“Dominic,” I say, “Can I ask you something without you just saying no off the bat?”
He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t look at me. “What do you want?”
I fiddle with my fork. “I want a car to drive myself to work.”
He sighs, and I quickly say, “Please, don’t just shoot it down.”
“From a security point of view, it isn’t viable right now,” he looks at me, “But I promise as soon as it is, I’ll let you buy whatever car you want.”
“What if I learned to drive defensively?” I say quickly. “So I can get myself out of situations.”
“Come on, Princess, just use my guards and drivers for now, and I promise, I’ll get you a car as soon as Jose is overthrown. It’ll be a celebratory gift.” He gives me a small smile, and I nod.
“Fine,” I say quietly, going back to my food.
After I’ve eaten, I load the dishwasher with all the dishes and put it on, before going to curl up in the living room to watch a movie. Dominic walks in shortly after I sit down. “Get dressed in something comfy and sneakers.”
“Where are we going?” I ask curiously.
“It’s a surprise, nowhere fancy. Just get dressed in a tracksuit and sneakers.”
I get up and do as I’m told, coming back down quickly.
Dominic leads me to the car, and I get in. We drive for what feels like forever until we come to a national park. Dominic pulls over and climbs out of the car.
“Am I getting murdered?” I ask as he opens my door.
“Jump into the driver's seat,” he says. I climb over the middle console and into the driver's seat. He’s taller than me, so my legs just miss the pedals.
“Adjust the seat and buckle up,” he says, putting on his own seatbelt.
“What are we doing?” I ask, but I’m already kind of excited.
“We’re going to drive fast,” he says. “So we can get that out of your system.”
I grin at him. “Okay!” I put the car into drive and slowly push the gas pedal, so we crawl forward.
“Give it gas. We’re in the middle of the park. No one’s going to arrest you,” he chuckles.
I nod and give the car some more gas, speeding up. Soon the scenery is flying past me, and Dominic is telling me how and when to brake to take corners so we don’t roll the car. My blood is pumping, and my heart is beating so hard I think I can hear it outside my chest. I’m sure Dominic can.
Only when the tank gets to a quarter does Dominic say, “Okay, we need to turn around and go back now. Do you want to drive home?”
“Yes,” I say a little too excitedly.
“Go on then,” he says, resting back. “But keep to the speed limit now. You haven’t got your license and don’t want to get caught.”
I drive us back through the park. “You know, I think I am a pretty good driver,” I say, picking up speed again. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about… Squirrel!” I shriek and slam on the brakes, and we both get caught by our safety belts as the gray fluffball runs across the road.
I wait, knowing Dominic will completely lose his shit with me for being spooked by a damn squirrel.
A moment passes, and Dominic starts to laugh. I’ve heard his chuckle before, but his laugh is something surreal. It’s a hearty, full-belly laugh, and he slaps his knee. “Oh, Lord. You should have seen your face, Princess. This happened to Arianna once. She totally had the same look.”
I blush crimson. “Maybe you should drive home.”
He sighs. “Ah, maybe. Just for the future, if there’s wildlife on the road, just drive straight. Don’t swerve because they’ll move out the way, and you’ll probably hit them anyway.”
I nod and climb back into the passenger seat as he walks around the corner. “Shoo, that was seriously funny. I’m going to have to tell Arianna it’s a woman thing, to be afraid to drive over squirrels.”