Lily curses her vehicle as she steps from behind the wheel and slams the door shut. Stalking around to the front and popping open the hood, she then curses the heat, as a massive cloud of steam and smoke emerges from the engine.
"Damn it!" Glaring helplessly at the inoperable car, she pushes her heavy, black hair out of her face, bright green eyes snapping. "Now What?"
With a heavy sigh, Lily walks over to the open window, flips on the hazard lights with one hand, and grabs her purse with the other. Turning and leaning against the door, she purses her lips in thought.
She was only about halfway to her friend's cabin, which she was borrowing for her weekend vacation. Now stranded, she had no idea how far the nearest town was. She had been driving for a good half-hour with no sign of populace, just a few scattered houses and the occasional gas station along the road.
Digging into her purse, Lily pulls out her cellular phone, and flips it open to find that her battery had gone dead. "DAMN!"
Kicking the nearest tire of her white Honda Civic, she snaps the useless phone shut and drops it into her purse. Dejected, she looks both up and down the road, in hopes of seeing a building, a car, or at this point, any sign of life. No one would even begin to miss her until late Monday morning, and it was still only Saturday.
Squaring her shoulders, she picks a direction and takes a determined step, only to be stopped by the faint rumble of an approaching vehicle. She sends a silent prayer of thanks to the heavens at the sight of the car cruising up the road towards her, and in the direction she had been going when her car had died.
Seeing the flashing lights on her car, the driver pulls over and kills the engine. It is then that Lily realizes that there is not one, but two people in the car. The driver is a slightly athletic looking man with dark brown hair, and a golden tan. His friendly eyes smile sympathetically at her, and the vivid blue color of them strikes her as though she were looking into the clearest of oceans.
The passenger is the first to speak, and Lily turns her gaze on an attractive woman, with blonde hair cut into one of those short, messy styles that not many can carry off. And she carried it off with abandon. Her brown eyes were also friendly, as was her voice.
"Rough day?" She opens the passenger side door and steps out. Lily cannot help but notice that she is also athletically built, tanned, and lean.
"You could say that..." giving a rueful smile, Lily gestures at her car. "I think it overheated, is all."
The driver of the sporty little car behind hers gets out, and Lily's eyes grow large. He is HUGE! He didn't look so tall behind the wheel...he must be at least 6 foot 5, if he is an inch. Suddenly, Lily's 5 foot 4 inch frame seems much smaller to her.
"Let me take a look under your hood, and see what we have here." He grins down at Lily as he strolls past her towards the open hood.
"I...uh...would really appreciate that, sir," slightly stumbling over the few words.
"Sir?!" The woman snaps her head back and laughs. "Please! My name is Sara, and this is my friend Zach. No one calls him 'sir.'"
"How would you know?" Zach arches an eyebrow at Sara, and tries to look offended at her remark, but fails miserably. The easy camaraderie between the two puts Lily at ease.
Extending a hand to the woman first, Lily introduces herself to the couple. "Well, my name is Lily, and I really appreciate you stopping." Turning towards Zach, she offers him the same hand. "My cell phone is dead, and I am on my vacation." The last couple of words come out breathlessly as Zach surprises her by taking her hand, gracing her knuckles with a soft kiss.
"Well, I have good news and bad news...which would you prefer first?" His eyes twinkle as he stands back up, and lowers the hood.
"Bad." Nibbling her bottom lip and clutching her purse, she waits for the bad news.
"Well...you seem to have a blown radiator." Another sympathetic smile. "Even if I could put some coolant in the radiator, it wouldn't stay there." He grins.
"Ohhh...." Groaning in frustration, Lily closes her eyes briefly. "Okay, and the good news would be...?"
"There is a good-sized town about an hour down the road, in the direction we both appear to be heading." Walking over to Sara, he slings his arm around the smiling blonde's shoulders. "And we would be more than willing to give you a lift."
Nibbling her lip for a moment while weighing her options, Lily makes a decision. "Okay, thank you both so very much. I am sorry to be an inconvenience." She opens up the driver's side door and rolls up the window after turning the hazard lights off.
The woman gives her a bright smile. "Not at all! We don't mind in the least, do we Zach?" Looking up, the two exchange a smile.
"Nope...the more the merrier, is what I always say." Gesturing to his waiting vehicle, "shall we?"
"I believe I have everything I need right now." Giving one last glance at her soon to be abandoned car, Lily walks over to the passenger door.
Sara grabs the handle first, saying, "I will take the back seat. You look like you could use the air from the vents a bit more than I could." With a grin, she slides her lithe body into the back of the car.
With a smile, Lily thanks her and settles herself into the roomy front seat. The car shifts slightly as Zach gets back behind the wheel.
"I hope you don't mind the sunroof being open. We have been using the air conditioning as well, but we love the freedom of the open roof." With a quick glance in Lily's direction, he turns the ignition, adjusts the air conditioning, and maneuvers the car onto the road once again.
