Chapter 6

Before I know it, my alarm is blaring me awake. I open my
eyes and realize my head is pounding and think again that
maybe I did hit my head and not realize it in the accident
yesterday. Pushing the blankets aside, I realize
instantaneously that moving is creating one hell of a pain in
every single muscle in my body including body parts I
literally didn’t know could hurt. I think good Lord how can I
hurt this much when there is no evidence of damage done to me.
I manage to sit up on the edge of the bed, I sit there for a
few minutes not risking standing up just to fall. I don't
need to be a try out for the commercials on TV where an
elderly person falls and needs assistance to get up.
Eventually I manage to get up, slowly walk out to the kitchen
to start a pot of strong coffee, feed Ms. Brandi who is
already acting like she is starving and circling my feet as to
make sure I don’t forget about her. I pop two pieces of bread
into the toaster and look up the number for Uber. I make the
call and tell them where to pick me up and what time and where
I am going. I hang up the phone and start on my toast.
I know I can’t mess around this morning, it is going to take
me extra-long to get ready this morning. I can barely move,
and I will be running in slow motion this morning. As I take
my pajamas off I am realizing just how stiff I am, so once I
manage to grumble and groan out of my pjs I reach in the
medicine cabinet and pop two extra strength pain pills. I
think I should have maybe done that right when I got up.
I am trying every possible way that I know of to control
myself to not think of Mr. Davenport today, because I would
just be setting myself up for another event that would deplete
my self-esteem even further. Even through the pain that man
seems to seep into my mind’s eye, such a site for a sore body.
I laugh out loud at my attempt at a joke, the old saying “a
site for sore eyes”, well that man is a site for anything in
my opinion. I wince as I turn up the temperature in the

shower as hot as it can go, to see if that offers any relief
to this discomfort.
I am in a panic when I am finally all settled and ready for
work, thinking I spent way too much time in the shower and now
I am probably running late. I couldn’t help it that hot water
felt so good on my aching body, plus of course my mind was
pleasantly occupied with Mr. Davenport’s imagined naked body.
I am shocked to realize, that I have a little while yet before
Uber will be here for me, so I decide to call my mom while I
am drinking my first cup of coffee. She picks up on the third
ring.
“Sophie”, she practically screams, not even bothering with a
hello. I think annoyed to myself, God it is too early, and my
head is still hurting too much for the worried mom. “We were
just thinking about you, and dad had just asked why you didn't
call this weekend”. I normally call my parents on the
weekends, and from time to time during the week. My mom and I
have always been very close. Growing up most of my
girlfriends were jealous of the relationship my mom and I had.
They would always say, “your mom is so cool it's like you and
her are sisters not a mother and daughter”. It's true
sometimes I think it was because not only was I an only child
and she was a very overprotective mother, but when I was young
my dad was a workaholic. She was a stay at home mom except I
think at one or two points throughout my life that she had
picked up a part time job. I think she turned to me and
taking care of me to keep herself sane and occupied. My dad
officially slowed his work schedule down when I was in my
early teens and started to be home more often.
I apologize to my mom for not calling her over the weekend and
say, “the time just got away from me”. Which of course she
can’t understand she doesn't because it is only me and the
cat. She knows everything there is to know about her
daughter, sometimes I think I tell her too much. I tell her
about the excitement last night and after the words are out of
my mouth I realize I made a mistake. She begins freaking out
asking why I didn't call them and that I should have thought
of them and called. She does go a little overboard when she
starts going into details that what if it would have been on

the news and they would have seen my car. Not only is that a
little far-fetched because it was just a minor accident, but I
am almost positive that I am not the only person in this area
that drives a white Subaru. I try to say in a calming
reassuring way, “Mom, I am fine and there was no need to call
you and get you and dad all worried over nothing. It was a
minor fender bender, no one other than the vehicles were
hurt”. Well this isn’t entirely true it may have been a little
more than a fender bender to my car, and I am pretty dam hurt
this morning, but she doesn’t need to know that. I begin to
explain to her that the police man brought us both home so
there was no need to call someone for a ride home.
I continue and say, “It turns out that we both live in the
same apartment complex, so it was not an issue for the cop to
drop us both off on his way back to the station”. I hear my
dad getting into the conversation in the background, and
before this gets all blown up and out of control this early in
the morning I promptly end the call. I quickly come up with,
“Mom, I have to get going the Uber driver is here to pick me
up and take me to work. Tell dad I love him, and I love you
and hope you both have a great day”. I hear the huge sigh on
the other end of the phone, that tells me she is not happy,
but she will have to let me go, the Uber driver is here for
me. They are just little white lies, not meant to hurt
anyone, meant to protect people. I know at times my mom can
be like me and be a worry wart and I don’t want her to drive
my poor dad crazy all day long.