Happily Never After

Chapter 5

I walk down the stairs the next morning, fixing the cuffs of my long sleeve red silk blouse so it sits right at either of my wrists. I smile over at Jordan who stands by the living room door putting his bright blue jacket on.

"Is Zoe up yet? She wasn't in her room when I checked." I stop on the last step and just look at him.

He zips up his jacket and clears his throat. "Erm, she left ages ago. Told me to tell you that you had to make your own way in today because she had a meeting to go to."

"What? She doesn't ha-" I rush off the step and run towards the front door, my high heel pumps making quick work of the wooden floor. I pull the front door open with such force that it slams against the wall, leaving a small dent where it hit. I scan the empty driveway for the black Mercedes only to see it empty. "Bitch!"

"I can give you a lift if you want," Jordan offers as I get back inside the house and firmly close the door over. "I don't mind, honestly."

"It's fine, I'll think of another way to get to work." I place my hands on my hips and start thinking of how I can get to work.

"Are you sure? I really don't mind. It would be the least I could do."

"Jordan, just go to work." I snap. "I'll get to work myself."

He nods and squeezes through the gap that was left between me and the front door, opening it enough so he can slip out into the fresh air of the morning. Waiting till the door closes over, I groan and run back up the stairs and along to my bedroom for my phone. I was going to be late for work and all because Zoe was still pissed off at me!

Rummaging through my work bag for my phone, I pull out Carter's business card and look down at the number. Maybe I could phone him and ask polietly if he could come and pick me up. After all, he did say I could call him if I wanted anything and this counts as anything. I sigh and start dialing his number into my phone.

The phone starts to ring when I put it up to my ear but it didn't go on for ages like I had hoped it would. During the very few rings, I was debating wither or not to hang up and just phone for a taxi but I wasn't given the choice after the second ring when he answered.

"Carter Romero." The strong male voice answers.

Be brave, Sarah! "Carter, it's Sarah."

"Good morning, Sarah." The tone suddenly changing to a soft and welcoming voice. "As to what do I owe the pleasure of to get a call from you at eight ten in the morning?"

"It's okay if you say 'no' to me because I don't expect you to do it because we barley know each other," I start rambling.

"Sarah, what is it?"

"If it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you could come and pick me up. My friend has left me to make my own way into work today. I would drive to work myself but I'm waiting on a date to go and pick my new car up and it'll be too late to phone for a taxi. If I don't get in to work before nine, there's a very high chance that I could get fired for being late."

I take a deep breath and wait for him to respond. A few moments of silence came to an end when he agreed to come and pick me up. Thank god! I smile to myself and tell him my address before he said that he'd be there to pick me up soon. I end the phone call and finish getting ready so I was all set to go when he arrives.

I take one last look out the living room window at half eight at the black Audi A6 Saloon that sat parked at the end of the path, waiting for me. I sigh and pick up my bag and house keys before walking out of the warm house and into the cold morning. When I open the front door and stepp out, the passenger door at the back of the car opens but I quickly turn back round and close the front door.

I take my time while locking the door and put the key in my bag, making sure I sit it in the zipped pouch and not just any old place in my bag. I straighten out my buttoned up coat before turning back round and slowly walking along the frosted garden path towards Carter as he stood by the opened car door.

"Taking the cold weather into account today?" He asks, taking in the view of my trouser covered legs. He holds a leather gloved hand out for me to take and I take it as I approach, careful not to slip on the iced-over puddle on the ground I step over.

"Clearly," I mutter. I grip his hand tightly as I get into the back of the car and slide over to the opposite side, taking note of the neighbours across the road who were looking at us with open mouths. I smile at them then realise that I was still holding onto Carter's hand as he slides in next to me. I let it go quickly and place my bag on the seat that separates us in the middle. "Sorry."

He smiles and nods, closing the car door back over and getting comfy. "It's fine. I didn't want to see you fall anyway."

I nod with raised eyebrows and look at his driver who sat silently in the drivers seat. "Does your driver know where to go?"

"Always does," he answers and looks at my unimpressed expression on my face. "Sorry, I'm doing it again."

"You seriously need to stop that cockiness you've got going on."

He says nothing and the car starts to move. I sigh and look out the car window at my neighbours faces as we drive by, his driver clearly not paying attention to the road conditions with his fast driving.

"Care to tell me why you really phoned me this morning?" Carter asks, breaking the uneasy silence between us.

"I told you this morning, my friend left without me. That's it, end of." I rub my cold hands together and just look at the passing buildings and people. "Doesn't your driver realise he could hit a patch of black ice and loose control?"

"He knows what he's doing. Anyway, Sarah, I can just ask Phillip to stop the car and I'll let you walk to work unless you tell me the truth." I snap my head round and look at him, his blue eyes boring into me as he stares over at me. "Tell me."

"We had a big argument last night over me not being there for her while she goes through a break up." I start. "But how am I suppose to know? I'm not a mind reader!"

"Is that it?"

"I mean, I know she was there for me when I-" I cut myself off before I had time to mention my divorce. Don't tell him about your divorce! Thoughts of my divorce come rushing through my head like a high speed train, never stopping. I swallow hard.

"When you what? Tell me," he urges.

I shake my head. "No, it's fine. Forget about it."

"Sarah, it's okay to tell me. I'm not going to blab about it to everyone." His voice went soft again, with a hint of care coming into it, just like his eyes when he tried to get me to finish off what I was going to say.

"No, it's fine. You don't need to know," I mutter, ending the conversation at that.