Still Looking
Part 2
Michael jumped onto his bike, pulled on his helmet and screeched
away from the kerb, My god it was her, he knew it was, he followed down the
same road she did, but he couldn't find her, where the hell was she, he sped
up. No way was he going to lose her now, she was alive, she was his Maria.
For 30 minutes he followed the same road, he couldn't see her and he was going over the speed limit, maybe he had missed a turn-off somewhere back there, he was just about to slow down to turn around and go back when he noticed a black speck about half a mile ahead of him, in his heart he knew it was her. He speeded up and within 10 minutes he had caught up with her, she handled the bike like and expert, he pulled up beside her, he looked at her, and motioned his head to her, she lifted her visor and looked back then nodded her head to him. They rode side by side for about another two hours, then Michael noticed a roadside café, he pointed it out to her and they both slowed down to turn in.
They stopped in the parking lot and Alice/Maria pulled off
her helmet her hair tumbled around her shoulders and she pulled it away from
her face, she looked at him, as he pulled off his helmet, "hey you're the guy I
saw in Ranchers aren't you." "Yeah,
that's right, and you're the girl that winked at me," she smiled at him, "the
name's Alice." She held out her hand to shake his, "and you, what's your name?"
"um Michael, my name's Michael." He took her hand and shook, his stomach did a
flip, then a nosedive, she didn't know him, why didn't she know him?
"Well I'm starved, how about we go share a table Michael,"
god he always loved the way she said his name, "sure why not."
They got a booth by the window, they sat opposite each
other, Alice looked at the menu, she bit her bottom lip as she studied it,
Michael couldn't take his eyes off her, he jumped guiltily when she snapped her
menu closed, his eyes darted to his own menu, she smiled she knew he had been
watching her. The waitress came for their order, Alice looked up at her and
said, "I think I'll have the omelette, what about you Michael." "What? Oh I'll have the same." As the
waitress turned to get their order, Michael said, "do you have any Tabasco?" "Sure honey, coming right up." "Tabasco?" Michael blushed slightly, "yeah, it makes food taste so much better, you
should try it." "I don't think so…thanks
any way." They sat in silence for a while, Michael was the first to speak, "so
Alice where you headed?" "Nowhere in
particular, I thought I would just ride and see where I'll end up, it's my
vacation, no work for the next week. And you where you headed?" "same as you, wherever the road takes me I'll
go, I don't have a job at the moment, I tend to do odd jobs, then when I've
enough money I move on." "So you're a
bit of a loner, just like me, I don't have many friends but that's just the way
I like it." Her eyes became sad at
that, Michael looked at her, what happened just now? Where did the spark go
that was in her eyes only moments ago. Their food came and for the next ten
minutes they ate in silence, Michael wondered how he was going to persuade her
to let him come along with her. What he
didn't know was that Alice was thinking the same thing, although she liked her
own company, she felt comfortable with him, she actually felt safe, she couldn't
remember the last time she felt that way about anyone. This could turn into one hell of a trip…….
TBC…