Chapter Nine
Larry dashed down the hotel stairway as quickly as his short legs could move before literally skidding into the lobby, stopping just inches shy of Bianca.
Bianca turned around, sloshing some of her orange juice out of its Styrofoam cup. "Oh, Larry! There you are! I had no idea that it was already morning! I brought you some–"
Larry hastily grabbed the orange juice and the jelly doughnut from her hand and set it down on a nearby counter. "There's no time to eat. We have to leave; now!"
"But Larry, I haven't finished the machine yet. We can't leave."
"No, you don't understand. I did it; I was able to talk to Balki and he said that Max retrieved the time machine while we were at the hardware store and he sent Urpos back here! For all we know, he could be watching our every move as we speak!"
"Are you sure? I destroyed it, remember?"
"Yes, but while we were out shopping, that would've given him just enough time to come looking for us! Now that he has no way back, who's to say he won't find us and kill us both? Bianca, please; let's just get the hell out of here now!"
"I'd take Curly Sue's advice there, sweetie," a voice snickered from behind Bianca.
Bianca spun around and instinctively clutched Larry's arm for support. "How fast can you run?" she whispered to him.
"When my life is on the line? Like the wind," he replied before they both bolted through the lobby and out into the street. "Now would be a great time to have a car–or better yet–a time machine."
"Don't get snippy," Bianca warned as they turned the corner. "I've got an idea."
"You do? Oh good."
"Get in!" Bianca cried as she opened the door of an abandoned van on the side of the road and hopped inside
"Your idea is to steal a car? Are you crazy?" Larry objected.
"Do you want to save your life and get to Balki? If so, get in!" she yelled.
Larry looked back just in time to see Urpos hijack a car from a woman and climb inside before Larry literally dove into the back seat.
"How did you know the keys were in the ignition?" Larry gasped, out of breath as she started the engine and sped off.
"Just lucky, I guess. There's only one eensy-weensy problem," Bianca replied.
"Do I wanna know?" Larry muttered.
"You might. The problem is….I can't drive!" she squealed as the van crashed through a chain link fence.
"What do you mean you can't drive?" Larry screamed, his eyes wild.
"I haven't manually driven a car since I was eighteen! I rigged all my cars to be able to drive themselves!" she wailed.
"And yet your big idea is to get behind the wheel and drive the streets of Beverly Hills? What kind of a plan is–LOOK OUT!"
Bianca screamed and swerved the van hard to the right, barely missing an SUV going the other way. "I can't look!"
Larry did a double take, appalled. "Don't close your eyes!" he hollered, seeing as she covered her face with her hands. "Keep your eyes uncovered, open and on the road!"
Bianca did as she was told, just in time to swerve again, this time to dodge hitting the curb. "Do you see Urpos?"
"I'll tell you as soon as my life stops flashing before my eyes," he retorted before looking behind them. "No. I think all the swerving you did confused him. Now can we please just stop the van? I felt safer letting Meego drive us!"
"Simple question: how exactly do I stop?"
Larry ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "The brake; the brake. Hit…the…brake!"
"Okay!" Bianca cried out, getting ready to press her foot on the brake pedal.
"Not in the middle of the street! Pull over to the side of the road and then hit the brake!"
"Oh, yeah, right."
Larry sighed with relief as Bianca pulled into a parking lot of an art gallery and stopped the car. With a shaky hand, Larry reached over and shifted the gear into park before glaring at her. "Well, that was something I'd never like to do again! I can't believe you just got into a van without knowing how to drive! Bianca, why can't you just…be normal?"
With that, Larry got out of the van and walked toward the art gallery, his legs wobbling like jelly.
Bianca sat in the front seat of the van, numb all over. The only noise she could hear was the sound of Larry's voice repeating over and over, "Bianca, why can't you just…be normal…normal…normal…"
"I have to get out and get some air," she whispered to no one in particular as she stumbled out of the van and entered the art gallery. "Excuse me," she said to the man behind the counter, "which way did the man with curly dark hair go?"
"Oh, hello. He went to use the facilities. Can I interest you in any of our show pieces? A private tour? An espresso with a leh-mon tweest?" the man replied in an accent so jumbled, Bianca had to concentrate hard to understand.
"Uh, no thanks," she mumbled, gazing around, hoping he didn't see the tears forming in her eyes.
"Well, my name is Serge and if you need anything, just say it. I am here to serve, after all," he replied somewhat satirically.
Bianca, why can't you just be normal? she swore she heard one of the statues mock her from its place in the window.
"Oh, I see you look at this piece," Serge brightened, coming around to her side. "This was done by the great sculptor J.J. Knoxwurst–terrible name, but brilliant artiste–and I'm very excited to show it to you…"
"Thank you, but I'm fine," she whispered hoarsely before running out of the gallery and leaning up against the van, tears streaming down her cheeks.
A minute later, Larry came back, oblivious. "That Serge guy was extremely hard to understand; I almost had to call you in as an interpreter."
Bianca kept her back to him, unable to control her emotions. She only nodded her head in reply.
"Bianca, are you alright? You're shaking," Larry said, taking off his jacket and draping it around her shoulders.
Bianca let out a small hiccup but refused to turn around until Larry grabbed her upper arm and forced her to turn towards him.
"Bianca, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" he asked in surprise, still holding her arm.
"Because…you said…why can't I…be normal? You're right; I wish I…was normal!" she continued to hiccup, her voice racked with sobs.
A pained look washed over Larry's face as he realized what he had said. "Oh, Bianca; I'm so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I–I was just so upset and shocked when you told me you couldn't drive. I'm such an idiot for saying something so hurtful to the one person who's done nothing but try and help. Please, Bianca; can you ever forgive me?"
Bianca leaned forward and allowed him to hold her while she continued to cry. "I just feel so terrible. This is all my fault. You and Balki wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for my stupid time machine!"
Larry pulled back and looked into her teary eyes as light rain began to fall around them. "Balki would be crushed if he heard you talk like that. He adores you…and quite frankly; so do I. I can't imagine my life without you in it," he told her.
A smile tugged at Bianca's mouth before Larry surprised her with a sweet, tender kiss. Bianca returned the kiss, feeling more hopeful than she had in a long time.
A few seconds later, Larry pulled away, but still kept his face inches from hers. "We should probably get back in the van so we don't catch cold," he whispered, eyes still closed.
"Only if you drive," she replied back, dangling the keys in front of his face so she could lighten the moment. After all, as bad as she wanted to kiss him again, she knew he already had a girlfriend and she definitely did not need to be the cause of any more problems. From now on, her focus had to remain on building the machine and rescuing Balki.