Dasher Days: Day 1 - The Legs

 Dasher Days: Day 1

The Legs

    Hey, my name is Brad and I'm a Door Dasher. I've been Dashing on and off for years, usually when I need a little extra money here or there when I'm a day or two shy of my next check. But now I'm in a different situation, financially. At this point in life I just need some supplemental income to support my family and, to a greater end, build up some seed money to start my own company. But that is a different story! 

    Now that I'm Dashing full-time I've discovered something. Almost like a switch was flipped after going full-time, I now seem to attract all sorts of clientele and characters along the way throughout my day that I never seemed to meet when I just did some Dashing for a little extra dough. There have also been an ample amount of ... significant ... situations that just, well, they never really happened back when I was Dashing for a few days dough. With all of this in action, and with my love of writing, I just figured why not share these Dashing adventures with the world. Obviously not every day on the Dash is an adventure. A lot of days just consist of driving to and fro while avoiding the drivers along the spectrum from hesitant to horrible. However, these stories are of the people and situations which collide with me and are especially special. This first one is, well, it's something I never saw coming. And, to be honest, it didn't collide with me, by I with it. Or with her I should say. But since Door Dash is the whole reason I was put in the place I was when the colliding happened then I would have to give Door Dash the credit for this and therefore make this the first story of my Dasher Days!

    My first day back to Dashing was a dreary one. It was one with rain and no rays of sun. But I've driven through a few hurricanes in a Chevy Cavalier, gone 75 down the I-40 on ice and snow all the way down to the beach in a 92 VW Cabriolet, and survived more turnover wrecks than a Hollywood stuntman (which should probably be my job truth be told), so I wasn't too worried about some rain in a location I can drive blind folded. Still though, with all of the rain I knew that it could, and would, affect the transport of the food from the building to my car and my car to the client. Not a big deal, but still, not totally ideal for my first day back and at full-time no less. 

    Weather aside, the day was fast paced and pleasant. I was making good money and making it fast. Faster than I remembered. At around the $86 mark I was feeling pretty good. My mark for each day, my goal, is at least $100. What I shoot for is $120-$150 but when it comes down to it, $100 is the absolute goal. That way, at 5 days a week that's $500 a week, at 4 weeks a month, that's $2k a month easy. Anything extra is used for gas, maintenance cost, and set aside for tax purposes for next year (any venture that makes $600 or more has to be reported to the IRS for taxes). For the next run I was going to get a little over $6. Nothing big or special, just a run to a Chick-Fil-A ("The Lord's Chicken") and then up the road a few miles. 

    Well I picked up the order, just a sandwich and some fries with a drink, then loaded it up in my trunk. I have a nice big trunk organizer that I use to secure all my orders. Its better than just placing them in a seat or the "hot bag" that Door Dash provides. On my way out to the client the sun began to fight through the clouds. The day began to resemble the look of some kind of fantasy. With the rain and the sun mixing into one another right before my eyes all I could see was a dream outside my windshield and windows. If you've ever seen those days, usually in the spring time or late winter down here in the south, when it down pours a waterfall straight from the heavens but with a flood of sun racing around and through the rain reflecting through each rain drop like a trillion little crystals flying through the air, then you know of this day dream I speak of. Through this storm, this beautiful storm, I came to the location of my client. It was an apartment complex. 

    I hate apartments on this job. I think any delivery worker of any type hates apartments. They are the bane of our existence. There is a special place in hell for those who design the layout of apartment complexes because I personally believe they lay them out, specifically, to frustrate and fuck with any and all who enter their labyrinth with confusing and almost nonsensical numbering systems. A labyrinth of lunacy, each and every one. However, this one I entered with ease as I could already spot where I was supposed to go from the entrance. Plus, there was something else that caught my eye. Something other than my end destination. 

    She caught my eye in an instant. Many women are beautiful, they are as plenty as a penny in this world. As much as there are arrogant men, really. But what caught me was not her beauty. Not yet, anyway. It was her poncho. It was this beautiful teal color, my favorite color. It might have even been a darker aqua. I'm not completely sure but I know it was a mixture of green and blue and I was absolutely mesmerized by it. Then there was her hair. It was bright red! Red Sonja red! Her hair was absolutely, obnoxiously, "look at me and how amazingly beautiful I am" red. Between those two colors, the teal and the red, all other color, shade, shape, and movement around completely faded around her and all I could do was watch. Then, as I drove by and time seemed to slow to a crawl, something terrifying and unexpected. She turned her head and she looked at me. Not only looked at me, but she made eye contact and smiled. Holy shit, she locked her eyes, with my eyes, and she smiled! A total stranger driving by in a random car, on a rainy day, in her apartment complex, who is caught staring at her with possibly my mouth open . . . honestly I can even remember at this point if my fly trap was open or not . . . and she smiled at me! 

    Now, I know that most men tend to misconstrue a woman's actions or intentions. Many men see an innocent act of common courtesy as an open invitation to try and slide into some pants, which is sadly why there are probably not too many women who make eye contact with men I've noticed, but I'm not one of those men (as cliche as that may sound). However, sometimes a beauty so intense can just come along and make any man, regardless of prestige or sophistication, lose his better sense and wish to shower such a woman in words of wonder. 

