Kara Atkinson wasn't sure if her vision was blurry from tears or the rain on the windshield. She flipped the windshield wipers on and found her sight still watery. She brushed her hand across her eyes and sniffed loudly. Better, she thought to herself. Damn that Troy. How could he do this to her?
Kara and her long term boyfriend were at a wedding just a couple of hours earlier. Everything had been a blast up until the point she looked around and couldn't find Troy. She threaded through the crowd looking for the ridiculous purple bow tie he'd insisted on wearing. After a little while she gave up thinking he must be in the bathroom, puking most likely, given how much he'd had from the complimentary bar. She headed for the ladies room. She was immediately greeted by the sounds of a couple in the throes of passion. She smiled inwardly, what was it about weddings that made people horny? She herself was wishing she had found Troy so they could sneak a quickie in one of the many unoccupied rooms. Then something caught her eye. The purple bowtie. It was on the floor by the man's feet under the stall door. She felt the smile slip from her face and her knees go weak. Her mind raced, trying to come up with some other reason the tie might be there. Perhaps the man in the stall had one too. But she knew that was impossible. She cleared her throat. As she was about to make herself known, the woman in the stall groaned.
"Oh Troy!!" From the sound of her voice she was about to come. "Oh Troy!!!"
Now she knew. It was definitely her boyfriend in there. And what's worse she recognized the female voice too. It was the bride!! She had stormed out of the bathroom as the tears began to fall and out into the night. Just hopped in the car and left. No plan. Just needed to get away.
Damn, she swore inwardly again. She began to survey her options for places to go. She couldn't go home, Troy would be there, wondering where she disappeared to. Her parents were on a cruise in Bermuda, she could crash at their house, but she had no key. All of her friends were still at the wedding. She decided to head to the next big city and get a hotel room there, at least for tonight. She would order room service and raid the honor bar and try and soothe her scoured heart. Good, she thought, I have a plan for now anyway. She would deal with the full consequences tomorrow.
The rain began to let up a little and the highway opened up into farm country. There was nothing but her and the road and the rain. And a few cows for good measure. Kara turned up the radio and began to softly sing along. The idea of being pampered in a hotel was already warming her soul. Then she spotted a stranded motorist.
The marooned driver was a man around her age, in an Armani suit which the rain was currently destroying while he wrestled the flat tire on his BMW. He had dark hair and his mouth was set in a firm line. Her first thought was to keep on going. It was no longer safe to stop and help people. To much of a possibility that this well dressed man was really a lunatic lying in wait for a kind hearted Samaritan. Just because he had an expensive car and a nice suit doesn't preclude the possibility of a maniac, she thought to herself. You would never stop if it was a bearded man in dirty army fatigues trying to jump start a Pinto. At the same time she couldn't see the handsome man in the dark suit hurting her. Some inward instinct. She put on her blinker and pulled to the side of the road in front of the BMW. She rummaged around in her car for her umbrella and a flashlight. And her mace, just in case.
She climbed out of the car, put the umbrella up and walked toward the man. He was even more handsome up close. Dark eyes and strong jaw. Expensive haircut. And he had removed his suit jacket, the white shirt getting soaked and clinging to his skin. Highlighting his muscle definition. A sleek athlete's body under all that banker gear. Kara was hit with an image of this man, holding her close, whispering hotly into her ear. It was so sudden and powerful she stumbled a bit.
"Uh…hello…" She said tentatively. He looked up from the jack. And broke into a brilliant smile, straight white teeth. "I was wondering if you needed to use a cell phone to call a tow, or a friend?"
"Wow, I didn't think people stopped any more." He said. "I would really appreciate that. I have a cell phone but I can never remember to plug the damn thing in so the batteries are always dead when I really need it."
"Well, you can use mine if you want." She rummaged around in her purse, and suddenly she remembered. The cell phone was on the kitchen table in her apartment, she hadn't seen any need to take it to the wedding. "Oh no….I forgot it at home. Shit!" She looked up at him apologetically. He was still smiling.
"That's okay, I'll just change the tire myself. Thank you anyway. I appreciate the thought. Not many people have gone by and no one has stopped but you. I'll get along fine." He held out his hand to her. "I'm Jeff Andreson."
"Kara Atkinson." She took his hand and despite the cold rain found it was warm. A crazy thought crossed her mind. No, she thought to herself. You can't do that. Stopping to let him use your cell is one thing, but letting him into your car for miles of desolate highway was another. But found herself disregarding her internal warnings. "You know, I could give you a ride somewhere to use a phone, you're going to catch pneumonia out here." She looked at her shoes, suddenly shy. "And you're ruining your beautiful suit." She smiled at him hesitantly.
"Oh I couldn't impose on you like that." He said. "Besides, don't you know you aren't supposed to pick up strange men on the side of the highway?" He was smiling as he said it though, shaking an index finger at her in mock rebuke.
"It's not an imposition at all, and I think if you were going to hurt me you could have easily done it by now, not a single car has passed since I stopped." She said.
