Page 99 of My Boss

No comment. Bull’s eye.

I approach him cautiously, with a friendly expression on my face, so as not to scare him. Jan follows my every step.

“You don’t trust me.” I stand right in front of him and lift my head.

“That’s not the point.”

“What is it then?” I slide my hand over his shoulder. He shudders.

Shit.

“Maria, get in the car.” He looks into my eyes.

“I’ll get in if you give me the keys. I’ll return the favor.”

“How?”

“You’ll find out when we get there. There are about sixty miles left.”

“Sixty point two,” he corrects.

“It’s an hour away.”

“Forty-two minutes to be exact, assuming we maintain our current speed.”

“All the more reason. In forty-two minutes, I’ll park your car in a secluded spot, unzip your zipper, and make it so good that you’ll remember this trip for the rest of your life.”

He momentarily lowers his gaze to my lips. I see him swallow.

“Provided that you don’t put a cigarette in your mouth until the end of our trip.”

Persistent bastard.

“How long are we staying there?”

“Until the New Year.”

My heart leaps for joy, and immediately sinks heavily like a rock. On the one hand, I’m excited at the thought of spending a whole week with Jan. On the other, the thought of not being able to have a cigarette after sex or after a delicious dinner at the inn or after mulled wine makes me want to cry. Unless I cover myself effectively. Since my parents never caught me when I ran down to the cellar for a secret smoke, nor did any of the teachers catch Nina and me when we were smoking in the window of the girl’s bathroom at school during recess, Jan certainly won’t guess either. All it takes is a lot of perfume, peppermint toothpaste, fruity chewing gum, floral hand cream and an innocent expression. It can work.

“Agreed,” I reply and hold out my hand for the keys. “Please take the passenger seat.”

Oh. My. God. I’ve never driven such a beast. I’m not driving, I’m cruising. The gears change effortlessly, the acceleration is like in a rocket ship, we’re going eighty miles per hour, and I don’t feel it at all. My leg is getting heavy, heavier and heavier. I pick up speed, my heart beats faster and faster, and I tighten my hands on the steering wheel. Eighty-five. Ninety. Ninety-five.

It’s the same feeling as when an airplane accelerates down the runway.

“Maria.” I hear the warning, but I ignore it. I’m not about to take my foot off the gas. I am a pilot who will raise the silvery (in this case, black) bird off the ground and soar toward the sky any moment.

One hundred miles an hour, one hundred and five…

“Maria, that’s enough.” I hear a sharp growl from my right.

I glance in Jan’s direction. He’s holding the handle over the window, his gaze is fixed straight ahead, and he is as pale as the snow on the fields we pass.

I restrain myself not to snort.

“You look like you are about to pass a kidney stone.”

“There is nothing wrong with my kidneys.”

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