Caught in the rush
Chapter One
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December 6, 2002
8:42 A.M, Pacific Time
Sometimes, Matthew Illsley hated his job.
Getting up at the crack of dawn, driving a huge, hulking tanker truck full of whatever the hell chemicals he was being ordered to haul. It made him nervous.
Traveling down the 405 south, heading towards San Diego, Matthew had his coffee, his blueberry muffins his wife made him, and some good old-fashioned 70's rock and roll playing on the radio. Traffic wasn't as bad as it should have been, but they hadn't exactly hit rush hour traffic yet. He wondered if maybe people were starting to get the idea that the 405 wasn't the best route into work. He was actually rather surprised at the lack of traffic. In one way, he'd be making great time.
In another way, it made him rather suspicious. Nothing went this smoothly in his life, ever. As nice as she was to make him some blueberry muffins, his wife wasn't exactly the best thing in his life.
Matthew was a truck driver when he met her, and after six years of marriage she was starting to complain. He was never one to wear a suit and work a nine to five office job, yet, that's what she wanted him to do. He was so tired of her nagging and whining. Which was one reason he didn't hate his job. It got him away from her for awhile.
And, if he got lucky, sometimes he got to pick up one of those pretty hitchhikers who was very appreciative to get a ride. He knew it wasn't right to cheat on his wife, but she hadn't given it up to him in over two years, from what he supposed was punishment for not doing what she wanted. And he needed a release somehow.
Matthew then made a face. The station was playing "All Right Now" by Free, and he wasn't very fond of that song, so he changed the station, where he caught the last few seconds of "Rush Hour" by Penny. He knew it was a cover, and he wasn't too fond of people doing covers of other peoples songs, but he never heard Jane Wiedlins version of it, so therefore he didn't mind. Besides, Penny was kinda cute for a strange girl.
He caught her in concert once a while back. She could alternate between dressing provocatively to dressing like she was homeless. Maybe that was a bit harsh. She would wear these old, baggy blue pants, a white tank top, and a blue and white knitted hat. She was a strange girl indeed.
"... That was Penny, with Rush Hour, the new release from her album, Penny for Your Thoughts. Penny is performing tonight at The Santa Monica Amphitheater with her boyfriend Dirk Monahan's band, Trouble, their last stop in the U.S before they embark on their joint European tour. Tickets for tonight's show are completely sold out, but if you're caller 103, you can win a pair of tickets to the show. This is Rick Dees, and we'll be back after this station break!"
Matthew looked in his rearview mirror so he could safely move into the next lane, and saw a limo a ways behind him. He grinned as he cut over. He then pulled up along the shoulder, next to the pretty brunette hitchhiker he saw.
"Where ya heading honey?" he asked, rolling down the window. The brunette sighed, exhaustively.
"Laguna Niguel," she replied, as he opened the passenger side door.
"Great, that's on the way to where I'm going. Get in."
Matthew smiled as she climbed in. He didn't know what was going to happen but he was hoping it was good.
About five cars back, in the bright green Dodge Neon, sitting in the back seat, was a seven-year-old autistic boy, who knew exactly what was going to happen.
And it wasn't good. "Funny," he thought, "but not good."
Quentin was a cute little blond haired boy, with deep chocolate brown eyes. Anyone who looked into those eyes could tell that he knew things that no one else would ever know, and he would never tell. And even when he learned to communicate properly with other people, he still wouldn't tell. He knew how Stonehenge was built. What put up those strange statues on Easter Island. He even knew who Deep Throat was. He knew what Eminem secretly did when no one else was around.
Anyone else who looked into those eyes could also see that he was figuring things out. Whenever he decided that his mother wasn't paying enough attention to him, he knew that taking the knobs off all the cabinets in the kitchen would aggravate her. She accounted for all but 3 knobs, and it was making her crazy that she couldn't find them.
Heehee. That'll show her.
He also managed to figure out how to con whoever was around into another bath, regardless of how many baths he had already taken. All he had to do was go into the kitchen and rub flour all over himself. Of course now, he had to figure out another way, his grandmother was a little too smart for him sometimes, and beat him at his own game.
Quentin kicked his feet excitedly and started grinning, as the strange dark haired lady in the big truck in front of them grabbed the steering wheel after the man made a comment about "paying" him for the ride. The man grabbed the wheel back, and struggled to prevent losing control.
Quentin's sister, Joanne, already rather pissed off about having to miss school that day because she couldn't breath through her nose, glared over at her brother and snarled. "What's so funny, monkey man?" she asked, rubbing his head. Then, as the tanker lost control and flipped over, Quentin started laughing uncontrollably.
See, he thought, I knew it was going to be funny.
Traffic behind the tanker started coming to a slow stop. The passenger in the limo behind it rolled down the window separating him from the driver. "What the hell just happened?" he asked as they suddenly stopped. The driver sighed.
