Thirty Mile Drive

Thirty Mile Drive ©

An old story that has been expanded and reedited.

There is no sex in this story.

*

"Sorry to run like this, Marsha, but I promised my son that I would be at his soccer game, by five o'clock."

"No problem, Mike. I am just going to clean up a little. I'll be out of here in ten minutes. I have to hurry to get supper on the table for the tribe." It took less than ten minutes. We had done this so many times before that everything went smooth as clockwork.

It was a thirty-mile drive from the motel to my home in Lancaster. There were a lot of places we could meet that was closer, but neither one of us could take the chance of getting caught. Cheating requires a lot of work and deception. Sometimes I am not sure it is worth it, but when we are together, the doubts seem to disappear.

Mike and I had been meeting a couple of times a month for the last four years. Neither one of us had problems in our family lives, we were just bored and looking for a little excitement. The few hours we got to share seemed to make all the difference. It was the only stimulation I ever had away from my humdrum existence. It made my life tolerable.

It had been my turn to pay for the room today. I left the key on the dresser, checked the room one more time to be sure, and locked the door behind me. It was then that I got the first indication that something was wrong. My little VW convertible was not there. You can't miss seeing a lime green bug, especially in the middle of the afternoon, when the parking lot is empty. I was at a loss because I didn't know whom to call. I couldn't call home. I didn't want to call the police. How could I explain being parked at a motel in the middle of the afternoon? I decided that my best bet was to try and catch Mike before he got too far. He could give me a ride back to the office, and I could fake it from there.

All I got from my cell phone was a 'no service' message. It didn't say 'no signal' it said 'no service.' I could call from the room phone, but I had locked the door and left the key inside.

When I asked the office manager for a key to get back into the room, he gave me an odd look. "I am glad you stopped in Mrs. Thomas. We have a small problem with your credit card today. After you signed in, we got a rejection notice."

"For what reason?"

"It just said 'invalid card'."

"Here, try this one." I watched as he swiped the new card. He tried it twice and then looked up, shook his head, and handed it back. The only other cards that I had were for department stores.

"I'm not sure what is going on. I have a more pressing problem right now as my car is missing. Can I just pay cash?"

"It's eighty-eight dollars even. You didn't have a green VW convertible did you?"

I handed him my only five twenties. "Yes. I parked it right out in front of my room."

"It got towed about an hour ago. The driver checked in here first, and he had all the proper papers." The annoying clerk gave me back twelve one-dollar bills.

"You can use the phone here in the office if it is a local call."

Of course, it wasn't a local call. I walked out to the front of the office and paused. I was thirty miles from home, with no car, no cell phone, no credit cards, and twelve dollars. Normally, my husband and three sons would be expecting a hot supper from a smiling wife and mother. I got a strange feeling that things were not going to be normal tonight.

I stood for a moment and stared across the highway. Grey clouds were slowing coming in from the West and it smelled like rain. Summer was over and I knew it was going to be a long Winter.

There was a truck stop about a quarter-mile away, by the interstate ramp. Even though it was still early in the afternoon, the neon lights were reflecting off the big rigs parked on the lot. I always wanted to go to Vegas, and I wondered how hard it would be to hitch a ride.

I tossed the worthless cell phone into the trashcan by the motel office door and started walking. How far can a middle-aged slut get on twelve dollars? I was going to find out.