Cars, Yelling, Coffee, Holidays, Young Love and Goodbyes

“You really didn’t have to do this,” Jo said.

”Yes, I did,” Tony replied, his eyes fixed firmly on the road.

”I could’ve just gotten a cab.”

”That’s not very ceremonious.”

”Ceremonious?” Jo laughed. “I’m just going to the airport, why does it have to be ceremonious?”

For the first time in a long while, she was sitting in the passenger seat of Tony’s Camry. Jo always drove, whether it was her car or not.

”Are you excited?” Tony asked as he pulled the car around a small roundabout. “For your trip?”

”I’m only going to L.A. for three days.”

”You should be excited! I know Lavender is, she’s been missing you heaps.”

”Lavender gets excited over anything.”

”I know, but I think she’s really looking forward to seeing her best friend. Last time we saw her in person was… a year ago.”

”A whole year? Wow… it feels like much less than that.”

”Hey, time flies by when you’re having fun,” Tony grinned, elbowing her.

”Oh, shut up, you.”

They did not say much for the rest of the drive.

Tony was happy for Jo. He knew how impatient Jo had been waiting for this trip, and now it was finally happening! 

He had been offered to join her, but he had declined for a few reasons.

Jo always insisted she paid for everything and he definitely did not want her to buy him an incredibly expensive plane ticket from Boston to Los Angeles.

Maybe paying for everything is an Australian thing, he thought.

Tony also knew that it was best he stay in Boston. He had a lot of college projects with deadlines that he needed to finish.

And lastly, he and Jo did everything together—college work, meals, road trips, almost every aspect of life—and somewhat thought that she had arranged this trip as a break. Not from Tony, per se, but from everyday routine. She needed a bit of a change.

He snapped back to reality when Jo’s phone started ringing.

”It’s the professor,” her eyes widened as she answered the call. Tony listened to her half of the conversation.

”G’day, professor, what can I do for ya? Yep. Yeah. Uh huh… sir, we’ve already discussed this. It’s okay for me to take a weekend off!… why do you care so much? I’m up to date on all my assignments and you don’t need me for the next week anyway! So what’s the point?”

Tony glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, curious at all the yelling. 

“Nah, mate, I’m not cancelling this trip,” Jo folded her arms, scowling as she held the phone to her ear. 

Tony suddenly swerved to avoid a car backing out of a parking spot.

Jo’s head hit the handle above her window, hard.

“Ow! What the frikin’ heck?” She hissed. 

“Sorry,” Tony whispered.

”No, professor. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening.”

He glanced at her firmly furrowed eyebrows and clenching fists, knowing she was about to blow any second now.

”Mr Professor, I am going on this trip, whether you like it or not, and there is nothing that you or the world can do to stop me!”

She hung up the phone and tossed it carelessly at her feet. 

“So good news?” Tony smiled, trying to lift the mood.

”Oh yeah, totally good news!” Jo sighed, leaning her head back. “Once again, I’m being reprimanded for taking a personal trip during midterms, even though I got the permission and signed the paperwork and made the phone calls, blah blah blah… so now the professor has seemingly ‘suspended’ me for a week for unacceptable behaviour, but it doesn’t matter because I’ll be in L.A. for half that week anyway! So, ha!”

”I didn’t even know you could get suspended in college,” Tony was surprised.

”I don’t think you could,” Jo shook her head. “You know… before me.”

Tony rolled his eyes.

As they turned the corner to join the immensely packed highway that would take them for fifteen miles to the airport, Tony felt a jolt from behind the steering wheel.

”All good?” Jo frowned.

”Yeah, no,” Tony murmured anxiously, pulling the Camry off the road and to the side as it spluttered to a hard stop.

”You stay here, I’ll check it out,” he said as he got out of the car.

When he lifted the hood, a big plume of dark smoke swirled out, making him cough.

”What’s up with it?” Jo called from the passenger seat.

”Don’t know. There’s a lot of smoke though. I can’t see through it.”

When he managed to clear some of it out of the air, Jo was suddenly at his side expectantly.

”I told you to stay in the car,” Tony frowned.

”Yeah, I’m not good at staying, and you know that,” she gave him a knowing look. “Now let me at it!”

She almost dived headfirst into the smoking car without hesitation, moving things and screwing things.

”You do know how to fix a car, right?” Tony asked tentatively.

”I know what I’m doing, T,” her Australian accent was muffled through the smoke. “Ah, here’s the problem… you broke a piston.”

”What?!” Tony gasped. 

She stood up with a sigh, leaning against the car. “You’ll have to get a roadie.”

He gave her a quizzical look.

”Roadside assistance?”

”Ohhhh, yeah.” He pulled out his phone and dialed the number.

While he was on the call, Jo dived back into the engine to see what she could do. She managed to unscrew some hot bolts with her careful fingertips and pulled the damaged piston out.

Clouds of black smoke poured out of the engine to the point where Jo could not see.

