too much to live with~Arwen

Chapter 15

Red color swayed in front of Arwen’s eyes. Arwen tried to delimitate the circle from where the color was emitting. Her heart pumped faster. Most easily caught by the eye, it was the color that depicted a sign of caution. The most attention grabbing color out of VIBGYOR. It was a powerful color, able to induce deepest of emotions from passion to violence. It made her think of Verona.

She waited for the red light to turn green on the crossroad that would lead her to Zeisha’s place. It was a small crossing, which according to Arwen didn’t require a traffic light. Arwen often jumped it, finding it a waste of time and patience for waiting to cross such a small distance. She didn’t jump the same today. She was in no hurry. Looking at her watch she realized that Verona had let her go before the time she had expected. She imagined herself getting soothed by the music being played in her car, as the red color disappeared in front of her.

She accelerated her car in response to the green light. Just after about two seconds she was forced to stomp hard on her breaks. Her car stopped with a jolt throwing her forward. She heard a crash, from where she didn’t know. A car at a high speed went across in front of her from the right to the left. If not a small distance to cross then it would have bumped brutally into some other car with that speed. And if not for the breaks then Arwen would have violently collided with it. How the luck plays games all the time? The only time Arwen decided to respect the traffic rules and she saw an inch of her good luck fade. And to think of the other end, she could see an inch of her good luck brighten because of her reflexes. But neither of this was responsible for the incited fear. The car that crossed Arwen’s path was a black colored car. But not a sedan. She wondered how many other black cars were capable of accelerating her heart beat. And improve her reflexes.

Somebody slammed on her window. She gasped at the sound. A man stood outside. Arwen rolled down her window with some difficulty and then she heard the blaring sounds of horns from all the cars lined behind her.

“Watch out young lady.” The man spoke. He looked middle aged and had an aggressive posture.

“I am moving.” Arwen said briskly.

The man raised his eyebrows, “Don’t you want to look at the damage?”

“What damage?”

The man stared at her as if he was talking to a lunatic woman. “My car just bumped into yours because of your bloody stoppage. I can’t really blame you, but you would at least care about your car?”

Arwen stared at the man, momentarily forgetting the horns. She stepped out and walked to the back of her car. And sighed.

The car’s tail lights were gone and even with the other car still in close contact with her car; she could see the huge dent at the rear side.

She looked at the cars behind the car who hit her. There were two more cars involved in the head to tail collision. People seemed to be either talking amongst themselves or on the phone. The man who had approached her was now talking to a group of people. Arwen returned her gaze to her car. She couldn’t believe it was only a few days back she had got it mended. The frequency of horns started to increase as more cars crowded behind the ones involved in the accident. Her head started to throb.

“You need help? Car’s working right? People are moving now. They can’t really find anyone to blame.” The same man spoke to Arwen. Arwen didn’t look at him. Listening to his tone made Arwen doubt his intentions of helping. He surely blamed her. Too bad he can’t prove it, Arwen thought.

“No.” Arwen said quietly and opened her car door. In the rearview mirror she saw everyone following her suit. Leaving them behind her, she moved ahead. She kept the speed of the car as minimum as was practically possible. She halted at the next lane. She parked her car on the side of the road and rested her head. She calmed herself down, concentrating only on her breathing. There were many things she should be thinking right now. About Verona, who was just a few blocks away and would not hesitate in coming if Arwen asked him to. About her car, which should be taken to a mechanic. About her hands, which were shivering violently and not allowing her to drive at a normal speed. About Kevin, whom she should call for help. About Zeisha, regarding her mental status when she was involved in a greater accident than this one.