Then I Crashed Into You

Brooks couldn’t figure out for the life of him why Elaine had decided to go back to her apartment and drive to the party herself when she had just been at his place, and they could have easily rode in together. Part of him wondered if she was going to ditch him and not show up. Technically, she had finished paying off her debt today and she didn’t really have to go tonight.

As he pulled into the parking lot, he turned off the keys to the brand new Spyder he had bought just a few days ago. This new one looked identical to his old red one that Elaine had crashed, as he hadn’t been able to get something different, having loved this car so much.

He stepped outside, looking around for Elaine, but he suddenly realized he had no idea what kind of car to look for. Her Honda had been demolished in the crash, too, and she had to get a new car. It was at that moment he regretted never paying attention to what cars were parked around his apartment when he got home every night or for even asking her about it.

Looking down at his watch, he saw that it was already eight, the time the party was about to start, and he wasn’t going to wait for Elaine any longer and end up being late to his best friend’s engagement party, so he walked inside, figuring Elaine would catch up eventually.

As soon as he walked inside, he could hear a bunch of people call out his name. Mike made his way over to him, guiding him through the crowd. “Thank God you’re here,” Mike said, pushing through a group of women. “I need someone on my side. I feel like Angela invited every single woman she’s ever met,” he said lowly, and Brooks laughed at his friend, shaking his head. “Wait a minute, something’s missing,” Mike said, suddenly stopping in the middle of the room.

“What?” Brooks asked.

“Where’s your girl?” Mike questioned. “Brooks!” he scolded. “You said you’d bring a girl!”

“Calm down, she’s coming,” Brooks told him, and Mike gave him a look that said he clearly didn’t believe him. “She is,” he insisted. “At least I hope she is,” he added under his breath, knowing that if Elaine didn’t show up, he was going to have a lot of explaining to do to Angela.

“Okay,” Mike said, still not believing him as he made his way to Angela, standing behind her as he put a hand on her shoulder, and Brooks handed her a bag that held the gift he had bought the couple.

“Thank you, Brooks,” Angela smiled at him before her smile quickly dropped. “Where’s your date?”

“What is up with you two and needing to know where my date is?” Brooks questioned. “Can’t a guy just come to an engagement party as a single guy? Do I have to have a date?”

“Brooks,” Angela began.

“Here she is,” Brooks interrupted her as he saw Elaine trying to squeeze her way through the crowd. He met her halfway, taking her hand as he brought her to the table where Mike and Angela were.

“Sorry, I don’t know you two too well, so I kind of got a generic gift,” Elaine said, her shy side coming out once again, as she held out her hand which held a blue bag with ‘Congratulations’ written on it.

Angela smiled up at her, taking in her appearance. While she looked similar to the type of girl Brooks usually went for, with a pretty face and a stunner of a dress, she definitely didn’t act like his normal girls. No girl that Brooks had ever dated would have ever brought a gift to an engagement party where she didn’t know either of the people. Instead, she would normally be the one looking for a gift for herself. “Thank you,” Angela said sincerely. “You didn’t have to give us a gift, though.”

“Of course I did,” Elaine said with a nervous laugh. “It’s your engagement party,” she added.

Mike moved close to Brooks, saying quiet enough that he thought Elaine couldn’t hear, “This is what you call ‘eh’?”

“What?” Brooks asked, having no idea what Mike was talking about.

“In the locker room. When I asked if the girl was hot. You said ‘eh’. She’s a hell of a lot hotter than eh. She’s gorgeous,” he said, his voice coming out louder than he had intended, as it earned him a hit to the stomach from Angela and a blushing face from Elaine.

“Why don’t we find a seat?” Brooks said, looking down at Elaine and ignoring Mike’s comment. Elaine nodded her head and Brooks started to walk through the crowd, trying to find a seat. He was suddenly stopped by a brunette, causing Elaine to bump into the back of him, almost falling backwards.

As she straightened herself out, she heard the woman talking to Brooks. “I haven’t seen you in such a long time!” she exclaimed, pulling him into a hug, leaving Elaine standing there, wondering how the two of them knew each other. She stared at the girl, and she couldn’t deny that the woman was beautiful. Her loose waves fell onto her back that was left bare from the swoop on the back of her light blue dress. She looked as if she had just gotten back from a vacation in the tropics, her tan going beautifully with the light color of the dress.

“Yeah, since that trip down to Vegas,” Brooks said, and Elaine furrowed her eyes, wondering what he was talking about before she remembered the woman had just referred to the last time she had seen Brooks.

“Oh, I could never forget that trip,” the young woman said, a sly smile crossing her face, and Elaine suddenly became very aware that Brooks and this woman hadn’t simply gone to Las Vegas to try their hand at some poker.

“Neither could I,” Brooks replied, a grin of his own crossing his face. Feeling uncomfortable simply standing there listening to the conversation, Elaine stepped around Brooks, trying to find an empty seat. She glanced back at Brooks, but she was sure that he hadn’t even realized she had left him, as his eyes were glued upon the tanned beauty in front of him.

As the night grew on, Elaine sat at the table by herself, staring at the glass of water she had in her hands, wondering why she had come tonight. Brooks had mostly ignored her the entire night, as every time he said goodbye to one woman, another one took her place at his side. Elaine watched from afar at the table, shaking her head every time the two shared a memory and then a large grin afterwards. She was about to stand up and leave when a body sat down in the seat next to her.

