Parking Problems

    Fiddling with the shredded straw wrapper bits you checked your phone again. “Come on, old man. I don’t have all day…” you mumbled quietly. Well, I guess I do but that doesn’t mean I wanna spend it here.  Eyes lifting from the table you searched the crowds. Nope. Don’t see him. Then again this is the biggest mall in the States so you’d be amazed if you were able to pick out your father’s figure in the massive crowds teeming throughout the food court. He was late. I mean, he’s always late but he’s especially late today. Cleaning up the shredded paper bits you got up and headed towards the nearest exit to the parking garage. As soon as you pushed your way through the doors the winter chill had you pulling your jacket tighter around your body. Slight panic welling up as you easily spotted the sheets of ice on the roads below. Pulling out your phone you dialed the number for the eternally tardy man and to your relief he picked up after only two rings.

Jumping straight into defending himself he squawked straight into your ear.

“I’m on my way!”

“Knowing you that could mean just about anything. Are you nearby? Or have you just left like last time?”

“You know you are just like your mother. I didn’t lie then! I was on my way! On my way means I have left point A and am heading towards point B. Just because I could still see point A doesn’t mean I wasn’t on the way!”

“Dad!” It’s not polite to interrupt but if you didn’t cut this rant short you’d surely freeze and die right here. “Are you nearby?”

“Yes, brat. I’m pulling into the parking garage. Where are you?”

Looking to your left you saw the floor markers on the beams easily enough. “I’m on the fourth floor. E-something.”

“Okay I’ll meet you there.”

With a smile you hung up and headed towards the area he’d be coming from. It’d been a few weeks since you saw him. Moving out was exciting but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss your tight knit family. Your new housemates were quickly becoming a family of sorts so that was definitely helping but this was still a much anticipated reunion. Evidently in your excitement you forgot that you were in the frozen tundra hell of the United States and didn’t see the ice patch that made you lose your footing. “! Balls! What the !” Sputtering out the obscenities you scrambled to catch yourself and luckily you did so before you face planted on the dirty floor. Quickly, you straightened yourself and your eyes quickly darted around looking for witnesses. You tugged on your jacket before strutting onward like you didn’t just almost eat .  “Graceful as always, Y/N.” you coughed out under your breath. Just then you saw your dad’s vehicle come up the ramp and pull out onto your floor. Waving to his car you noticed quickly that the parking lot was packed. Luckily your dad always did have a knack for finding good spots. Which he showed once again when you saw him start to pull into a spot nearby only to see his brake lights flash brightly as the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Confused, you watched as he sat there for a few moments only to slowly reverse out of the spot and head in the opposite direction to the spots in the way back of the lot. Your phone quietly buzzed in your pocket and you saw the terrible picture of him you set as the contact photo light up the screen. Starting again in the direction he drove off you answered the call.

“Hey, what’s going on? You develop a love for long walks in subarctic temperatures during my absence?”

“There was some kid standing in the spot.”

“What? He was just standing there??”

“Yeah. I think he’s saving the spot or something. I found one out here.”

“Those spots are OUTSIDE. You should’ve just made him move! You’re like a million years old…”

“First of all, you’re grounded.”

“Can’t ground me anymore.”

“Second of all, I’m not that old. And lastly, what do you mean make him move? You want me to run down some kid in the parking lot? Just come this way. Walk an old man inside.”

“Yes, sir. Wouldn’t want you to bust a hip.”

Stuffing the phone back in your pocket you went to meet him. Eyeing the open spot a few feet away you slowed a little to check out just who felt it okay to break the golden rule of first come first serve.

He was leaning against the wall in a very ‘I look cool without trying’ way and he looked tall. First thing you noticed were the big glasses sliding off his face as he looked down at the phone in his hands. He raised his eyes to look in the direction your dad drove off in and he looked...nervous? Or guilty maybe? Who knows but you didn’t get to contemplate the emotion much longer because his eyes shifted and in a split second he was looking right at you. Oh no. He was really cute. Why did he have to be cute…? . Focus Y/N! He’s still an for taking the spot from an old man. You did your best to scowl at him without blushing as you walked by. Likely unsuccessfully.  

With that dealt with you continued on your way to meet your father. You could see him heading your way from the back end of the parking garage and waved. Picking up the pace you smiled as you watched him amble on over. Just as he was about 10 feet away you looked up in time to see the patch of ice before him but not in time to warn him and you watched as he stepped on the spot and slipped before he fell backwards. His feet slid from under him and he hit the ground hard. With a sharp gasp you sprinted to where he was still lying on the ground. “Dad are you okay?! Can you walk?” He merely grunted as he tried to pull himself back to his feet. “I’m not dying, Y/N, calm down. I already told you. I’m not as old as you think!” Contrary to his statement you could see him wince as he straightened himself and started walking. He was definitely limping. “Dad seriously I think you hurt your hip… I knew you shouldn’t be parking way out here. There’s ice everywhere, this is a HAZARD who owns this stupid mall?!” “Y/N, hush and walk me inside so we can catch up. It’s too damn cold out here.” You let him put his arm around your shoulders as you walked him towards the doors. When you were nearing the doors you heard your father wince for what seemed to be the millionth time.

“You’re being so stubborn. My car is right there. We’re going to the hospital!”

“No! I want to catch up! We haven’t talked or seen you in weeks. You’re living in a house with strangers and I want to know what’s going on.”

“They aren’t strangers! It’s a big house so we rent out the extra room! That’s not even important. We can catch up on the way to the hospital. Let’s go. Mom will kill me if I bring you back with a busted hip.”

