Perfect Strangers (Language, Violence and Big-Kid Stuff)

[[Desolate Divine]]

Chapter 10
I drove for the next couple of hours, with Emily taking the wheel for the last forty five minutes of the trip. I was trying to stay calm and not show my anxiety, however was failing.

“Are you alright?” Emily asked, “You’ve been unusually quiet.”

S***.

“I’m fine.” I lied, “Just not feeling one hundred and ten percent.”

“Damn, I’m sorry. Is it my driving?” Emily asked.

“Nah not that.” I replied, “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”

That was also a lie. I slept like a log, since I was plastered by the time I decided to sleep. I felt bad for lying to Emily, but wasn’t quite sure why, seeing as now that I think about it, I spend more time lying to her than anything else.

“I wish you had have told me. We could have made it another day.”

“No, it’s fine.” I replied, “I had already organized everything. Better to just do it.”

“If you say so.” Emily sighed, “It’s too late to go back now anyway.”

I remained silent, thinking about this hard drive. Whilst this was the first I had heard about this video diary, I wasn’t surprised. Emily hardly spoke about her life before we met. I just knew she was bullied, and she ended up in therapy because of it. It was no surprise she didn’t talk about it much.

I was trying to calm myself down, by just telling myself that I’d find the hard drive, remove all of the last five years, and return it until I finally found a way to tell her. However that just left me feeling guilty. What’s worse? To feel anxious or guilty?

“Would you mind driving again soon?” Emily asked, “We’ll be getting off the freeway soon and I have no idea where we’re going.”

“All good. Just pull over when you can and I’ll drive.”

Half an hour or so later, we arrived at our first destination. A garage. I parked the car, before I made my way into the office, as Emily waited in the car. It was unattended for a few moments until one of the guys who worked there made his way in and greeted me.

“I spoke to Zach on the phone yesterday, about getting someone to come look at a car?” I explained.

“I’m Zach.” the man replied, “Is this the S15?”

“The one and only.” I said with a grin. Even though I wasn’t a mechanic myself, I was in my element, talking about cars.

“Fair enough. Granted I’m not sure why you’d pick an S15 over that MR2 out there.” Zach said, “That’s very nice for its age.”

“S15 isn’t for me.” I explained, “The S15 is for her.”

I gestured to Emily standing next to the car, looking around the workshop.

“Geez, she’s cute.” Zach replied, “And she’s got good taste. Definitely a keeper.”

“I’ll try that.” I muttered to myself, thinking about what would happen if she found that hard drive.

“Anyway, I am just about to finish a service.” Zach explained, “I just changed an oil filter and need to put some new oil in it. How about you leave me the address and I’ll head over as soon as I’m done?”

“Sounds good.”

I made my way back to the car, as Emily climbed back in.

“The mechanic will meet us there in a few.” I explained, “He just has to finish something quickly.”

“Sweet.” Emily replied, as I started the car.

I intentionally chose the mechanic closest to where the S15 was, so it was only a short trip. As we made our way to the door, Emily spoke up.

“So what’s this guy like?” Emily asked.

“I just had a chat with him on the phone.” I laughed, “I don’t know his life story.”

I knocked on the door, and soon after we were greeted by a cheerful looking, middle aged man, wearing a pair of jeans and a polo shirt..

“I’m Mason. We spoke on the phone?” I asked, “About the S15.”

“Oh yes, come in.” The main replied, “I’m Henry.”

Henry took us through his house and into his garage. With the flick of a switch, the dark room was flooded with light, revealing a dark, metallic blue couple, with sharp angled headlights and a Nissan badge. Across the center of the rear was a small chrome badge which read Silvia.

“So this is it.” Henry said, “It’s a little bit dirty, since I ran out of time to clean it up. But still, she is a beautiful car. Doesn’t miss a beat.”

“What can you tell us about it?”

“I imported it about seventeen years ago after I got lucky at the casino.” Henry explained, “Been a weekend car since. Always parked in the garage. Never thrashed. Hell, I never drove it higher than twenty five hundred revs before it was warmed up.”

“You mind if we have a look inside?” I asked.

“Go for it.”

