Overview

Jenny and I were heading out of the city over the weekend. Nothing too extravagant, a long
drive, a good stay at a nice hotel away from a noisy city and exceptional company was the
weekend’s agenda.

It was a week after I had seen Jenny, we had been sharing cute little messages over the week. Back
in the office, countless times did I look goofy when I giggled staring at my phone. A colleague of
mine, Amy, would make sure I catch her look of contempt every time I distracted her from her work
with my occasional snickers.
“I don’t remember your phone being so funny since I started working here,” Amy said over her break
as she poured a stream of black coffee into her ridiculously large flask. Amy was a smart girl, I knew
when she was fishing for information so characteristically I giggled and ignored her, if only to annoy
her like she did when she looked at me like a kid playing with mud.
Anyway, on Friday morning as I headed to the office I left my packed bag in the boot of the car, I
knew I wouldn’t be back home in a while.
We both left work slightly early to do some shopping for the road, darkness was slowly creeping in
and the city’s night life was coming alive. Just being around her felt electric.
We rummaged through the supermarket shelves picking out snacks and energy drinks, particularly I
loved my peppered crisps. From her pickings I could tell she had a case of the sweet tooth. We
weren’t pressed for time, we had the whole weekend, but either way we picked up the pace as if to
get to the better parts quicker.
We got back into the car, a little excited for our little getaway. I had grown monotonous of my five
song playlist so I asked her to connect to the sound system which she did without hesitation.
“I thought you would never ask, I prepared a playlist.” She said as she scrolled through her phone.
Such acts of service had the ability to melt me.
“It better be good,” I joked. I loved that she just scoffed at the comment. The roads were now
bathed in yellow street lights, we still had about two hours of driving before we reached our
destination. As we drove further out the city the noise reduced, the stars were more visible and her
music played softly in the background complementing our random conversations.
“Do you ever feel like you are always waiting for something? I asked her. The open road always has a
way of allowing one deeper insights.
“Like an ideal instance? A perfect moment?” She responded without looking up, too busy halfway
through her chocolate bar.
“Yeah, exactly,”
“What would you do with the perfect moment?” she asked, this time with her face up. It was an
intimate question. I turned to make eye contact with her. With her eyes locked in place, she licked
the melting chocolate off her finger.
“I…,” I stammered a bit.
“Eyes on the road, you can stare at me as long as it doesn’t mean you will wrap us around a tree.”
She interjected before I could gather my words.

I was a little embarrassed that I zoned out for a second there, she enjoyed it. Her face almost
dropped in half owing to the size of her cheeky smile.
I had the crackle of my bag of crisps as she went through the shopping bag.
“Hey, what do you think you are doing?” I asked with a hint of stern. She gave me the same look a
kid would give when caught with her hands in the cookie jar. “I mean, I like you but to share my
crisps…” I teased.
She ripped the bag open and placed a single chip on her tongue unapologetically. She was bratty,
within humorous reason. One of the many kinks I liked about her.
“Say aah,” she said as she directed a pinch of crisps towards my mouth.
“…yea, sometimes I feel like I too am waiting for something. A day to wear that perfect dress, a time
to crack open that old bottle of wine…” she said and drifted into space. I waited for her to say more
as I swallowed. She looked back at me, then she looked away as if dismissing what she was thinking.
“What?” I asked. She took a moment.
“I don’t know if I would call those grandiose moments perfect…” she gestured with air quotes. “…we
fail to see the beauty of simplicity and therefore we fail at truly being happy. A fresh breeze of air, a
sky full of stars, a night drive conversation over my amazing playlist…” She watered down the
sentimentality with a bit of coy narcissism. She was cut from the same cloth as I was.
“I guess you can share my crisps.” I stole a glance. She oozed so much elegance, even with a
chocolate stain on her chin. She avoided eye contact, sat back in her chair and turned up the volume
a bit.
The rest of the trip constituted of occasional wording of song lyrics amidst periods of silence. We
arrived at our hotel a few minutes earlier than we had anticipated which was just the beginning of a
dream holiday.

WRITER: Tony