    The truth here is there were more than words on my mind with her. Sure there was the beautiful hair and vibrant poncho, all against the backdrop of a dreamlike rainy day, but there was one other thing. Those legs. My God, those legs. I mean, her beautiful strong long legs! It wasn't that they were defined exactly, no abductor muscle along the side or any calf muscle along the bottom back of the leg. But all the same they were strong and healthy looking legs. They began from the ground and grew like Greek pillars, disappearing into the beautiful teal cloud of her poncho, giving the illusion that only that poncho were between the world and what was sure to be a beautiful body. The thought of that was tantalizing but ridiculous, ludicrous, and completely far-fetched. A fantasy, I think would be the word for it. Still, it was amazing to think about within those few seconds that I did. 

    What replaced that thought was so cruel. I thought "damn, why didn't I say something". While in most cases a simple nod to one another is nothing to get this excited about, being that I have a great sense of people and heightened sense of social awareness, I could tell that this little extra bit of eye contact was something special (Joe vibes from You anyone). It was something I might have had an opportunity at and I let it pass me by. Now all I have to look forward to is rain and a $6 tip.

    Anyway, I went along and I did my job. I parked in a spot, got out the food, brought it to the door, took my pics, and collected my money. Its funny because the rain kind of hit the fast food bag a little bit and my thumb punctured the bag some due to it. Because of that I decided to break protocol a little and wait for the client to open the door, even though it was an order that requested the food be left at the door. Once the customer opened the door the poor guy jumped about twenty feet through the ceiling, leaving his eyeballs and shoes on the floor. "Hey, sorry big guy", I said to him while giggling a little, "I didn't mean to scare you there. I just wanted to let you know that due to the rain the bag got a bit wet and my thumb punched through a little but nothing was touched, ok." He didn't really say anything back, he was too busy breathing heavy and holding his chest, but he did nod and attempt at making some affirmative grunts. That was enough for me. The situation was enough to get my mind off that beautiful pair of legs supporting those vibrant colors of red and teal that I left behind. I was then what you might call "laughing happy" and was ready to be on my way, so away I went. 

    I went out the same way I came in. As I began backing up and going towards the roadway in the parking lot I had a split second thought. "What if I saw her again . . . what IF she walked down the same sidewalk just like before . . . like she was waiting for me". Driving up the roadway the notion quickly left my mind as soon as it entered. I knew things like this wouldn't happen in real life, not to ... holy shit, there she was! No absolute Door Dashing way did I think this was happening right now. She was actually walking on the same sidewalk, in the same poncho, and even in front of the same apartment building from before! It was ... it was just too much! My brain completely shut down. I didn't think, I couldn't think. Fortunately some of the best moments in your life happen when your brain turns off and your instinct kicks in, just like then! 

    There in the middle of the parking lot I stopped cold, not even with the common sense to find a proper space to park. Very casually I popped right out from my car, calmly swinging open the door and leaving open for no good reason whatsoever. I was so relaxed and excited, almost like what was to come was predestined and I saw the plans with some kind of cheat sheet. Coming out of the car I just bobbled left and right while walking, carrying a laid back nature like that of a man with a million dollars at his leisure. To be honest I was so calm just walking around my car, in the middle of a parking lot, in a strange complex, and up to a total stranger, it honestly felt like I could've almost broke out into a whistle. But even I don't dare cross certain lines of arrogance. 

    Walking up to her she had this quiet smirk upon her face, something of a silent confidence to compliment my animated and spontaneous nature. In an instant I could tell she wasn't worried about this stranger randomly stopping his life, literally, to come up to her. That she wan't afraid or intimidated. It elated me that she was even staring at me with a blinding ray of anticipation behind her eyes which she poorly tried to hide. If I didn't know any better I'd say that, if she could've gotten away with it, she would have grabbed me by the shirt and thrown me in the bushes expecting to rip my clothes off like a wild animal. With every stride closer my confidence grew ten-fold to the point I could have opened up to her any way I wished and she would become like putty in my hand. Though with legs and hair like hers I had become putty in hers long before. 

    "Ma'am, you are by far the most beautiful creature I've seen all day and I've been through Fuquay, Holly Springs, Apex, Angier, Willow Springs, and had some amazing dreams last night. I don't expect anything and I don't want you to feel you owe anything by my words, I just saw you once and felt ashamed I missed an opportunity to tell you that. Seeing you this second time I just took as a sign and so, I just had to tell you. Otherwise I would've have the worst month ever. God you are just, a masterpiece made upon the backdrop of a dream!"

    I tell you all this right now ... right fucking now ... I haven't had a good fucking time this much in ten years. And I mean that in every sense of the word. A good time fucking ... a good fucking time. The pleasure had this afternoon, from me to her and her to I, was life altering. She and I exchanged something so beautiful, rare, and profound of an experience that it has the potential to actually change one's perspective, desire, goals, even total outlook on life. Something spontaneous and what life is suppose to be about. What's better is how it ended. We know each others names, our first name, but we didn't seek one another out beyond that. I could probably find her through SMS (social media sites) if I really wanted to, and her to me depending on her skills, but we lived life to its most exciting and fullest with one another and left one another happy and fulfilled with no guilt, no sorrow, no regret, no negativity of any kind. It was a perfect and amazing experience and simply on my first day back Dashing. I can only wonder what the rest will bring. But I will always and forever remember . . . those legs!!!