Simon
There was one thing I was looking for when I moved to Salvation that I actually found and that was peace and quiet, at least at home. I had space and room to be alone. But sometimes, even in the quiet of my home, the peace was broken. Usually it was when I was sleeping and I’d dream of Leslie. The dreams were less frequent now five years later, but one came back with a vengeance last night.
In my dreams, she was like I remembered before she lied. She was sweet. Kind. Always smiling and happy. She was like the sun radiating a warmth and happiness I’d never felt before. Six weeks into our relationship, I was seriously thinking of asking her to marry me. In my dream, she’d give me that gorgeous wide smile and say yes and for the first time in my life, I felt true joy.
Of course, when I woke, reality set in. Her disposition had been an act to get me to love and trust her. And for good measure, try to trick me with a pregnancy. I wondered how long it would have taken for her to tell me she lost the baby to hide her deceit if I’d gone
along with her story. Of course, having been snipped, there was no chance she was pregnant, at least not by me.
The worst part of waking after one of these dreams was the moment in which the yearning was so acute, I didn’t give a fuck if she was lying. I just wanted her here. Fortunately, the bastard part of me would finally wake up and remind me that all her sweetness wasn’t real.
After waking and shaking the memory of Leslie out of my head, I made my way to the indoor pool that had been the final piece of perfection in buying this house. I swam my laps, letting my head empty of everything. Or I tried. I couldn’t get that damned reporter out of my head which was strange. Once I sent a nuisance packing, I normally forgot them. But there was something about her that stuck in my head in an endless loop. I was tormented by two women, neither of which I could seem to get rid of.
Done with my swim, I showered and dressed, had breakfast and then drove out to meet with Jay about the last two weeks of the election. There was a debate coming up and I wanted him to be on point. I needed him to look confident and strong.
I was sure he could be mayor and help me get my foothold into Salvation, but it was going to be a challenge to beat Sinclair Jones. As I left Jay’s house, I wasn’t feeling any better about his chances of winning.
I put the top down in my car to enjoy the spring air as I made my way back to my place, which was closer to town but still on the outskirts of the east side. I decided to push my luck and pressed the accelerator a little more, loving the whoosh of the air and adrenaline that came with driving fast.
I was still several miles from my home when I saw a car pulled over on the other side of the road. I was passing it when I realized the lovely hour-glass figure standing by the broken down car was Erica Edmonds.
Karma’s a bitch, I thought. Even so, I slowed down, and made a U-Turn. I could be an asshole, but not even I would leave a woman stranded on the side of the road by herself. Salvation was a safe town, but this road was well traveled by outsiders. Anyone of them could be a serial killer.
I pulled up behind her car and parked. The minute she saw me, her eyes went flat.
“As if my day couldn’t get any worse,” she quipped.
“Sorry love, it’s me or the serial killers.” Okay, so that was creepy. I took the lug wrench and squatted down next to the tire. She’d gotten most of the lugnuts off. I put the socket of the lug wrench around the lugnut and attempted to loosen it without success. I inspected it and noticed it was rusted tight.
I looked up at her. She stood with her arms crossed and an amused look on her face. “Trouble?”
I put the wrench down. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift to my place and you can call a tow truck.”
I could see the tug of war in her eyes.
“You can call and wait here,” I said, starting toward my car. “Or you can come with me, have a drink and I’ll arrange for the car to be fixed and brought to you at my home.” I shook my head. What the fuck did I care what she did? And yet, I found myself hoping she took me up on my offer.
I opened my car door. She made her way to me and got in beside me. I pulled out into the road, making a U-turn again to head back toward my house. As I came into the westbound lane, a sweet scent filled my nostrils. Like a Pavlovian dog, my heart thudded and my blood warmed. I hadn’t inhaled that scent in years. Five years. Not since Leslie. The thought of her filled me with anger and sadness and yearning. God, I thought she’d been different, but she was worse. She wasn’t just a gold digger, lying to me about being pregnant, but she’d been able to get past my defenses. To make me believe in love.
I glanced at Erica. Was she related to Leslie? She had a similar body, curvy just like I liked. But her hair was straight and she didn’t wear glasses. Still, there was something to the curve of her neck. The slight upturn of her nose.
She turned to look at me. Her brow arched as if she was saying, “what are you looking at?”
I couldn’t stop myself. “Leslie?”
She flinched and turned away. “I go by Erica now.”
Holy fucking shit. It was Leslie. How had I not seen it before? The mixture of need and hate grew stronger.
“You were writing a story about me? Still trying to profit from me.” I let the anger take control. “Were you going to write about how I used to fuck you? Or how you were a gold digger?” I gripped the steering wheel as we blasted along the highway. “Thank goodness I got the story killed.”
“Pull over.” Her eyes were hot as she seethed next to me. “I don’t want to be here with you. And for your information, I wasn’t going to say anything about our past relationship.”
I let out a derisive laugh. “Yeah, because everyone then would know what a conniving…woman you are.”
“Because I’m a professional.”
“You’re nothing of the sort.”