“So, tell me how you and Brooks met,” she heard the woman say, and Elaine turned her head to see Angela sitting there. Elaine stared at her for a moment, not knowing exactly what to say. “Okay, if you don’t want to share that story, why don’t you tell me why you’re sitting over here by yourself while you watch Brooks standing over there flirting with all of his past flings,” Angela continued, giving her a look that led Elaine to believe that Angela knew that Elaine wasn’t Brooks’ real date.

Elaine gave Angela a small smile before replying. “Brooks and I met when I wrecked his car,” she told her.

Angela’s eyes went wide at this statement. “You’re the girl that wrecked his car?” she questioned, and Elaine nodded her head. “So, that’s why you’re here. He asked you to come with him so I’d get off of his back, and you felt compelled to say yes because you felt bad?”

Once again Elaine nodded her head. “You’ve got it all figured out.”

“Well, I knew something was up,” Angela told her. “No offense or anything, but you’re not exactly Brooks’ normal type of girl, which I was actually pleased with. But, then when Brooks didn’t come and sit by you all night, I knew something was up. Tell me something, do you actually like him or are you here as a favor to him?” Angela asked.

Elaine took a deep breath. “You sure do get straight to the point, don’t you?” she asked with a small laugh. “Look, there’s nothing going on between Brooks and me, obviously,” she said, her gaze going over to Brooks, who chose that particular moment to look over at her, as their eyes met before Elaine quickly looked down. “I’m here as a favor, and as soon as this night is done, I’ll be gone. I’ll have officially paid him back for totaling his car,” she explained. She saw Angela shaking her head, and she asked, “What?”

“It’s just a shame,” Angela responded. “I was actually hoping that there was something going on with you and Brooks. You seem like a nice girl.”

“Thanks,” Elaine told her. “And, congratulations on the engagement. But, I think I’m going to go ahead and go,” she said, scooting her chair back. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You, too,” Angela smiled at her as Elaine started trying to find her way out of the place.

Just moments later, Brooks took Elaine’s recently vacated seat next to Angela. “Where’d Elaine go?” he asked her, and Angela’s eyes widened.

“She left, Brooks!” she exclaimed, and now it was Brooks’ turn to widen his eyes. “What? Did you really think she’d stay when you spent all night standing over there flirting with your exes?” Angela exclaimed. “In all honesty, I’m surprised she stayed that long. If I was her, I would have left a long time ago.”

“I wasn’t flirting,” Brooks argued.

“Oh, okay. You left her here all alone all night while you chatted with your exes. You know, I love you Brooks, but you are a complete idiot. Elaine seemed like a nice girl, but instead, you decided to ruin any chance you had with her.”

“Angela, she totaled my car. She came tonight because she felt like she owed me. It’s not like this was an actual date,” Brooks defended himself.

“Brooks, you invited her here tonight for a reason. And, you can say it was because I kept telling you that you needed a date all you want, but you chose Elaine for a reason. You could have gone out on the street and yelled out that you needed a date, and twenty nice girls would have come running, and you could have chosen any one of those. But, you didn’t do that. You asked Elaine.”

Brooks opened his mouth to respond, but then he closed it, thinking about what Angela was saying. “She’s nice,” Brooks began. “And, I did enjoy talking to her.”

Angela rolled her eyes at him. “Brooks, just go after her. Play the good guy romantic hero role, and go after her,” she told him, and Brooks nodded his head, scooting his chair out. As he fought his way through the crowd, he wondered if he was going to be too late. He had been talking to Angela for a while, and he would be surprised if Elaine was sitting out in the parking lot waiting for him.

As he finally made his way to the door, he flung it open, looking out at the parking lot. His eyes widened as he saw a car backed into his brand new Spyder. He ran over there, forgetting all about Elaine, but only thinking about his car. All of a sudden, the driver’s side door opened on the other car, and a young woman in a red dress stepped out. “I am so, so, so, so, so, sorry!” she began.

“Elaine?” he practically screamed. “You hit my car again?” he questioned.

“Oh my God, Brooks. I hit your car again?” she said, tears stinging her eyes as she got a good look at the car she had just backed into and realized it was, in fact, Brooks’ brand new car. “Oh my God,” she repeated, her breathing becoming shallow.

“Elaine, calm down,” Brooks said, fearing the young woman would hyperventilate if she didn’t start breathing properly.

“I just hit your car. Again. I hit your car again. I am so sorry,” she said, tears streaming down her face, and Brooks couldn’t help but think back to the first day he had met her after she had totaled his car and how she had been sobbing that day, too.

“It’s okay,” Brooks began.

“It’s not okay!” she yelled at him. “I hit your car. Again!”

“I guess we’ll have to work out a deal again,” Brooks said with a sly smile on his face.

“Like what?” Elaine said through her tears.

“Like, what if you go out to dinner with me Friday night?” he asked.

“I just hit your car, and you’re asking me out on a date?” Elaine asked in disbelief. “What is wrong with you? You should be screaming at me right now.”

“Because, even though you just hit my car again, I can’t help but feel bad for you. I don’t care about my car, but I feel bad that you feel this badly. No person’s ever made me feel like that before. Made me upset because they’re upset. You’re different, Elaine.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Elaine suddenly spoke up, ignoring Brooks’ confession from his heart.

“Let’s just start with you going out to dinner with me Friday,” Brooks said with a small laugh.

“I don’t get you,” Elaine said, shaking her head at him.

“That’s okay,” Brooks shrugged his shoulders. “There’s time to get to know me,” he added with a smile before putting a hand on each side of her face and leaning down and kissing her, making her forget all about wrecking his car once again.