(From chapter 1) She sat opposite him plopping her tank of a purse down in the seat beside her. “Well, you know my name isn’t Stacey. That doesn’t narrow it down much, does it? Name’s Sally. My friends call me Sal. I’ll let you know when you can,” she said with a hint of an impish smile playing about her lips as she held her hand out for him.
He shook the offered hand and said, “Shane. Shane Campbell. Please to know you,” he lied. He wasn’t at all sure yet whether he was pleased or not. He would never have the upper hand with this one. Full of piss and vinegar.
“So, go on blind dates often?” she asked.
“No. This is the first one since high school,” he said as he squirmed in his chair and blushed a little. “What about you? Who were you meeting?”
“My soon to be fired lawyer. Nothing romantic. Haven’t had a romantic interlude probably since high school.”
“Why on earth not? You’re a very attractive woman,” he said. It slipped out before he could sensor himself. He was really playing with fire now.
“Ahhh shucks, cowboy, how sweet,” she said with a sarcastic grin.
“Don’t look know, lady but that chip on your shoulder is growing faster than Pinocchio’s nose.”
This is their third date...
(From chapter 3) The cop accepted the proffered piece of paper with the attached sticker. “Well, that’s great you paid, but by not affixing it to your plates, you’re taking up police man hours unnecessarily. I can still write you a ticket, but I think I’ll just make you step on out of the truck and put it on right, now.”
“Like he was so busy! Thinks he’s so important. Has to bully law abiding citizens just to feel big.” Sally said this almost, but not quite under her breath. The cop heard every word. He had only backed up one step to let Shane open his door.
“What was that you said, ma’am?”
“You heard me. Don’t you have anything better to do? Like catch murderers or something?”
“Well, I don’t know. Are you confessin’ to one? I’d surely like to get you in a cell.”
“I bet you would.”
“Well, Mr. Campbell, I think that I’m going to give you that ticket after all. But I’m still going to insist that you put the sticker on. You can let the lady with the big mouth pay it for you.”
Shane just heaved an exasperated sigh and got out of the car. He didn’t even look over at Sally. He was seething. He stood up and began to walk to the back of the car. That’s when he noticed the remaining alcohol in his system. He tried very hard to walk to the back of the truck without swaying, but of course, the harder he tried, the more attention he drew to himself. The cop watched with interest and asked if he might do a little more walking for him when he came back to the driver door. The officer reached into his pocket, drew out a piece of chalk from a baggie, drew a straight line right next to a seam in the sidewalk and motioned Shane to oblige him.
Shane argued with himself with every step. Cursed his self really. Told his self he could do it. That he was a fool to be mixed up with a mouthy broad. He finished up stepping off the line twice.
Last updated: April 6, 2007