I walked to the passenger door, and stuck my head in as Henry kept talking. I had to hand it to him. This was a beautiful car.

“It only has eighty thousand k’s on the clock.” Henry explained, as I walked around to the driver’s door and pulled the latch for the bonnet.

“Engine is mostly stock. I had some parts changed over for reliability. And SR20’s are pretty solid engines.”

“They are.” I replied as I lifted the bonnet.

“You into Japanese cars?” Henry asked, as I had a quick look at the engine bay. It was clean and well organized. I couldn’t find fault with it. However I’ve been to car meets. I’ve seen what these cars are hiding.

“Yeah, a lot of my work is taking photos of them.” I explained, “Would we be able to take it for a test drive?”

Henry’s expression turned to one of slight annoyance.

“Honestly, today isn’t great.” Henry explained, “It’s my son’s eighteenth tonight, and I should be getting the house ready. I don’t have a great deal of time to go for a drive with you.”

This put a pause on our plans. I looked over at Emily, who seemed concerned. I could tell she liked this car.

“What about if we both leave our licenses with you? Would you let us take it for a drive without you?” I asked, “Nice and sensible, just until our mechanic arrives to give the once over. If it drives fine, and the mechanic says it’s all clear, we’ll buy it then and there.”

Henry was silent, however his expression didn’t change. He was thinking about it though.

“Okay how about this.” I said, “Open the garage door for a sec.”

Henry obliged, pressing a button on his keyring, causing the door to open, revealing my MR2.

“That’s my 1995 Toyota MR2.” I explained, “I got it, had it repainted, the engine reconditioned, then basically paid to have it pulled apart and put it back together to make sure everything was good. Basically I spent more than this car is worth to get it into showroom condition.”

I pulled my keys out of my pocket and held them up in front of me.

“How is that for insurance?” I asked, “I’ll leave you they keys the my MR2 whilst we’re gone. Sound fair.”

Henry thought about it for a second, before speaking up.

“Sure. You leave your MR2 here just in case, and you can take it for a drive.” Henry replied.

“Thanks heaps!” Emily said, “We’ll take extra good care of it!”

“And we’ll be back in half an hour.” I added, as I tossed the keys to my MR2 to Henry. He handed me the key to the S15, as I climbed into the driver’ seat. Emily sat down in the passenger seat, as I started the engine. It felt strange being behind the wheel of a car that wasn’t my own, however it started smoothly. That was a good sign.

I took off fairly responsibly as to not cause Henry any concern.

“It drives nice.” I explained to Emily, “It doesn’t seem to lack any power, and gearbox is good. Clutch doesn’t slip.”

I quickly glanced at the temperature gauge and saw it had stopped going up. This must be as hot as the engine gets.

I took the exit onto the freeway, before downshifting and hitting the accelerator. The engine roared as the tachometer needle quickly moved.

“Jesus!” Emily exclaimed with a laugh, “It’s nearly quicker than your car.”

“Please, you haven’t seen me actually driving it the way it’s meant to be driven.” I retorted, “But yes, it’s pretty quick.”

After a few minutes, I pulled over and let Emily drive it back. We didn’t have a great deal of time before Zach would arrive to take a look at it.

“I could see myself driving this.” Emily said as she shifted it into fifth, “It is really nice.”

“Nicer than your last car, definitely.” I replied, “So you want it.”

“Definitely.” Emily said, “If you think it’s all good, and the mechanic guy says it won’t die on me, then I’m getting it.”

“Honestly, it should be fine. Henry wasn’t lying about anything.” I explained, “You don’t have a car like this, with eighty thousand k’s and mint, original paintwork if you haven’t taken good care of it.”

It didn’t take long before we were back at Henry’s. Next to my MR2 was a light blue Mazda MX5.

“That’s that girly looking car you showed me isn’t it?” Emily asked with a laugh.

“Don’t say that too loudly.” I replied, “I think it’s the mechanic’s.”

We parked the car back in the garage, as Zach climbed out of the Mazda.

“So this is it.” Zach said, as I stepped out of the S15, and pulled the bonnet latch.

“This is it.” I explained, “We just took it for a drive and it seems to be all good. Granted, I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

“Good call.” Zach replied as he lifted the bonnet.

