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After being so lost in her own thoughts, Andrea found herself on NE 8th Avenue making her way toward NE Regatta Drive. She almost ran the red light but stopped just in the nick of time. At the same time, she heard a loud thump, and her car lurched forward, luckily not enough for her to be in the way of oncoming traffic.
Her heart slammed into her chest, and her palms became sweaty as she tried to breathe. Slowly she pulled the vehicle off the road and got out as she began to hyperventilate. Andrea put her hands on her thighs with her head down as she tried to take in long calming breaths.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” someone from above her asked, but she still couldn’t breathe properly, so she didn’t answer.
Putting her hand up to indicate to them to give her some time, she took in some more calming breaths before she looked up to meet the concerned blue eyes that stared back at her.
Finally, feeling strong enough to get herself in an upright position, she straightened herself. Andrea looked from the sandy blond-haired man before her to the navy blue SUV parked just behind her Jeep with a smidge of army green paint on one of the headlights before staring him down in anger.
“Are you out of your mind?” she asked, annoyance marring her face.
The man took a step back as if she’d slapped him.
After no reply, she continued. “You nearly ran me into the path of oncoming traffic. I could have been hit, and the impact could have killed me!” she screeched at him.
“What?” He looked completely perplexed by her words.
“Don’t you pay attention to your surroundings?” Andrea couldn’t stop herself from going off on the man that stood before her. He looked at her in disbelief. The fact that her father had died in a car accident was still fresh in her mind, and she’d been severely rattled that the same thing almost just happened to her.
“Lady, I don’t see how you’re blaming me right now when you stopped so abruptly on me. I tried to brake to prevent the accident, but it was already too late. How can you be blaming me when you made a sudden stop after driving at fifty miles per hour?” he asked, offended.
“You should be paying attention to the road! You shouldn’t be driving so close to another car. Two car lengths is a safe distance, but no, you were almost tailgating me,” she returned, equally rattled.
The man looked at her for a long time as if she’d grown two heads. Finally, he let out an exasperated sigh before muttering something under his breath.
Andrea hadn’t heard what he said, but she caught the word “dumb.”
“So now you’re calling me dumb for stating the obvious?” she seethed, folding her hands tightly over her chest as she gave him a scathing look.
She could see that she’d angered him as the red tint rose to his neck and painted his angry face while his veiny hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.
Andrea took a tentative step back. As if realizing he was starting to scare her, the man released a long weary sigh before turning away. After a minute, he turned back to her and said, “Look, I’ll take responsibility for bumping into you. The evidence is there on my headlight, so I’ll pay for your paint job, and any other issue you feel may have come from the accident, okay?” he asked passively, indicating he was done with this interaction.
“Don’t bother. I can fix my own problems, thank you. I’m not ‘dumb’ enough to want your help,” Andrea quipped, heading for her Jeep.
“I didn’t say you were…” the man trailed off, frustrated. “Fine. Do whatever you want, lady,” he spat before turning to head for his vehicle.
She watched the man step into his SUV and drive off without a second glance.
“The nerve of that man,” Andrea continued to fume after he left her and went on his merry way. She could have been in a major accident because of him, and all he had the nerve to do was blame her for what happened.Men were so insufferable, she thought to herself.
After spending a few more minutes calming down and getting back in the right frame of mind, she got back in the car to drive herself home.
“What do you mean it’s not a big deal, Andrea? It could have been so much worse. You could have been seriously hurt.” Cora’s face was marred with sincere concern, the worry lines on her face indicating so.
Andrea had recounted the accident to her sister but brushed it off as minor so she wouldn’t worry her sister. She then looked at Cora with a smile.
“What?” Cora asked.
“Nothing, it just warms my heart, how worried you are about my well-being,” she expressed.
“You’re my sister, Drea. Of course, I’m going to be worried about you. Especially with the way that Dad died… I’m freaking out with the thought that it almost happened to you too,” Cora returned in a chilling voice.
Andrea shivered at the very thought of it. “Yeah, I was so shaken up when it happened. All I could see was how they had detailed Dad’s accident and how that was going to happen to me,” she confessed.
Cora walked over and engulfed her sister in a tight embrace. Andrea was grateful to have this kind of support. She’d been craving it for so long.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m even happier you’re okay.”
Andrea relaxed into the hug, loving how natural it felt to be hugged by her sibling.
Cora pulled back and gave her a stern look. “But next time, please be careful. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you too.”
