A Tale of Two Cities
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Disclaimer: I own no one!
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Trish Orton quietly tapped her long manicured fingernails against the door. She had been stuck in the car with her husband for the past two days. As much as she loved him, he was beginning to drive her crazy.
"Alright," Randy murmured, talking to himself. The directions from Map Quest were in his lap. "Left on Hunt Highway in Copper Ranch,"
They were moving from St. Louis, Missouri to Queen Creek, Arizona. They were expecting their first child, and their tiny apartment just wouldn't have been big enough.
"Randy, where are we?" she asked, shifting her weight. Since getting pregnant, staying in the same position for longer than twenty minutes made her increasingly uncomfortable.
"Somewhere on Hunt Highway…I think," he said. She glanced at him. Out of the corner of her eye, a Super-Wal-Mart came into view. Beside that was a sign that said "Coolidge City Limits". Trish groaned.
"Babe, we're in Coolidge. We wanted Queen Creek. I think we went too far" she declared. Randy smacked himself in the head with his palm. How could he have gotten lost?
"Where should I go?" he asked, making a left turn. She shrugged, glimpsing a sign that proclaimed 'Casa Grande Ruins'. What could that be?
"How about that?" she asked. "I need to stretch anyway," Gently, she stroked her protruding belly.
Randy listened to his wife. The small building seemed to be the right place to stop. Besides, he was afraid that forcing his pregnant wife to stay in the car any longer would be equivalent to tempting fate.
"Um…is this a drive-through gun shop?" Trish asked, getting out of the car. "Am I nuts or is this a drive-through gun shop?" She shook her head; certain she was hallucinating.
"We're at a drive-through gun shop," Randy declared. "I'll go get directions. You go next door and try not to piss off the locals,"
"Why would I piss off the locals?" she asked, waddling off to the convenience store.
Randy finally figured out where he was going. He hoped their new house wasn't in an area like this one. After all, he and Trish wanted to raise their baby in the Suburbs. They didn't want to raise their child in the boondocks.
"Let's go. How far are we from the house?" she asked, slipping in the front seat. Randy gulped. He knew Trish wouldn't take kindly to the news that she would be stuck in the car for another additional two hours.
"About an hour or two," he mumbled. Trish's eyes widened.
"TWO HOURS?" she exclaimed loudly. Randy nodded. "I'm sorry, but I feel like crap, pure and simple," Randy nodded. He understood perfectly.
They drove in silence, except for Trish's groans of discomfort. Randy was sympathetic toward her. She was six and a half months into her pregnancy.
They pulled up to a cream colored two-story house. Randy found it rather nice. His wife was so hard to read. Did she like it? He wasn't sure.
"Trish, what's wrong?" Randy asked, noticing the blatant look of annoyance. She groaned, showing him a piece of paper that she had found in the door.
"We don't have power because of the previous tenants," she declared. Then, his cell phone rang.
As he listened to the movers explain their problem, Randy groaned. Nothing was going right today. Trish was going to freak. He just knew it.
"Honey, our furniture is stuck in Albuquerque," he said. Her eyes widened.
"Albuquerque? As in New Mexico?" she asked. Slowly, he nodded. "No electricity, no furniture. What are we going to do?"
"Make do, like always." He stated. She nodded. "Sweetie, we're going to have to get in the car for another hour. I don't think there's a hotel in this town," Trish groaned and immediately flipped him off.
Randy groaned.
It was going to be a LONG afternoon.
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Just a fic idea from a big city girl stuck in a small town. I swear almost every event in this story is based off of something that has happened to me in the two months I hope you enjoy it.
-Jen