Page 13 of Lyrics of Her

Brinley

Things most definitely did not get better.

Goddammit, Brinley!

Who the hell doesn’t set an alarm clock when they have an important meeting to go to first thing in the morning? Add to that they’ve had a late night the evening before. And they haven’t slept properly in weeks, not since moving to a brand new city with no friends or family, and they just spent the last of their savings on a pro bono lawyer for a case that may or may not even proceed.

Me.

That’s who.

This is so typical of me. I can’t believe I’ve let this happen.

I check my watch again, and groan loudly as my fist thumps the steering wheel. Yep. I’m officially running late for my very own meeting. Way to make a good first impression.

My shit-box of a car spits and then stalls for the third time at the traffic light. The streets are choked with early morning commuters, there’s traffic everywhere I look, and it’s not the first time that I’ve been honked at in the thick congestion as I slowly inch my way downtown.

A guy in a dump truck shouts abuse at me as he passes by. He flips me the bird, so I do what any young lady would do. I poke my tongue firmly into my cheek and jerk my hand back and forth in front of my mouth. That’s what I’ve resorted to.

Tacky, yes.

Satisfying, also yes.

The dump truck driver shakes his head at me like he’s disappointed that’s all I’ve got before he pulls out into the oncoming traffic to get around me.

I thump my fist hard against the steering wheel again, shifting the gearstick back a gear as I double pump the clutch. The engine eventually catches, and I accelerate away from the light, grateful to notice that I’m now pretty close to the Lincoln Building.

I can see it up ahead. I can see people milling all about out on the sidewalk, entering and exiting through the double glass doors at the front of the impressive steel and glass building.

It’s raining again, but only lightly, a soft drizzle, which is a good thing because my windshield wipers only work when they feel like it, and apparently today is not one of those days.

I check my watch again.

Oh, god!

I’m already ten minutes late.

“Come on, come on…”I look around quickly, my eyes scanning the immediate area for an empty parking space. Of course, nothing opens up. Why would it?

There’s a semi up ahead making a delivery, and the traffic is backing up behind it to the point where it blocks the entire right lane.

Things are going from bad to worse for me this morning.

I’m almost right out front of the Lincoln Building when I notice three empty car spaces directly in front of the building, but they’re all marked‘no parking’.The spaces are painted in big red block letters against the curb so there’s no mistaking them for anything else.

Temptation is an ugly curse, however, and I know it’s completely wrong of me, but for a split second I actually consider parking there, and to hell with the consequences.

But I can’t do that.Can I?

No. I most definitely cannot park there. I can’t afford to pay a parking fine right now. And besides that, it’s wrong, and illegal and highly immoral, not to mention…

“Oh, screw it,” I mutter to myself.

A puff of black smoke explodes from the tailpipe when I jerk the wheel sharply to the right, pulling into the empty space immediately in front of the building, just as the engine cuts off completely and every light on my dashboard starts flashing back at me like it’s freaking Christmas Eve.

Awesome.

As if my life can’t get any worse, now I need to addnew carto the never-ending list of things I’ll never be able to afford living in this city.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com