Page 64 of Traitor

I was just existing for the time being.

The sky grumbled and big fat raindrops began to pelt the windshield, obscuring the road and forcing me to turn on the wipers. The dry earth couldn’t handle the deluge and the dirt road became a mud pit within minutes. I sped up, somehow convincing myself that I could outrun the storm and make it back to the highway.

That thought ended as a giant rooster flew up from the road right in front of my car. I didn’t think. I just reacted and jerked the wheel to the right. The tires left the road and dropped down into a bar ditch, high-centering my car.

I lost all traction and muddy brown water began flowing into the passenger side of the vehicle.

“Oh, fuck. Shit. Help!” I yelled to the dashboard as the car lurched hard to the right before coming to a complete standstill.

I glanced around for a house or gas station, but I had officially stranded myself in the middle of nowhere. Freeing my cell phone from the pocket of my purse, I saw that I now had no service either.

Hadn’t there been a signal just a few minutes ago?

“Okay. Don’t panic,” I told myself as I panicked.

I couldn’t stay inside the car and hope that help showed up. I hadn’t passed a single vehicle for the last hour and a half. I’d be out here for days and by the time someone came upon my car, there’d be nothing but a waterlogged zombie where I now sat.

I shuddered at the thought and peered up at the sky. There didn’t appear to be a break in the storm coming anytime soon either and if I didn’t start walking, then I was going to be spending the night out here.

That was almost scarier than me turning into a zombie.

I threw open the driver’s side door, using my foot to hold it open, as I gathered up my purse and climbed out. The mud on the side of the car smeared across the back of my skirt and calves as my heels sank down into the muck.

I let out a cry of surprise at the cold before bending down to save my shoes from drowning. They were my best pair—I’d gotten them on clearance at Dillard’s and I was not about to give them up to the storm from Hades.

I pulled them off and tossed them back onto the floorboard of the car. Hopefully, they’d still be there when I made it back.

If I made it back.

I shivered again and began walking ahead of my car. The damn rooster was embedded in the grill of Isaac’sBMW 5Series. I didn’t even want to think about how badly that conversation was going to go—most children at least had the decency to wreck their parent’s cars when they were teenagers.

Lightning lit up the sky, quickly followed by a booming clap of thunder. About a mile in, I began ugly crying. The urge to call my mother was overwhelmingly strong. So much so, that it damn near took me to my knees. I was soaked to the bone and at one of the lowest points I’d ever been in my life.

Was it too much to ask for me to just have some semblance of normalcy?

My big toe caught a stray rock and I howled, “Shit!” before picking it up and hurling it at the sky.

“Red, where in the hell do you think you’re going?”

I turned around slowly at the sound of his voice, convinced I was going to find some spirit impersonating him. That was going to be how I died out here. Not from exposure, but from fright.

Mike had the driver’s side door open on his pickup truck and was standing up on the chrome cab step with concern etched on his face.

I shrugged. “I don’t even know anymore.”

The door slammed shut as Mike jumped down and came over to me, the rain soaking his hair and suit. I tried to ignore the way the material clung to his skin. He pulled me into his arms and asked, “What happened?”

I laughed wildly. “I quit my job after I found out you fucked my boss. So, now I’m unemployed and running away to see my dads.”

His body stiffened and he moved back. “I can explain,” he began.

I chuckled maniacally again. “Of course you can. You can always explain away the wake of damage you leave in your path, can’t you, Mike? I can’t do this with you anymore—just when I think I’m coming up for air, you’re shoving me back under!”

He ran his hands through his wet hair. “Don’t do this, Lauren. Don’t run away because it’s not perfect—”

“Not perfect?” I screamed. “Not perfect is you forgetting our anniversary. Not perfect is having to cancel dinner plans. It’s not you fucking a woman I despise because I didn’t show up to meet you. I thought that night meant something!”

Mike threw his hands up in the air. “It did mean something, goddammit! I fucked up—I know that. What she and I had was just sex, but you stayed with me for years. Shouldn’t that count for something? I never once cheated on you!”

---