A working girl

by David Hirtenstein (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

I didn't expect to find Georgia

She pulled up on the road and gave me a big smile. "Where are you going?" She asked me. "Where are YOU going?" I responded. "That way" she grinned, pointing down the road. "Me too!" I smiled and jumped in. We drove along with a joyous energy. She seemed to be very excited. I told her my short story and then asked what was hers. "I'm a working lady - a business woman" she said with a glint in her eye, seemingly voicing a silent question. I didn't think much of it at the time. After all, work is a pretty normal activity. We kept on driving. Watermelon sellers lined the bumpy road staring into space next to small green mountains of produce as we swerved to avoid oncoming cows. Just a normal day on the road in Georgia. I glanced over at my new companion and saw a huge smile lighting up her face. She checked the mirror, and then gave me a toothy grin and giggled. She wasn't beautiful, but there was a lightness in her soul, as if she were a bird that has just learned to fly, and is realising the endless possibilities. She looked to be in her early thirties although there was a glimpse of deeper mystery under the surface. Her hair was dark and curled around her ears. When she smiled, a dimple played on her face and she reminded me of a fairy from the stories I was read as a child. Her laughter seemed to fill the air, and she turned up the car stereo, the music pumping a rhythm in time with the thumping of the road. It felt like a proper road trip. After about 10 minutes a black car pulled up next to us. Through the window I saw a rough looking man waving at us angrily. He had a shaved head, a face like a thunderstorm and a body built in the gym. My companions' previously exuberant demeanour shifted and she slowed, gradually coming to a halt. She looked crestfallen, and gave out a deep sigh, apologetically pushing a crumpled 20 lari note into my hand. "I'm sorry" she said, with the look of an escaped criminal who has just been caught on the run. I stared into her face and she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you" she whispered. A shadow loomed large at the window. A giant opened the door, reaching into the car, and motioning to me to get out. He had a look which brooked no argument, and I certainly didn't fancy upsetting him further. Another huge guy came out of the passenger seat and moved around to the drivers side of our car. "Party's over" muscle man grunted, taking my bags from the car and unceremoniously dumping them on the ground. He looked disapprovingly at the woman, grabbing her shoulders and manoeuvred her towards his car. She was resigned to her fate, looking back at me with a shrug. I could still see the light shining in her eyes. "We were so close" they seemed to tell me. The other man climbed into the drivers seat of our getaway vehicle and revved the engine, ignoring me completely. "You see...I'm a working girl" she called out as a farewell, ducking her head into the back of the car. The door slammed, and without a glance they made a u-turn, zooming off back along the road we had come from. I stood there, wondering where she would end up. For a brief moment she was free, alive and completely herself, unrestricted. Had she just woken up that morning and thought "I have to get out of here?" I wondered. I closed my eyes and wished her well with a silent prayer. After all, had I not been thinking the same thing 3 years before? As I lay in the darkness of my apartment, surrounded by the emptiness of my existence, I had indeed only one thought. "It's time to leave". Opening my eyes, I exhaled slowly and turned back to the road, thumb out to find another ride. Onwards...ever onwards.