12 Days to Find a Husband

Chapter 6 - A Friendly Ride

After dropping Gregory off at his home, Anna-lea left her car there and hooked up a ride with Tracey back into town. She'd had a phone call from the detailers telling her Gregory's car was ready to be picked up and, because he couldn't see at the moment, and it was Anna-lea's fault he was in this predicament, Anna-lea had agreed to drive the car home for him. It was after three already and she wanted to go home before meeting Cody. She'd be pushing it to get Gregory's car back to him, go home and then get back to Matilda's for her coffee date.

Although she had spoken with Tracey briefly to arrange a ride, Anna-lea hadn't filled her in on everything that had happened after her great aunt Hilda's funeral.

"Thanks for picking me up. I owe you one," Anna-lea said.

"Girl, you owe me a lot more than one," Tracey came back. "I left work early for you. I think you owe me dinner."

"Fair enough, but it can't be tonight."

"Why not? I could go a nice meal from my favourite Chinese restaurant," Tracey said, feigning hurt feelings.

Anna-lea smiled at her friend.

"I'm sorry Trace, I just can't tonight. I have a date this arvo, well, sort of a date and then I plan on getting an early night. I've had too much excitement today and I'm still nursing a sore head from yesterday."

"A date!" Tracey almost screeched.

"No, an almost, sort of date," Anna-lea defended, blocking her ears from the noise.

"What's an almost, sort of, date? Either it's a date or it's not. Which is it?" Tracey demanded. "And take your fingers out of your ears."

"Can you turn the volume down just a little, please? I just told you I was still nursing a sore head," Anna-lea admonished, taking her fingers out of her ears.

"You just told me you have a date. You haven't had a date in months. Who is it? Do I know him? Is it the lawyer?"

"Calm down. It's not a date, it's just coffee and no, you don't know him and no, it's not the lawyer!"

"Well who is it? And so close after the funeral; really?" Tracey joked.

Anna-lea couldn't believe what Tracey was suggesting; that she was being inappropriate to her great aunt Hilda, going on a date so soon. As she was so sensitive at the moment, Tracey's off the cuff comment allowed Anna-lea's emotional roller coaster to take another sudden dive.

"I can't believe you just said that. What a bitchy thing to say," Anna-lea said dejectedly and burst into tears.

Tracey hadn't meant to hurt Anna-lea; she had just been mucking around but she had obviously hit a nerve. She quickly pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped the engine.

Anna-lea went for the door handle but Tracey was quicker and used the master lock on the driver's side to lock Anna-lea's door without hesitation.

"Please unlock the door. I want to get out," Anna-lea said looking over at Tracey, tears streaming down her face.

"No. You're obviously upset and I didn't mean for that to happen. I was just joking around with you," Tracey replied, still wondering why Anna-lea's reaction was so much more than usual.

Anna-lea looked down at her lap and tried to keep calm. She felt anything but.

"Look, I just need to leave now. Whether you meant to upset me or not, you did. You really don't know what the last couple of days have been like for me Trace, and I just want to go. I have too much to do and I just want to go and get it over with so I can get on with my life, okay? Is that too much to ask?" Anna-lea questioned, her voice rising to a higher pitch towards the end of her questions.