She stopped at the 24 hr grocery mart across the
intersection from her apartment complex before she hit the road. A couple of
cartons of good fruit juice, and two catering platters; one of veggies, and one
of meats and cheeses. She knew that she would likely be the only one eating any
of the meat, but that was okay. It was shaping out to be a long day.
A StarBucks drive through provided her with breakfast in the
form of a muffin and a piping hot caffeinated tribute to her insomniac brain
before she pulled onto the highway and headed away from the slowly brightening
sliver of sky where the sun was just beginning to stir from it’s own uninterrupted
slumber.
She ate the muffin and drank the coffee, knowing that tea
would be had at the other end of the road, and so she would enjoy the hazelnut macchiato
for now. Her messenger bag sat on the seat next to her, her laptop already singing
its siren song, making her fingers itch. But for now, brainstorming would have
to do. She was enjoying the quiet solitude of predawn traffic and wouldn’t spoil
that by starting her dictophone app.
Soon, the sun was chasing her to her destination. At 7 o’clock,
she pulled into a service station to fill the gastank, stretch, and send a
text, warning that she was on her way. She had her own key, but she still hated
to show up unannounced. Some habits died hard.
Back behind the wheel, and on the road again, this time on
the road less traveled, she had to avoid the urge to stop at all of her
favourite tourist haunts, knowing that the polite chatter of the hawkers would
disrupt the zen of her creative mind. She promised herself that she would take
a break this afternoon, and she and her host would go back out together to see
what the latest stock of wares was in season.
The air was still crisp as she stepped down out of the Jeep
with her messenger bag over her shoulder. She took a few deep breaths, spiced
with pine and the combined scent of the flowers surrounding the house. The cat
came tumbling out of the undergrowth along the drive, mewing in greeting of it’s
favourite visitor, and twining itself between her ankles. She reached into her
pocket for the package of cat treats she always had handy on these visits, and obliged
the calico with her customary greetings of scratches behind the ear, and a
couple of tidbits.
Her feline friend satiated for the moment, she loaded up the
trays, and approached the house, admiring the home nestled into the hollow
formed by the surrounding, sloping terrain. She likely couldn’t have chosen a
better spot for retirement if she had tried. The owner’s best friend lived
across the road, and they had been coming up hear for years when the kids were
younger to go camping. It seemed fitting that the acreage should go on sale
just as she and her husband were looking for property in the area. The fact
that there had not been a domicile on the property when they purchased it did
not dampen their enthusiasm.
Balancing the trays on one arm, she used her key to let
herself in, ushering the cat in before her as she stepped carefully into the
foyer, hipping the door closed behind her, and pausing moment to let her eyes
adjust to the difference in light before setting the trays on a table to divest
herself of her outer wear.
The retiree she was visiting was in fact, the mother of her ex boyfriend.
However, the annulment of their relationship had not ended their friendship,
nor that of his mother and her.
Nina had wondered at first, if the invitation to come by any
time she liked had been just one of those things that British ppl say. Not
wanting to have the bad taste to take politesse as intent, she had asked her
friend to check with his mother. He had returned from their coffee date with a
set of spare keys in hand. Well, that answered that!
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