Chapter 5 #5
He moves too fast for me; I jog to keep up with his long strides.
When we come to the mesh fence, he stops.
He sniffs the air for a second. I observe him closely, it is such a strange thing to do, but if it’s a tick, I don't want to embarrass him. I open my mouth to tell him where the entry is, when he spins around and strides toward the broken bit of fence. He pauses and runs his fingers over a piece of wire that sticks out. The same wire that slashed me open. I’m filled with the desire to find a pair of wire clippers and kill the thing for causing me all this trouble.
It doesn't make sense, but I have nowhere else to vent my rage.
“I take it this is where you received that cut?” Theo questions, pulling me from my violent wire-ripping daydreams. I nod but stop.
How did he know that? I can barely see any blood on it.
Shaking my thoughts out of my head, he pulls the mesh aside and I step through the opening.
He pauses, grabbing that bit of wire and snapping it off from the fence like it is a stick.
Huh, maybe my blood weakened the wire or something?
Not wanting to be left behind, I hurry to catch up again.
I head over to my car, which is still sitting in the garage inside.
I turn to retrieve my keys, knowing I’ll have to use the last twenty dollars in my account to put fuel in my beast. I'll just have to survive on water until payday.
What other choice do I have? I turn around with my hand out and wait.
Theo cocks his head to the side, examining my car.
“This is what you drive? It has more dents than a golf ball.” I roll my eyes at him and snatch my keys from his hand.
Unlocking my car, I stalk around to the passenger side.
Theo follows and watches as I frantically try to clean the passenger floorboard.
I toss clothes and empty bottles of liquor over the seat and into the back. When I finish, I stand back and motion for him to get in. I’m tempted to bow like he’s some prince, but my side hurts too much for that kind of childish behavior.
“What?” I snap when he just stands there staring. He’s probably never taken a ride in a vehicle like this. So what, it's his fault about this entire situation. He and Tobias both are determined to ruin my life and I can't do anything about it since they hold my job captive.
He shakes his head and climbs in. The seat is scooted all the way forward and his knees are nearly pressed to his chest. He pulls the lever to slide the chair back but grabs the wrong one and is thrown backward with enough force his head bounces off the headrest and traps him in a reclining position. I snort, laughing at his unamused face.
He looks funny enough crammed into my tiny car.
But this? This is comedy gold. I’m loving every minute of it.
He cocks his eyebrow, not finding the funny side.
I slam the door and head over to the driver’s side and hop in.
Theo adjusts the chair and finally manages to get the seat to slide back, giving him enough room to put his legs down.
Regardless, he looks squished in my Civic and every time I glance over, I chuckle to myself.
Putting the key in the ignition, I turn it over.
My car starts and the fuel light turns on.
Pulling out, I drive to the closest gas station.
Theo glances around my car, studying the loads of crap I have stored in it.
He opens the glovebox. Well, that’s rude.
I try to warn him, but it’s too late. Paperwork that I'd stuffed in there shoots out like confetti all over him, his lap, and the floor. I snort while laughing again and he slowly turns toward me. Theo holds up the glove compartment door in his hand that’s no longer attached to the car.
I stop laughing and rub my dash. “You have to be gentle with her. Stop going through everything." I want to add he’s being nosy but keep it to myself. He’s still my boss and I’m probably in enough trouble for openly laughing at him twice now.
“Gentle? There is nothing gentle about this car. What did you do to it? It’s falling apart at the seams. I'm surprised it even runs.” He clicks his tongue and shakes his head.
How dare he! My baby has got me through too much to be talked about like that. “Leave my car alone. Hey, I said stop going through my stuff!” I growl as he rummages through the back. Turning back to the front, he holds out a pair of my panties and an empty bottle of vodka. I see red.
“Looks like someone was having fun back there,” he chuckles, swinging them around on his finger.
I snatch my panties out of his hand. I seriously consider taking the empty bottle and bashing it over his head.
What right does he have to go through my things?
My panties! Thank God he didn’t grab a used pair.
I can only imagine what Mr. Sniffer would do with that.
How could I ever fantasize about this asshole?
I jerk the wheel and turn, making my car squeal from the mistreatment but at least I get to see Theo be crushed against the window, his eyes wide at the suddenness of it all.
Serves him right! I park by a pump and pop the cap as I scramble out and away from him.
I fill it up, trying to calm myself down and completely ignoring Theo.
He can rust inside the car as far as I care.
At this point I don't even care if he wants to fire me. He pushed me too far. The tank clicks, letting me know it’s full and I set everything back, prepared to go spend the last of my funds to feed the beast. Hopefully, this apartment of theirs won't be so far that I spend all my income on gas.
I can survive on water for one week, but more than that and I'll be the one in the hospital.
Just as I reach the station doors, out steps Theo.
“Come on, I paid already. Let’s see if that death trap will start again,” he says, ignoring me and stalking past me toward my car.
He opens the driver side door and slides in and my eye twitches.
Maybe I should be grateful he paid for the gas, but his smugness is just too much to deal with after the day I had.
“You don’t know where we are going, hand the keys over.
” I look down at my keys clutched in my hand.
“I’ll be gentle, I promise,” he says, emphasizing the word gentle and rubbing my car's dash. I throw my keys at his chest, which he easily catches, and I scramble into the passenger side. The drive to the apartment block isn’t long, only about ten minutes.
So the gas will be able to last a while at least. When we pull up to the front of the apartment blocks, I gasp.
The place looks like some fancy hotel. All white with beautiful hedges and gardens full of roses. It also has a roundabout driveway with a valet out front.
Theo pulls up next to the man. The bloke's lip curls when Theo tosses him the keys.
I feel more embarrassed knowing a stranger is going to see the state of my car.
Shit, the panties! I wrench around in my seat and grab the damned things, cramming them into my pocket. I can't find my bag for some reason.
Theo strolls over to my side of the car, my handbag slung over his shoulder like he owns it. He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the entrance. There’s no other choice but to follow him and see what else awaits me on this horrible day.