Travel Delays Ch. 01

I looked at his notes. "Well, if we're an hour late, we should be getting there for about seven thirty."

"When should we hit Fort Erie?"

"Just after noon. You show us stopping in Mississauga, and again at Fort Erie."

"Yeah, I was thinking of switching drivers at the first stop. If you had been driving first, I would have driven into Buffalo. You don't want to do the Peace Bridge if there's heavy traffic."

"Why not?"

He glanced at me with a smile. "Uphill, all the way. Coming back to Canada's nowhere near as bad. Again, it wouldn't be an issue with Dad's car -- it's an automatic."

"Oh, right."

I'd forgotten about the clutch. I didn't drive much, but I could operate a manual transmission well enough. Andrew had considered my inexperience when planning the trip and didn't want me put in a situation that would be difficult for me to manage. If my mother had done something like that, I would have been pissed at her. With Andrew, it made me feel loved. I know, that's all kinds of twisted, right? I dropped my hand on his as I reclined the seat back, stretching my legs out as far as I could in the small car. I reasoned to myself that if I slid his hand up under my short skirt a bit, it was an accidental result of the lean. Anyway, it's not like he was really touching anything but my thigh. I didn't have a rationalization for why my legs spread a bit.

"Alison?" he said softly.

I squeezed his hand. "Shh. I'm going to sleep a bit. Just drive, babe."

****

ANDY -- STORM FRONT

Alison had driven about half the length of New York, and I took over again at Binghamton. We were slowed down by some more construction and a couple accidents, and it was now after five. We should still manage to reach Philadelphia before eight, as long as we had no more big delays. Of course, we still had to deal with a few hills. We were cutting through the Allegheny Mountains, and the Escort's weak engine wasn't really up to the task. I would start at the bottom of a hill going over sixty miles and hour in fourth gear, and ended up crawling in second gear before I reached the top. Wide open throttle in this car didn't mean much. You might think I'd pick up speed the other side, but that wasn't the case. Even though the car was just three or four years old, I really wasn't comfortable getting it over seventy on the way down, as the tires started to get loose above that. There may have been a bit of cursing as we were passed by transport trucks climbing the hills.

Just after passing into Pennsylvania, the southbound lanes of I-81 were closed, probably due to another accident. We were forced off at New Milford, but the road which would lead us to the next interchange was also blocked off.

"Al, I need you to check the Pennsylvania map."

"Okay. What am I looking for?"

"Next interchange to I-81, south of New Milford."

"Um, where's that?" she asked, opening the map.

"I-81 runs south from Binghamton, New York. Route 11 -- the one that looks like a white shield -- meets the interstate at New Milford, PA. We can't take PA Road 848, so we're going further south on Route 11."

"Uh, okay?" She flipped the map a bit until she found it. "All right, got it. We can either follow Route 11 all the way to Scranton and get back on the interstate or take Road...106 at Kingsley. That meets I-81 in Lenox."

"How far is Kingsley?"

"Um, about ten miles, maybe. Another five or so to Lennox."

I smiled. "Thanks, Al. Great job. We shouldn't lose any time."

Just as I said that, the car shook from a massive peal of thunder.

"Shit," Alison cried out. "You were saying?"

The skies opened up with torrential rain, and visibility dropped to almost nothing. I had to put the wipers on high just to see the hood of the car. Given how dark it had suddenly become, I also turned on the headlights.

"Maybe it won't last long," I said hopefully.

"Uh, Andrew. If you can find a place, I really need to stop."

"Okay, How bad?"

"I can hold it for five or ten minutes. Not much longer."

I nodded. "I'll keep my eyes open."

A couple minutes later I pulled into the parking lot of a fancy restaurant.

"Andy, they're not going to let me in there dressed like this."

I looked over, taking in her tight cropped shirt and miniskirt. "Right. Should I go back into New Milford? There were a couple places there."

"No, just keep heading south. I'll hold it."

About ten minutes later I pulled into a dirty-looking gas station. Luckily, the rain had tapered off to a light drizzle as I came to a stop.

"Sorry, Al. This is all I can find."

"It'll do. Can you pop the trunk?"

"Yeah. Why?"

She looked at me. "Does this place look like it will have toilet paper? Like I said before, a girl's gotta be prepared."

