As the morning sun blazed down on the highway, the air shimmered with heat haze, and the brilliant light beamed mercilessly on Victor, who was stranded among endless rows of slow-moving vehicles.
"WHAT IS THIS TAKING SO FUCKING LONG!?!?" He screamed, slamming his head on the steering wheel and groaning heavily under his breath while gripping it tightly before immediately losing his grip when he noticed his knuckles had gradually become white and letting out a heavy sigh, "I thought I could save some precious time but…"
"Who would have thought there would be a fucking accident here?" Victor continued, staring at the crumpled delivery truck across the highway two lanes over, blocking the freeway and bringing him and the entire commute to an almost grinding halt.
"This is such a nightmare," he groaned, his head resting against the steering wheel. "Not only am I stuck in this traffic jam, but I have to listen to these idiots honking their horns like they're going to solve anything."
Glancing through the rearview mirror, he saw a long line of cars stretching out behind him, erupting into a symphony of honking that gradually morphed into a cacophony of ear torture. Among them, one stood out—a relentless, manic blare that seemed to pierce everyone's eardrums.
Honk! Honk! Honk!
"Seriously…? Oh my goodness," Victor muttered, glancing in the rearview mirror to see a gleaming black Mercedes, its driver, a young woman with perfectly coiffed hair and designer sunglasses perched on her nose, was hitting the car horn repeatedly as if it owed her money.
"Can you stop, woman? Please?" He then pleaded, wincing from the throbbing headache that was gradually forming over time due to his mood declining, the stress of this traffic and now from that woman as well. But as obvious as it was, his pleas never reached the woman as she continuously honked and even threw out furious gestures that seemed to be aimed toward Marco's direction.
Despite that, Victor somehow managed to maintain his emotion, considering that he had already gone through a far worse experience than this. The final straw came in the form of a blaring voice from that woman's open car window.
"Get a move on, you people! Some of us have places to be!"
Snap!
"AH FUCK IT!" Victor exclaimed, slamming his car into park, the jolt causing a startled yelp from the woman next to him. He then flung open the door with a blast of hot air slapping his face.
The oppressive heat did little to cool his temper. Victor immediately marched towards the Mercedes like a man possessed by a demon, his face contorted into an almost hannya-like glare. The woman was startled at the sight, and her honking ceased abruptly.
"Hey bitch!!" Victor yelled furiously, pointing his finger at her. Despite flinching from his rage, the woman somehow managed to regain her composure in the next moment and then frowned deeply toward the strange man who came screaming at her.
"Excuse me?" The woman in the Mercedes, her sunglasses now perched precariously on the bridge of her nose, arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Did you just call me a bitch?"
Victor, veins bulging in his neck, leaned closer, his face inches from hers. "Yeah, I did. Do you know why? You're acting like a spoiled brat, honking your horn like a banshee and yelling at people who are already stuck in this goddamn mess!"
"Well, excuse me," the woman sneered, "but I have a very important meeting and-"
"And the rest of us don't? Do you think you're the only one with a life, with deadlines, with places to be?" Victor cut her off, his voice trembling with barely contained anger. While adjusting her oversized sunglasses, the woman replied coolly, "Well, at least some of us have places to be."
"Unlike some people who seem to have all the time in the world." She continued, solemnly staring at him before turning her sight toward the traffic, with her voice dripping with condescension as she then said, "And maybe if everyone wasn't so slow on the uptake, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
'Was she serious?' Was the thought that he had in that instant as Victor stared at her, dumbfounded, before slightly turning to the side while throwing his hands up in exasperation.
"I'm not dealing a stupid moron but rather a crazy moron" He thought, taking a deep breath and exhaling, calming his nerves down a bit before turning toward her and said, "Slow on the uptake, you said? Woman, there's a freaking overturned truck blocking the entire highway! We're all moving at the speed of molasses!"
"Doesn't mean we have to sit here like mushrooms!" she retorted, her perfectly painted nails clicking impatiently on the steering wheel. "Time is money, you know."
"Oh, well...excuse me, Ms. Moneybags," Victor sneered. "Didn't realize the laws of physics took a vacation just for your important meeting."
"Laws of physics? This is about basic courtesy!" she shot back and presumed honking. "Honking might not move the truck, but at least it keeps things moving."
Honk! Honk! Honk!
"Keeps things moving?" Victor bellowed. "It's not a freaking conga line, you dumb hoe! We're all stuck, and all that incessant honking you're making isn't going to teleport us to our destinations magically!"
Honk! Honk! Honk!
"Just please stop with the damn honking," Victor said, raising his right hand before sighing. "Nothing will change if you keep doing that"
In his mind, he finally understood that getting angry against this hard-headed woman in this situation would get him nowhere.
'Honestly, I seriously wish there was no people here at the moment,' Victor thought, secretly wishing that he could grab this arrogant bitch's head and smash it against the steering wheel a couple times until he was satisfied but quickly shook his head lightly, deciding to hold back his temper as he wasn't in the mood to deal with that annoying law-abiding prick afterward.
