Pickup and Deliver

Laura tried to ignore her tone deaf besties trying to sing what she believed was a Beyonce song. Perhaps it was a old Destiny's Child tune. Laura couldn't be quite sure. She never was into either. Honestly, Laura was sometimes surprised Suzy and Rachel still dragged her along on their harebrained adventures. The last few years of high school seemed to show that she was bound on a different destiny then the other two. Still, the friendship was solid even if their paths were starting to diverge.

Laura flipped the page to 'Slaughterhouse-Five' and tried to tune them out. Rachel went sharp, Suzy laughed, Laura groaned yet smiled in spite of herself.

"Hey Look!" Rachel suddenly interjected, "a hitchhiker. We should give him a lift!"

"Absolutely not! He looks sort of creepy," retorted Suzy, who seemed to step on the accelerator to try to pass him.

"Come on! Would you want to be walking this road? And anyway, he has a cute ass. What say you, Laurie? Should we give the guy a lift?"

Laura took a look at the man and knew she would be the one stuck sitting with him regardless. "Well, he does have a nice ass," Laura said in a very sardonic way.

Rachel, always oblivious to Laura's dry sarcasm, smiled. "It is settled. Pull over Suze."

Suzy grumbled, but pulled over. Rachel rolled down her window, "Need a lift mister?"

"Thanks! Yes! I didn't think anyone would offer. Been walking for hours. Name is Paul by the way."

Paul opened the back door and slid in next to Laura. His 'nice ass' aside, he was pretty average everything. At least a days worth of stubble on his face, muddy brown eyes, thin lips, a slight scar through his right eyebrow. Midwestern accent. You would lose him in a crowd of ten people.

"So where to Paul?" Rachel asked, in her over-flirtatious way when anyone of the opposite sex was even remotely good-looking was in her proximity.

"The next station is fine, Thanks," Paul said simply while looking at Laura and her book, "You know, I met Mr. Vonnegut a few years before he passed away. Interesting fellow. Interesting life."

"Really?" Laura asked, suddenly finding Paul perhaps a bit more interesting.

"Yeah..."

They spoke for about ten minutes before they came across a gas station in this middle of nowhere. Suzy seemed to be all to happy to pull over and have Paul be on his merry way.

"Thanks ladies. You three are angels in a world of misanthropes."

~~~

A week later, as Laura lounged on her sofa, still reading Slaugherhouse-Five', her door bell rang. When she answered, Rachel was standing there, excited as can be. A limo was waiting in the drive.

"Come on Laura! Adventure time!"

"What's with the limo?"

"It's Paul's! That guy we helped. Seems he's loaded and wants to reward our kindness."

"By?"

"Duh. Limo! Adventure! Don't be such a fraidy-cat! Laurie! I expect it from Suze, but not you."