"Apparently Mr. Monahan," he replied, "there's been an accident. A rather large accident. I don't think you're getting to the airport anytime soon."
"Oh bloody hell."
Of course, the passenger of the second limo, a little ways back, wasn't so thrilled either. And if Penny got out of this in one piece, without going completely insane, she was never going to forgive that man.
Of course, the reason her limo was completely boxed in during what was probably the worst gridlock in the entire history of Southern California's 405 freeway was because of him. If things turned out well, she would have no choice but to forgive him.
Damn moody, temperamental Scottish rock stars. This was all his fault. Of course, she said some things she didn't mean, and she did know she suffered from the inability to verbally express her true feelings for him, and she did know she hid something very important from him, but Dirk Monahan suffered from an inability to hear a whole conversation. Some people suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder; Dirk suffered from Hearing Deficit Disorder, if it existed. (Her studio drummer, Jeff reasoned that if Hearing Deficit Disorder indeed existed, it would fall into the ADD category, but Penny didn't feel splitting hairs.) If he had opened his ears, the fight never would have started, and he wouldn't be trying to go home, and she wouldn't be stuck in this stupid traffic jam.
Penny switched on the small television facing her, and was not in the least surprised that the roof of her limo was the first image she saw.
The ambulance crew that had arrived to airlift the driver of the truck and his passenger out to a local hospital had just left and not long after, a newscopter from KNBC started flying around, surveying the accident and the resulting gridlock.
"And probably surprisingly enough to our television audience watching at home, you can see from Sky Chopper Four, pop singer Penny's familiar and unique purple and green limousine almost smack dab in the middle of this mess here on the 405 freeway."
Vanity kept Penny from turning the television off. Then again, she wasn't sure if it was that, the fact that she liked Fernell Chatman, one of the news anchors, or that she was hoping for some news that Dirk Monahans limo was also completely stuck and not on its way to the airport.
* * *
It had all started that morning…actually, no; it had all started exactly one and a half years ago. Dirk Monahan had brought his band over from Edinburgh to celebrate their new recording contract at the home of the record label's owner. The rest of the band seemed to settle into the party with ease, but Dirk, the classic pessimist, who was feeling it was all too good to be true, just grabbed a Guinness and wandered around the party, looking around and just politely nodding his head and smiling at anyone who was polite enough to acknowledge him.
Dirk wandered down a long hallway, peering into rooms that were left open, looking at pictures on the walls of the label owner with different celebrities. He heard a loud noise come from the room at the very end of the hallway, and went to investigate.
He peered into the slightly opened door and saw a mini bowling alley. At first he didn't see anyone, but suddenly, as the music mysteriously got louder, he saw a buxom redhead rush back to the ball return and bend over to pick up her ball. His courage to walk in and introduce himself completely flew out the window when he saw her breasts almost fall out of her top. Fortunately, he didn't have to.
Penny looked up as she reached for her ball and saw a rather cute face looking at her. She quickly stood, regaining her posture and still looking back at the figure in the door, stated "You can come in, I don't bite, unless you want me to."
Dirk never got approached like that, and thought it would be pointless to continue to stand there, gawking, and walked in. As he approached, he got a better look at her and recognized her. "Hey, you're Penny," he commented, "I remember you from when you were on Top of the Pops a couple months back."
"And you're Dirk Monahan, I remember you too," she suddenly recalled as she reached out and took his hand, "you went on after I did. Are you the new act Derick just signed?"
"That's right, you didn't know?"
"No, he was pretty secretive about it"
"Well," he said, spreading out his arms as though he had just jumped out of a large cake, "surprise."
"Heh. I know you guys were recorded over there, but I guess now you'll be recording here? I mean, I assume that's why you're here."
"That's right, we're in the studio Monday morning."
Penny smiled secretly to herself. She had a crush on Dirk Monahan ever since her fingers brushed against his arm after her performance on the show. Now she understood why Derick always just winked at her when she tried to force him to reveal who his new act was.
"That's so cool," she replied, "so, why aren't you at the party?"
"I'm what Dave calls a classic pessimist.."
"Dave?"
"My drummer."
"Oh. What does being a classic pessimist have to do with not going to a party?"
"Well, I'm convinced this is too good to be true, so, I'm kinda weary about enjoying myself if its not going to last. That and I feel parties are a complete waste unless I get laid, which I'm in serious doubt will happen."
Penny smiled and returned to pick up her ball. "Well," she replied, with a giant, nervous sigh, "never say never."
Now, Dirk was perfectly well aware of what she said, and what she meant. "Excuse me?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear. She turned briefly and smiled at him, before stepping up to the approach. "You bowl?" she asked, just as she threw the ball down the alley.