Lisa
Mama quickly scurries up behind me, peering over my shoulder at her through the doorway. "Jennie, what's wrong, my dear?" she asks, and I can tell that she's just as surprised as me.
Nini shakes her head, with her lips pursing into a frown. "My tire blew a little over a half a mile down the road. I walked to my dad's to see if he could help me out, but I completely forgot that he's out of town fishing with some old buddies of his. And of course, the one time I need a door or a window to the house to be unlocked, they're all locked. For twenty something years, that man never locked the back door out here, claiming that no one would ever break in, and I always griped at him for it, but now the one time I need it to be unlocked, he decides to lock it along with everything else." She sighs, totally frustrated.
"I'm sorry to bother you." she continues. "I called a towing company, but they won't be able to be all the way out here until morning. I'd call Taehyung but he's on the night shift, and Barbara... she's not going to want to come all the way out here this time of night." Nini rambles nervously.
"I'll drive you home, Nini." I cut in, already reaching for my keys on the hook by the door.
Her shoulders seem to drop in relief and she looks at me with gratitude. "Really?"
"Yes." I assure her without hesitation, gently guiding her out the back door towards my truck, and I shut the door on what I can only assumed to be my frazzled mother.
I help Nini into my truck and jog around to the driver's side, jumping in and cranking the engine. About a half a mile down the road, I spot her car pulled over to the side, with the front left tire popped. I pull up behind it and hop out to inspect the damage. Nini jumps out of the car too, opening the door to the back seat and grabbing some of her things.
"You don't have a spare in the back do you?" I ask. "Because I could change this for you in no time."
She looks at me sheepishly, shaking her head. "I know I should always carry a backup, but I already used it about six months ago and just never got around to thinking about changing it."
I nod. "That's alright. Got everything out that you need?"
She nods and I automatically reach for the things in her hands and she giggles.
"What?"
"You were always quite chivalrous." She smiles, while handing her things over and I place them in the back seat of my truck while she climbs into the passenger seat.
When all of her stuff is secured, I jump in behind the wheel and we take off down the road. The first few minutes are silent, with the both of us staring out the front windshield into the blackness. No lights line the back roads and trees prevent anyone from seeing the far off city lights.
Nini reaches over and turns on the radio, flipping through stations until she finds something suitable. She hums along to the old country song playing, while leaning her head back on the headrest, getting comfortable.
Shortly after we pass our old school, we come up on Kai Kim Jongin's old house and Nini starts laughing. "Remember when Kai asked me to prom during senior year, even though he knew me and you were dating?"
My hands involuntarily grip the steering wheel a bit harder. "Yeah. That guy is an asshole." I mutter.
Nini laughs harder, while clutching her stomach. "You were so mad! I've never seen you get in your truck faster and barrel down the road like a bat out of hell. I remember following you all the way to his house, trying to stop you. Kai's mama thought we were crazy, fighting out in the middle of her front lawn, until she realised what we were fighting about. When she realised, I don't know who was madder, you or her!"
I remember that day like the back of my hand. Kai Kim Jongin was a little shit stirrer. He always liked stirring up the pot, and he knew Nini and I had been dating for a long time. Hell, the whole town did. So why he decided to ask Nini to prom is beyond me, aside from wanting to get his ass kicked. When I told his mama what was going on, she went and got him, dragging him out by his ear to apologise to me when all I wanted to do was knock his lights out.
"I think we all know who was madder." I grumble.
"She was a close second though." Nini insists, smiling. "And then you bashed his face in, the next day after school." She sighs, with her smile fading.
"Well yeah, I couldn't do it right there in front of his mama."
She shakes her head. "I still don't understand why you had to break his nose. "
"Because you're my girl!" I exclaim, and I momentarily freeze, realising that I used present tense. Quickly clearing my throat, I recover, while pretending that I didn't say what I had just said, and pick back up right where I left off, like nothing happened. "Why would he ask a girl who was clearly spoken for to prom other than to solely get his ass kicked? Kai was just a shit stirrer who deserved it and you know it."
Silence from her side of the truck assures me my victory. That or she heard me call her my girl and she's freaked out. Either way, I don't dare look at her.
As we near the city, she rolls down the window, with the warm summer air rushing in. She kicks her feet up, dangling them out the window, and giggling.
"What are you giggling about now?" I can't help but ask, with my lips twitching up into a smile at hearing her contagious melodic laugh.
"Barbara would have a complete hissy fit right now if she saw how dirty the bottom of my feet are after walking around without shoes on." she says through a fit of giggles. "One time, all I did was walk the short distance down the driveway to get the mail barefoot and I thought the woman was going to have a heart attack!"
I can't help but laugh. "I believe that." I admit, picturing Barbara's eyes as wide as saucers, hand over her heart as she watched Nini walk around barefoot. Don't get me wrong, Barbara seems like a lovely woman but I can tell that she's very uptight.
Nini and I laugh, falling into a casual and comfortable conversation after. Once we get into the city, Nini gives me directions until we pull up to a large luxurious building of condominiums.
"Well, this is me." she says, while looking up at the building. She turns to me. "Thank you again. For driving me, having me for dinner, the pictures... I really did mean it when I said tonight was nice."
"You're welcome. It was nice." I admit.
She gives me a soft smile before shifting her gaze back to the building, with a look in her eyes that I can't quite decipher, and I look down to see her anxiously twisting her engagement ring around her finger. Her gaze nervously swings back to me. "Would you like to come up?"
I look up at the building, and an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach overcomes me. "It's pretty late, I better get going home." I say, not feeling right about going into her and Taehyung's place, not knowing what emotions might fester up inside me.
Her head bows low and she nods, while slowly reaching for the door handle and climbing out of the truck. I climb out too, grabbing her stuff from the backseat and meeting her on the sidewalk, handing her things over to her.
"Thank you." she says softly, refusing to meet my gaze. She looks at the manila envelope sticking out of her bag, while grabbing it. "These really are beautiful, Lisa. I'm glad you're picking back up photography."
I shove my hands into my pockets, leaning back against my truck. "Thank you. I'm glad you like them."
We stand in silence for a few moments until her baby blue eyes finally peer up at mine. "Thank you again." she says, slowing backing away towards the building. "Bye, Lisa."
"Goodbye, Nini."
I watch her until I know that she's made it inside safely past the front desk and into the elevator. Blowing out a much needed breath, I crane my head back to look up into the night sky to see no stars, the bright city lights drowning them out. Pushing myself off the truck, I walk back around to the driver's side and get in, already planning on stopping by the field before heading home.
