Just Friends

The Middle

As they entered the vehicle, a gust gifted the man with an especially intense whiff of lavender.

The smell was intoxicating to him, though she'd never know it. The sickeningly sweet fragrance of the perfume Candace had spritzed herself with on the way out of her home was now driving him mad in the enclosed space of his car. The last thing his companion needed to do was to make herself more appealing to him.

Candace, looking utterly apathetic and listless with a head tilted to the side and propped up on a flat palm didn't care one bit for his troubles. Unable to take it anymore, Paul reached for a driver's side button and let the window slide itself open. She suddenly jerked her head up with a start, and then immediately let herself assume the previous position. The sudden blast of air felt surprisingly good to her. Paul was just happy to have his head cleared.

The car slowed to a stop at a red light. With the car window rolled down, Candace slumped to the side in the passenger's seat. Everything began moving again. Her head rested against the open ledge with her hair flapping about wildly in the breeze, occasionally slapping her in the face. To an observer, she might have looked like a lazy dog sticking its head out the window.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a small family restaurant. Wasn't this as good as any?

"I've seen, like, ten good places to eat." She hinted to the driver.
"And we're not eating at any of them." He said as though it were rational.

Candace turned and scowled.

"We're going to hit the ocean soon if you go much further this way." The increasingly hungry and bored young woman joked.
"Yep." Was all Paul said in return.

Candace said nothing in response at first, staring blankly forward through the windshield. Okay, she couldn't let that one go.

"...yep? Are we fighting with seagulls for sand crabs? I mean, I know you're a tightwad and everything, but that seems kinda extreme." She criticized sharply.
"Hey, hey. I'm THRIFTY." The man excused.
"Is that French for 'cheap'?" Candace snapped right back.

Paul put on an insulted look.
"Geez, you're way too cranky when you're hungry."
"I'm not cranky!" Candace shot.
"That's just what a hungry and cranky person would say." Paul teased playfully.

Candace knew Paul was right, but this was something she wanted to fight him on. The slightly condescending attitude he'd been throwing about since earlier was really starting to piss her off. But she didn't have the energy to put up an earnest challenge yet. Resigning herself to a temporary truce, Candace sighed and began to pout again.

Maybe there was nothing recuperative about this trip, after all. It seemed entirely possible that Paul was just going about his ordinary business, and that she was along for the ride.

Driving in a straight line for so long, the sun was beginning to hang low in the sky, blinding. Candace tried to shut her eyes, and didn't find it much help. No darkness, just a stinging orange glow. They were never going to get there.

"Okay, we're here." Paul declared aloud, interrupting her negative thoughts as she felt the vehicle lurch beneath her seat.

Or maybe not.

"...where is here?" Came Candace's genuine question.
"HERE is where you are. You are here."
"Semantics are a waste of time. Seriously, what's up?" She chided.

Paul pointed over towards a small building at the corner.

"That's where we're eating."

Not a thing about it stood out. If Paul hadn't indicated it's status as a restaurant, she might very well have mistaken for someone's ramshackle home in need of condemnation from the city.