She felt two arms wrap her waist, hugging her.

”That you, T?” She frowned. 

A chin rested on her head. “You smell like smoke,” Tony’s voice remarked from above her.

”Hmm, funny that,” she rolled her eyes, though she did not allow him to let go. “Got the busted piston out. That’s why all the smoke… did you get the roadies?”

”Yeah, there’s someone coming. About ten minutes away. How did you learn so much about cars?”

”When I was living in Newcastle, a classmate of mine called Gloria taught me. She works for her dad, who’s a mechanic.”

”You have so many connections… it’s almost annoying.”

Jo laughed.

The two hung around the still smoking car—though it seemed to lessen overtime—weaving between sitting in the car, checking up on the car and checking if the roadside assistance vehicle was in sight yet.

Jo came out of the Camry with a grin on her face.

”What did you do?” Tony narrowed his eyes.

”Nothing… just called my gate, told them I was gonna be about fifteen minutes late and asked if they could hold the plane for me.”

”And they said yes?” He said, shocked.

”Of course, gate attendants aren’t mean! Well, gate attendants with a little walking-around money aren’t, if you know what I mean,” she winked.

Tony rolled his eyes, glancing at the highway.

”Look!” He gasped, pointing at a white pickup truck with a red crane arm built into its bed.

”Oh, our saviour!” Jo said as the vehicle pulled in before them.

A stocky man who looked in his fifties came out, wearing an orange hi-vis vest.

”Howdy,” he said in a Southern accent. “I’m Marvin, and I’ve come to fix a broken piston in a Toyota Camry?”

”Yep, right here,” Tony said. “I don’t even know what happened. We were just on our way to the airport and it just busted.”

”Yep…” Marvin said, inspecting the engine. “It does that sometimes. Where’s the piston?”

”Here you go,” Jo handed the deformed object to him. “I took it out for ya.”

”Why, thank you, little lady,” he took it. “You did a mighty fine job of it.”

”Thanks. Now I don’t mean to be rude, but how long do you think this’ll take? My flight takes off in under an hour.”

”Oh, not long, not long at all… in fact, I’ve got some pistons here. All I have to do is install it and you two shall be good to go.”

They watched him fix the car while talking.

”So where are you flying to, little lady?” Marvin asked, despite the fact that Jo was 5’7”.

“I’m going to Los Angeles to stay with my best friend for the weekend,” she nodded. “I haven’t seen her since last year, so it’s pretty important.”

”Ah, it’s always nice to reunite with someone after years and just pick up where you left off, like you were never apart.”

”Yeah…” Jo smiled. “I’m hoping it’ll be like that.”

”Now, your accent, little lady. It’s got me confused! Where are you from?”

”I’m from Sydney, Australia, but I spent high-school in Denver and the last three years here in Boston for college.”

”Ah, so you’ve been some places. Have you been back home since you moved to these here United States of America?”

”Yeah, once for Christmas. And me and Tony are planning to go on holiday there in February next year.”

”That sounds exciting! Hope you have fun.”

”Thanks,” Jo smiled. “Oh, I’ve got to take this.”

She went into the passenger seat of the car to answer her ringing phone.

”What about you, Mr Tony?” Marvin asked him as he screwed in a couple of bolts. “Are you looking forward to your vacation?”

”Yes, very,” he nodded. “But I’m also kinda worried. I planned it, you see…”

”Oh, ho ho ho!” Marvin gave him a toothy grin. “You have a different purpose for this vacation.”

”How did you know?”

”I can see it in your eye. Now tell me, what is this vacation for?”

“Well, Jo and I have known each other for almost seven years, and we’ve been together for five of them… so when the time is right, I’m gonna propose.”

”Oh, happy days! Young love is so sweet. Best of luck to you, Mr Tony. Hopefully she says yes.”

”Hopefully,” Tony’s eyes glanced at Jo in the car, talking on the phone. Her face always had a never-resting look of determination, her sparkling blue eyes framing the turning cogs of her perpetual mind.

”There you go, all fixed!” Marvin stood up proud and tall. 

“Thank you so much, Marvin, for all your help,” Tony waved as the nice man got in his pickup truck and returned to the bustle of the highway from whence he came.

He got into the driver seat of the Camry with a sigh.

”Everything all up and running?” Jo asked him with a smile.

He turned his head to look at her.

His eyes drifted over her choppy bob of golden brown hair that reached just past her shoulders, her set jaw, her button nose, her big, sky blue eyes and the long, rugged scar that ran through her right eyebrow, over her eyelid, down her cheek and reached the corner of her mouth.

”You good, T?” She frowned quizzically.

”All good,” he smiled slightly.

Her eyes gazed at him unblinkingly for a moment, then suddenly she leaned over and took a deep sniff of his dark-brown hair.

”You smell like smoke too,” she sighed.

He laughed, rolling his eyes as he turned on the car, relieved to find the attempt successful.

