I hated puddles. No, that wasn't true. I just hated puddles when I couldn't jump in them. And at the moment, I just wasn't wearing the right shoes to make that dream come true. High heels had become a necessity in my business. Stupid but oh so pretty shoes that made your butt look awesome but made stepping on anything that wasn't steady a dangerous thing leading to the hurting of said butt.
It had been a long time since I had chucked off my shoes and unashamedly jumped in puddles, the cool water soaking up my jeans and leaving me elated. And that sudden realization made me sad. I hadn't even realized that I had left my puddle days behind me. No wonder rainy days made me feel down. It reminded me of a life left behind.
So I stared down at the wet, slick ground with a dangerous level of jealousy and trepidation as I walked under my umbrella on that rare rainy day in Los Angeles. And after an awkward struggle to shut my umbrella while trying to stay dry, I chucked my high heels onto the passenger's seat of my red rust bucket excuse of a car, shoved the car into gear, and roared out of my parallel parking spot next to my apartment, dead set on passing every cautious driver in Los Angeles.
I had learned very early on that my fellow Angelenos were terrified of rain. Their cars slowing to a crawl and meeting every raindrop like an enemy set on destroying their lives. I used to make fun of them until I had driven my car onto a street full of potholes in the middle of a rainstorm and watched my car drown. FULL BLOWN DROWN.
My car had stuttered, trying to free itself from it's watery prison like a cat that had fallen into a bathtub, but much like said cat, it took a very long time to get free. And at that point, I was forced to climb out my car window and face my shame as other drivers shook their heads, with sympathetic glances, staring at my dead car. It was at that moment that I understood. Angelenos weren't afraid of rain, they were afraid of the streets that transformed into rivers as the Goddess of Poor City Planning reared her ugly head, demanding car sacrifices.
But today I risked angering the Goddess of Poor City Planning because I needed to make up for lost time. So I drove fast, faster than I should have considering the weather, and risked my cars life in the process. The road was slick, a warning sign for caution. One I ignored. My phone rang. Susan, my assistant's voice filled the car through my sound system. "Allie! Where are you?!?"
I winced at the volume. "Stop screaming! I'm almost there!" I lied. I was at least ten minutes away. Why do we tell people we are almost at our destination when we are so very clearly not? It's a sickness that gets worse the more you get away with it. At this rate, I fully expected to tell people I was five minutes away when I was in fact five hours away by the time I was in my eighties.
"Liar," Susan snorted. "But I'll let it slide. Just hurry. You have a package."
"That must be the mock-up for the new shoes." The rain stopped outside, and I felt my body relax in response. It looked like my car would be spared by the Goddess of Poor City Planning.
Turning off the windshield wipers I was surprised when a giggle filled my car through the speakers. "No... not that." Susan's voice took on a singsong that made me uncomfortable. Anything that made her that excited was a bad bad sign.
"Can't you sign for it?" I asked, sliding over a lane, wincing as I accidentally sent a puddle of water onto an elderly woman on the sidewalk. Crap.
"Do you know what it is?" Susan asked, her voice going up an octave.
"If I did, I would tell you," I replied, trying to hide my irritation. "Stop playing the package mystery guessing game and just put whatever it is in my office."
I could hear her smile on the other end of the phone. "I think you are gonna like it."
I gripped the wheel tighter. "Why are you using your weird lying voice?" Susan was a great assistant, but she always insisted on trying too hard. She had been trying to be my friend since I hired her three years ago. But I sucked at making friends and it showed with my blunt, emotionless answers.
"I'm not lying. I just..." She deflated. "I'm just excited." I could hear the disappointment radiating over the speakers in the car. I really should try to be nicer.
I sighed and attempted the foreign concept. "What is it?" I asked in a terrible attempt at sounding excited. Yeah, this won't fool anyone.
"You Ms. Allie Winters," she paused for dramatic effect. "...have a secret admirer." The words reverberated through the car, strange and terrifying.
Some girls would hear the possibility of love and get excited. Their hearts would race, their minds filling with possibilities. But not me. No, no, no. The idea terrified me. I was completely anti relationships. I didn't have the time for them and back when I did, it turned out trash-can-on-fire level terrible. Like end of the world, Superman fighting Batman and destroying an entire city level terrible. My stomach clenched, panicked. I think I'm gonna barf.
I suddenly missed the sound of the rain, the frantic sound of the windshield wipers. The silence left without them was too loud. My breathing became labored. Spots filled my vision. I was having a panic attack.
