Right On Red

Cecily knew a million things about Ted. She knew that he preferred to sleep on whichever side of the bed was closest to the door. She knew that he didn't mind the taste of orange juice immediately after brushing his teeth. And she knew that he went through the same five phases whenever he pulled up to a stoplight where cars were allowed to make right turns on red.

Phase 1 - The Realization

Ted would pull up to the stoplight and sit there for a few seconds, forgetting that he didn't need to wait for the green light. Sometimes a person behind them in traffic would honk and shove Ted through this phase with little ceremony. Otherwise, Cecily would patiently look at him and watch the realization dawn on Ted's face.

"Oh, right," he might mutter, moving onto the next phase.

Phase 2 - The Panic

Ted would suddenly not know where he was supposed to look. He would look right, then left, then back to the right again. Then he'd check the stoplight to make sure that it was still red, then look to see if he missed a sign somewhere telling him that he wasn't allowed to turn right on a red light. This part always took the longest amount of time. Cecily used to think the internal struggle was cute, but as the years passed by, Ted reminded her more and more of a stereotypically confused old man.

Phase 3 - The Maneuver

Ted would finally affix his head to watch for coming traffic to his left, gently pushing the gas pedal to inch up nearer to the edge of the intersection. Even if the road was perfectly clear, he would wait. Never hurts to be safe, Cecily imagined Ted thinking to himself. 

It hurts a little, she would absolutely think to herself.

Phase 4 - The Mistake

Ted would finally begin to make his right on red. This is the moment where one of two things usually happened. Either the street would suddenly be flooded with cars ready to crash into the driver's side should he continue, or Ted would almost hit a pedestrian crossing at the intersection from his right. When Cecily tried to warn him of either thing, he would get irate and tell her that he already saw the thing she was warning him of, as though his anger or the fact that an accident didn't happen would keep her quiet next time.

Years earlier, Cecily had found out that Ted was having an affair with one of his patients. The woman had threatened to reveal everything to Cecily if he didn't give her ten thousand dollars to keep quiet. Ted paid her off, but he made the mistake of carrying on the affair. The woman blew through the money quickly and tried to blackmail Ted again. He came clean to Cecily, told her he'd never do it again and that he'd been driven close to suicide by the stress. Cecily wasn't sure if that was true, that he would consider killing himself. But after Cecily confronted the woman at a crowded restaurant, in front of the woman's new married boyfriend, she knew Ted wouldn't make the mistake again.

That was something else Cecily knew about Ted.

Phase 5 - The Inevitable

Ted would full stop the car after a disturbance, mentally falling back to the internal panic of his second phase in order to get his bearings straight. Inevitably, this is when the light would turn green. Still, Ted would not seem to see it. That is when Cecily would step in to remind him that he could go now, that they could be on their way.