5 years ago, I had my first encounter with a man who would haunt me most every night since then . A man who couldn't remember his own name, had me searching for it . A man who took orders without hesitation, had me ignoring everything thrown my way...
In about 20 mintues, he had found a old red truck and was hotwiring it while Rose sat with her legs on the dash board. The last third of an hour was awkward to say the least. She wondered if this was how the whole week was going to be. She didn't even know the attractive man's name and she was letting him carry her around the small European country-side. As soon as he sat back in the car, they drove off the interstate highway with the help of the numerous small signs that littered the roadside. After around ten minutes of hearing nothing but the sound of rubber on asphalt, they both decided to break the silence.
"I never got your name..."
"How's your ankle?"
They both spoke at the same time, and laughed awkwardly afterwards. Rose mentally face-palmed herself for getting into the weird situation. They both apologized and started a tight-lipped conversation. When silence encased them again, she let out a sigh and reached forward to turn on the radio. As she flipped through the channels, it became clear she wasn't finding anything her taste. She turned in her seat careful not to move her leg to much, and rummaged through the cars CD section.
" How to you feel about Reggae?" She questioned as she held up a Bob Marley album. He just pursed his lips and shrugged."Never heard of it before."
She scoffed in disbelief. " No way! How have you never heard of Bob Marley? The guy's a legend!" For the umpteenth time that day, she found herself wondering about her new traveling companion. He looked at her in the reflection of the rear view mirror as she continued to shuffle through the CDs. Finally, she turned back around and inserted a random Ukrainian pop album. It was decent music and the best they had in the situation. As she hummed along to the fast beat and looked out the window, she turned back to see a curious look on his face while listening to the music.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of pop music before either", she joked but stopped when she saw him nod his head. Again her eyes widened in disbelief, something she seemed to be doing a lot of today. He opened his mouth to answer,"...um...I guess I don't get out much?" He scratched the back of his neck and suddenly Roselyn found him a lot less intimidating.
After that, conversation became a lot easier. They talked about views that passed in blurs, they played i-spy a little, which was kind of hard because he had to keep his eyes on the road, which always ended with Roselyn's laugh echoing through the vehicle that soon joined his. Something about him told her he hadn't really laughed like that in a long time.
"You know, I still don't know your name...", Rose questioned.
The smile on his face instantly fell, and she immediately regretted even asking if it meant he stopped grinning. He let out a sigh, and just shrugged. He seemed almost hesitant to look at her after that revelation, but still he turned to see her empathetic eyes. Instead of finding pity like he thought he would, he saw understanding. He decided he liked it, especially in her eyes, and was pleasantly surprised when Roselyn resumed talking nonchalantly.
"Well then, I guess I'll just have to give you a name myself, huh?" she joked in an attempt to brighten his mood. He shot her at questioningly glace as she studied him.
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