A SOB Story, With A Happy Ending

Caution: This story contains Implied Adult Content. If it were a movie, I'd give it a Strong PG. The Rideshare Company is redacted, some details are intentionally vague, and names are changed to protect the innocent, and not so innocent.

I hang out in Scottsdale quite a bit. It's nearby from where I live, and frankly, that's where the money is. Anyway, I get a ping to a fashionable area of stores, in a ritzy area near Camelback Mountain. The phone rings, it's the PAX, and a cheerful female voice asks if I'm in front of so and so store or behind it in front of that other store? I look around and I tell her where I am, and offer to come to her, she says she'll come to me. I tell her about the Prius and we hang up.

She comes around the corner of the store carrying several "Boutique Type" shopping bags, and gets in. She’s fairly attractive, and maybe late 40’s. To this day, I don’t recall what the conversation was about, but I do recall getting the distinct impression that “Michelle” is what I call a typical “Scottsdale Valley Girl”. Oh, you thought Valley Girls were extinct? They’re not. OK, maybe they should be called “Valley Of The Sun Girls”. Same species, different location. Anyway, a pleasant ride, pleasant conversation, then…..

Her phone rings, it’s her “Boyfriend”. There’s an argument, I only hear 1/2 , but there’s back and forth, yelling, screaming, cussing, and then a hang up….. Now she’s crying. JEEZE, I’ll tell you a secret about me, I can't stand it when women cry, It’s my Kryptonite. I pass out the tissues from my glove box, and she tells me the whole Sob Story. I’ll spare you all the details, but it seems there’s plenty of blame to go around, however I keep my mouth shut.

Besides, I know enough about women, that in this state, they just want someone to listen, so I do just that….. Until she starts to put herself down. It’s a pet peeve of mine, I don’t like self-criticism, because I think there’s probably plenty of others to criticize you, without doing it yourself, so now I speak up.

SOB: It’s all my fault, I’m such a screw up

TH: Don’t say that, you’re not a screw up.

SOB: Yes I am, I can’t do anything right.

TH: Look, we were having a very pleasant conversation, until that asshole….. Ummm, I mean whoever that was on the phone spoiled everything.

SOB: You’re just saying that. I’m a bad girl (she stopped crying).

TH: You are not a Bad Girl. And even if that were true….. I kind of like Bad Girls.

OK, yeah, I was being a little flirty, but I thought a little confidence boost might be in order. Also, was that a crack of a smile in the corner of her mouth I saw? Maybe. Anyway, she tells me they were supposed to go to the lake, and now they’re not, and he’s a jerk, and blah blah blah. Then she decides to go to his place to confront him. Bad idea IMO, but she’s the PAX, so she directs me to….. One of the most expensive areas in Scottsdale. Or is Camelback Mountain in Phoenix? Whatever.

Have you ever seen the properties on the back side of Camelback Mountain? They don’t go very far up from the base, but to call these places ‘Houses” is an understatement. They’re all mansions, carved into the base of the mountain. Estimated selling prices no doubt in the millions. She gives me the pass code to the private gate, and I drive into the courtyard. I get an idea, and ask her if I should wait. She says “Good Idea”. I tell her that if she's in trouble, scream, and I'll call 911. Also, leave the house front door unlocked. Now she definitely smiles. She goes in.

She comes back out awhile later, and gives me the “I’ll be out in 1 minute signal”. Then, she comes out dragging a roll around luggage, 2 shopping bags, and she’s kicking a shirt along the path (Oh Jeez). She throws all her stuff in the car and says, take me home. Along the way, she calls someone who I think is her Female BFF, and proceeds to rip this now ex-boyfriend a new asshole. I’m a Former US Marine, and I haven’t heard some of those words in a long time. Anyway, her friend agrees to coming over to Michelle’s house apparently.

While we’re driving, Michelle points out her parent’s house as we go by. It’s another mansion in a different rich part of Scottsdale. OK, this woman isn’t dressed fancy, but apparently lives in a world surrounded by money. It’s proven again when we get to her house. Only slightly smaller than her parents, but still a mini-mansion.

She’s calmer now and asks me for help with her packages. She’s dealing with the roll around luggage, and hey, I’m a Courteous Driver (Hoping for a big tip), so I oblige. We get to the door….. and she can’t find her keys….. PANIC, she searches all her bags several times, no luck. She’s starting to freak out a little bit, so I dash back to the car open the rear passenger door, and….. there they are, on the car floor. She’s overjoyed, and as I hand her the keys, she gives me a hug….. a full body hug….. a long full body hug….. and a kiss on the cheek when she parts. :-O

Ummmmm, OK, anyway, she opens the door, and directs me to follow, carrying all the shopping bags. The inside of her house is as beautiful as the outside. Vaulted ceilings, Kitchen granite countertops everywhere, Family Room lush fabrics, Wood and Leather in abundance. I can see a pool in the back yard through the French Doors, but I can’t see a back fence. In other words, the place REEKS of money. She directs me to put the bags on the Kitchen Island, and I notice the appliances are all Professional Grade and/or Stainless Steel.

I place all the bags on the counter, and then I feel Michelle come up behind me. She slips her arms around my waist and up my chest, gives me an intimate back hug, and whispers in my ear….

“My friend will be here in a short while….. we don’t have much time”……