She was back in five minutes, reaching the car just as another wave of heavy rain hit. She hadn't been quite fast enough to avoid getting soaked, and her shirt was nearly transparent. Her nipples got hard, poking through the wet cloth.

"Andy, eyes are up here," she said with a smile.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. "The wet tee shirt is a really good look on you."

"Yeah, I know. Can you crank the heat a bit?"

"No problemo, Al." I flicked the lever over to the red zone and turned up the fan.

She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "You're the world's best brother, you know that?"

"I've been telling you that for years."

The rain got even harder from there, and it took over half an hour to reach to Kingsley. I would have considered pulling over and waiting it out, but there was nowhere to safely stop. Kingsley turned out to be a tiny village, with just one diner. Since all the traffic from I-81 had been diverted, it was no surprise that the small parking lot was overflowing with cars. The rain stopped just before we reached Kingsley, but the cloud was so thick it still felt like dusk. Half the cars didn't have their lights on, which may have been why there was an accident on Road 106. It looked like a tractor-trailer was rolled over across the entire road, so I continued to south on Route 11.

****

AL -- MOTEL

The rain came back a few times as we continued south. Sometimes it was a drizzle, other times a heavy downpour. It was six by the time we reached Nicholson, but it felt a lot later. The road was blocked by police where it led out of town.

"Where you headed?" the officer asked when we came to a stop.

"Trying to get to Philly," Andrew answered. "We got kicked off the interstate, then there was an accident on 106 so we couldn't go that way."

He nodded. "Same here. Big crash just around the curve. Someone didn't slow down when the rain hit. Unfortunately, the road east of here is currently washed out. Could be clear in a couple hours, maybe not till tomorrow morning. I don't expect Lackawana Trail to be open for about six hours."

"All right, thank you, officer."

Andrew pulled into a U-turn, heading back into town.

"What is Lackawana Trail?" I asked.

"That's the local name for Route 11." He sighed. "I guess we'll need to find a place to stay for the night."

"I don't have much cash, Andy."

"Me neither," he said. "I was not planning on paying for more than gas and a few meals, I'll check with the gas station we just passed. They might be able to tell us where we can find something."

A minute later he pulled into the parking lot of the gas station and convenience store. He gave my hand a kiss, then headed inside. I became self-conscious, realizing that anyone outside could easily see my still-wet shirt. An irrational wave of fear washed over me, and I slapped the door locks down. I was feeling cold again, but it had nothing to do with the air temperature in the car. The whole time he was inside, I was scanning the parking lot for potential threats. I didn't realize just how tense I was until Andrew stepped out of the store and I let myself relax. He pulled the door handle, then tapped the window. I blushed, embarrassed that I had forgotten to unlock the door.

"Hey, you okay, Alison?" he asked, placing a bag of snacks in the back seat.

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound unconcerned. "Just being safe, you know?"

"I had my eye on the car the whole time, Al." He took my hand, and I realized that I was shivering. His voice betrayed his concern. "Are you sure you're all right?"

I nodded, pulling him into a hug. "I am now, Andy. Where are we going?"

"There's a cheap place a few blocks away. I have directions. It won't be fancy, but they should have a couple rooms. And, the price is low."

I managed a laugh. "Cheap is good."

The best thing I could say about the motel was that it was not overpriced. But the parking lot was nearly full. Evidently, we were not the only ones who had decided to crash for the night. I stayed in the car, with the doors locked, while my brother checked in. Andrew thought I would feel safer that way, and he was probably right.

"All right, we got the last room," he said when he returned.

"Seriously?"

"That's what the clerk said." He hesitated. "There's a little problem, though."

"How little?"

"Um. The room only has one bed."

Conflicting emotions whipped through me. There was a bit of a thrill, but with a heavy dose of dread. "One bed?"

"Yeah, that's what he said." He took my hand. "Hey, we'll make this work, right? Remember that apartment we were in when we first got to Philly?"

I giggled nervously. "Yeah. One bedroom. You, me and the twins sleeping together on foam mats in the living room for four months. It was like we were camping out the whole time."

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Um, no. But, we were, uh, not quite as...we were still kids, Andy. You're all grown up now."

"Yeah, and so are you. But that means we can handle it maturely, right?"

Those conflicting emotions were swirling again. "Yeah. Of course."

