Beauties | Esme Cullen

Chapter Six

 The next morning was cloudy, and it looked as if it were going to rain. Sarah brought her stuff back to her car, where it had been parked since she first arrived. Carlisle had knocked on her door an hour ago to tell her that Esme wanted to leave for their trip that day. Sarah hadn't realized they would be leaving right away, but she didn't have much with her, so packing wasn't a problem. 

 "Do you two plan on coming back here?" she asked as they walked out of the building. 

 "We're going to hold onto the apartment just in case," Carlisle answered. "We'll have to come back for a few things, anyway. What about you?" 

 Sarah shrugged. "I already took all my stuff. I guess I'd better give them notice that I'm leaving. I already gave a month's rent, so it shouldn't be a problem." 

 "Well, that's not a problem," said Esme. "If we come back here for anything, you can always stay with us." 

 "Oh. Well, thanks. I'd like that. Uh, do the two of you have your own car?" 

 "Yeah, it's parked just over there," Carlisle answered, pointing. "If Esme and I drive in ours, can you follow?" 

 Sarah smiled. "Of course I can. She's getting old, but I take care of her." 

 Given that the city streets were busy, it was hard to keep up with Esme and Carlisle. But Sarah managed to stay on their trail until they were out of the city. They drove though more suburban areas for a while until they made it out onto a highway. Carlisle's car was newer than Sarah's, and she spent some time staring at it and wondering how nicely it ran. She also wondered how good Carlisle was with cars, because his looked like it was in very good shape. 

 Carlisle didn't drive too fast, either, which was something Sarah liked. Despite being able to run incredibly fast, she was never comfortable with driving very fast; she supposed she was just worried about something bad happening to her car. She could imagine Esme telling Carlisle not to drive too fast so she get a better look at the scenery as they drove along. She seemed like that kind of person. 

 Sarah found herself getting distracted by thoughts of Esme. She didn't want to get too attached to her new friends, but when it came to Esme, that wasn't working. She had the look of an elegant and sophisticated woman, but she was very kind and caring and the warmest smile Sarah had ever been given. More than that, Sarah simply felt drawn to her, like she just couldn't help it. 

 After driving for a few hours, they stopped at a gas station just off the highway for a break. 

 "Sometimes it still feels strange driving around," Carlisle said to Sarah. "A few hundred years ago, there were no cars. I'm used to getting everywhere on my feet, and years ago I traveled on boats and trains." 

 "There's airplanes, too," Sarah pointed out. "I've never been on one, and I don't know if I would want to be. I just drive everywhere, ever since I first got her." 

 "I take it you're from a time when everyone was using cars?" 

 "Yeah. I was turned in the 50s. I learned how to drive, but I didn't have a car of my own back then." 

 "You must take good care of this one," Esme put in, running her fingers gently across the side of Sarah's car. "You can tell it's old, but it's been taken care of." She peered through the passenger window. "Are you a fan of musicals? You have a lot of soundtracks." 

 Sarah nodded. "Yeah, I am." 

 "All right, I think we're ready to get back on road," Carlisle said, opening the driver's door. "Esme?" 

 "It shouldn't be too much longer," Esme said to Sarah before getting into the car. 

 It was nighttime when the finally reached the destination. It was a small house in a woodsy area. 

 "We've owned this place for some years now," Carlisle said when they got out of the cars. "I was hoping at least one of the others would be here, but there's no lights." He sighed. "Well, let's get everything inside." 

 Sarah followed them into the house, wondering who they were waiting for.