It was a cold night and the sky was pitch black with heavy drops falling like hail. Shalane had just finished her shift and was on her way home in her rickety old Jaguar. There was storm raging and the roads were clogged with cars. Being a long-time resident of the city, Shalane knew its ins and outs and decided to take a detour instead of her usual route to beat the heavy traffic. As she worked her way around traffic she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself, like she had just outsmarted everybody else.
As Shalane drove along Highway 65, she saw a car parked by the road with a man, whom she was sure was its driver, trying to flag her down for help. Shalane’s immediate thought was to drive off, as she was alone in the car and was a bit frightened by the idea of helping out a stranger on the road in the middle of the night. But then she considered the storm and thought of how she’d feel if she were the one stuck in the rain. She decided to pick philanthropy over caution, and pulled over. The man hurried over to her.
“Hello. Car trouble?” Shalane asked.
“Yes,” the man said.
“How can I help?”
“Not sure we can do anything about it,” the man replied. “Can you give me a lift to the nearest garage?”
Shalane considered the man’s request; she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of letting a stranger into her car at night. Finally she said, “Sure. Hop in.” “Thanks,” the man said. He rushed back to his car and shut the bonnet. Then he returned to Shalane and got into her car.
“Thanks again,” the man said as he shut the door after him, “Been standing out here for quite a while. You are an angel.”
Shalane simply smiled and said, “Thank you.” Being naturally inquisitive, she asked his name before she could catch herself.
“It’s Arthur,” he said, “Like the king.”
“You don’t look like you’re from around here,” she said.
“No, I’m not. Came into town to visit a friend. Was on my way back when my car broke down.”
“You must really have bad luck. Of all the nights to have car trouble,” Shalane said.
“I know, right? It had to be under this mess of a storm,” he replied.
Their journey lasted only a few minutes before they spotted a garage. Shalane pulled up to the shop’s entrance. “Here you go,” she said putting the car’s gear in ‘Park.’
Arthur smiled at her and thanked her for the ride. Then he exited her car, but just before she backed out of the driveway, he hurried over to her window and said something. Shalane couldn’t hear him through the wound up window so she took it down. “What did you say?” she asked.
“I said where do you work?” He said.
“Ok! I work at the Hailey\’s Mall just by the city’s sport centre” She replied.
“Ok! Thanks again” He said.
They bid each other goodbye and she zooms off.
The next day, Shalane arrived late at work as usual. As she pulled up into the drive way she couldn’t help but notice a familiar car parked in the lot.
“This looks like Arthur’s car” She thought.
Disregarding the thought, she got out of her car and headed for the office entrance. As she opened the door she was greeted by the figure of a 6ft clean shaven Caucasian male in blue jeans and a stripped red t-shirt. It was Arthur! He looked so handsome and his skin well-tanned that her colleagues could not stop gawking at him. She immediately flung both arms around him, clinging so passionately, as if longing for breath. This was her moment and she was not about to let it pass.
For months, Shalane had made up stories at work to those who cared to listen, about her imaginary lover. Finally all doubts would be laid to rest as he was now here in flesh. At least it appeared so right now.
“Arthur so nice to see you” She said.
As she eventually let go, Arthur stood looking as dazed as a teenage boy. He had shown up at her work place, just to express his gratitude once more and had no clue that his presence would spark up such emotions from Shalane. However despite being taken aback by this sudden display of affection, a part of him enjoyed the feel of her skin against his. She immediately pulled him by the hand and headed to show off in front of her friends.
“Hello guys! This is Arthur.” She said.
“Hi Arthur” everyone chorused like a symphony.
When the entire charade was over, she took him aside.
“Thanks for bailing me back then, they all thought you were my boyfriend.” She said.
“Oh!” Arthur replied.
“Yeah I know, crazy me,” She joked.
They both laughed and spent the next few moments chattering away exchanging numbers before they finally bid each other goodbye.
Months passed, and it seemed like the perfect love story. Arthur and Shalane spoke almost every day and went out a lot. Arthur had painted the impression of a rich working class guy in the city and she was the local girl in search of true love. She would often fantasize about them getting married and having little kids running around. She was in love so she thought.
“Grhhhh Grrhhhh” The phone rings.
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