The world swirled around me. Colors and items switched places, a kaleidoscope of colors and chaos invaded my vision swallowing me into a Doctor Strange level warping time portal. I didn't even realize I was still driving until a wild honk filled my ears and before I could snap back to the present, I hit the curb, slamming into a fire hydrant and sending water shooting up into the air like a freaking Los Vegas water show.
Because that was what a girl did when she found out someone likes her right? She had a panic attack, and drove right into a fire hydrant, shooting water up into the air like a beacon that shouted, LET ALL BE A WITNESS, I HAVE EMOTIONAL ISSUES!
The only bright spot in the entire embarrassing display was the fact that I hadn't been driving a car with a convertible top. I would have been sitting in a car full of fire hydrant water. However... The convertible that was parked next to me, the one that I had not crashed into by some miracle, wasn't so lucky. That car's top was all the way down and was now filling with fire hydrant water. Oh my gosh...
"Allie!" Susan cried over my sound system. "What was that? Are you okay?"
I ignored the stares of pedestrians on the sidewalk as they looked from me over to the now filling car and back to me again. "I'll call you back," I croaked.
Climbing out of the car, I stared, horrified as the sleek black convertible filled with more and more water. The rain had stopped and the sun had come out, but it might as well have been hailing. It was a not-so-natural disaster kind of day. I looked around for the owner of the car, but didn't see anyone screaming or crying yet.
Reaching into my car, I pulled out my umbrella and ran over to the other car hoping to stop the water. Opening my umbrella, I stood under the blast of water, doing my best to send the water flying onto the sidewalk, instead of into the car. It was a wild fight of limbs and a bending umbrella against a fast wild current of unrelenting freezing fire hydrant water. The water splashed all over me as my limbs flailed to keep this stranger's car clear of getting any more drenched.
And as I stood there, being stared at like a freakshow by pedestrians, I suddenly realized... whoever owns this car could be gone for hours. I didn't want to be trapped like a piece of sidewalk theater forever, reliving my moment of shame until the oblivious driver came back.
Finally, I yanked the umbrella free and stepped away, letting the car get doused again. As I watch the water claim the car, I looked for a dry spot to leave a note. But a surprised voice cut my thought process short. "WHAT ON EARTH?"
Turning, I came face to face with the owner of the black convertible. A man in his early twenties with chocolate brown curly hair that sparked bright in the sun as it swept away from his face and framed his strong jaw. A pair of forest green eyes stared past me, wide in shock, taking in the disaster I had caused. Convertible Guy was at least six foot and wore a somewhat wrinkled black suit and a red tie.
He was breathtaking but that was the last thing I could afford to think about. Especially as I watched him drop his cup of coffee and stare at his car, horrified. "Midnight looks like she just got married to a water park! What happened?!?"
"I..." I stared at him, past my dripping tendrils of hair, drenched, trying to figure out how to explain the disaster human that I was. "Midnight?" I stammered.
Convertible Guy continued to stare at his car, looking lost. "That's my car's name." His eyes snapped to mine. "What did you do to her?!?"
Embarrassed by the eyes around us, I chose anger instead of an apology which he very much deserved. "Why is your car top even down?!?" I snapped.
He threw his arms up, exasperated. "It stopped raining!"
I crossed my arms, trying to keep some semblance of composure. "Yeah, like five seconds ago!"
He raised a brow. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that putting the top of my car down would ruin your brilliant plans to RUN YOUR CAR INTO A FIRE HYDRANT!" He walked over to his car and yanked the door open in a dramatic display, watching me with a pointed expression as water spilled out of the front seat and out onto the street like a waterfall.
"So this is all my fault?" He snorted, his face taking on a look that battled between irritation and amusement. "You are the one who crashed into a fire hydrant, doused my car and then started yelling at me."
I flushed an angry red as he continued to stare at me as CD's, a phone charger, and three water bottles floated out of the car and into the street. "Can't really drive this can I?"
Just apologize Allie. Just say it. Say it, say it. Be nice for once in your life! Better yet, be anyone other than yourself. Just don't say something stupid. "Who parks that close to a fire hydrant!" My mouth answered, ignoring my brain's insistence on keeping the peace. Great job.
He slammed the door to his car closed. Several people were recording our conversation now. Great.
"I am SUPER far away from the red line! Just admit that you caused all of this crazy water fountain frenzy and we can go from there."
I tensed, ignoring his request for an apology through clenched teeth. Instead, I reached into my car and pulled out my insurance information, handing it to him. "Here," I muttered.
He read my name. "Allie Winters." Then he looked back up at me, brow furrowed. "You have destroyed a beautiful car."
"Sorry about your car girlfriend," I replied dryly. I was wet, tired, and embarrassed. I just wanted to leave Convertible Guy standing next to his drowned car and leave.
