Stranger to the Night

Stranger to the night.

"Keys, got em. Case flies, check." "Okay so I got everything I need for the night but why does it feel as if I'm forgetting something." 25 year old Darren Smith thought to himself out loud. He took one final look at his office, checked his watch and sighed. 11:30pm. "I gotta stop doing this." But like before Darren knew, his promises and vows to get home at a reasonable time would not be coming anytime soon. As he walked down the long office corridors, he bumped into Jim the office custodian. "Working late again D?" "Yeah Jim, you know how that goes. The toughest job requires the best man." "Yeah man but isn't your wife getting tired of all the late nights? Only two things can come out of this. She's either going to think you're knocking someone else's boots, or she's going to find someone else to knock her boots." "Whelp Jim, fortunately for me I'm not married, I'm as single as a dollar bill." "Not even dating anyone Big D?" "Nope, I have a few good friends that keep me company, but right now I'm married to this Job, It's my Eve." "Oh, young blood you don't know what you're missing. It's nothing like going home to a loving woman after a long shift. Someone to hear you complain about how your boss is a jerk, and you'd make a way better boss than him." "It just feels nice to always have someone there." "Well Jim, I hope one day I can experience that, but right now I don't think I could fit any woman in my life." Jim just shook his head and chuckled, before he could say another word Darren looked down at his watch and said, "Jim it's late, I'll see you around my good man." "Well you know Darren as much as I enjoy our run-in's, I hope for your sake that I don't see you around. You need to get a nice young lady in your life to go home to." "Yeah Jim, I'll work on that. Have a good night." As he made his way to the elevator, he couldn't help but think about what Jim had said. Was it really that nice having a stable, typical life? Most men Darren's age couldn't say that they drag raced with some of Nascar's most famous racer's, or that they had season tickets to the Miami Heat games, or that he and LeBron were actually good friends who hung out more often during the off-season. In fact most men Darren's age couldn't say that they did half the things he did. As one of Miami's leading Sports Agents at such a young age, he appealed to the sport stars as someone who was on their level. His life was fun, constant travel, meeting, and hanging with some of the most famous people of the day. And of course who could forget all the beautiful women that came with that territory. He literally could have any one he wanted. So why as he reached the garage level of the office building was Jim's words still ringing in his head? This wasn't anything new. Every time he ran into Jim long after normal work hours, he always had the same speech, and usually Darren could tolerate Jim's instance of him settling down, but why did this night the words hit him like a ton of bricks. He tried to shrug the weird feeling, as he approached his car. Beep Beep. Car door open, briefcase down in the passenger seat, Darren slid into his 2012 Audi A4, the clock on the dash read 12:15. "Shit. At this rate I won't be getting into the house until almost 1am", he thought. It would be way too late to eat anything, but he wasn't tired enough for sleep. "Maybe Sheila would be down for a nightcap." As he started the car, he noticed the car dash said it was raining outside. "Dang way to ruin my plans Mother Nature, the one thing he knew for sure was that no woman would be willing to make the drive across town to his seculded mini-mansion just for the night. As much as he wanted to block the thought out, he couldn't help but wish that there was a woman waiting at home for him. As he pulled out of the garage, he saw that it wasn't a nice light summer rain, but a torrential down pour. "Great now I have to drive the damn speed limit", he thought out loud. This night could get no worse. At least the roads were clear. He popped in Bad Boys greatest 90's hits to accompany him along the ride home. Fifteen minutes down RT 112 he noticed a small white ford focus along the shoulder of the road. "Dang, at least I'm not that guy. The only thing worse than a flat tire, is a flat tire in a storm like this." As he got closer to the car he saw that it wasn't a man stranded but, what appeared to be a young woman. She was drenched from top to bottom, she looked as though she was shivering, waving her hands back and forth signaling for him to stop. "Ugh, it's already 12:30. I mean guess I could stop, play the Good Samaritan role. "You alright there Miss?" Morgan chuckled lightly before she responded, "Well honestly, I've had better nights. My name is Morgan by the way, and thank you so much for stopping. My phone died, and I have a flat." "Geez and I thought my night sucked. You could use my phone if you would like, or if you have a spare I can change your tire for you." "Yeahhhhh, sadly this isn't the first flat that I've gotten this month, and I haven't really gotten around to replacing the spare yet." "Yikes okay, well lets walk over to my car, I have some blankets in the truck you can wrap yourself in, and you can use my phone.

"An hour and half to two hours just for a fucking tow truck? Are you serious?" "Sorry ma'am we understand your

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