I had spoken too soon. Not only was there just one bed in the tiny motel room, there was a single bed in the room. One single bed. For my gorgeous, sexy hunk of a brother and me to share. There was a small desk to one side with a straight-backed wood chair -- no chance of sleeping in that -- one bedside table, and a small chest of drawers under the tiny window. The door was missing from the bathroom, which was just large enough for a toilet, wall-mounted sink -- no counter -- and a tub. The tub did not even have a shower. It looked like no one had used the bath in a couple years.

"Andy," I said, my voice wavering. "I don't know if I can do this."

He pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. "Al, all we need to do is get some rest until it sunrise. If you want, we can take turns sleeping."

"No, that doesn't make sense. Let me call Christine and let her know that we'll be late."

He gave me another squeeze and went to search for something in his pack. He headed into the tiny bath as I dialled my friend's number. It was answered on the third ring.

"Hi, Mister Cooley, it's Alison. Is Christine there?"

"Just a moment," her father replied.

A minute later, a happy voice squealed at me. "Allie! Where are you?"

"Uh, someplace called Nicholson. We're stuck for the night, but we'll be there tomorrow morning. Can you let the others know?"

"All right. You'll go shopping with us tomorrow afternoon, won't you?"

I had to smile. She hadn't changed a bit in the past two years. "Yeah, Chrissy. I'll go shopping with you."

"Hey, is your brother with you?"

"Yes, he is. We're sharing the driving."

"And, is he as much of a hunk as he used to be?"

"Chrissy, this is my brother we're talking about."

"I know," she said breathlessly. "And, as I recall, you and I shared some pretty raunchy fantasies about said big bro. So, is he?"

I closed my eyes, recalling how it felt for him to hold me before we set out that morning.

"Chrissy, all I can say is 'daaamn'."

"Oh, I like the sound of that," she giggled. "You'll let me play with him, won't you? I mean, it's not like we'll ever become an item, or anything. One weekend, and he'll be with us most of the time anyway."

"I don't know, Chrissy."

"Come on, Allie. Please?" I hesitated. "Pretty please? With sugar on top?"

"I'm not saying yes ... but I'm not saying no. Just don't go overboard, and we'll see how he reacts, okay?"

"You're the best, Allie. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Chrissy."

I hung up the phone to see Andrew watching me from the bathroom doorway.

"Not saying yes and not saying no to what, Al?"

"Umm." I'm sure I blushed.

"That was Christine?" I nodded. "Let me guess ... she still wants to get into my pants."

"How ..."

"Alison, baby, I've got eyes. The last two years we were in Philly, she looked at me like I was the tastiest steak sandwich in the city. Not that you discouraged her."

"What do you mean?" I asked indignantly. "I was always telling her not to come on to you."

"Uh, huh. And what did you talk about when you thought I couldn't hear you? I don't think it was Andy Griffith."

I pulled a long shirt and my pouch of bathroom items from my suitcase and headed to the bathroom. He hadn't moved. "I've no idea what you thought you heard, Andy. In any case, I told her not to bother you too much."

"And?"

I blew out a breath. "And we'll see. If you want to spend a bit of time with her, I won't object. I, uh, need to freshen up. A bit of privacy would be nice."

He drew a hand down my bare arm, raising goosebumps all over my body. "I won't object if you want to watch us."

"Andy!"

He laughed and went into the other room. Flustered, when I opened the pouch I spilled the contents. As I saw the long, tubular items scatter over the floor, I was mortified. I quickly bundled them back into the pouch, mentally kicking myself.

"Forget something?" he asked when I returned to my suitcase.

"Yeah, wrong bag. That was my period supplies."

"You said it just ended."

"Well, I always carry an emergency stash, just in case."

"Those sounded like some pretty heavy tampons," he said with a smirk.

I stuck my tongue out at him and went back to clean up.

****

ANDY -- BEDTIME

I was pretty sure I knew what Alison had dropped in the bathroom. I'd seen tampons before, and they wouldn't make much noise at all if they dropped to the floor. Unless my sister was carrying several small flashlights with her, I was guessing that she had spilled her sex toys. If that was true, then she had probably masturbated just before we left home. That would explain her hot, flushed appearance. But, I knew that I had better not intrude too much into that part of her life. I could see two potential catastrophes coming from that -- seriously damaging the close relationship I had with my sister; or breaking down the one wall that still remained between us. I had joked about letting her watch me and her friend fooling around, but I knew that could never happen. In part, because I also knew how I would react if she was close by when I was seriously aroused. I'd had enough fantasies involving her to know that I would not be able to stop myself from breaking that taboo.