He glanced past me towards my car. "Looks like your car didn't fare much better." He reached into his pocket and handed me a sleek black card. "I think you need this."
"Silver Gate"
Safety and Chauffers
"What is this?" I asked reading the card.
"A driving service." Convertible Guy shrugged, an amused smile sparking in his deep green eyes. "Looks like you struggle with driving."
My mouth dropped open. "Excuse you! I am a completely competent driver, thank you very much!"
Just then, my car's alarm went off behind me as the fire hydrant's water pressure shifted and sent my front bumper crashing onto the pavement. I lost what little credibility I still had in my car's sudden betrayal. Traitor.
He crossed his lean, muscular arms, drawing my attention to them for a beat. "Clearly." Then he began to pluck up his damaged items from off the street. "Look, Hydrant Girl. The company is great. If you ever need a ride, and based on the condition of your car, you probably will... just give them a call."
I stood there, drenched, barefooted, and bristling with anger. "I don't need your help, Convertible Guy. Uber and Lyft are just fine." I snatched my insurance information and driver's license from him. "Here!" I chucked my umbrella at him, before turning away. "Good luck with your car trouble."
Then being the classy girl that I was, I walked to the end of the block, bare feet splashing through puddles that I had craved to submerge myself in minutes before. What poetic irony! Once out of ear shot, I rang up my assistant, too prideful to let Convertible Guy hear how much help I truly needed. "Susan? Can you call a toe truck?"
I walked into work three hours late, looking more like a drowned rat than the CEO of a fashion company. I had managed to pull my black hair up into a tangled mess of a ponytail. But I couldn't do anything about my green pencil skirt which now looked like I had peed on it... or my black blouse which was showing off a little more of my assets than I was comfortable with.
Oh my gosh... why do I even try to look nice?
"WINTERS" was written in deep red curly letters across the top of the brick building. The name sat there for three years and I still got a thrill of pleasure every time my eyes saw my last name as I walked into the building I rented for my fashion company.
The hustle and bustle of employees running around, carrying clothes, sketches and accessories normally made me smile. But today they paused in their steps to watch me as I quickly walked to my office, head held high despite the fact I felt like I was dying inside. Just ignore your puddle ridden boss. Nothing to see here.
I didn't have time to run back home and change. I had too much work to do and there were plenty of things at work I could change into. But I didn't make it into my office. I stopped in the doorway, dozens of eyes on my back as I stared at the large, overwhelming package that had been left on my desk. I had all but forgotten that Susan had placed it there.
"What the hell is this?" I whispered, my voice cracking.
"A gift," Susan said, eyes beaming as she squeezed into my office and held out her hands in a dramatic display that was normally reserved for models on the price is right. "It's a love hedge!"
A small potted hedge plant, leaves cut into the shape of a heart sat in the center of my desk. Like a green fuzzy ball of emotional barf. "A love hedge?" I asked, confused. That had to be the stupidest plant I had ever hear of.
Susan blinked, taking in my angry tone. "Oh my gosh, are you alright? You're soaked!"
I shook my head, eyes on the ridiculous love hedge. "Rainy day." My voice sounded hollow.
Susan looked up at me with her light brown eyes, red eyebrows furrowed in concern. Then she plucked a card out of the hedge and held it out to me. "It came with this."
I stared down at the white envelope, my heart hammering wildly. I shook my head, eyes staring at the card so intently I hoped I could make it combust into flames. Reaching for the card, I dropped it into the trashcan without a word, the hedge taking up the rest of the small silver cylinder that made up my fancy waste basket.
Susan let out a cry of disappointment. "Allie! Come on! It's romantic!"
I turned and glared at her. "Leave. I have a thousand things to do."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but thought better of it when I narrowed my eyes, warning her that she would lose. She quickly scurried from the room. But I didn't work. I stared at the hedge tilting out of the trashcan, swallowing the lump in my throat, trying to push down the memories of past relationships that sprang to the surface with this hideous plant's arrival.
Who would be stupid enough to try and woo me? Who would buy a ticket onto this train wreck that crashes into fire hydrants and then yells at others for her mistakes?
Sitting down, I ran my fingers through my hair. Then after a hesitant breath, I reached inside the trashcan and pulled out the note, reading it.
---
Thank you for reading chapter one! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes!
UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!
What do you think of Allie?
Would you have been nicer to Convertible Guy?
What do you think will happen?
What does the note say?
Does Allie know who left her the love hedge? Is that why she is so freaked out? What happened in her past to make her so scared of love?
CHAPTER QUESTION - If you were to own a business, what would it be for?