"What rotten luck I am having right now." He muttered and quietly stared at the woman for a moment before opening his mouth and asking, "Answer me this. Where are you going to go exactly? Fly over the truck?"
"There's probably a way around this," She replied, rolling her eyes, "If people weren't so incompetent!"
"Incompetent?" Victor's eyes twitched a couple of times while his voice rose a notch. "Do you think this is some kind of video game where we can just warp to our destination? We're all stuck here, woman! Maybe a little patience wouldn't hurt!"
"Patience?" The woman scoffed, "Like I said, buddy, I have a meeting that will start in thirty minutes that I'm going to miss because of this!"
Victor's frustration soon boiled over once again. "Oh, boohoo! Is your meeting more important than everyone else's day being thrown off? Maybe you should've left earlier!"
The woman's face flushed crimson. "Like you're some saint? I bet you're browsing cat videos on your phone while the rest of us try to be productive!"
"Look here, woman," Victor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a vein throb in his temple. "I get it. We're all late, and we're all frustrated. But by honking repeatedly like a possessed banshee earlier, do you think it will magically make that truck disappear? And do you think…do you think the rest of us are enjoying this sauna on wheels?"
"Well…news flash," he said, leaning closer with his tone dropping to a low icy growl. "That damn honking isn't going to make that truck magically disappear! It's just going to make everyone even more miserable! You illiterate, hard-headed moneybags!"
The woman opened her mouth to retaliate, but Victor cut her off. "So please, maybe…just maybe if we just chill for a second, the situation can improve much more."
After staring at the two people arguing in front of her, a woman in her 30s with yoga pants and a messy bun sighed and leaned on her horn in a short, sharp burst.
HONNNKKKK!!!!
"Hey! Can you two keep it down? Some of us have kids in the car!" She exclaimed.
Marco threw the angry parent an apologetic glance with a bow, then turned back to the woman, followed by a beat of silence. During that short moment, Victor thought he might have gotten through to this hard-headed idiot.
But he was wrong. So wrong.
"Anyhow, don't lecture me about patience or tell me to chill, buddy. Do you even know who I am? I AM A VERY IMPORTANT PERSON who has a very important meeting worth millions that I'm going to miss, no thanks to this mess!"
Victor stared at her speechless for a moment. Then, a tired sigh escaped his lips. This wasn't going anywhere.
"You know what?" he said, his voice quieter now. "Fine. You win. Do whatever you want. But for your own sanity, maybe consider blasting some tunes instead. It might not move the traffic, but at least it won't drive you crazy."
With that, Victor turned on his heel and returned to his car. As he entered it, Victor practically slammed the door shut and let his body sink back into his seat with the hot air clinging to him like a second skin.
"That woman… what a total…selfish… arrogant…bitch," Victor muttered, massaging his temple while his head replayed the argument with the woman in the Mercedes. After his headache had finally receded, Victor glanced back at the Mercedes and saw the woman groaning with her hands across each other.
"Honestly, woman," he muttered, his voice laced with a weary anger. "Why do people like you exist in this world? I know I can't say much since I'm the same as well, but come on, at least have some self-awareness."
"Ah, forgot it," Victor grumbled, slightly shaking his head. "Rambling to myself like a child still won't improve this stupid traffic jam."
Leaning back in his car seat, Victor closed his eyes, letting the tension drain from his shoulders before opening his eyes and absentmindedly glancing at the picture of his mom tucked into the corner of the dashboard.
Her smile, bright and genuine, seemed to radiate sunshine.
HHOONNNNKKK!!!!
A horn blared behind him, jolting Victor back to reality, and he quickly glanced in the rearview mirror to see it was caused by that arrogant woman who appeared to be arguing with another driver.
"That damn woman…" Victor said under his breath, his voice turning sharp before he sighed and lightly shook his head. "What am I getting work up for? Nothing will change if I'm getting angry again."
"Let's just stay calm and forget about the world, " he muttered, turning the volume of his radio up. He then leaned back in his seat, his eyes closed, letting the tension drain from his shoulders. But his stomach had other plans.
*Growl~~*
"Ughhh….," Victor groaned, clutching his stomach that was rumbling like a freight train after his eyes burst, feeling startled. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard: 9:05 AM. Only thirty minutes had passed, but it felt like an eternity. "Just great, not only am I stuck here, but I'm bored and hangry."
At that moment, he took a deep breath, trying to control his starvation. "I should've at least grabbed something to eat before I left."
Victor immediately looked around his car and wondered if there was anything he could munch on. He then quickly leaned forward and rummaged through it, hoping for a miracle after his gaze soon landed on the glove compartment. And there it was – a couple of granola bars, his emergency snack.
"Huh, beggars can't be choosers," he sighed, grabbing one of the bars and unwrapping it. As he munched on the dry snack, he couldn't help but think about his ridiculous argument with that woman a moment ago, and he couldn't help but grumble, "What a waste of energy."
To Be Continued