Run Away Baby

“I think you already are,” he said, kissing her on the nose and then moving down to kiss her lips, her neck, her breasts.

“You can do anything you want to me,” she whispered.

“Anything?”

“Everything. Just don’t use that condom, please.” If there were consequences, she’d worry about them later.

So they did everything. She didn’t care. Actually, she cared a lot. It was the best time she’d had in years. Maybe in her entire life.

Chapter 22

Charlie and Abby were back at the theatre, and she was about to go in with her movie stub to retrieve her hidden phone.

“What are you going to do for the rest of the day?” he asked her.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “Go home, I guess.”

“It’s only one o’clock. Your husband won’t be home for hours, right?”

“Yeah, but he’s always watching. I’d better go get my phone before they restock the paper towel machine.”

“You’re crazy,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll wait for you here.”

Abby went through the front door of the theatre, showed the guy selling tickets her ticket stub, and told him she’d left her phone in the bathroom. He waved her through, indifferently.

Her phone was right where she’d left it. She checked and saw one missed call, from Krissa, from a few minutes earlier. She dialed her back.

“Hi Krissa. Sorry I missed you. I’m leaving a movie.”

“A movie? Okay. That’s where Mr. Greer thought you might be, but he was worried. He wasn’t really expecting you to go to a movie today.”

“I’ve been mentioning it to him for days. It wasn’t a secret.”

“So you went to a movie. What movie was it?”

“You know that movie that won all those awards about the orphans and World War II? Helga’s Garden is the name of it. I’m leaving it now. It was sooo good. Really moving, but so sad. Do I sound like I’m crying? I’m totally crying.”

“Oh, I didn’t even notice. So it was pretty good?”

“I highly recommend it.”

“I’ll keep it in mind. You heading home now?”

“Yep. I’ll be right there,” said Abby.

“I’ll let Randall know.”

Abby went back outside to where Charlie was waiting in his truck, parked right beside her car.

“I’d better go now,” she told him.

“Not yet. Let’s talk for a minute before you go. Please?”

“Okay, but just for a minute.” She got in the passenger side. He put his hand on her leg. “I can’t stay here long,” she told him. “Someone could see me.”

He handed her a pair of sunglasses. “Put these on,” he said.

She did, but she didn’t feel any less conspicuous. “Maybe I ought to buy something. Randall gets suspicious if I’m gone longer than I’m supposed to be and I don’t have any purchases to prove what I was doing.”