Page 52 of The Other Guy

“Good. Let me just grab my coat and keys.”

“Thank you.”

Her phone rings and she walks to her coat, pulling it out.

“Hello?”

She mouths Kyle to me and I nod. “Yeah, I’m at Jack’s. He said he’d bring me home.”

She’s silent for a few minutes while she listens to whatever it is he’s saying.

Her eyes close and when they open, they’re trained on me. “Um, what am I supposed to do?” she asks quietly.

I move closer.

“I don’t know…”

“What? What’s going on?” I ask but she holds up a finger telling me to have patience, wait my turn.

“I understand. Okay, hang on.”

She lowers the phone from her ear and looks nervous. “So, um, apparently it’s been raining for a little bit now. And… well, Kyle lives at the bottom of that steep hill, you know?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, you can’t get out of it.”

“Out of what?”

“The road. I guess three people just got into an accident because of the ice and their vehicles are basically blocking his road. They slid down bam bam bam. But it’s fine! It’s fine. You can just drop me off at the top of the hill and I can…”

“Slide down? In the rain and sleet?”

“Um, yes?”

“Sierra. Just stay here. I don’t have dog food but I’m sure we can find something for Toby. I have a spare bedroom you can stay in. I’m sure they’ll be able to get the cars cleaned up tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.”

“What about work?”

“If the storm is as bad as they’re predicting, I won’t be opening the gym tomorrow. I keep my clients updated through text and my Facebook page.”

“Oh.”

I motion to her phone and then take it from her hand. “Kyle? Yeah, it’s Jack. Sierra can just spend the night here in my guest room. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” I add on and wink at her. She still looks a little nervous at the prospect of staying at my house.

“I know you will,” Kyle says. “Thanks for keeping her safe. She’s, uh, been through a lot this week.”

“I heard.”

“You did?”

“She mentioned that she and her boyfriend broke up.”

He’s silent on the other end for just a few seconds then, “Yeah. She’s better off without him. Anyway, we’ll talk in the morning. Hopefully the roads will get cleared up and I can come get her.”

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