Not A Monster

1:17 AM; Saturday.

 My phone's ringing woke me from a sound sleep. I grunted and placed my pillow over my head to block out the sound so I could return into sleep's embrace. The ringing finally stopped after the fifth or sixth time; I'd lost count. I smiled and kept the pillow over my face, drifting back into unconsciousness.

 Then the phone chimed again.

 "Whoever it is," I muttered while I flung the pillow from over my face. "it better be damn well important." Sitting myself upright, I snatched the phone off the dresser and blinked rapidly from the brightness my screen had set. I slid my finger across the screen and held the phone to my ear. "What?"

 "You're up?!" a female voice answered. Rosiland, I should've known my talkative co-worker at the lab would call me at this time. "Thank God you answered! Listen, I need a ride home from-"

 "A ride home? Where in God's name are you?" I asked. Rosiland got quiet. "Where. Are. You?" I repeated slowly.

 "At a bar downtown." she answered. "It's not too far from your place."

 "There's a ton of bars near my place, which one is it?"

 "Skinny Mike's." I almost choked on my saliva.

 "THAT'S NOT CLOSE. IT'S AN HOUR AND A HALF DRIVE!" I shouted. "Why are you there?"

 "There was this cute guy I saw on the bus and he asked me to come here with him." she explained. "I've been here since 10."

 "Did he show up?" I asked. We both knew the answer to that.

 "No." we said in unison. Rosiland sighed into the phone.

 "Can you please just-?"

 "How many taxis are there in the city?" I said, looking up. Rosiland's sudden noise of protest made it hard for me to keep my stern demeanor.

 "You know how I feel about taxis!" she hollered. "The cab drivers are so creepy. I swear one day, one of them might take me to a back alley and doing something to me." I rolled my eyes. "I heard that. You always do that!"

 "Because you're being weird." I responded bluntly. "Fine, I'll come get you." Rosiland squealed over the phone.

 "Thank you!!! I promise I'll pay you back somehow!" she said.

 "A cocktail." I needed it now since Rosiland woke me up out of a wonderful sleep. After we exchanged goodbyes, I hung up the phone and climbed out of bed. I should've gotten used to these late night pickups when it came to Rosiland. I slid on a pair of sweatpants and a sweater to cover my night gown. Once my shoes were on, I grabbed my phone and car keys, heading out the door.

________________

 I had finally arrived at Skinny Mike's after a few minutes of delays and traffic that the clubs had after they'd close after a certain time. I pulled into the rocky parking lot and kept the car idle in front of the cabin built bar. Rosiland was sitting on a small bench wrapped up in her pink cardigan. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and her make up looked smudged. Her green eyes lit up when she noticed I had pulled up. She practically sprinted to my car and jumped in.

 "Thank you!" she said happily while she took off her cardigan. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. She smelled like cheap liquor and cigarette smoke. "Let's get you that cocktail!"

 "Actually, never mind." I quickly lied. "I don't want it anymore." Rosiland shrugged her shoulder and reached into her bra, pulling out her phone and a carton of cigarettes.

 "I had to bum a box off a guy inside." she explained, putting the carton back. She unlocked her phone and dialed a number. After the third ring, she hung up the phone. "He won't answer."

 "Who?"

 "The guy that told me to meet him here." She kept the phone in her palm and looked out the window. "This is frustrating."

 "Well you ARE attractive." I said, looking over at her.

 "I must not be attractive enough to not stand up then." she sighed. Although she annoyed me, I couldn't stand to see Roz upset, yet alone any other mood than happy. Or loud. I shook my head and continued to drive. When Rosiland got upset like this, there was no talking to her. I pulled up at her apartment complex and parked the car.

 "Well, here we are." I announced. Rosiland climbed out the car and pulled her carton back out.

 "I'll see you Monday." she said in a dull tone. She closed the door and rounded the car, disappearing behind the tall bushes leading to the main gate. I pulled off and headed home.

_____________

 On the way home, it began to rain heavily. God knows I hated driving in the rain. My windshield wipers had decided to lock up on me on the way over the bridge. I pulled over and grabbed my umbrella from the back seat and got out the car.

 "Crap.." I muttered as a I tugged on the rubber blades. "Why won't you move?!" Suddenly there was a huge gust of wind, turning my umbrella inside out. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" I shouted. When the wind died down, I lost the will to fix my umbrella back to its original shape. I threw down the umbrella and went back to tugging on the blades.

 "Need some help?" an unfamiliar voice asked from behind. I spun around and saw a tall figure holding an umbrella with blonde, almost white, hair. His almond eyes looked at me in a concerning matter but there was a small smile on his face. It took me a while to realize amongst his features, he wore a tuxedo and there was no car that belonged to him in sight.

 "Y-yeah..." I answered. "The wipers, they're stuck." The nameless man approached me and rolled up his sleeves. He then handed me the umbrella.

 "Please hold this over us." he instructed. I did what I was told while I shivered and watched him tug at the blades. With ease, they started to sway left and right like they were supposed to. "There you go." he said, wiping his hands on his dress pants. His eyes twinkled as if they were smiling at me. "Is there anything else?"

 "N-no." I said, slightly bewildered by how easy he handled the blades. "That's it. Thank you." I smiled at him.

 "No problem." he responded. Then, the stranger took off his tuxedo jacket and draped it over my shoulders. "You need this more than I do." I felt the heat under my skin while I looked down at the ground.

 "I-." was all I said before I saw that the man had disappeared without a word, leaving his umbrella and jacket with me. "Mister?" I called out into the emptiness. "Mister?"

 "Get out of the rain!" I heard someone shout from a passing car. I climbed back into the car after shutting the umbrella and shaking the water off. I sat at the wheel, still puzzled by the mysterious man that vanished without saying goodbye.