Page 41 of Rescue
Chapter 20
_______________________
Miles
Going to grab the food with my head in the clouds, everything is right in my world. My girl is staying in town for good, things between us are amazing, and I’m about to get some delicious food. What more could a guy ask for?
I find the place Penelope was talking about pretty quickly. When I walk in, I’m hit with the scent of fresh bread. My stomach growls and I absentmindedly rub it while looking at the menu. As I reach the front of the line to order, my phone buzzes in my pocket, but I ignore it. I can check it when I’m done.
The food comes quickly and I’m back on the sidewalk juggling two drinks and a bag of food all the way back to the apartment. I notice that the sky is overcast and the wind has picked up, but I’m too distracted by everything I’m carrying to really think about it. By the time I get back up to P, my arms are tired and I’m starving.
I balance the drinks enough to knock on the door, and then reach down to see if it’s open. The handle turns, and as I move to walk in, I see a man out of the corner of my eye. I turn to look into the living room and see him with his arms around Penelope. This must be her ex. I can’t see her face from this angle, but I can see her hands on his chest in a clear display of intimacy.
I gasp as my brain struggles to catch up with my eyes. I can’t believe this. The bag of food drops out of my hands. I turn to leave and set the drinks on a table by the door. I don’t need this shit. Without even turning back around, I walk out the door and down the hall to the elevator. It must not have moved after I got out because it dings to announce its presence immediately when I press the button and the doors open. I hear Penny call my name, but all I can think about is getting out of here, and fast.
Thankfully the doors close before she can catch up to me, though I do feel an odd sense of disappointment. What was she doing with him?
The doors open into the parking garage and I half expected her to be standing here waiting for me somehow, though I know that’s not exactly possible. Walking to where my truck is parked, I feel another buzz in my pocket. I’m nowhere near ready to talk to Penny, or anyone else for that matter, so I throw my phone in the back seat as I climb into the cab. I’m thankful I thought to tie down and tarp everything in the back before I left for lunch. Now I can just head out without the inevitable confrontation I know is coming.
I pull out onto the main street and in a stroke of luck there’s no traffic so I’m able to easily get on the highway to head home. I know I’m going too fast, but with the way I’m feeling right now, I really don’t care. Foolish is the least of what I’m feeling right now. I can’t believe I could be so stupid. I finally fall for someone and she wants someone else?
My stomach is in knots as I weave in and out of the Los Angeles traffic. It’s not as bad as it usually is and for that I’m grateful. My mind keeps playing over that scene in the apartment and I can’t help but feel like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle. Why would she start something with me if she never intended to end things with him?
I’m still playing everything out in my mind when my gas light comes on. I hadn’t been paying attention before, but it’s a good thing it came on. Once you get into the mountains you’re screwed if you need gas. It’s so desolate up there between all of the little communities. Running out of gas on the side of the mountain is both dangerous and stupid.
I’m still about 20 minutes from the gas station at the bottom of the mountain, so I decide to get off at the next exit. I refuel and run inside to grab a nasty hotdog that’s been sitting there entirely too long. I’m so hungry I can’t be bothered to care at this point though. I practically inhale the hot dog as I’m walking back to my truck, thinking about the bag of food I dropped on the floor and how good that sandwich would have been.
I’m just about to close the truck door when a palm frond goes blowing by the side of my truck, narrowly missing me. Whoa! I quickly climb in and pull the door shut. That’s when I look around and notice the weather. It’s really starting to get nasty, and if it’s this bad here in the valley, the drive through the mountains is going to be even worse. I try to think positive and hope that the radar I looked at this morning hasn’t changed, but based on the color of the sky, it looks like the weather has shifted. With the way the sky looks, I wouldn’t be surprised if Penny just spends the night in the city with her ex. He might not even be her ex anymore. The feeling in my gut intensifies.
Bracing myself for a rough drive ahead of me, I buckle up and pull out of the parking lot.
I stay focused on the drive for the next couple of hours, occasionally hearing my phone vibrate somewhere in the back seat, but choosing to ignore it, actually finding myself thankful that it’s back there so it’s not distracting me. The weather is rough and I need all my focus on the road to make sure I get home safely. More than once I worry about Penelope, but I tell myself that she’s probably still back in the city with her ex, which only fuels my anger and does little for my anxiety.
By the time I pull into my garage, it’s sleeting. It hasn’t been cold enough lately for the ice to stick to the roads, yet, but the temperature is falling and it looks like it’s going to be rough out there. As I turn the car off, I hear my phone vibrating somewhere. Thinking it’s Penny, and wanting to get this conversation over with, I immediately go on the hunt. It takes me a couple more vibrations and me getting into some questionable positions to get to it, but I reach in time to answer it.
“Penelope, I-,”
“Whoa there, Bro, this isn’t P. I thought you guys were together?” When I hear Brody’s voice, I instantly deflate a little.
“We took two cars,” I say, not wanting to explain about everything that happened.
“Oh, ok, well I was just calling to check in with you. This storm looks like a bad one and I wanted to make sure you guys made it home safe from your trip to the city. The roads are already getting pretty icy out there.”
“Yeah, I’m home now. Thanks, dude.”
“So Penny made it to the cafe alright?”
“I was just about to call and check on her when you called.”
“Well get to it! If she’s still out there in this, it’s not going to be good for her. This side of the mountain is going to be impassable in a matter of hours. If she’s not close you should tell her to stay in the city for the night and try again tomorrow, though I’m not sure she’d have any luck then either. It’s supposed to dump a ton of fresh snow tonight and tomorrow.”
I scowl thinking about her staying in the city for any amount of time. I don’t mention that that’s probably where she is right now. “Ok, thanks for checking in, Bro, stay safe out there tonight.” I know that he’s on the search and rescue team through the fire department, so I imagine with this storm he and the rest of the crew will be up all night.
“Will do, you do the same,” he says and hangs up the phone.
I look down at my screen to call P and see several missed calls from her and my family. They knew I was leaving town this morning and I’m sure they’re all worried about me getting home in this storm. I’ll call them back after I speak to Penny.
I call and it rings several times and goes to voicemail. That’s strange, I think. I leave a quick message telling her to call me back and hang up. I decide to try one more time, just in case she was going through a rough patch and it does the same thing. Hanging up, I look down at my phone trying to figure out what to do next.
