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Murphy’s Law had never stopped Martin before, and he certainly wasn’t going to let it stop him this time. He was finally on his way home from a work trip that took him out further than he was expecting, and at this point he had been driving all afternoon. It really shouldn’t have taken this long under normal circumstances, but as a Murphy, his car breaking down was normal circumstances. Only after repairing the car the first time, did Murphy’s Law start getting annoying.
Martin found himself more desperate than usual to get home already. He had plans with Brigette for a date night to celebrate their anniversary. Of course, that is if he made it on time. He should have known better than to try to plan something like this, but he wanted it to be special, and he wasn’t going to be stopped. It was only after he got a nail in his tire after repairing his car did he realize that this was going to take extra longer than usual.
He pulled out his phone to check the time, it was already a little past 6 pm. Maybe he could still make it if he quickly patched up the tire, and oh boy, was he familiar with how to patch a tire.
Martin quickly got to work, rolling his sleeves up and working away at the tire. It was almost like muscle memory at this point, he didn’t even have to think about it. All he could think about was Brigette, he couldn’t wait to walk in through the door and sweep her off her feet. She was truly special and one of a kind to even consider putting up with Murphy’s Law, nonetheless having to deal with it twice over.
Before he knew it, the tire was patched and he was ready to hit the road again. He took a quick glance at how much fuel he had left and he figured he had enough to get him to the closest gas station, hoping that luck would be on his side for once.
But of course, it wasn’t.
Although not to his surprise, but much to his disappointment, the main highway leading into Danville was closed, leaving him to have to find a way around. The problem was that no matter which way he took, he couldn’t seem to find a road that would lead him back home. What he neglected to remember was that he was almost out of gas, and before he knew it, the car refused to move any further.
He sighed heavily, staring at his gas meter. Of course this had to happen, why wouldn’t it? Looking slightly to the right, there was a photo of Brigette pinned to his dash, she was smiling brightly in that photo. If he could remember correctly, it was the day they brought Diogee home. That little dog could so easily light up a room, as could Brigette. He wanted nothing more than to see her smile.
Looking out the window, Martin could see the daylight starting to fade. He needed to figure something out and fast. He stepped out and popped open the trunk, hoping that his spare gallon of gas was waiting back there for him. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that they collectively decided it would be best not to carry it after the 7th time it caught the car on fire. Nothing could be simple, could it?
He went to go grab his phone from inside the vehicle, surely there was someone he could call to help him out. But once again, luck would never be on his side. It turned out that his phone was close to dead and it finally decided it was time to go. He stared at the black screen in disbelief, his ETA effectively just jumped to MIA. He had no clue where he was with no way of calling for help.
Martin took a deep breath, trying to ignore the mounting frustration he felt. All he wanted was to see his wife, that’s all he wanted and it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen. He stood on the side of the road for a bit, trying to remind himself that he had been through much worse before. He was going to get through it, like he always did. He hadn’t gotten this far by giving up.
After a while, he finally managed to gather his thoughts together. He went back into his car to grab things he might need and headed off into the night. He was going to get home one way or another, there was no stopping him. Even when it started downpouring out of nowhere, he wouldn’t let it sway him until he knew where he was at.
Martin trudged through the pouring rain for what seemed like an eternity. With every step, he felt himself growing more and more tired, desperate to see any sign of life. At this point, he had just wanted to collapse. He was finally about to before seeing a speck of light in the distance. He wasn’t sure whether to get his hopes up or not, with how Murphy’s Law had been going today, it could have been a car coming straight for him for all he knew.
As he continued walking, he realized that the light wasn’t coming for him, but rather he was going towards it. A ping of hope filled him for the first time in a while, causing him to pick up the pace, desperate to get home.
Before long, Martin found himself stumbling into a lone gas station. He wasn’t sure how far he had traveled at this point, and he didn’t really care at this point. All he knew is that he had a chance to get his bearings finally. He shivered a bit from the cold of the AC, it wouldn’t really surprise him if he ended up getting sick after all of this.
“You look like you’ve been through it.”
Martin jumped at the sudden voice. It had been a while since he heard another voice other than his own. Looking around, he found himself looking at the clerk behind the counter.
