Fast Track

Chapter Nine

Addie's POV:

I'd halfway expected Jeb to follow me out of the house, to chase me, to try and keep me from leaving but he didn't. And it made me madder than I think I would have been if he had tried. Mostly because even though my gut and my brain told me that he was using me to further his career since that was just par for the course when it came to my life, my heart wanted to believe that he was telling the truth. Especially when he'd said those three little words that mad made me want to just ignore the truth. Stupid fucking organ...

But no matter how much my heart wanted to believe that he was telling the truth, I couldn't let myself go down that path. I couldn't set myself up to be hurt all over again. Christopher had nearly broken me. Then Daddy passed away. I'd say that I've had enough heartache to last me the rest of my life. So with each step I took away from the house, I reminded myself that I was a successful woman, that I didn't need a man to validate who I was. I didn't need a man to make me feel whole. I was more than capable of doing that in my own. It would have been nice if my little pep talk had actually worked.

"My name is Manuel. I'm here to pick up Adeline Gibbs." Said the Uber driver as I neared his car.

"That's me." I replied.

Seeing my bags, the young Hispanic man being the wheel popped the hatch of his SUV and hopped out. "Let me take those for you." He said, a slight accent to his speech.

"Thank you." I said, passing them off to him.

I stood outside the SUV as Manuel tossed the bags into the back, the whole while hating that there was this miniscule part of me that held out hope that Jeb was going to come running, that he was going to make some sort of grand gesture, and beg me to stay, convincing me that he really was different from all the other men in my life. But when the hatch slammed and there was still no Jeb, I knew that this was it; that he really was just like every other man that had passed though my life. With a sigh, I walked around to the back passenger side and climbed into the back seat. As I sank down into the cushiony seat, I couldn't help but wonder if I was over reacting. I knew I had a tendency to do that from time to time but I didn't feel like this was the case. Jeb had played me like a fiddle and it stung like a motherfucker. So no, this wasn't me over reacting. Or at least that's what I told myself as Manuel eased the car way from the gate.

*****

Nearly three hours later, Manuel pulled up to the front of my apartment building. I was relieved to see that the press was no longer sat up in front of the building like that had been before I left town. Small miracles! The whole ride from Halifax to here, I'd went back and forth about the way I'd left, wondering if I'd done the right thing or not. For the first hour of the ride, I'd held my phone, almost willing the screen to flash with Jeb's number. But instead, all I got was work emails, a cat video from my brother Case, and text from my best friend, Kaitlyn, asking if I was going to ignore her calls forever -none of which I wanted. By the second hour, I was pissed, made at Jeb for not stopping me but also mad at myself for wanting to have do so. And the third hour? Well, I spent that watching every TikTok Jeb had ever posted, the whole time wishing I could make myself stop but needing to see his face.

As the car came to a stop, I unblocked. "Thanks Manuel." I said trying and failing to add some cheer to my voice as I climbed out of the SUV. He met me at the back so that he could grab my bags.

"No, thank you." He smiled. "This is my first trip to Cornelius. Won't be my last."

"Glad to hear it." I smiled as I took my bags. "Have a safe trip back." I added with a wave as I walked towards mt building. Manual waved back before climbing into his SUV.