“You’re serious.”
“Problem, Gwendolyn?”
She pushed out of the front seat and glared at him over the car. “You know…I used to think you using my full name was endearing, now I realize it’s thinly veiled sarcasm. Which might humor me after a shower and a good night’s sleep, but I suppose that will just have to wait.”
“We’ll stay in a hotel once it’s safe.”
“And if I have to use the bathroom?”
He spread his hands open and looked around them.
Of course. Somehow, she knew the dirty toilets at the stations were a luxury.
“Did you at least remember a toothbrush for me?”
He moved back to the trunk and fished through her bag with a flashlight.
Gwen stood next to him to see exactly what he’d packed for her.
He pushed her knickers aside, a nightgown, socks, a real bra, a pair of jeans, and a couple of shirts. His hand wrapped around a hairbrush and deodorant before finding her toothbrush and a tube of paste.
“That’s all you packed for me?”
“We’ll find a place to wash what you have on.”
She pushed him aside, grabbed his flashlight, and looked again. But no matter how far she dug the results were the same. “You expect me to wear two outfits and that’s all?”
“One to wash, one to wear.”
The expression on his face was a complete blank. She shone the light in his face and he turned away.
“Where’s my makeup?”
“I’m sorry, Gwendolyn,” he said dripping in sarcasm. “I thought finding safety was more important than packing your war paint. Besides, you’re more beautiful without it.”
“War paint?”
“A mask men put on their face before battle.”
“Yes, yes, I know what war paint is. Why do you call makeup war paint?”
Neil pushed the flashlight from his face. “It’s an American saying.”
“Oh.”
She batted a bug away from the beam of light and turned to the dark. After placing her toothbrush and paste in the backseat, she found an extra napkin from their pathetic dinner of warmed over hamburgers and fries and started to walk away from the car.
“Where are you going?”
She stopped, turned toward him, and raised her arm to the outside. “The ladies’ room. What do you think?”
The flashlight kept her from stumbling over rocks and bushes.
“Watch out for snakes.”
She hesitated but kept moving. Of course. He would have to pick a part of the world infested with poisonous snakes to hide out.
A large rock separated her from Neil. She was about to set the flashlight down when he called out. “And coyotes. They run in packs. If you see one, there are three surrounding you.”
“Brilliant,” she whispered to herself. She flashed the light in a full circle, assuring herself she was alone.
When she finished, she walked quickly back to the car. Neil leaned on the hood, his arms crossed over his chest.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
She grabbed her toothbrush and paste with a bottle of water from the car. “Not bad at all…if you enjoy relieving yourself with the snakes and coyotes.” She swatted a bug from her arm before splashing water on her hands in a feeble attempt to wash them. After smothering the tip of the brush with minty paste, she shoved it in her mouth and tried to wash the day’s greasy food away.
Neil was watching her, a smile on his face.
“What’s so amusing?” She never saw the man smile yet he did now at her expense.
“Only you can make peeing in the bushes sound elegant.”
“Did not.”
His smile only grew with her agitation.
“Errr!” She moved behind the car, rinsed out her mouth, and returned to him.
The beam of light found his face again. “You’re laughing at me.”
“Relax, Gwen. I’m not laughing at you.”
She swatted another bug and found three more ready to land on her.
Neil pushed off the car and took the flashlight from her fingers. He switched it off and plunged them into the dark. “There. No light, no bugs.”
The light from the moon was barely visible as she cast her eyes to the sky.
She gasped. “Oh, wow.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Magnificent.” Undaunted by the city lights, the night sky held millions of stars. “I’ve never seen it quite like this.” While staring at the sky, Gwen didn’t mind their stop in the desert nearly as much as she had a moment ago.
“The desert has the best view of the universe,” he muttered.
She leaned against the car and tilted her head back. After a few minutes she asked, “Do you ever wonder if there’s something else out there?”
“Intelligent life?”
“Yeah.”
Neil sighed. “I hope so.”
She smiled at that. “Me too. I’d hate to think we’re it.”
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.”
Gwen looked at him. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you pursue space?”
“I don’t know. Lost interest. Moved on.”
She understood that. “I wanted to be a ballerina.”
“What stopped you?”
The hair on her arms stood up and the cool night made her shiver.
“You’ll laugh if I tell you.”