Later on the in the afternoon, Julia had turned on the radio. Lara, who had remained in her dissociative state, finally awoke from the sound of music playing.
Julia had lost a lot of time in Columbia. She had hoped to reach Asheville by 3:00pm, enough time to find a room, get settled in, washed up, and grab some dinner. But as it was, it was looking like they wouldn't reach there until 6:00pm.
Lara blinked her eyes several times trying to focus.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"I think we're about a half-hour from Spartanburg."
"Hey, do you think you could stop at the next rest stop?"
"Yeah, OK."
"How are you feeling?" Julia asked.
"I'm OK."
Further down the road, Julia saw a sign for a rest area up ahead, and pulled into it. Both Lara and Julia stepped out of the car. Lara didn't bother to look around, but just walked directly to the restroom, fully nude. There were a few people walking about, but this rest area wasn't that busy.
She managed to enter the women's room without creating an audience. Stepping inside, she could feel small puddles everywhere on the floor. She switched to tip-toeing. It disgusted her to know that it might not just be water. Meanwhile, Julia proceeded directly into a stall to relieve herself.
Julia managed to finish first. She washed up and walked back to the car.
When Lara finished, she walked to the sink to wash her hands, and took the time to wash her feet as well. She realized that with the soap dispenser, the hot running water, the paper towels, this was an opportunity to wash her entire body. There was even a heated blow dryer that she could crouch down to dry her hair if she wanted to, and even warm herself up during cold nights. But she didn't do so, she wanted to get back to the car so that Julia could make up time.
Lara exited the women's room and started towards Julia's car, but stopped when she spotted a police car at the one end of the rest area.
She wasn't sure to continue towards Julia's car, so she took a few steps back to hide herself just inside the doorway of the women's room. She peeked out towards the police car, but couldn't see anyone inside, nor any sign of a policeman.
An older woman walked towards the women's room. Lara saw her, but ignored her, opting to keep her focus on the police car. The older saw the nude young woman.
"Miss, are you missing your clothes?"
Lara smiled said discreetly, "No, I'm a nudist."
The woman looked astonished, and then continued into the women's room. Lara tried to walk out far enough to get in view of Julia's car, hoping she could wave her hand and motion Julia to walk over, but doing so would put her in view of the entire rest area, and perhaps the policeman. She reasoned the policeman was probably in the men's room, and so elected to just remain inside the doorway of the women's room until she saw the policeman leave.
A few minutes later, the same woman who had spoke to her before stopped to question her again. "Miss, are you alright, is there anything I can help you with?"
Lara smiled politely and said, "I'm OK, I just need to wait for someone."
"I can bring some clothes for you. I have some shirts and pants in the car I can bring you."
No, I don't wear clothes, really." Lara answered.
"Well honey, how could you not wear clothes at a rest stop?"
"I just don't wear clothes, that's all."
Lara tried to answer.
"This must be some kind of a joke." She replied. "Well, good luck to you!"
The woman was about to walk away, when Lara spoke out again. "Oh ma'am, could you do me a favor?"
"Yes?" She asked.
"You see that police car there? Can you look around and tell me if you see the policeman anywhere?"
"Oh why honey that's not a police car, that's my car!" The woman laughed. "I'm just a security guard. I'm getting of work!"
Lara looked upset and began walking towards Julia's car, quickly.
"You mean that's why you're hiding here?"
The woman yelled out, laughing.
