Page 7 of More Than I Can Bear

“Is that your train?” he said.

“Thelasttrain!” I didn’t mean to snap at the guy, so when he flinched, I felt a momentary sting of shame. Then I remembered he was the one making me miss it. “Look, I’m sorry, but I need to call an Uber—”

“I can give you a lift.”

Incredulously, I lifted my eyes to his, doing what women always had to do. Use our gut instincts to assess for danger. Search for signs that he would actually help me, or whether this was just a ruse so he could get me in his car and hurt me. He didn’t look like a serial killer; but I guess no one ever did. If they walked around with neon signs over their heads, they wouldn’t be as effective, would they?

“I have literally no idea who you are,” I told him, pulling up the Uber app and resigning myself to waiting around outside the cafe for it to come by. “I can’t get in a car with a strange man.”

“So the Uber driver will be a woman, then?”

My jaw flexed, as I knew that was unlikely.

“No, but they have regulations and… stuff. I could leave a really bad review…” Shit, this was ridiculous. “I can call my dad.” I let out a long sigh as I opened my contacts, knowing he’d be cosy in bed by now.

“Ring him and let me talk to him,” Art Boy said. “I’m River, by the way,” he added, offering his hand. “Freya,” I replied, giving it a quick shake, before pulling my fingers back with a frown.

I’d felt a deep pulsing warmth when our hands had touched. It had awakened a similar sensation deep inside me as when I’d been with Adam, reminding me of my adventures Saturday night. But that didn’t make any sense; they were totally different. River was dark where Adam was all gold. They were both big and tall, but Adam seemed to shine light on everyone around him, whereas Art Boy… River… seemed to absorb it, like Anish Kapoor black pigment.

“I’m fine,” I assured him, but the tension in my voice wasn’t convincing either of us. “I don’t usually work the late shift and… I’m fine.”

I forced myself to use the smile I did with all customers when they were being difficult, but it didn’t seem like it was going to brush River off as it was supposed to.

“Ring your dad and I’ll give him my number, rego number, car model and make, address. He can have my tax file number too, if he wants it. I’m not here to hurt you, Freya. Can he track you on his phone?”

He could, if he managed to get his head around how Find My iPhone worked. I wasn’t about to share that bit of information, though, so I just nodded.

“Ring him. We’ll have a quick chat and then I’ll take you home.”

I shook my head slowly, almost in disbelief that I was doing as he suggested, then I tapped on FaceTime. No matter how I got home tonight, his suggestion wasn’t a bad strategy either way.

“Hello, love.” Dad’s eyes looked tired as he peered at me over his glasses. “Everything alright[JJ2] ?”

“There’s a guy here who wants to have a quick chat with you,” I told him, not wanting to keep him up. “He’s going to give me a lift home and… here.” I passed River the phone and he looked down at the screen.

“Give Freya a lift?” I could hear the tension in Dad’s voice.

“Sorry for bothering you with this at this hour,” River said, in a very even tone. “I stayed late at the cafe and it made Freya miss her train. I think it was the last one for the night.”

“What’s she doing working late?” Dad growled. “Those people know she has a long train ride home, and at night too. It’s not safe up in the north.”

“That’s where you live?” River asked, flicking his eyes to mine, with a frown. “Northern Adelaide?”

“Salisbury,” I said with a sigh.

The northern suburbs had a bad reputation. Plenty of people declared that they would never set foot in them, but there were some nice areas and some not so nice ones, just like everywhere else. I couldn’t afford to have champagne tastes on a beer budget, so that was that.

“Salisbury?” I watched the muscle in River’s jaw jump. “I can get her home safely, but she doesn’t know me from Adam, so I suggested giving you a call.” He pulled out his wallet. “I can send you a picture of my licence and rego, the car I drive and—”

“I can come and get my daughter,” Dad said huffily. “I’ll be there in about half an hour, love. Go inside—”

“I can’t, Dad.”

Amber was a great boss, that’s why I stuck it out at the cafe, but she was out of there the moment the lights were turned off, ready to get home to her partner.

“That boss of yours should’ve waited until you got safely on the train,” Dad grumped.

“What’s going on?” I heard Mum’s muffled voice say. “Is Freya alright?”

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