9:02 AM Indiana
Tiffany scurried into the bathroom with a grin on her face. She shut the door and then turned to the shower and turned the water on. She looked in the full length mirror on the door and twisted to view the side of her arm and torso. Frank had left a number of hickeys following a most surprising morning encounter that Tiffany had not expected. In the time since their relationship started she had never known Frank to be spontaneous at instigating a round in bed. Not that she minded. But it had taken her by surprise. She also noted that despite Frank's intensity he almost seemed to be outside of himself emotionally. Tiffany was unsure how to read his mindset. But she was hoping Frank had started to come out of the shell he had been in with regard to keeping their relationship more on a down low level.
She entered the shower and let the hot water rinse off the sweat and salt that had resulted from her morning encounter. Tiffany smiled to herself.
"Finally!" She said to herself.
Frank had made his way back to the room with tray in hand which had the usual motel "continental breakfast" that was served in such economy motels. Waffles, toast, yogurt, scrambled eggs and a pot of coffee. He made his way inside. Hearing the shower running he set the tray on the table and sat down. He took out his phone and looked down at it. He sighed after noting that there were still no texts or missed calls. He dialed Joe's phone number and waited. He was clearly more disturbed when Joe's phone went straight to voicemail.
"Yeah, Joe! Where are you, dude? I haven't heard back from you at all. I assume you must be in a place where the cell signal is totally dead. Anyway, if you find a signal pocket somewhere and get this please call or text me as soon as you can. I'm a bit worried. Ok, thanks. Bye." He said hitting the end call button. Frank was uncomfortable but still reasoned to himself that the Rocky Mountains were likely full of dead zones and cell service not working was hardly uncommon. A moment later her heard the bathroom door open. Tiffany came out wrapped in a towel. She smiled to Frank.
"Hi, Stud. Did you bring us food?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye as she looked over to the table of food. Frank half smiled looking down at the breakfast which was cooling and becoming less edible.
"Well if you want to call it that. It will keep us from having to stop for breakfast, but don't expect fine cuisine." He said with a slight chuckle. Tiffany walked over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek and smiled.
"Well with all the energy I have already exerted today, I am pretty hungry and not too choosey about the menu." She said and looked at Frank who seemed still not quite himself.
"You ok, babe?" She asked. Frank looked to her with a half smile.
"I'm ok. Still no word from Joe and he doesn't answer his phone. I guess that has me a little distracted." He said absently. Tiffany smiled and let her towel drop to the floor allowing Frank a view of her firm body still glowing from the heat of the shower. Her firm breasts seemed to offer Frank enough distraction to crack a smile. Tiffany grinned.
"Oh, good. My girls got a smile." She said briefly holding her breasts and looking proudly down at them. Frank sat down with refocused attention to Tiffany and watched her get dressed. Tiffany noted the attention she was given during the process. She grinned.
"It was ok to dress, right babe? I mean if you were up for round two, I am happy to push that 11:00 AM checkout time." She said with a laugh. Frank nodded and turned his eyes to the food with a slight smile.
"Well, much as I am sure I would enjoy that, I wouldn't want the food to get cold." He said. Tiffany walked over and sat down. She picked up her phone and looked down at it. She gave a mock disgusted look upon checking her social media.
"Ugh, what a bitch." She said without explaining and tossed her phone on the table. Frank of course knew better than to open up that door and let Tiffany take some of eggs before helping himself. He poured her a cup of coffee and cleared his throat.
"I think we can put a lot of miles in today. I am really anxious to get out there. He said. Tiffany gave a look of indifference between bites.
"As long as when we get there we don't have your ex in our face walking around topless." She with a smirk. Frank coughed slightly at the thought which Tiffany presented for his imagination. He needed to move forward in his thinking about the state of their relationships. He knew he had treated Callie bad at times and took her for granted. But there was a lingering feeling he had. Perhaps it was natural given how many years they were together. He had hoped time would heal things. He realized he played a significant part in the way that things were at present. He had made his bed. He looked across the table at Tiffany. She was beautiful and Frank enjoyed the attention from her. He also liked that he could keep her safe. It being highly improbable that Tiffany would ever want to go into law enforcement or become a detective.
Frank thought about it all. Was he being narrow minded? Did Callie offer him her best and he dismissed committing to her because she didn't want to be exactly as he thought she should be? His mind was filled with him second guessing himself.
Frank finished his meal and emptied his cup of coffee. He began throwing his clothes in his bag and checking the room over to ensure he didn't leave anything unpacked. Tiffany finished and stood up. She went about picking up her things. She took one of her bags and excused herself to the bathroom.
"Got to do my makeup, babe. I won't be long." She said as she vanished into the bathroom.
Frank sat on the end of the bed ready to go. Looking down at his phone. Waiting for it to ring or beep. He knew the best remedy to his distracted mind would be to work on the case at hand. About ten minutes later Tiffany came out and smiled.