Henry returned soon whilst Zach was doing the check.

“This is Zach. He’s just taking a quick look over it before we do anything drastic.” I explained.

“Fair enough.” Henry replied, “What did you think of it?”

“It’s beautiful.” I replied, “Couldn’t pick a fault with it if I tried.”

“Not about what you think though is it?” Zach chimed in, “You’re not the one buying it.”

“That’s very true.” I replied.

“Who’re you buying it for then?” Henry asked, slightly confused. When none of us spoke up, Henry realized.

“The S15 is for her?” Henry asked.

“Her? I have a name…” Emily muttered.

“Sorry, you just caught me by surprise.” Henry stuttered.

“So what do you think of it?” Zach asked from underneath the car.
“I love it.” Emily said, “And I can’t wait to thrash Mason in it.”

There was a thud as Zach hit his head, before bursting into laughter.

“I think she’s a keeper.” Henry chuckled. Emily went red, and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“Well so is this.” Zach said, “I can’t see a problem with it. Definitely a good buy.”


I looked over at Emily. So far I had set all of this up for her, but this was something she should do. Even if it’s just a sentence, this is her achievement. A few weeks earlier she was in an accident took away all her memory. And now she is buying a car.

“I’ll take it.”

Emily transferred the money, whilst I handed Zach one hundred dollars for his time, and Henry wrote up a receipt. Not even fifteen minutes later, Emily held the keys to her new car.

“This seems surreal.” Emily said, as we sat at a table at a freeway rest stop. It was nearly three o’clock and we hadn’t gotten lunch yet. That and Emily saw there was a carwash and wanted to give her new ride a wash. Before we left I gave her a two way radio so we could get in contact on the way home, and as soon as she saw the sign, she asked if we could make a stop. I was happy to though. We still weren’t one hundred percent sure of her driving, so I was glad to break up the trip.

We sat at a table right next to the window, where Emily could see her new pride and joy. She had hardly taken her gaze away from it. Granted, she wasn’t the only one. Every so often, people walking past the freshly cleaned blue S15 and black MR2 would stop to take a look at them. I didn’t blame them though. They were a gorgeous pair.

“Thanks again for making this happen.” Emily said, before taking a sip of her drink, “It feels like this is the first step to actually living again.”

“Seriously, it’s fine.” I replied with a grin, “You just gotta let me take photos of it whenever I want.”

Emily laughed, whilst I still couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt. I knew that my plan for the hard drive was something that had to happen right now. Otherwise, she might hate me again.

We finished our meal as we made our way back to the cars. Emily was walking as quick as she could, ending up a few meters ahead of myself. I stopped, and pulled my camera out of its bag, quickly attaching a lens wide enough to get both her and the car in the shot.

As she unlocked the car and had her hand on the door handle I called out.

“Emily! Don’t move!”

She looked up, saw the camera pointing at her and smiled, as I pressed the button. She was quickly becoming my favorite subject for my photography. I just hoped I could make it last.

A few minutes later we were on the freeway, with myself in front.

“Just make sure you let me know if you need to take a break.” I said into the radio, “I’d rather wait half an hour than have you crash.”

“I’ll be fine.” Emily replied, “What about you though? What will you do?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, somewhat confused.

“What will you do…” Emily began, “If I do this!”

I heard Emily’s car behind me rev, as she downshifted and took off past me. I couldn’t help but grin. She used to be like this, however a little more careful. Instead of making a point of overtaking me in an instant, she’d do it slowly and hope I didn’t notice.

“That’s cute.” I replied, “Now it’s my turn...”

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

This was a great set of updates. You are doing a really good job of keeping our heroes' friendship cute and enjoyable, but still tinged by that undercurrent of apprehension and secrecy that makes for good drama. If there is one thing I have learned from literature, film, and television, it is that as soon as a character lets the reader in on his plan, it will not work out the way he intended. Hopefully things that do go wrong are reparable, these two are too wonderful together for their bond to crash fatally on the rocks of what I call "The Empire Strikes Back moment", a.k.a. that point about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through every romantic comedy (and most other film genres too) where everything starts going wrong for the protagonists, often due to an overblown misunderstanding.