They drove down the busy highway to the airport district, content to find the commute packed but moving steadily. 

Tony helped Jo take her little luggage out of the car and into the airport.

”Do you want coffee?” Jo asked.

”Coffee?” He frowned. “Don’t worry about me, go get to your flight! That’s more important.”

She tilted her head. “Sorry, I’m confused. What do you mean by ‘more important than coffee’?”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. But I’m paying.”

”Don’t be silly, T, I’ll pay.”

As she turned to approach the cafe, he grabbed her wrist to face him.

”Jo,” he said seriously. “I’m gonna pay this time.”

She frowned, surprised at his grave tone. “It’s just two coffees, T.”

”Don’t care.”

Once the two had received, drank and finished their coffees, Jo checked in her luggage surprisingly quickly before returning to Tony in the foyer of the airport. 

“Well, this is it,” she smiled. “In seven hours, I’ll be with Lavender on the other side of the country.”

”Yep,” Tony sighed. “Have fun. I’ll miss you.”

”Hey, don’t stress,” she punched his arm playfully. “You’ll do fine without me.”

”You’ll definitely do fine without me.”

”Eh, I’ll limp along,” she grinned, looking at her watch. “Oh damn, I gotta go.”

Jo swivelled around 180 degrees, walking briskly off to security. 

Tony watched her go, folding his arms.

He stood there in the centre of the airport, the perpetual flow of bustling people swirling around him. 

“Oh! Almost forgot.”

He looked up to see Jo walking back towards him.

She gently grabbed his face and pressed her pursed lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck as he held her waist in a hug.

“Love you, T,” she whispered in his ear. “See ya in three days.”

She squeezed his hand before leaving him, glancing back to wave. 

He waved back with a smile, watching her disappear into the busy traffic of airport security.

Tony sat behind the wheel of his Camry in silence, concentrating on the road ahead. 

He glanced at the passenger seat, which he knew was empty, but he still looked anyway. 

It was very quiet in the car. 

I guess that’s what happens when you do everything together, he thought. When it comes time to separate, it feels… wrong. 

His mind drifted off to a rainy Friday morning when he and Jo had been sitting by the window of a cafe. 

.:+.°.+:.

“Rain,” Tony had said. “What a buzzkill for a totally perfect Friday.”

”I like rain,” Jo had smiled thoughtfully. “My mom says that its purpose is to wash away all the evil and leave nothing but the good.”

”Your mom is awesome. Have you talked to her recently?”

”We’ve called once or twice. She’s pretty busy with work at the moment.”

”Any other wise and thoughtful insights from her?”

”Just one… it was before we left from our Aussie Christmas. I wasn’t happy that I had to leave it all behind, so she said to me: ‘don’t feel sad. Feel lucky to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.’”

.:+.°.+:.

The memory of that wet day in the cafe made Tony smile. 

Don’t feel sad, he thought. Feel lucky to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard. 

He pressed a few things on his phone and began to play the song 2% by Jenna Raine, Jo’s secretly favourite song. 

The calming piano and wistful vocals soothed his nerves as he drove away from the airport. 

Jo huffed, collapsing into her plane seat, which thankfully was by the window. 

She sat there, extremely still for a moment. If someone had not seen her eyes were open, they would have thought she was dead. 

Her fingers twitched. They felt bare and cold. 

She wished Tony’s hand was there to warm them. 

Stop worrying about Tony, she thought irritably. You can surely survive three days in L.A. without him. 

Worry is a weakness. Weakness is not an option. 

Jo’s mind wandered to hot and humid Monday afternoon in Tony’s student house.

.:+.°.+:.

He was in the kitchen and she was by the window with a guitar, desperately trying to finish her college assignment for Berklee.

She messed up the chord and groaned in annoyance, tossing the guitar aside. 

“Careful,” Tony said. 

“I just don’t get it,” she sighed. “Why won’t it work? Why can’t I do it? Why?”

”You still have a whole two days to finish.”

”Yeah, I know. But I always get them done early so I can have some time to myself. Ugh, I hate failure.”

”You’re not failing. And what’s wrong with that? Failure is just a stepping stone on the path to success.”

”Yeah, yeah, yeah… failing just makes me feel weak. And I hate being weak. Being weak is what caused this,” she pointed to the distinct scar over her right eye. 

“That’s true,” Tony shrugged. “But what makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful.”

Jo looked at him.

”You know who said that?”

She shook her head.

“Brené Brown. Saw it on a TED Talk.”

She rolled her eyes.

.:+.°.+:.

Jo laughed at the memory, and then sighed.

He’s such a flirt, she thought.

What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful…

She hesitated before pulling out her phone and earbuds, scrolling through her downloaded Spotify playlists.

She pressed I GUESS I’M IN LOVE by Clinton Kane—Tony’s favourite—and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

Before long, she had fallen asleep to the acoustic guitar, dozing through liftoff and a majority of her flight over the USA.