. "Thats me." The pair climbed inside and Tabbs was immediately overwhelmed with the amount of space. She felt like a kid again being in the seat of her Dad's old Ford, her feet unable to touch the floor. Dakota cranked the engine, which started with a satisfying purr, and their faces were immediately assaulted by a blast of cold air. Dakota turned down the radio and pulled out of the parking lot.