Page 11 of Push & Pull
Sighing, Simone put it on and went inside to ask for the bathroom key. Petra was right behind her, liberated cash coming out of her wallet.
“Twenty bucks on number seven.” She waited for the cashier, who wore a Styx T-shirt beneath his red store vest and had a gauge the size of a pothole in his ear, to ring her up. “Also, where are your energy drinks? I’m tapped out.”
The man nodded toward a cold case off to the side. Since there was no one else in line, Petra left her cash on the counter and grabbed the first few cans that agreed with her stomach.I need to get some serious sleep tonight.Staying up half the night and being up early that morning was never in the plans. While Petra often prided herself on keeping whatever sleep schedule was necessary, she was glad that the next day’s drive to Raleigh would be shorter. She could sleep in!
Simone slapped the key back on the counter when she reemerged. “You want anything?” Petra asked. “Drink? Snack?” She chuckled. “Cigarettes?”
“I can get my own.”
“What? Cigarettes? Good call. I only have so much cash.”
Simone rolled her eyes, arms crossed close to her stomach. “I can get my own drink. You already bought me breakfast and are driving me north. No need for you to pay for more when I can handle it.”
From anyone else, that would have been a nice sentiment. From spoiled heiress Simone Evans, though, that was like nails on a chalkboard.I can pay for things fine, airhead.Petra knew how to get cash, anyway. She also already knew that Simone didn’t have any.I may have peeked before we left.She did have a lot of cards, though…
No, Petra wasn’t treating Simone like a mark, but some habits were hard to break. She also liked to know what she was dealing with when inviting a stranger into her rental car.At least she has a valid driver’s license.If they could swap who was behind the driver’s seat once in a while, they could cover more ground.
Then again, Simone probably didn’t know these freeways as well as Petra did, and Simone’s card might not work, anyway.
So Petra hung back a few seconds to ensure that Simone’s payment for a can of lemon La Croix and a bottle of iced tea would go through.They’re working in Florida.Would they work in Georgia? If Petra knew one thing about credit cards, it was that banks liked to get security crazy even if someone called ahead to report a travel itinerary.
Simone glared at her while paying for her drinks. Petra retreated outside, where she tossed her energy drinks into the car and started the gas pump.
She also received a call from her Uncle Michail.
“Where are you?” came his gruff voice, almost inaudible over the roar of cars on the nearby Floridian freeway. “Have you left Miami yet?”
“On schedule to be in Atlanta tonight,” Petra said, one hand on her phone and the other on the pump. “I’ll be heading up to Raleigh by tomorrow evening.” The trek from Florida to North Carolina was nothing anymore. Petra cared more about the quality of music playing in the car than how much time she spent sitting down. “Everything as planned on your end?”
A snippet of Simone’s blond hair stepped out of the convenience store. She stopped halfway to the car to stretch her arms before hopping into the passenger seat, mask off but sunglasses still glued to her face.At least she’s behaving.Small favors for Petra, the chauffeur with work to do.
“The meeting is still on. I’m making sure that you’ll be there. I need you.”
There was no tenderness to her uncle’s words. Petra was better writing her uncle off as a man who could turn on the charm when necessary… but he no longer deemed it relevant to his only niece.
“I know you do. That’s why I’ll be there. Have I let you down yet?”
“You have your moments,” her uncle muttered, “but if you say you’ll be there, I’ll assume you will be. I’m only trying to tell you how important this meeting is.”
Petra put the gas nozzle away. Once she was satisfied with the state of her car, she lingered outside the driver-side door. “I have to get back on the road, but I will see you tomorrow evening in Raleigh.”
“Good. Oh, Petra?”
“Yeah?”
Her uncle was already on the verge of hanging up. “Look decent, would you? I’m selling someone who has her act together and knows what she’s doing.”
Although Petra grimaced, she did not let her discomfort show through her voice. “Of course. I’ve made sure to pack some nice clothes. I know how important this meeting is.”
They both hung up at the same time. Petra slid into her seat with a sigh. Simone drank from her bottle of iced tea while staring ahead through the windshield.
“Could you pop the trunk?” she asked. “I’ve got a book in my bag. Without my phone…”
Petra pulled the lever for the trunk. “We need to get on the road, but sure.”
She tapped her fingers against the wheel while resting her chin near the horn. Simone took her time rooting through her bag in the trunk before returning to the front seat, where she adjusted everything to give her more leg room when she sat down. She was more than a few inches behind Petra, who could never get her seat close enough to the wheel to be comfortable.
Petra turned the ignition. “We’ll be in Atlanta before you know it.”