“You wouldn’t know the half of it,” Martin sighed. “You wouldn’t happen to have the time, would you?”
“Oh, of course.” It took the clerk a second, “It’s currently 2:46.”
Martin’s heart dropped. He was supposed to be home over 4 hours ago. Of course, Brigette would understand, but he didn’t want to do this to her. Not tonight, but of course it wasn’t going to work out that way. He couldn’t help but start crying a bit, all that he had gone through so far that night, and for it to mean nothing in the end. He couldn’t get to her. He stayed like that for a while, just sitting in a sense of despair. He didn’t want it to go this way, not in the slightest.
“Is there anything you need help with?”
Martin looked up at the clerk, pulled from his thoughts. He had completely forgotten that the clerk was there, and here he was just crying in the middle of this convenience store. How embarrassing.
He quickly wiped his tears away, “Yeah, sorry.” He tried clearing his voice a bit, “it's just that I was supposed to be home a while ago and my car ran out of gas a ways back. I’ve been walking for who knows how long now.”
The clerk chuckled a little, “It's alright, you’re not that late. Maybe just, extremely fashionably late.”
Martin couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “I suppose you’re right. Could you possibly call a cab if it’s no trouble?”
“Of course, I’ll be back.” The clerk walked off to the back, out of Martin’s sight.
Maybe he could still savage this. Martin looked around the store for a second, while waiting, and his eyes landed on a small display of flowers. Maybe he could bring Brigette back some daisies, she would like that. At this point, he didn’t care how long it would take, he would do anything for her.
After a little while, the clerk came back to tell him that a cab would be showing up in a few hours. It would take a little bit since it was early in the morning and they were a ways out from Danville. Of course this isn’t quite what Martin wanted to hear, but it would have to do for now. At least it would give him a moment to rest.
He went outside and sat against the wall under the metal roof of the gas station. It was still raining quite heavily and he could feel the occasional drop reaching him. Although it was storming, he felt at peace. He knew he was going home, all hope wasn’t lost. Martin shut his eyes for a moment to just take the sounds of the rain in.
He was soon being slightly shaken.
“Hey, your cab is here.”
Martin opened his eyes to the clerk in front of him with his hand on his shoulder. Looking around, he saw that the rain had turned into a slight drizzle and felt that he had dried off a bit. He must have fallen asleep.
He quickly picked himself up and headed inside to buy the daisies. He thanked the clerk for all the help and took off for the cab. He was finally going home.
He situated himself into the cab, just praying that Murphy’s Law wouldn’t try to interfere again. They were still an hour out from Danville, and he knew full well that anything could happen between here and there. If he rolled in by daybreak, he’d be in luck.
He rested his head against the window, holding onto his bundle of daisies. He missed Brigette’s smile and her gentle touch. He thought about her until he saw sunlight over the horizon. It was officially morning, and Danville would soon be bustling. As he recognized his surroundings more and more, he couldn’t help but feel worried about the possibilities of disasters to come.
Disasters that never came. It was probably one of the smoothest car rides Martin had ever been on. Maybe Murphy’s Law felt bad for putting him through it, and just let him finally get home. Whatever it was, Martin couldn’t have been more glad. He couldn’t help but feel slightly giddy as they turned onto the street that he called home. He practically ran out of the cab (not before paying, of course) and went straight to the kitchen.
He decided that even though they couldn’t have the dinner they had planned, he would still have something prepared. Of course, it had to be something decently simple, he wasn’t exactly allowed to cook without Brigette’s supervision, which was fair enough. He eventually decided on just coffee and toast, something simple and sweet to go with the daisies he bought.
Martin found a small vase to place the daisies into, which he found helped light up the room a bit. Certainly a lot brighter than the night he had just gone through. He quietly worked away in the kitchen trying his best to make sure no smoke alarms or the sort went off. He didn’t really want to wake Brigette up before he was done with everything.
The smell of coffee began to fill the air and Martin’s surroundings, bringing a smile to his face. Through it all, he was finally home. He carefully poured the coffee into a cup and placed the toast he had made onto a plate. He carried the items upstairs to their room, where he knew she was still sleeping, waiting for his return.
He loved Brigette very deeply, and no matter what, nothing was going to keep him from her.