AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At this point I’d pay triple just to not end up stranded sleeping in the airports with the hundreds of other people waiting for the storm to pass so that they can catch a flight out of here.
He opens the back door of the van and loads my things into it as quickly as possible and then shuts it.
“Get in,” he hells over the loud rain pouring down on the metal covered terminal above us.
Then he runs back to his side of the van and gets in.
I jump into the passenger side front seat, putting my laptop bag down by my feet.
“The address?” he asks quickly.
His fingers wait anxiously for me to read it off so that he can input it into his system.
I give him the address on the confirmation email that I got from Sheridan and within less than a minute, my taxi driver pulls off the curb of the airport and we’re on our way.
A sigh of relief passes through my lips, watching the airport disappear in the car's side mirror.
Over the next hour, the driver fields phone call after phone call, but with my minimal high school level Spanish speaking knowledge, all that I can sequester is that his wife, mother, and daughter all called him within the span of our hour drive.
The conversations seem to make him even more anxious about getting me to my destination so that he could get back home to his family.
The pitch-black night sky and the downpour of rain make it hard to see. His windshield wipes are doing all they can to keep up, but I can’t see much except for blobs that look like houses and palm trees. Luckily, my driver seems skilled and knows the roads well enough to keep up with the lines of the road, which seems harder to see with each passing moment.
I watch his navigation as the arrow on his screen creeps closer and closer to our destination.
Both relief and dread fill me at the thought of being alone in this storm.
I know I need peace and quiet with no distractions to write this book, but being in a hotel with other people could have potentially put my mind a little more at ease. As soon as my driver drops me off, I’ll be all alone in these high winds.
The thought makes my hands turn clammy, though in honesty… it could just be the humidity.
Finally, the driver pulls down a short driveway. A house that looks a little like the house in the pictures, comes into view, though this is the back of the house and they didn’t show much of those photos.
I read the house number and it matches up with the address on the email.
The rain seems as though it’s actually picked up more, if that’s even possible. I dread the idea of stepping out but the moment that my driver throws the van in park, he whips open his door and dashes out into the rain towards the back of the van.
This is it.
I need to make the most of it.
If I ever want to prove it to myself, Daniel, or my parents, this is the time.
I check the meter for the fare and am relieved to see that the rate is in both peso and dollar so that I can be sure I’m paying him the right amount. I pull out my wallet from my laptop bag and pull the cash I’ll need to pay him.
Then I pick up my laptop bag off the floor of the van and pull the strap over my shoulder. I wish now that I had kept the greatest tool of my profession in a waterproof bag.
My biggest concern is now to attempt to get inside the house before my laptop bag becomes waterlogged in this monsoon.
Reluctantly, I push open my own door and then take a breath before I step out of the car. Of course, with my luck… I land into a huge puddle. Grungy, silty water fills my flip-flops, leaving rough sand between my toes as I wade through it ankle-deep and head for the back of the van.
It takes less than thirty seconds for me to become completely soaked through my jeans and t-shirt.
There isn’t a dry spot on my body at this point.
I rush to the back of the van to find that the driver is already shutting the back door, and my two pieces of luggage are sitting in a couple of inches of water.
I roll my eyes at my situation, but I can’t waste time on it. I need to get my laptop into the house as quickly as possible before the storm ruins my only source of finishing this story.
