Roadside (2)

[GT Jones]

It was the sound of a car like the rush of a faucet that brought her back to the road. Headlights arched off the eastbound exit. She plucked the coils in her hair, quickly flattening from the humidity of the fields. Three steps to the edge of the road. She pulled her petticoat straight and brushed along the skirt seams. She pressed the corners of her eyelashes. Perfect. The back line of her stockings bisected each leg from thigh to knee to calf, until disappearing inside her gold peeptoe heels. She angled her chest 45 degrees to the road. Shoulders rolled backward. Back arched. Jaw pressed forward. She took a breath then stoked her perfected smile, a bright white line of teeth inside plump ruby lips, parted slightly, her apple cheeks shifting closer to her eyes. She raised her thumb.