Page 155 of One Night Only
I stare after him until my eyes start to sting and then I turn blindly, pushing open the doors and getting out there as quickly as I can.
34
Two weeks later
“Try it again, honey.”
I turn the key, waiting for the noise of the engine. The noise of freedom. It doesn’t come and a moment later the hood drops shut with an echoing clang revealing my dad wiping the sweat from his brow.
He shakes his head at me through the windshield and I pull the key back out.
“Aren’t you glad I taught you all those survival skills now?” he asks as he trundles back to the driver’s seat.
I smile as he gets in, the truck dipping slightly under his weight. We’ve just finished three days of camping off the Delaware River. After working up the courage to tell him about what happened with work, he insisted I come out as soon I could to get my mind off things. It was the right decision. I didn’t realize how much I needed to get away from everything, how much I needed not to think until I was out in the open air.
I usually hated the stilted conversations with my dad but this time I was grateful for the silence. And he seemed to sense my mood, leaving me in peace.
An hour ago, we’d packed up the campsite to drive back to the train station when his truck gave out on a back road. The thing was older than I was, so I wasn’t too surprised, but Dad spent the last twenty minutes trying to get it going.
Now he reaches behind him to grab one of the many bags of chips left over from the trip. He always overpacks, like we’ll get stuck out here. Which, I suppose we actually are now. The road ahead and behind us is deserted, with thick trees on either side. There’s the odd passing car, but no one who can probably help with an engine as ancient as this one.
“There’s a mechanic forty minutes south of here,” he sighs, taking out his phone. “I’ll get them to send someone up.”
“I better let Claire know I’ll be late,” I say, taking out my own phone. I send her a quick text, trying to sound extra friendly. The last time I saw her we’d had a big argument.
“Do you know what the final stop on the self-pity train is?” she’d yelled at me as I left the apartment. “It’s you finding a new roommate because I don’t want to live with this crappy version of you. Talk to him.”
Talk to him. As if it was that easy.
I couldn’t blame her for being annoyed with me. I’d been moping around ever since I broke things off with Declan. Alternating between lying in my bed and lying on the sofa, watching twenty-four-hour news stations and sitcoms from the eighties until Claire put the television in her room and threatened to unplug the Wi-Fi. Then I just stared at nothing.
“I hope you don’t need to rush back for an interview,” Dad says, peering out at the road.
I shake my head. “I haven’t applied for anything yet. But I’m keeping an eye out,” I add, trying to sound positive. “Maybe I’ll try something new.”
“Anything in particular?”
“I’m thinking about becoming a celebrity nanny.”
“Glad to see you’re finally thinking big.”
“I’ll start applying seriously when I get back,” I say. “Soraya says she knows someone at a startup who’s looking for project managers, which is basically my job anyway. It’ll work out.”
Dad says nothing, munching on his chips.
“Will says he’s thinking about quitting,” I say. “They’ve put a junior designer at my desk who keeps asking him if he’ll be their mentor. He says he’s losing his mind.”
“Sounds like he misses you.”
“He does. He told me. That’s how I know it’s bad.” I pause, remembering how he tried to warn me about Matthias. “He’s a good friend.”
Dad clears his throat and I wait for the question. The one he always asks. He hasn’t brought it up the whole trip and now he turns to me, his voice unbearably soft.
“Are you alright, Sarah?”
“Of course,” I say, surprised. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got savings.”
“I don’t mean about the job. You’ve been quiet all weekend.”
