Page 13 of Tiers of Joy

“Hi welcome to Maple car hire, how can I help you today?” The nice lady smiles.

I hand over my documents.

“Hi I have a reservation for a car hire. The name is Esme Tucker.”

“Okay thank you. Can I see your driving licence please?” She asks whilst typing away on her computer.

I hand her my licence and she types away and then hands me back my documents and keys for the car.

“There you go Mrs Tucker. It’s in lot twenty-seven, yellow block. You head straight out of these doors and follow the signs for rental parking.” She smiles.

I nod thanks and walk out of the doors. The cold winter air hits me.

“Holy shit it’s freezing!” I yell.

I push hard on my wonky wheeled trolly and follow the directions she gave me. I nearly slip on ice patches several times but luckily I’m able to keep myself upright.

I walk up and down looking for the car and eventually find it.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” I mutter.

In front of me is a Nissan Micra. A bloody Nissan Micra that I now have to drive in snowy conditions loaded up with three large suitcases! I pull out my phone and take a photo to send to Sally later; she booked the car for me. Clearly she didn’t consider that it’s winter in Canada!

“I bet you're laughing your arse off right now aren’t you Jay.” I sigh.

I squeeze my suitcases in, having to put them on the back seat and the passenger side next to me. I set up google maps on my phone and start my journey. It says it should be around a three hour drive.

I drive along looking at the beautiful scenery. I can’t stop myself from smiling at how absolutely stunning it is.

I leave the busier city and towns and follow a windy road surrounded by huge trees. The road becomes fairly steep and my little car hates it. I can’t go faster than 20mph and that’s with my foot flat on the gas pedal!

“Come on you piece of tin!” I yell, hitting the steering wheel.

There is a loud honking sound from behind me a huge truck carrying wood is coming up fast. He’s honking and flashing his lights.

“I'm going as fast as I bloody can!” I yell.

He's not slowing down. He keeps getting closer and closer. I scream and pull over out of the way, skidding into a pile of snow.

I'm shaking, but thankfully I’m okay. The large truck has pulled up ahead. The wanker! Jet lagged and angry I jump out of the car and make my way to the truck to give the guy a peace of my mind. I feel my feet slip out from under me and I go flying, landing on my back and hitting my head with a thump. I groan in pain.

“Son of a bitch.” I say, holding my head.

“You got a death wish or something?” A deep voice growls.

I squint my eyes open to see a very angry, yet very good looking, guy staring down. He looks pissed off at me.

“Huh?” I ask in confusion.

He rolls his eyes and reaches forward, pulling me onto my feet. I wobble and grab hold of his jacket.

Gathering my thoughts and ignoring the pounding in my head I step back and cross my arms over my chest.

“Why the fuck would you come up behind me like that?! You ran me off the bloody road! You moron!” I seethe.

“I have a near fifteen ton truck, I cannot ease off the gas when climbing a damn incline! Why in hell would you be driving around in that? You could get yourself killed! Damn tourists.” He states pointing to my hire car.

“For your information, I did not order that hire car. It was going as fast as it can up a hill this steep! The only thing that’ll kill me on these roads are twat drivers like you. Now if you don’t mind, I need to get to my destination before it gets dark.” I huff and turn to walk back to my car but my feet slip as I do. I stabilise myself. I hear him mutter something under his breath about tourists so I flip him off over my shoulder.

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