Page 37 of Jake Forever
There was the hotel internship that I'd turned down my senior year of college, because I'd wanted to tend bar at the beach. There was that extra loan I'd taken out after college graduation, to pay for furniture that had gotten destroyed by unseen vandals only a few months later. There was Rango, my last boyfriend, who'd crushed my car for fun and refused to pay for it – well, until Jake forced him to, that is.
And what had I done with the money? I'd played catch-up with my student loans, too embarrassed to tell Jake how insanely delinquent I'd been on all my bills.
I heard myself sigh. Jake. Lately, he'd been riding in to solve all of my problems. A crazy ex-boyfriend? Solved by Jake. No place to live? Solved by Jake. No car to drive? Solved by Jake.
What, exactly, was I bringing to this relationship, anyway? I blinked long and hard. Nothing – that's what, or at least nothing that Jake couldn’t get from a million others girls who'd kill to take my place.
Walking block after block, I became so lost in my thoughts that I barely noticed when the first raindrops started to fall. But then, coming to my senses, I stopped walking and looked around. At least it wasn't a downpour, not yet anyway.
For now, the raindrops were few and far-between. But they were big, the kind that plopped onto the sidewalk and left a distinct circle showing where they'd fallen.
That was definitely a bad sign. I looked up. Any minute now, the sky would surely open up and drench anyone stupid enough to be caught outside – me, apparently.
Damn it.
I looked around. I was on a narrow side street between two rows of tall, brick buildings. It slowly dawned on me that I'd strayed farther from Jake's place than I'd planned. There was absolutely no one around, whether because I'd wandered so far from the business district, or more likely, because the rain was keeping smarter people inside.
How long had I been walking, anyway? A half-hour? An hour? Longer? At this point, I had no idea.
I turned around and picked up the pace, heading back the way I'd come. Or at least, that was my intention.
Surrounded by tall buildings, it was hard for me to tell for sure. It's not like I'd been walking along a single street or anything. Instead, I'd wandered along the side streets, looking to avoid the sights and sounds of rush-hour traffic.
Now, that felt like a giant mistake. Around me, there were still no signs of life. No people. No occupied office buildings. No stores with open signs.
It was actually kind of surreal, making me feel like the lone survivor of a zombie apocalypse. I made a scoffing sound. Yeah, well in that case, I'd be fine too, because the way it looked, I was seriously lacking in the brain department.
What zombie would want me?
I was walking faster now, conscious of the fact that I didn't even have my phone. Stupidly, I'd left it at Jake's penthouse, along with everything else in my purse.
My purse – that was another thing. As it turned out, Jake had snagged it last night from the convention center, and returned it to me with nothing missing. Well, nothing except my sanity, as it turned out.
Had I even thanked him? I meant to. But had I?
I was almost running now, and not only because the raindrops were falling in faster intervals. It was the desolation. It was creeping me out more than I wanted to admit.
It wasn't until I turned the next corner that I saw the first signs of life. Up ahead, maybe five or six blocks, cars were zipping along the city street – Jake's street, if I wasn't mistaken.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Civilization. Thank God.
I plowed forward, determined to make it back before I found myself in serious trouble.
Unfortunately, I didn't quite make it.