On your way you saw a car pull into the spot near the door and you watched as a pretty girl stepped out of the vehicle to hug the damn gate keeper wannabe that blocked the spot. They separated and he closed her door for her before they headed towards the doors. “Are you serious?! He was saving the spot for his girlfriend! Like she couldn’t walk??” You were standing outside of your car now so after quickly unlocking the doors you helped him into the passenger seat. “Wait here for a second.” “Y/N, calm down. I’m fine!” Softly shutting the door you turned around and spotted the two lovebirds a few feet away. Now, normally you aren’t one for unnecessary trouble but if there’s one thing that gets to you it’s disrespect. Who does he think he is making an old man park so far away? And now he’s hurt! Just so he could save a spot for his girlfriend? You caught up to the couple and took a deep breath.

"Hey!”

The guy turned to you first with a look of confusion. “Hello?”

“So, you mind telling me where you get off claiming a parking spot for your girlfriend when my dad clearly got to it first?! The dudes like a million years old and he slipped coming in from his spot 56 miles from the door. He’s limping and we have to go to the hospital now."

The guy looks horrified. The woman started to say something but he quickly whispered something to his ladyfriend before she headed inside alone.

"That was your dad? I'm so sorry I felt like a jerk but--"

"You felt like a jerk but you apparently also felt like you and your girlfriend couldn't handle walking a little more to get to your cars?"

His ears were turning a slight shade of pink now.

"I really didn't know that the driver was elderly or I would've moved. Actually I'd normally never even-"

"I find that hard to believe. With those damn space goggles on your face lookin like Steve Urkel you should be able to see through time AND space so I'm not sure how you couldn't see through a windshield to see that he's old."

Okay maybe the dig at his glasses was unnecessary but the glasses were huge alright?

He looked really guilty so your fire was dying down already and at this point there wasn’t much for him to do so you decided to just be done with it and get your dad to the hospital.

"I had to save the spot for her! She’s preg-"

"Honestly I didn't come here to hear your excuses. I just want you to remember me the next time you wanna make other people suffer because you or your girlfriend want to be lazy. Maybe you can benefit from this and leave her with a little character development."

"She not my girlfr-"

And with that you turned to walk to your car.

-----------

Shuffling into your house you greeted your housemates. “Hey guys. I’m heading upstairs to nap~” Your female housemate Krystal poked her head out of the kitchen. “Okay but there’s a new renter coming today!”

“Yeah okay.”

The other housemate, Michael, shuffled past her into the room to speak to you as you drug your feet up the stairs. “He’s going to be in the room next to yours so he’s going to be using the shared bathroom.”

“Yes yes I know how this works… Leave me be so I can sleep. I had a long day.”

Finally reaching your door you opened your door only to see large suitcases stacked up in the center of your room. Turning back to the stair railing you hollered downstairs, “What’s with the luggage in my room?” Michael’s voice was first to respond. “I dunno the guy probably left them there by mistake. He seemed like he had somewhere to be but said he’d be back in a few hours so he should be showing up soon. When he gets here I’ll have him move them.” Nodding sleepily you turned back to your room and headed over to your bed. Flopping onto the mattress like a fallen log you rolled onto your back and closed your eyes. Your dad was fine. The doctor had given him some medicine for the pain and sent him on his way but before that happened you had been forced to sit in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity and it had been a draining day. Looking back you felt badly for the boy in the parking lot. You’ve always had a temper when it comes to people messing with your family and you were almost embarrassed by your outburst. Brushing it off for now, you closed your eyes and slowly felt yourself drift off into a light sleep.

Shortly you were awoken by the sound of the front door and voices coming from downstairs.

“Hey dude. Apparently you left your luggage in the wrong room. Yours is the one next to hers.”

“Oh damn. Alright, I’ll go get it. Today is not my day.” the new voice stated with a light chuckle.

“Ah what’s wrong? Not liking it here?” The voices were heading up the stairs, slowly getting closer and closer to your room.

“No, I like it here fine but today this girl just laid into me over a parking spot at the mall.”

Sitting up so fast you damn near snapped your neck, you felt instantaneous panic set in.

“Oh for real? Over a parking spot? Was it like a crabby old woman? Cuz they’ll bite your head off every time. You really gotta watch out for them here. The cold makes them extra tough and extra mean. Like bears.”

The two men laughed at that before the voice that you’re truly hoping you’ve never heard before speaks up again. “Nah, she was my age, I think. Well the guy in the car was her dad apparently so he was old but the girl was the one that got mad.”

You sat there, mortified, and Michael’s voice just rattled on like you weren’t sitting in your room just a few feet away contemplating climbing out the damn window to escape seeing that man again.

“Speaking of girls! The room next to yours is Y/N’s room. She’s pretty cool so I don’t see you guys having any problems.” The voices reached your door and their knock sounded off like the bells of death signalling your imminent demise. Scooting to the head of your bed you hoped that if you didn’t answer they would just go away. You could set his luggage in the hall once they left. You had just yelled at this poor boy over something that wasn’t entirely his fault. Oh my god I called him Steve Urkel… looking back now you probably looked like such an ...

“Hmm. Maybe she’s sleeping. It’s alright she sleeps all the time so it’s no big deal to wake her up.” Michael knocked again. “She probably sleeps too much, honestly. Once, Krystal walked into the bathroom and found her asleep on the toilet. Pants around her ankles and everything it was HILARIOUS. Oh yeah, y’all are sharing a bathroom so let’s hope she doesn’t do that again.”

Scrambling off of the bed you sprinted to the door before this awful man tells any more embarrassing stories. Ripping the door open you looked at the shorter man in horror, “CAN YOU NOT, MICHAEL?!”

“Oh look she’s up!” Michael pulled his left hand from his pocket to gesture towards the man next to him. You looked at the all too familiar face in resignation and he could only stare, wide eyed and completely slack jawed, as Michael introduced him.

“This is Jae. He’s getting some kind of vocal training or something here in the city. Gonna be staying here for a month.”