The Saga of Office Boy: The Accident (as Explained by Office Boy).

To give you the timeline context, The Awkward Conversation took place on a Thursday and The Accident took place the following Monday.
My flight had just landed. I was exhausted, since I had woken up at 4am. I called my mom to let her know that I was on the tram making my way over to the main terminal. My phone buzzed. It was Office Boy. (By now, this should not be a surprise. It's me, I call...often. I often go over my minutes by calling and talking to Miss Hayes for long periods of time. I blame this on her, for making me want to talk to her all the time.)
Where are you?
On the shuttle going from concourse D to the main terminal at Dulles.
How are you getting home?
My mom's picking me up.
I can pick you up. (I just wanted to spend time with her.)
Thanks for the offer, but my mom's already here. :)
A couple of hours later, after taking some time to just sit and eating lunch, I got in my car and headed over to Office Boy's place to hang out and watch "Jurassic Park." (Side note: Funny story. I went looking at cars over the weekend. I drive a "Fischer-Price My First Car." The entire thing is basically plastic. There's no engine. It runs on dreams... Anyway, my brother is getting a Subaru, so I decided to look at the WRX -- because it's awesome, 250+ horses with a 4-cylinder turbo engine, what's not to like? So as I'm asking around to see if they have one of the cars to test drive, there's this gentleman by the counter. So I asked him, "Do you have any models I can test drive?" He said, "No. Unfortunately this model is very popular and with the new 2013 model coming out in September, we won't have anything on the lot for you to drive." Fairly normal response, but it wasn't! Dude was British! The entire time I wasn't even listening to him. I was trying to muster the courage to ask him to say, "Welcome... to Jurassic Park." All John Hammond style. Sadly, my father would have been too embarrassed. I feel Sarah would appreciate that story.) <editor's note>You're such a goofball. :)</editor's note>
As I drove down the rode I told myself, Now, no cuddling, Sarah. It doesn't matter if you like it, he's not interested so it's a bad idea. (I'm not sure how well her plan went that day. <editor's note>Not very well...</editor's note> There have since been several days of snuggling. It's one of our favorite things to do. She's so little I just hold her and she nuzzles nicely into my chest. I don't even care if you throw up at these words. Just do it in the toilet, flush it down, and grab some Altoids when you're done. It's called manners.)
Up ahead, a bus had stopped in the right lane, with four cars stopped behind it. I came to a stop and proceeded to turn on my signal, glancing between my side and rear view mirrors for a hole in the traffic so I could move over and continue driving. I double checked both mirrors, (Did you really DOUBLE check both mirrors?) saw that I was clear and turned the wheel to pull into the left lane.
Then...CRUNCH. (Nope...) <editor's note>Oh, hush.</editor's note>
My heart stopped. The Ford Explorer in front of me slowed to a stop. (If I were writing this, I'd take some artistic liberties with re-telling this story. A Ford Explorer is not a small car. I would have said "The Geo Metro in front of me slowed to a stop.") For a second, I hoped that I was imagining it, but I wasn't. As soon as the Explorer moved out of the main road and into the turn lane up ahead, I pulled in behind them. I tried so hard to keep the tears from coming. I saw my hubcap roll and saw glass everywhere. This was not going to be pretty.
I got out of the car and walked over to the other driver.
"I am so, so sorry! Are you okay?" (This is why you have to love girls. I would have argued. I think as guys, we're programmed to not accept blame in an auto accident, or life.)
"Yes, I'm fine."
"I didn't see you. I'm sorry. I thought I was clear. I didn't..." I felt so awful. I couldn't believe this was happening. I pulled out my phone and took pictures of my car, her car, and her license plate. I got back into my car to get my insurance information and call my parents. I called my dad and told him what had happened.
"Is the car drivable?" (It was. The damage was mostly cosmetic.) <editor's note>Oh, you know, minus the cracked radiator... :P</editor's note>
"I don't know. The other driver is calling the police."
"Alright. Well, give me a call after the police come."
"Okay."
I hung up and sighed. I looked at my phone again and called Office Boy.
"Hey, so I'm gonna be a little bit late..."
"Why? What happened?" (Concerned, not annoyed. I want to clarify my tone.)
"I was just in an accident," I said, sniffling back tears.
"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just gonna take some time to work it out."
"Do you want me to come out there?"
"No, it's fine. You don't have to..."
"I'm coming out there. Where are you?" (I wanted to make sure she was okay. She may have been physically fine, but hugs help, too.)
I told him my location, said goodbye and hung up the phone. I got out and handed the other driver my insurance information and license. She did the same. After a short while, the police officer showed up as did Office Boy. After about 20 minutes, we had everything sorted out. Information had been exchanged. Office Boy and I got into our cars and turned into the parking lot of the church we were next to.
As I drove into the parking lot, the car was making a funny noise. I wasn't quite sure what it was, so I wanted my dad to come look at it. I picked up my phone and called him, letting him know we were in the parking lot of St. B's and that the car was making a weird noise. I hung up the phone and looked at Office Boy.
"Well...it looks like you're gonna meet my dad." (I like her dad.)
"Oh, well, umm..." He started nervously shifting. He took off his hat, ran his fingers through his hair and put it back on. (It wasn't so much nerves, but it's that I don't want the first association of me with someone's daughter as "danger.")
"It's fine. Seriously, don't worry. My dad's really chill."
A few minutes later, my dad showed up. He took a look at the car, started poking around, pulling out things and playing with it. After a bit, we all got into the cars and drove over to the mechanic shop where we got an estimate on how much it would cost to repair it. $2400. My heart dropped. That was more than my entire savings account.
"We'll have to talk about what you want to do. You can repair it or we can look for a new used car."
"Okay."
"But for now, go on, watch your movie. Come back afterwards and we'll talk about what to do." (Her dad is so nice. "Just enjoy your movie, my sweet, baby angel. Daddy loves you." I would have gotten an earful. And not just today...FOREVER. My dad still brings up this time when I was little and he bought me a toy, told me not to tell my mother, and the first thing I do when I get home is tell my mom. I was four...)
"Okay. Thanks, daddy."
He hugged me, got into my car and drove it home. I got into mine, Office Boy got into his and we drove back to his place.
"Are you okay?" he said after we got back to his apartment.
"Yeah. Just a little shaken up."
"Come here," he said, and pulled me close for a hug.
"Thanks for coming out," I said. "You didn't have to do that, you know." (Yes, I did.)
"I know. But I wanted to. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Thanks," I said and smiled.
"If you need a ride to work tomorrow, just let me know." (I would have done this for anyone, but there was an extra incentive in this case.)
"Okay. Thanks."
The afternoon passed by quietly. We watched "Jurassic Park" and afterward I went home to talk through the issues with the car with my dad.
"Well, we can get a rental car tomorrow night, but we need to find a way to get you to work tomorrow."
"Office Boy said he could give me a ride if I needed it." (@OfficeBoy #savesthedayagain) <editor's note> This was originally "At #saves_the_day_again." It took me a minute to realize he was trying to emulate twitter.</editor's note>
"If you could give him a call, that would help."
I called and left a voicemail. He called back a few minutes later and said that yes, he could give me a ride and would pick me up around 7:00ish. I thanked him, hung up the phone and then texted him my address.
Thanks again. I really do appreciate it.
You're very welcome, princess. (Let's all agree...this was quite smooth of me.)
I smiled. Well, this is an interesting turn of events.
----------Check back Friday to read the next post in The Saga of Office Boy!