Motion in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I turned to see Alison step into the room. She was wearing a long cotton nightshirt the colour of her eyes. It came down almost to her knees and I could tell without a doubt that she was not wearing a bra, though I wasn't sure about panties. She had removed the elastic tie from her hair, and the golden locks were spread over her shoulders.

"Wow," I whispered.

"What?"

I smiled and patted the bed beside me. "You just look ... wow."

She smiled at the compliment. "You guys. All a girl has to do is take off her bra and you think she's inviting you to fuck her."

"No, that's not what I thought. And, you took off the bra way back in Ontario. That was a nice look, too."

She climbed onto the bed beside me. "Shove over, asshole."

"Hey, I'm already on the edge."

"Then move your arm so I can get closer."

I raised my arm and she scooted up next to me. When she placed her head on my chest, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"Comfy?"

"Mm hm, very. What you watching?"

"No idea. Something on PBS. Nothing else seems to come in."

She yawned. "Sorry. Might as well just turn off the TV. You can read if you want, I'm going to sleep."

"All right, Al." I hit the off button on the remote, then bent down to kiss her head. "Nighty-night."

"Mmm."

Her breathing settled, and I was sure that she was asleep. I did have a book, but it was in my backpack on the desk. I didn't really want to disturb her, so I turned out the light. I ran my hand along her back until I drifted off to sleep.

My dreams were a lot like I used to have in Philly. Those had almost always centered around Alison in some way, often with strong sexual overtones. This time, we were holding each other, gently caressing and kissing as we slept on the small foam mats in the tiny apartment. It was one of the most comforting dreams I'd ever had.

****

AL -- BLACKOUT

I woke with a start. At first, I was completely disoriented. For one thing, there was a man with me, sharing a tiny bed. And the smells and sounds of the room were all wrong. There was the odour of stale cigarettes, a bit of mold and rusty pipes. But there was also the scent of my dream lover, overwhelming the other smells. The only sounds were our breathing and the occasional car outside.

My head was lying on my partner's bare chest. A quick check let me know that he was wearing some kind of shorts, and I was in the nightshirt I had taken to Philly. But, why wasn't I at Chrissy's house? This was definitely not her parent's fancy home. My hand slid up the man's chest, then along his jaw. I smiled, knowing that it was Andrew. As that sunk in, I remembered that we had stopped at the motel in Nicholson.

"You awake?" Andrew whispered.

"Yeah."

"I think that power's out The AC just shut down."

I realized that I was already getting hot and sticky. Unfortunately, the bed didn't give us much room to move apart.

"Really? That sucks. Maybe we can open the windows to cool the room a bit."

Just then, thunder cracked and the rain started again.

I sighed, "Or not."

His arm moved away from my back. "Maybe we should try to lie side-by-side. It might be cooler."

He slid to his side a bit, and I moved so I was hanging over the edge. I still had to slide my arm under his.

"Well, I don't know if this is better," I said, "but we can try it."

"Just like that first year in Philly, eh?"

"Oh, yeah," I chuckled. "I forgot that we didn't have AC that year."

"But, we managed."

"Yep."

"Didn't use blankets until October."

"Nope."

"Didn't even use sheets most of August and September."

"Nope."

"Slept nude, side by side. Just like this."

"Uh, huh," I whispered. "Just like this. But, nude."

"Yep."

"Andy, did you dream tonight?"

"Yes."

"Can you remember what you dreamed about?"

"Yes."

"Do you mind ... did you want to tell me about your dreams?"

"I, uh, don't know if I should, Alison. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I see." I really did. "Do you mind if I tell you about mine?"

"If you want to."

I threaded my fingers through his and we clasped hands. We'd done this so many times in Philly, back before I got my own room. I had loved sharing my deepest secrets with him as we talked in the night. All but one. That was about to change.

"I don't really remember the details of my dream tonight, just the feeling, you know?"

"Yeah."

"So, when I woke just now, I didn't know where I was. It was a bit disorienting. But I knew that there was something ... someone ... comforting me, protecting me. I could feel his presence. I could smell him, stronger than any of the ugly smells in the room here. He was ... I guess he was my everything. The only man I needed or wanted. My dream lover, but I don't remember making love to him. Does that make sense?"