Monday, May 03, 2010

Was It Love

by Spec4ever

Well into the flatlands of Nebraska there used to be a place that I would stop at with great regularity. The old buildings, if not gone by the time you read this, will be sitting unused, as new buildings and facilities have been built to replace the old ones that served travelers and truckers so well for so many years. I had almost forgotten the tale that I am about to tell, until the other day when I stopped in for one last visit to the old place before it closed.


It was a very warm late fall day when I pulled off the highway and into the truck stop. I needed a full service on my rig, and I would often stop here to have the work done.
 
As I have so often described in the past, I will sometimes travel around wearing a fairly strong pair of glasses, so I won't bore anyone with the details that I have recounted so many times before. On one or two of my other stops at this place, when I was wearing my glasses, I recall that Tommy, the youngest mechanic had seemed to stare at my glasses with more than a bit of interest, but I really wasn't sure.



Today Tommy was working on a 5 ton Ryder move-yourself truck. He was sprawled across the fender, and was obviously deep into a problem. But, standing beside the truck was a young woman that really caught my eye. Long Blonde Hair, Deep Blue Eyes is the start of a country and western tune, and she fit the bill exactly. She was slim, and reasonably tall, wearing a tight halter-top, and very short shorts. She had a very nice figure, but it was her glasses that were her absolutely best feature. She wore gold, wire rimmed, oval glasses that I estimated to have around –15D or –16D prescription, and her deep blue eyes were beautifully minified behind the thick lenses. She looked to be about 17 or 18 years old, but I have been wrong a lot of other times about such things, so I wasn't going to bet a nickel on her age. Every so often Tommy would glance up from his work, and look over at the girl, with a special look in his eyes that bordered on lust.
 
One of the other technicians, a fancy term for a glorified grease monkey went to work on my truck, and I wandered on into the adjoining building. Sitting in the restaurant were 2 women, and 3 young children. Both of the women wore fairly strong minus glasses, but nowhere near as strong as the glasses the young lady standing in the shop wore. I guessed that probably these 2 ladies were sisters, and that one of the 2 was quite likely the mother of the young lady in the shop. Just then the young lady walked into the restaurant, and confirmed my suspicion by sitting down at the table with the others.
 
I heard my name come over the paging system, so I went back to the shop to find my truck finished. Tommy was standing next to my truck, and I mentioned that his audience earlier made it hard for a man to do any serious work. He blushed, and agreed with me. I added that not only was she very pretty, but that she wore really nice glasses, and he looked back at me a bit strangely, but agreed again.
 
I paid my bill, and moved my truck out into the parking lot. When I returned to the restaurant Tommy was inside, sitting at a table with the young lady, deep in conversation. I had my meal, and when I finished I went outside to the other building that served as the fuel desk. The rest of the family was standing around the convenience store, and the younger kids were starting to complain about the wait. I made a comment about how kids were so impatient to the ladies, and we began a conversation. I was right, they were sisters. Their parents had retired to California, and their mom had passed away a couple of years ago. Their dad had recently died, and had left the 2 sisters the house. Neither sister had a husband at the moment, and they were moving to California to take residence in their parent's house, find work, and share the expenses. Or, at least that is what they told me the plan was.
 
I got a free shower with my service work, so I went upstairs, and enjoyed my shower. When I came back down, I walked out through the shop door, and saw Tommy again working on the Ryder truck. I guessed that he had either taken a break, or had been waiting for parts to come from the supplier. I knew Tommy was a nice kid from past experience, and I walked over to where he was working.
 
"If you like her, don't let her get away." I said
"I don't intend to." he replied.
 
An hour or so later, as I was preparing to leave the truck stop myself, I saw the yellow Ryder truck pull out onto the highway, followed by an old blue Taurus. There was a man driving the truck, and from a distance I recognized Tommy.
Was it love at first sight?
Specs4ever
Nov. 2000

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