Kitty followed Drake wordlessly out of the house, not bothering to look back or say anything. There really wasn’t anything left to say, and even if there was, Everett didn’t want to hear it. She was alone again, and on her way back to an empty apartment in a city without mercy.
Without the man who had filled her soul with hope.
She cried all the way to the highway. Drake drove stoically, trying to ignore her distress, but she could tell by his expression how uncomfortable he was. So she kept as quiet as she could, save for the occasional sob, which she covered with her hand. Her eyes were trained out of the window, at the slush-filled ditches to the side of the road. Covered with a layer of black exhaust soot, they were a testament to the supremacy of man over nature.
It took almost two hours to get within reach of Dulles Airport. Even on Christmas Day it was a hive of activity, cars screeching across lanes, red lights flashing on and off. Impatient, angry people forgetting that this was the day of goodwill to all men.
Kitty’s phone rang as Drake steered right into the departures lane, and he glanced at her for the first time, his face a picture of pity. Was that what she had become? Somebody to be pitied?
Lucy’s name flashed across the screen, and Kitty tried to bite down the disappointment. There was only one name she really wanted to see, and as she didn’t even have his phone number, and certainly never gave him hers, it was unlikely it would ever be Adam calling.
‘Hello?’
‘Happy Christmas, honey. Why aren’t you on Skype? We were all waiting for you?’
In the midst of the craziness she’d forgotten about her family and their planned Christmas Skype. ‘I can’t call you right now.’ She started to cry again. ‘I’m in a mess.’
‘What’s happened?’ Lucy sounded alarmed. ‘Are you ill? Has someone hurt you?’
From the corner of her eye she could see Drake staring
straight ahead, desperately trying not to listen to her call, but it was impossible for him not to hear every word she said.
‘I’ve been fired.’
‘What? On Christmas Day? What kind of arseholes would do that?’
‘The kind of arseholes I work for.’ She sobbed again, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto the phone. ‘I’m on my way to Dulles airport.’
‘Why are you going there?’ Lucy sounded confused.
‘I’m flying back home to LA.’
‘On Christmas Day?’ Lucy’s bemusement was replaced by incredulity.
It sounded ridiculous, Kitty knew. Like some kind of gothic melodrama. What a mess.
‘It looks that way.’
‘But you’ll be all alone for the holidays. That’s awful.’
Kitty sniffed. ‘I need to be alone,’ she told her sister. ‘I don’t really want to talk to anybody right now.’
‘What happened?’ Lucy asked. ‘Why did they fire you?’
‘Can I tell you later?’ Kitty asked. ‘I’m in a car right now. I just want to go home, have a shower, and pour myself a big glass of wine.’
She really, really didn’t want to talk to anybody right now, and she definitely didn’t want to share the whole sordid story in front of Drake, no matter how interested he seemed at her conversation with her sister.
‘OK,’ Lucy agreed softly, her voice full of concern. ‘But make sure you call me when you can. I’m worried about you.’
‘You don’t need to be.’
‘I’m your big sister, of course I need to be.’
‘I’ll call you soon. Goodbye, Lucy.’
‘Goodbye, sweetie, take care of yourself.’