She had been driving for hours now. No destination in mind, just staring at the road that was lying ahead and listening to the blaring music. For most parts she was able to escape her own thoughts.
The wind played with her long red curls, the sun danced across her skin, green meadows and large woodlands shaped the landscape. Delila smiled for the first time since her crazy journey had started. And just as she felt some of the built-up tension leave her, an angry orange light flared up right in the middle of the dashboard.
"No, no, no...!! What now?"
Within seconds the amazing feeling of weightlessness and absentmindedness was gone.
"Come on... the tank is almost full.... I refilled the oil just days ago..."
For good measure she slapped the steering wheel in the faint hope that the stupid angry light would just go out again. Of course, it didn't.
As if out of protest against this rude treatment, the motor began to stutter, and seconds later the whole damned car began to slow down and soon came to a complete halt. At least she had time enough to maneuver it to the roadside.
After some minutes of decompressing swearing, Delila finally felt calm enough to grab her phone. Since her mind had been so focused on actively trying not to think whilst driving on autopilot, she actually had no idea where the hell she was right now.
Luckily her phone was fully charged and showed enough bars to not let her break out in panic. And civilization didn't seem to be too far away. That in fact very smart phone did let her know that a decently sized town laid not far ahead, and that there were indeed quite a few tow truck companies she could choose from. Wasn't that just great?
A short phone call later, a nice sounding man named Oscar Mendez was on his way to get Delila and her treacherous car. Oscar not only owned a very much appreciated tow truck, but his own repair shop as well. Killing two birds with only one stone... poor things.
....
A few hours later said Oscar was working on the car in his shop, after he had called his wife over to entertain Delila. The endless questions and non-stop talking from Delila's side probably hadn't helped his work process along. She wasn't really surprised. Her curious nature tended to make her even more talkative when nervous. It could be a burden... mostly for those forced to listen to her.
Oscar appeared in the doorway, wiping his hands on a towel.
"Well, Miss. Sterling, there is not much I can do right now... "
Oh joy, that sounded less than promising. Delila looked at him, waiting for his final verdict.
"You see, it's the fuel pump... you'll need a new one and I don't have the right one here. Let me make a few calls to see how fast I can get one delivered."
Just her luck. She was so angry at herself for letting her dad talk her into buying that stupid French car. Who in his right mind even drives those things other than him...and apparently her? Of course, poor Oscar didn't have the right spare... it would have surprised her if the right pump could have been found within a hundred-mile radius.
"Thank you so much, I would really appreciate it, if you could do that. Would it be ok to leave the car here for the time being?"
Oscar was more than happy to house the car, since that obviously was the way to go about it anyway. As you can guess, Delila wasn't much of a car expert. She thanked him and his wife for expertise and company, filled a rather big hand bag with the bare necessities for an overnight stay and went on her merry way.
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....
You see, two days ago Delila had stored almost all her earthly belongings away, packed two bags with clothes, essential electronics, some needed beauty products, and her notebooks. Yes, actual bound paper... she was old school that way.
Her house keys went to a very blonde real estate agent who promised to find the perfect tenants. As if that was possible. But Delila was glad to get rid of the responsibility. She threw her bags in the trunk of her car and drove off into the sunset. Well, more like into the next traffic jam. Mental note: next time you try to start over and go for a dramatic exit, avoid rush hour.
And all of that happened not because of some major traumatic incident. It was just... life.
Three days ago, first thing in the morning, her mother had called. To once again let her know, how all of her friend's kids were already married or had better paying jobs than Delila. A very friendly call by her standards. Just an hour later, her editor in chief was criticizing her for the millionth time about another meaningless article he had her write. And to think, that fresh out of college, this job as a journalist for this still so very famous news paper had been nothing short of a dream come true.
But somehow it all changed, slowly but steadily. And this day, so normal and unremarkable as possible, just had been the last straw. She quit her job right then and there, went home, and organized for a moving company to take all her furniture to a storage unit. She called the real estate agency where she had bought the house a few years back and let them know that she would be dropping off the keys the next day. And finally, she called her mom to tell her that she was right. Because she was.
Delila had a job she didn't like anymore, basically no close friends, and, after the last nasty breakup over a year ago, currently no boyfriend or even dates. She was 30 now, had nothing that persuaded her to stay like she was, and no idea as to where she wanted to go or who she wanted to be.
Her mom was not too happy with that interpretation of her constructive criticism. Leaving everybody and everything behind to go on a "new age trip" to find herself was a far cry from dating some nice and stable banker to get her some grand kids in the foreseeable future.
But as her frustrated self decided, that's exactly what Delila needed. And after two days on the road, that's how Oscar found her and that fancy but useless car.
...
Note & Disclaimer
Thanks for reading. As you might have guessed, English is not my first language but I hope you will still be able to enjoy the story. And I don't own any of the pictures shown, they are for entertainment purposes only and intended to illustrate how I imagine my characters to look like.
