Well, that was interesting
Not quite in the way we’d planned, though. (See previous post for details.)
The kiddie party went well. It was a beautiful day, there was pizza, and yes, there were even a couple of dogs to pet, so I was happy. We stayed for that a couple of hours, then came home to nap and then get ready to go to the kink party that evening.
We had about 45 minutes to an hour to drive, and we always use my car, as John’s truck is manual transmission and isn’t the most comfortable ride. John usually drives when we’re in unfamiliar territory, but he had a badly infected finger and I was trying to give him a break from stressing it, so I drove. We were over halfway there, on the freeway at full speed, and someone sideswiped me on the driver’s side. The jolt and noise were horrible and I screamed, but I kept control of the car and managed to pull onto the shoulder. Meanwhile, the driver took off into the night and we never knew what hit us.
We were lucky. It could have been so much worse. No injury, and the damage to the car was cosmetic. Really ugly — basically the back half of the left side was scraped and gouged — but the car was completely drivable. So now what? Should we go home? We decided, what the hell. We’re more than halfway there. We’re all dressed up. It would be horrible to have gone through this for nothing; we might as well go on and get ourselves there.
Damned if I know how I kept driving. I was shaking all over, trying to keep my breathing even. I didn’t cry. I kept it together. I had to. I was behind the wheel. It was like someone else took over my body and kept me going. John was very comforting, telling me I was doing great, that I hadn’t done anything wrong. He made a good point — if this had been my fault, the other driver would have stopped so they could get my information and so forth. But they’d plowed into me out of nowhere; I was in my own lane and minding my own business. So this was unavoidable.
We arrived and parked. I had to change shoes; I was wearing comfortable flats to drive and had to put on my fetishy high heels. It took several minutes to get them on; my hands were shaking so badly, I couldn’t get the damn tiny buckle to go into the even tinier hole. But finally we were pulled together and ready to go in.
Turns out it was the right decision. The party was a distraction. There were hugs and friendly faces. I was able to get a bottle of water right away, which helped. I was able to calm down, relax a bit, even laugh. And I was able to have two great scenes, with what I consider to be the two of the best men there (besides John, of course). 🙂 It felt like old times, especially the first scene. We were in a small room and my butt was facing toward the door. Behind me, I could hear voices, “Is that Erica?” “That looks like Erica’s butt.” And Mr. Woodland said, “Yes, it’s Erica! Say hi, Erica!” I raised my hand from the floor and did a backwards wave. Three women came in to watch, including the beautiful Maddy Marks, and then I heard, “I thought it was her! Those are the kinds of panties she likes to wear, with the lacy trim.” I’m known for my panties?? I couldn’t stop laughing; of course, then Mr. W felt like he needed to ramp things up a bit to refocus my attention.
The second scene was right before we left, with Maddy’s beau Siq (pronounced “Sick”; not his real name, of course); it was the first time I’ve ever played with him, and I loved it. It was just what I needed to end the night on a positive spin and I was so happy he’d sought me out. He was so sweet too — asked me how my nerves were feeling (he knew about the accident) and if I was up for playing. I would definitely enjoy a repeat performance.
Anyway, we made it home without further incident. John’s finger was feeling better — the swelling had gone down — so he drove this time, for which I was grateful. Part of me never wanted to drive again, but I need to get over that, of course. Yesterday I called and made a claim with AAA, and today I will be talking with an adjuster, arranging for body work, a rental car, etc. I have rental coverage and collision coverage, so I’m handled. There will be a deductible, of course. Yesterday, I caught John with his hands on my wallet. “Oops!” he said. “Nothing to see here.” He’d stuffed a bunch of cash into my wallet to handle the deductible. He insisted. “You drove. It’s your car. You have to deal with it all. You got us through it. It’s the least I can do.” I do love that man. ♥
So… hell of a price to pay for being able to play a bit, but I did have fun despite it all. Even got a few light marks; damn, I’m out of condition! Onward with the week.