I
The woman inside the white Beetle was staring, open mouthed; her friend sitting in the passenger seat, would not stop sipping her frapuccino while staring amazed . The man in suit driving the red Prius was also taking a good look imagining what it would be like to take that piece of meat home with him. A little girl couldn’t comprehend what was going on but her mom, the pseudo-vegan blond eating some gelato by the sidewalk, did have a very good idea of what was she seeing.
Seeing naked people running was not that uncommon in Santa Monica due to the amount of homeless people on the streets. But a well built, tone defined, and nicely equipped Asian man running naked on Santa Monica Boulevard was out of the ordinary.
He had been running on Wilshire Blvd. non stop. No one could say where he started running but his pace was amazing, and the determination on his face wouldn’t stir a bit. He was crossing the 15th street when he was struck by the young doctor driving her Honda while at the same time checking her pager before turning it off to finish her day.
Lights off.
“Hey! Can you hear me?” yelled the brunette doctor to the now covered with a blanket chinese man in her couch. He opened his eyes, not sure what was going on. “Hey! Good to see you can hear me!”
“Really, no need to yell, I can hear you fine” said the man, pushing her to a side. “Where am I?” he said trying to sit up, but obviously still having some trouble to focus on what was going on.
“You are at my home”, said the brunette, “You passed out when I hit you with my car, and… well… not having insurance, I took you home after checking you were fine (and making sure no one saw me)” Whispering the last part mostly to herself.
“You’re kidding me, right? Why would you take me in to your house?” Said the man holding his head, while trying to stand up.
“I don’t know! I was in shock, I wasn’t thinking, and in the movies, people who hit other people always take the knock down people back home. I didn’t know what else to do” the brunette tried to explain while trying not to notice that the chinese man had drop his blanket when he stood up.
“Look, I have to go before it is too late. Where is the Santa Monica Pier?” He said looking outside the mesh screen in the door. “I have to get to the Ferris wheel before it’s turned off” Taking note of the fading sunlight at sunset.
“It’s about a mile north, we are by the beach” the brunette was taking a peek of the chinese man well formed ass. He opened the door yelling “Fuck! I must make it!”
“Wait! Don’t you need some pants? A shirt?” trying to side walk, but he was gone. “A cup of coffee?” she was alone.
Trying not to attract attention he was running in the sand, close to the water. Night had set in when the man made it to the Pier. It was a cold foggy night and the place was deserted. He was climbing the wooden ladder when the beam of light hit the top of Ferris wheel. A bright bluish beam of light piercing through the fog. “NO! NO! FUCK!!!” he screamed, the wooden boards creaking under his feet as he ran.
Inside the beam was a naked woman. Her skin looked bronzed and her hair was black and curly. So curly and dense it was successfully fighting the gravity that to keep it flat. The woman in the beam was looking down at the naked man, who just had made it to the gate of the Ferris wheel. She knew it was too late for him; she was happy. She flipped him off and yelled “UP YOURS, LEE!”.
“It’s not over, you fucking cunt!” replied back Lee, shaking his fist up in furious anger. The beam receding up at the same speed the woman was ascending.
“Seems like you lost your ride” said the brunette doctor walking towards the chinese man.
“What are you doing here? Haven’t you screwed up enough already?” Said the man, worrisome showing in his face. It seemed like cold finally got under his skin.
“Look, I’m not sure who, or what you are. You said you needed to come to the pier; I was going to give you a lift but you were already gone” she said. “I got here, a couple of minutes before you did and was looking for you when I saw you running towards the Ferris wheel, and then, the beam! What was that about?” Her puzzled face was showing more and more confusion and excitement at the same time. “And why are you naked anyways? Aren’t you cold?”
The man wasn’t listening at all. He was studying the foggy sky, hoping to see something. Anything. The fog would just stay there. Slowly creeping it way above the sea, dark, cold, as always.
“What the hell?” He said at the pinching he felt under his rib cage. She was looking at him. “You are not listening to me. We should go before anyone…” she was cut off mid sentence by the sound of a car approaching to them.
“Wait, no…” she murmured, “this is too clichéd”. “Are you ok, ma’am?” A couple of policeman were stepping down the police car that just stopped in front of her. “Ma’am? Are you ok?” asked the police man again, shining his flashlight in her face. “I’m sorry, I’m ok, I was walking on the beach when I saw the light. And came to take a look”.
“The pier is close, once it gets dark, so I’d suggest you to leave. Now” the officer ordered shining his light to the stairs.
She looked around, but the man was nowhere to be seen. She started walking to her car, which was parked by the beach a block away.
The ride back was short, not really giving her time to comprehend what she just saw at the pier. Everything was probably a bad dream after working that 28 hours shift at the hospital. She decided that she was going to get home, go to bed and sleep. By the morning everything would be gone.
She got home and there he was, sitting in the steps of her porch.
Still, naked.
*****To be continued.
An Intern Story 