Warning Signs

“I can’t see, Elaine. I’m pulling over,” I said. 

“What the . . . Why is it snowing?” Elaine said.

Elaine had been texting, surfing the web, checking Facebook, on Twitter, and adding to her Instagram story since I had offered her a ride home fifteen minutes ago. When she gets on social media, it’s like she has horse blinders on. I mean, she didn’t even notice when it started snowing five minutes ago. The light snow had compounded quickly into a blizzard.

“When did they call for snow?” Elaine said.

“I don’t think they did,” I said. 

“Shit. I’m supposed to go out to dinner with Todd at six. Let me text him,” she said. 

By 5:15 pm, the blizzard had worked up to a white, opaque sheet. 

“You don’t think you could just drive slow with your flashers on. Todd does it all the—”

THWACK!

A full on collision, not ten feet from where we were, shook us through the white.

“Damn! What was that?” Elaine said.

“We ain’t driving with our flashers on, Elaine,” I said. “Let’s stay put for a while, at least until we can see better.” 

“Fine.” Elaine blew air up through her bangs from her bottom lip. She went back to flipping through her phone. 

“How many bars to you have? “

“I don’t know. My phone is in my briefcase,” I said.

“What happened to the reception, then?” Elaine said. 

“Must be the storm,” I said. 

Elaine shoved her phone into her purse and looked out the window at the snow falling faster. Sirens began to pierce the wall of snow. Blue and red lights swirled to the side of us. 

Elaine’s car was in the shop and I offered to give her a ride home. Elaine and I worked together at an ad agency. She handled sales and I was a copywriter. We collaborated on about two projects a month. 

She had this boyfriend, Todd. The first time I met Todd, I thought he was sophisticated and well put together. He told me all about this start up company that he sold for a pretty penny. But then, when I researched the company he bragged to me about, that particular enterprise had actually folded. There was no sale. No one bought it. It was all a lie. He was a liar. 

Elaine couldn’t not know about Todd’s bullshitting. There had to be a reason she was still with him, I just couldn’t figure it out. As best as I could tell, he came from money and there was some security in a guy with a trust fund. Or, maybe she just liked a guy with ideas. 

Unfortunately, I fell in love with Elaine the first time I saw her. At first I thought it was just a crush that would pass in a few weeks, but as we started working together, my feelings got heavier and heavier. For the past two years, this full on, insufferable crush has infected everything in my life. But I love being around her. I guess that’s why I was enjoying being pulled over on the side of the road with her. I could have stayed there with her forever.

I never found the right time to tell her how I felt. I got up the courage to ask her over for dinner at my house one time. She came over but then told me all about how she was into Todd. That was a painful conversation. I listened because I wanted to be her friend. I listened because I wanted to show her that I cared about her happiness, even if that meant that she was into another guy. 

“How’s Todd?” I asked.

“Oh, you know, he’s got a new start up that he’s excited about.”

“What happened to his last one?”

“I don’t know. I guess he sold it.”

Elaine began biting her nails. 

“What would you do if we were stuck here forever?” I asked. 

“Don’t say that,” Elaine said. 

“No, I mean, wouldn’t that be weird?” I asked. 

“Yes, that would be weird.” Elaine said. 

“Where are you and Todd going to dinner?” I asked.

“Sylvia’s, but I would have been cutting it close without the storm. I don’t think I’ll make it in time for our reservation,” she said. 

“Sylvia’s. That’s some good eats. I usually get the fried chicken,” I said.

“I get the Mac & Cheese,” she said. 

“Well, since we’re stuck here, you want to join me for some Cheetos?”

Elaine blushed. I knew she loved Cheetos. 

“I’d love some Cheetos,” she said. 

I grabbed two packs from the six pack of Cheetos resting in the back seat. 

Elaine crunched into a Cheeto. 

“Damn, that’s good,” she said. 

“They’re the best,” I said. 

Truth be told, the only reason I had a six pack of Cheetos in my back seat was because I knew she loved Cheetos. I really don’t care for them too much personally, but they always made her smile whenever she was having a bad day or in the middle of a fight with Todd. 

“But what do you do with your orange fingers afterwards?” I asked.

“You lick ‘em!” she said. Elaine put her finger in her mouth and sucked the orange powder off of it. 

“How are you and Todd doing?” I asked.

“Oh, you know, good I guess. He’s a great guy,” she said. 

“That’s good, I guess,” I said. 

“Do you think—”

Someone knocked on the driver’s side glass and startled us. The snow had let up a bit. I rolled down the window.

“You guys OK?” the police officer said. 

“Yeah, we were just sitting here waiting for the snow to let up a little.”

“Smart,” the officer said. “Did you see this happen?”

The officer pointed to the wreck behind him over his shoulder. A Lexus had run smack into a freight truck. 

“Yes, we heard it right after we pulled over,” I said.

“Todd has a Lexus like that,” Elaine said.

“Ma’am, do you know a Todd Edwards?” the officer asked. 

“Why, yes, he’s my boyfriend. Is he OK?” Elaine said.

“No, ma’am, I’m afraid he’s dead. Died right here on impact,” the officer said.

“WHAT?!” Elaine said.

“Sorry for your loss, ma’am,” the officer said.

The officer turned to me and showed me a cell phone. Elaine put her head in her hands and sobbed. 

“Is she Elaine?” the officer whispered to me. 

“Yes.”

“Todd was answering her text message when he crashed. See.” The officer surreptitiously held up the phone to show that Todd was responding to Elaine’s text message, but he hadn’t pressed send, yet. The message bubble said, “OK,” but was otherwise unsent.

“Between you and me, I wouldn’t tell her about the text. You can stay here as long as you need to, but be careful in this mess.” 

“Thank you, officer.” I rolled up the window. I pressed the gas and rolled out into the road. Elaine was quiet, but she had stopped crying. 

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Elaine just sat there. 

“What can I do?” I said.

Elaine said nothing.

“You want some Cheetos?” I asked.

She grabbed a second bag from the back seat, opened it, and crunched through another bag. 

“Can you put your flashers on?” she said.

I pressed the red triangle thing that made the brake lights pulse in a slowish cadence.