Page 34 of Waves of Time
“You’re brilliant when you’re nervous,” Aria told her. “Nobody can ever tell. Except me, of course.”
Hilary laughed and slapped her daughter softly on the knee. “You know me too well.”
At six-thirty that evening, Hilary got into the front seat of her convertible, checked her makeup and hair in the mirror a final time, and started the engine. Just before she took off, Sam texted her with a question about Aria;had Hilary spoken to her about that drug guy?And Hilary just wrote back:
“I trust Aria. She’s not on drugs.”
She’d never been surer of anything.
As Hilary drove out toward Siasconset, she played the radio, singing along to eighties and nineties tunes, her voice soaring through the open air over her convertible. The songs were perfect distractions, so much so that when the first flickering lights in Hilary’s vision appeared, Hilary was able to ignore them for a little while.
But suddenly, out of nowhere, she was struck with the most horrific pain, which seemed to come directly from inside her eyes. The flickering lights intensified, and she couldn’t see the road anymore. Crying out, she pulled the car over to the curb and turned off the engine. Tears streamed from her eyes and down her cheeks, messing up her makeup. But when she pulled down the mirror to investigate, she could see nothing but big, blotchy white spots.
“Oh no. Oh no.” Hilary’s breathing was fast and panicked. She blinked endlessly, trying to bring her vision back, but she couldn’t calm herself down and continued to weep. For nearly ten minutes, she sat like that, sobbing, before her vision began to return to her, bit by bit. It was then she was finally able to think clearly.
Something was very wrong.
The clock on her car radio said it was six-fifty-five, which meant she was late for her date. Her hands shaking, she grabbed her phone to text Frank.
HILARY: Hey! I’m having a little bit of car trouble. I’m still on my way, but I have to take an Uber. Sorry, I’m late :)
Frank wrote back immediately.
FRANK: Not a problem. Looking forward to seeing you.
Hilary dropped her head onto the headrest and blinked toward the sky, trying and failing to take deep, calming breaths. Although most of the white spots had cleared and most of the pain had retreated, her blood pumped quickly, proof of constant adrenaline. She’d read once that being constantly stressed was one of the worst things for your system, that it threw your hormones out of whack and was instrumental in ruining your life.Great.
Still, Hilary was too bullheaded to miss her date. She just had to get there— and then, maybe, she could enjoy her night, have a drink, maybe do some kissing. It had been so long since she’d been kissed. It was unlikely, obviously, that the kissing would solve her vision problems, but it would probably help with the stress. That was something.
Besides, if these vision problems turned into something serious, it wasn’t like Frank would want to date her, anyway. Oh, this thought terrified her. When she considered what the vision problems could do to her career, she started crying again and wasn’t able to calm down for another five minutes. She was a wreck.
Although she probably should have texted Aria for help, Hilary didn’t want to worry her, so she grabbed her phone and used the Uber app to call a driver. The app told her a driver was on his way and that he’d be there in five minutes. This gave Hilary just enough time to fix her makeup in the mirror: to outline her betraying eyes with eyeliner, add some foundation and blush, and draw on a fresh coating of lipstick for good measure. By the time a car pulled up directly behind her with the Uber sticker on the front window, Hilary thought she didn’t look half bad.
Hilary got out of her convertible and adjusted her maroon dress over her thighs, feeling foolish that she’d opted for the shortest thing in her closet.Who was she kidding?As she approached the car, she pulled her lips into a smile, nearly stumbling in her heels. Probably, it was strange for Uber drivers to pick people up on the side of the road like this, especially when it looked like they already had vehicles for themselves.
When Hilary opened the back door of the vehicle, a familiar face peered out from the driver’s seat. Immediately, Hilary’s heart sank into her belly. It was the guy she’d seen Aria with.What were the chances?
“Hello, Ms. Coleman! I don’t know if you remember me. We met last night. My name is Thaddeus.” His smile was easy and sweet, utterly handsome in a way that made it obvious why Aria liked to hang around him. Hilary cursed herself for not having asked Aria more about this young man this morning at breakfast when it had seemed like Aria was open to speaking honestly.
“Thaddeus. Of course.” Hilary remained outside of the car, hovering at the door.
“What are the chances?”
“Yes. Crazy,” Hilary said, her tone dark.
“Is there something wrong with your car?” Thaddeus asked, pointing to her convertible. “Because I worked in an auto shop for a while, and I don’t mind taking a look at it. You could cancel your Uber order if we get it started up again.”
Hilary’s throat tightened with surprise at his kindness. She hadn’t imagined someone in the drug scene to be so open-hearted. “It’s okay. I’m in a hurry,” she told him. “I’ll come back for it later.”
“Do you want me to call someone to tow it?” Thaddeus pushed it. “I have a few friends at the tow company, actually. They owe me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hilary said, finally dropping into the back and buckling her seatbelt, mystified at the kindness of this man.
“Okay. Well, you should still cancel your Uber order,” Thaddeus said. “Siasconset isn’t far, and I really don’t mind taking you out there. Aria’s, well. She’s one of my favorite people in the world, you know? And you’re her mother, so…” He trailed off, clearly embarrassed.
Hilary let the silence linger for a moment, unsure of what to say. The mother in her wanted to ask if he, too, was on drugs, even to threaten him never to offer her daughter anything. But she was exhausted from her eye pain, from all the fear that it had brought on, and she waved her hand and said, “I’m happy to pay, Thaddeus.” She was sure he needed the money.
Thaddeus shrugged and put the car in drive, then continued the route to Frank’s place on the outer edge of Siasconset. As though he’d sensed Hilary’s desire to be quiet, he remained silent as well, probably stewing in fear about having told Hilary that Aria was one of his favorite people. Hilary was surprised at what a careful driver he was, never going over the speed limit and being very courteous to others at four-way stops.