"I'm ready!" She said offering him her hand. Frank took it and stood up. He picked up his bag and the two left the motel. Frank hit the remote for the GMC and heard the doors click to alert him they were now unlocked. Frank took Tiffany's bag and placed them in the back seat. They got in and Frank turned the key. He sighed and took his phone and hooked it up to the charger cable and set it down. Frank pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the I-70 west ramp. Soon they were heading west at a good clip. He set the cruise control and looked over to Tiffany who was absorbed with her phone. She spied him from the corner of her eye. She took her phone and set it to camera mode. She took a short video of the passing landscape.
"Recording this fine area for posterity." She said with a grin. Frank looked about. The area was rather baron and not exactly an area one would want to remember.
"Bored already, sweetie?" He asked. Tiffany gave a wry smile.
"Not sure I am bored, really. I just see scenes like this driving by them. You know… places that look depressing. Ugly places. Full of crime and despair. I don't know. Many times I don't want to think about it. I don't want to be near it. Maybe something is wrong with me. I have never been able to relate to it." She said flatly.
Frank raised an eyebrow. He had not expected Tiffany to speak with such an introspective tone.
"You mean it makes you uncomfortable? I mean to see places like inner cities and rural areas that have long since quit prospering? The people who live in them?" He asked. Tiffany nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I mean it makes me sad a little I guess. But I just feel the need to zone it out of my head and not deal with it. Part of me doesn't like to think about it or having to put myself into a place where I have to have exposure or an exchange with anyone who isn't my friend from where I live." Frank held his hand out in gesture.
"Well, that is a position a lot of people take. They aren't necessarily always to blame. I mean the way they were brought up and their environment play a large role. I like to think that anyone, no matter what their place in life, is worthy of my respect and kindness. Does that always mean I have gone out of my way to practice that, which I learned? No. Unfortunately it doesn't. But in your position, I think you just have never had the exposure, and maybe, your environment and upbringing was a bit lacking in that area. I mean no disrespect to your parents. But it is something if you Do think about it and have concerns." Tiffany looked out the window with a sober expression. The area of western Indiana they were driving through was clearly a not very prosperous place. She felt bad, but was uncertain of how she related to it.
"I suppose you are right. My mom had always tried to teach me when I was a kid. I remember going to church with her when I was maybe five or so. I think she really tried to teach me values. Then later she split." She paused. Frank looked over to her and saw Tiffany had closed her eyes and had wrinkled her brow and looked sad. She took a deep breath then looked over to him "And then there's my dad! Oh my. Not sure where to start there. He has done so much for me. He didn't have an easy job bringing me up after mom left. But then he started getting into his work more. I saw him less. But I got to know the cleaning lady pretty good when I was twelve. We both took smoking breaks after watching soaps on TV. I think sadly I got to know the various hired help more than my dad around that time. He would come home from work and he'd always get me presents and shit. I was thrilled. At least I thought I was." She said flatly without thinking about all she had just unloaded. She looked into her purse and pulled out a pack of smokes. Frank looked sideways with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't crazy about her smoking habit. But decided this was not the time to call her out. He reached to his left and opened her window a crack. Tiffany looked over to the window when it came down. She gave a half smile and gave a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah, almost forgot. Chet's car. He would always bitch about me smoking in it." She said lighting up. She inhaled deeply and looked nervously to her side in Frank's direction.
"So, Doc…" She started. "Am I a lost cause?" taking another drag and exhaled from the right side of her mouth so the smoke would go out the window. Frank cleared his throat and gave a smile.
"No, I think you are alright. None of us are perfect, Tiff. You no doubt have a lot of past baggage weighing you down some. I am glad you could share a little with me. We all have some for sure. I think when it comes to how we view ourselves it reflects how we were raised. Or at least how out environment led us to feel about ourselves. I get that you can't clearly relate to the poverty you see. I am sure your mom thought it was important to teach you things. Sounded like she was on the right track. For what it's worth I am sorry she left. If you ever want to talk more about it, please know I am here for you." He said calmly. Tiffany looked over to him. Appreciating that he hadn't judged her harshly as many often did in her life. Truth be told in her own circle of friends there were a lot of judgmental snakes as she often thought of them.
"I appreciate it. Maybe in time…" She started. Not wanting to have another emotionally vulnerable moment she finished her smoke and took out her phone and started scrolling through her accounts. She gave Frank an occasional nervous glance out of the corner of her eye.
An hour or so passed. Frank stretched one of his arms out and yawned.
"I think I need some coffee." She said. Tiffany, who had been staring out the window glanced up. She could use some caffeine.
"What's the chance of finding a Starbucks, you think?" She asked. Frank chuckled a bit.
"You are the one with the cell phone in your hands, babe. Check out our location and see if we might get lucky anytime soon." Tiffany nodded and looked down at her phone and started searching.