“You’ll see soon,” he assured her, “It’s only a two hour drive.”
Elly sunk into disappointment. Two hours? Where was he taking her? A truck stop on I-70? She instantly regretted packing both her sundresses and beret. Elly glanced at the back of the car, which was still a total mess. There was clothing piled everywhere and what appeared to be a didgeridoo in the corner behind the driver’s seat.
“Sorry about that,” chuckled Isaac. “I kind of live out of my car.”
There was a beat of silence. He gathered her fingers in his and raised them to his mouth, kissing the tips of them softly. “I’m so glad we get to get away for a weekend. We are trying to record an album, and Tifah is being such an idiot about the whole thing. Gene is working overtime, and I’ve had almost no sleep the past couple of days. The balance between the bass and the lead guitar is a disaster, and Eddie is insisting that we bring in a cellist.” He pulled the car out of the driveway and headed toward the interstate.
For the next hour and a half, Elly listened patiently as he talked about his band, watching the city and its suburbs fall behind them into rolling plains. There were sporadic trees dotting the road, and pretty green hills that rose up every couple of miles. The many billboards that disgraced most of St. Louis’s highways slowly tapered off and Elly felt the weight of the week slowly float out the open window. The lull of the music, the whipping air from the open windows and the hum of the car calmed and invigorated her. She pulled out her hair-tie and let her blond curls fly wildly around. She felt sexy and free, with Isaac holding her hand. Truthfully, she was barely able to listen to him talk about his band, but she loved the sound of his voice. She was here, with him, in the here and now.
“I’m going to pull over for a bathroom break!” he shouted over the wind. “Is that okay?”
She looked back at him, her hair whipping around her. “That’s fine!” Fierceness overtook her and she pulled his face in for a kiss.
“Elly!” he laughed, “I’m driving!!”
She sat back in the seat. “I know.”
He pulled over to a McDonalds and hopped out of the car. Maybe I could get used to this, she thought. The new, wild Elly. We can drive around the country, living on scraps, being liberated, young and sexy. No brides, no drama, no Georgia in the rearview. Just me and Isaac, and I’ll kiss him whenever I feel like it. She flipped down the mirror to give herself a wink and shrieked. Me and Isaac and my awful HAIR! Her hair was not sexy-free. The front was plastered down across her forehead, resulting in a messy comb-over look. The rest of it was pushed back, mullet-style. Her eye make-up was smeared, and not in a sultry way. Also, she had a bug in her teeth.
“Well, that’s it for young and beautiful,” she said out loud, and went back to being just Elly.
Isaac walked back to the car.
“Geez”, Elly murmured to herself, watching his leg muscles flex with each carefree step. He was wearing a navy T-shirt with a school emblem on the chest, and dark plaid shorts that hugged his thighs. He was radiant. There was no other word for it (except for maybe super-model). Elly sighed happily.
Isaac leaned over her car door. “Can you get up for a minute?”
Elly exhaled the breath she had been holding and climbed out of the car. Isaac grabbed her shoulders gently and turned her around.
“And now,” he said, “we’ll make sure it’s a true surprise.” He lowered a black blindfold in front of her.
“Errr…what?” whispered Elly, “I can just close my eyes…”
Isaac laughed out loud. “Yeah right! I know you. You would not be able to keep your eyes closed. Do you think I can’t tell that not knowing where we are going is killing you?”
Elly smiled in spite of herself. He knew her! Isaac covered her eyes with the blindfold and tied a strong knot.
“How’s that?” he asked. “Is it too tight?”
Elly pressed her fingers over her eyes. “Nope.” She put out her hands out in front of her. There was a beat of silence.
“Where did you go?” she asked. She then felt warm breath on her face, moving from her ear to cheekbone, over the corner of her smile to her lips. Isaac kissed her gently.
“I’m here.” Then, after he had made her weak in the knees, he loaded Elly clumsily back into the car, her head smacking loudly against the door frame.
With the blindfold on, the next half hour seemed to drag on for eternity. Elly’s anxiety about spending the night together increased with each mile, an argument raging in her brain. Just tell him you’re not ready, she told herself, he might feel the same way. Yeah right, she answered back. He’s only dating you because he thinks it will be amusing to see what you look like naked. On and on it continued, until the hammering of voices became too much for her to handle.
“Isaac?” she asked blindly.
She felt his calloused musician’s hand slip into hers.
“Yes?”