Nothing to Lose
The rain seemed to fall like bullets from a gun; huge and painful. The steam rose from the crowded streets of Tampa, as the cold water collided with the warm pavement. Cars recklessly sped down I-275, ignorant to the black Volkswagen Jetta wedged between the guardrail and the traffic.
"Please stop!" screamed Madelyn Gardener at the cars whizzing by. Soaked and frustrated, Madelyn kicked her tire. This was going onto "The top ten most terrible days ever" list for sure. It was only three hours earlier that her boss, Michael Robinson, fired her, claiming that the salon she worked at, Head Games, already had enough hair stylists. Madelyn knew the truth though. His girlfriend needed a job. Not that it surprised her that this would be the day for her to lose her job; everything seemed out of whack. She woke up late causing her to be late for her first class at the University of South Florida, her roommate had borrowed the outfit she was planning on wearing without asking, she'd misplaced her English paper, she didn't have time to eat breakfast, she couldn't find her left shoe to save her life, she lost her job, and now her tire was flat.
She looked down at the flat tire in front of her and rolled her normally bright blue eyes, gripping her wet, matted, brown hair between her fingers. She turned and looked down the street, inwardly praying that someone would have the heart to stop and give her a hand. Unfortunately, no one felt that generous on a Friday night right before Memorial Day weekend. Madelyn, without knowing what else to do, opened her car door, sulked back into the driver's seat, covered her face with her hands, and sobbed. She cursed herself for forgetting her cellular phone at home and again for not using her no-run mascara this morning.
After about a half an hour of lamenting, she dragged herself back out of her black vehicle and stared down at the tire again. Standing on the side of the road, fumbling over her thoughts, trying to get her mind reorganized from her breakdown, Madelyn finally turned towards the street and waved her arms frantically. She saw people look over at her, but still no one had the heart to stop for just 5 minutes and help her out. She gave up again after 15 minutes and sat on the hood of her car, the rain cascading down from the sky onto her soaked body.
"Excuse me?" she heard a voice ask. She had been so caught up in her self-pity that she hadn't heard the person's car pull behind hers and stop. She looked up and into the most striking pair of blue eyes she'd ever seen. "Do you need some help?" he asked. She nodded and slipped off the hood of her car. The man walked to the side of her car and looked down at the tire. "Is there a spare in the trunk?" he asked. Again, she nodded in response. He opened the car door and pressed the trunk release button. After retrieving the spare, he looked at her, sopping wet and shivering. "Hey, why don't you go sit in my car for a few minutes and I'll have this done for you in no time." Without saying a word, Madelyn made her way towards the stranger's car and sat down in the passenger's seat of his 2000 Plymouth Prowler. She turned the heat on inside his car and watched intently as he changed her tire. She mentally scolded herself for never learning how to do that. Eventually, the warmth of his car took over her and she fell asleep. She thought if the man was nice enough to help a girl out, then he'd be nice enough to wake her up when he was done with her car. A while later, she woke up and felt the car moving, she slowly opened her left eye and immediately realized what was going on. She sat straight up in her seat and looked over at the man behind the wheel.
"Where are you taking me?" The words timidly slipped passed her lips, unsure of whether or not she should have said anything. The man glanced over at her and smirked, then turned his attention back to the road in front of them. Her initial thought was that something had gone wrong with her car and he was going to get parts for it. She was sadly mistaken. This man did not intend to fix her car. She wondered if he had ever even changed a tire in his life. Once again, she didn't know what to do. How was she supposed to get away from this man in a moving vehicle? She thought about opening the car door and jumping out, but she knew he'd slam on the brakes and run after her. She looked out the window; they weren't in the best part of town. She decided to try to talk to him again, this time trying to muffle her fear. "So, did you have this planned or are you improvising?"
"Actually, I don't really know what I'm doing," he said, tossing her a look. Madelyn was happy about that. At least she had some sort of hope in coming out of this alive. She'd have to think of a way to get out of the car, and fast.
"Why would you pick me, of all people, to abduct?" she asked. She was surprised at how calm she was being. She knew she needed to build trust up between her and her captor if she were ever going to get away from him.
"Well you look like you've got a lot of money-"
"Yeah, well so do you," she interrupted. He shot her a warning glance and she sat back in her seat.
"You look like you've got a lot of money, and if you don't, then obviously your Mommy and Daddy do." Madelyn laughed a little. "What? What are you laughing about?"
"You've got me figured out all wrong. I'm in college and just lost my job. I have no money. My parents both passed away a few months ago and the only way I'm still in school is the fact that they've had it prepaid since I was 16. I have about 30 cents to my name at this point." The man looked over at her in disbelief. All he wanted from her was some money and now that he knew she didn't have any, he didn't know what to do with her. If he were more professional at his job, he would have killed her, but since this was his first kidnapping, and normally he was a really nice guy, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "I guess you picked the wrong girl," she said laughing lightly.
"Well hey, it just goes along with the rest of my day. First of all, this morning my girlfriend left me, then I got kicked out of the University of Tampa because I'm failing, then I got fired from my mailroom job at the Tampa Tribune, and I just found out my car's about to be repossessed. So, I have nowhere to live, no car, no job, and no money. It's sad when you get desperate enough to kidnap someone."
"Yeah, well I haven't had the best day ever, either."
"Want to go somewhere and talk about it?" he asked. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. It was weird, just 10 minutes ago she was in fear for her life and now her abductor was asking her on a date. She shrugged her shoulders and agreed. After all, what did she have to lose?
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