Page 2 of Sweet Surrender
With winter falling, and the days getting colder, I needed to either finda better way of getting to work or risk getting ill from standing out in the cold while I waited for the bus, and then I’d miss work anyway.
Harry reluctantly sold it to me at the value he would have got for it atthe scrap yard- a grand total of $50. It wasn’t exactly a dream machine, but it got me from A to B, and that was all I needed it for. I ignored the fact that several warning lights went off every time I started the ignition.
By the time I got the car started, I was already late forwork. I drove as fast as I could, which given we’d had thick ice overnight, wasn’t very fast, not if I wanted to make it to the diner in one piece. When I eventually reached Bean and Gone, I was ten minutes late, and the morning rush had already started.
Despite Harry giving all his staff lectures about being on time, he wasoften late, but as I’d already established, today the universe hated me, soof coursethis was the one morning Harry was on time.
Sheepishly, I’d gone into the diner and begged for his forgiveness,promising to make up for my lateness by staying on for an extra hour for free when my shift finished.
Thankfully, Harry agreed. I was still on probation after all.
The morning shift went smoothly, aside from Trent, the overly-friendlycar salesman asking me out on a date for the umpteenth time. It was adaily occurrence, and despite my answer always being a resounding‘no’, he continued to ask, and quite frankly, it was beginning to grate on me.
Don’t get me wrong, Trent wasn’t at all bad to look at, what with hisblond hair, hazel eyes, and chiseled features, not to mention I was sure he was packing some muscle under his designer suits. But I’d made a vow to stay far away from anyone who had a penis for the rest of my life.
Trent finally left just before the lunchtime rush started, and that waswhen the bean juice incident happened. After that,everythingwent wrong.
The coffee machine broke when I tried to make a latte with a doubleshot of espresso. One of my customers ran from their booth without paying, and a bag of trash split open with the rotting food contained within spilling everywhere. The stench was revolting and made several people gag, myself included.
To top it off, the health inspector paid us a sneaky visit, announcinghis true identity after an hour of witnessing the chaos, and telling Harry he needed to buck his ideas up.
Needless to say, I was more than happy when my shift finally ended.That was until I accidentally rammed my car into the back of the sleek Bentley.
If I was honest, I didn’t really know what happened. I saw the lightswere red. I hit the brakes, but for some reason, the car didn’t slow. The next second, I was thrown forward, and my head slammed into the steering wheel. The airbag failed to deploy, and the sound of crumpling metal rang out into the evening sky.
I knew my car needed some work done to it, but the brakes hadalways been fine.
Until now.
Unable to ignore the suited man tapping at my window any longer, Igrimaced as I opened the car door, prepared for him to chew my ear off for damaging his car.
He looked like a businessman in his perfectly tailored suit, and if Ihad to guess his age, I would have said mid-40s. He was a handsome man, with light brown hair which was shaved short, like how a soldier would have it, and his caramel colored eyes were framed by dark-rimmed glasses.
“Are you okay, Miss?”he asked politely once I’d got out of my car, hisbrows pulled together in worry.
Slamming the door shut behind me, the horn stopped blaring,bringing some much needed quiet to my ringing ears. The man’s eyes raked over my body, but not in a leering way, more like he was checking for any obvious injuries.
“I’m okay. Are you?”I replied, ignoring the dull ache growing in myneck and head, and casting my eyes over him to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Upon finding him uninjured, a slight pang of relief flushed through me.
“Oh, yes. We’re fine. But I’m afraid your car isn’t,”he said. It was onlynow I realized he had an English accent, and to my surprise, he remained calm, almost sounding jovial.
Maybe I wasn’t going to get shouted at after all.
“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what happened. I hit the brakes but the cardidn’t stop. I think I might have hit some ice,”I explained quickly, looking behind me and hoping to see a patch of ice to back up my claim. When I didn’t see anything, I side-stepped him to check how badly damaged our cars were.
I cursed under my breath when I saw how bad it was. Therewere no two ways about it, my car was fucked.
I must have collided harder with the Bentley than I’d initially thought.Either that or the beast of the SUV was made with reinforced metal, which was highly likely seeing as the front of my Honda was completely crumpled, while the Bentley had escaped with only a tiny dent.
“Accidents happen, Miss,”the man said, having followed me aroundto where our cars were almost touching.“The main thing is, you’re not hurt. Besides, the insurance policy will cover the damages.”
Fuck.
I didn’t have insurance.
Yeah, I was aware of how damn stupid that was, but I could barelyafford to put gas in the car, let alone insure it. I figured that if I drove it only to and from work, and drovesupercarefully, then it was a risk I could take.
Wasn’t that biting me on the ass now?
