Traffic, Rain, and Everything Else Along the Way

I’ve lost my faith in the summer time, Cos it don’t stop raining*

“Oh, shut the fuck up!” Ben scowls as he slams the dial on the stereo. He’s not in the mood for music right now. Certainly not music from Oasis, and most assuredly not a song about summer rain. He’d kill for rain right now. Instead, there’s been nothing but stifling heat for weeks on end, and the forecast calls for more, more, more.

No, Ben doesn’t need music. What he needs right now is a fucking traffic report.

Millie, beside him in the passenger seat, can’t help but grin. She knows how he hates Toronto traffic, even under normal circumstances. But the forty-degree humidex and the broken air conditioner, combined with the fact they haven’t moved more than a few meters in the last five minutes, has certainly exasperated Ben’s sour mood.

“Have I told you how cute you are when you’re pissed off?’

Ben shakes his head in a vain attempt to stifle the smile forming on his lips. Millie always knows what to say to bring him out of whatever’s dragging him down. Whether it’s a gentle reminder of how much she loves him when he’s feeling lost, or a not-so-gentle nudge when he’s being an idiot. Today, in her own adorable way, it’s a reminder of what a waste of time it is to freak out over something he has no control over.

Ever since Ben first met her in the coffee shop three years ago, when she came and sat at his table, Millie has been the light of his life.

“Do you remember where we met,” she asks him?

“Yes, of course,” Ben replies. “We met at Tim’s in Dundas Square.”

“Do you remember when?” she continues.

“Yeah. It will be three years next month,” Ben answers through a now beaming smile. “Why are you asking, Mil?”

“Feels like yesterday, doesn’t it?”

Ben agrees that the time they’ve spent together since that day at the coffee shop has flown by like a spring breeze. Still, he’s curious as to why Millie’s asking if he remembers. She knows he does.

“So will this drive” she states as a matter of fact. “Even if it takes a little longer to get to the cottage, we’ll get there. Just like we did last weekend and will again next weekend.

“Before we know it, we’ll be old and gray, and in between there will be sunshine and there’ll be rain. There will be traffic and smooth sailing, and there will come a time when we’re no longer able to make these trips at all. Then we’ll be wishing we were still young enough to be stuck in traffic on the 401. Now let’s turn the music back on and enjoy the ride.”

Ben laughs at Millie’s comment. “I don’t know if I’ll be wishing for the traffic, babe. But I’m sure grateful that I get to take this ride with you.

“And sure, turn on some music if you want, as long as it’s not Oasis,” he adds with a grin.

All I can say Is that my life is pretty plain

I like watchin' the puddles gather rain**

-

Oasis – The Importance of Being Idle*

Blind Melon – No Rain**

-

for L.C. Schäfer's "Bullshit Summer"