Friday, June 13, 2014

The Seeking Daddy Project Day 51: Unglued, Part the Second

I know it's been awhile, but at long last I'm finishing this story.  Go ahead and read Unglued, Part the First for a refresher first!

Anyway, so, back at the ballpark...

As I sat at the picnic table, drinking a $7 cup of white wine and fiddling with the little cork-heeled cause of my angst, I realized with some horror that I wasn't going to be able to make it the four blocks (uphill) back to the car.  I was trying to keep myself from spiraling into panic mode when Aaron and a couple of our other young guy coworkers came up to the table.

My only explanation is that we communicated telepathically, because before I knew it, classic hero that he is, Aaron had offered to go get the car and bring it back to pick me up.

I handed him my keys, and ten minutes later, my coworker/friend Meghan* and I met him in front of the ballpark.  Meghan asked us to take her back to her car, and I climbed in the backseat while she took shotgun.

We started driving around; Meghan didn't really remember where she'd parked.  It was understandable, really, in all the traffic.  We were only a few streets away from the ballpark about to go through a stoplight when she said, "Oh wait, I think it's down there!" Aaron braked slightly and turned the steering wheel to the right - and WHAM! We all flew forward.  My car had been rear-ended.

The next half hour went by in a blur.  Aaron pulled my car off to a side street, and the surprised, shaken young woman who had rear-ended us followed.  Another car had nearly clipped her; she was trying to avoid it and didn't see us. No one was hurt. We didn't call the police. Her mom, who was close by, came to her rescue.  I remember that I flew out of the backseat as soon as we'd stopped, quickly dialing my dad's number even though I'm in my thirties and live 300 miles away from him.

It took me awhile to realize that the bottom of my left sandal was now totally gone.  I hobbled around,  my right foot four inches higher than the left, the whole time we stood there.  One of the senior managers at our company had parked his car on that very side street, and he ended up taking Meghan back to her car.

I hadn't been in an accident in nearly 10 years.  I kept telling myself, don't freak out, don't overreact, this kind of thing happens all the time, but I can't say I was successful in any of that.

My car was driveable.  The bumper was badly damaged and the exhaust pipe and muffler hung down towards the back wheel, but I could get it home.  The other girl's car wasn't nearly so lucky.

We finally got back on the road; I drove shakily and Aaron was trying valiantly to be calming in the passenger seat.  I think he'd given me a hug. I remember thinking I'm so glad he's here.  I couldn't imagine driving back from Durham, a route that makes me nervous anyway, all alone after that.

Despite leaving the ballpark early, we got caught in the worst of the rush-hour traffic going back to the office because of the accident.  I turned the stand-up comedy channel back on, but in our heightened state neither of us could enjoy it; it just sounded like yelling.  Soon, I switched it off, and then we just talked. It was real talk, an honest dialogue between unlikely friends - friends who had both been admittedly surprised at the strength of our connection over the last few months.  We talked about our hopes, our fears, our pasts, our dreams. We dug deep. We blushed, we laughed, we opened up.

Never in a million years when I first met Aaron would I have dreamed we'd end up so close.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I went back and forth with insurance companies, leaving voicemails and memorizing claim numbers.  I finally got my car repaired and picked it up earlier this week.  All is well again.

My secret is that, other than a home invasion or a fire, one of my greatest fears is a car accident.  They're messy, they're expensive, and without my car I'm virtually helpless - I can't get anywhere.  Aaron was (again) a hero during the interlude, picking me up on his way to work and dropping me off on his way home, checking the bumper to make sure it wouldn't fall off and looking under the car to examine the muffler.  I'll be forever grateful.  I'm so glad I have my car back, though, because nothing compares to driving down a long stretch of highway at dusk on a summer night, playing my music and reflecting.

I've thought a lot about that day since it happened, and to my own surprise, I'd honestly do it all over again.  Parts of it were stressful and inconvenient, sure, but there were those moments: the moments when Aaron and I were laughing together at Patton Oswalt yelling "YOU STUPID DOUCHENOZZLE!" or on the drive back home, when I learned more about him than I ever thought I would, that I will forever cherish.

It's those moments that make life sweet.  It's those moments I'll carry with me and always think of with fondness and affection.  And if it took a fender-bender to get them, well, that seems like a bargain to me.

*Also not her real name. You know the drill by now.

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