“Vicki!” she yells, but I just wave my fingers in her direction as the car pulls away.
“It feels good now but come tomorrow she’s going to make my punishment that much worse.” I pull out my phone with the hopes that we’ll each do business on the way in.
“I’ll be your bodyguard.”
“You don’t take Henry to school on Tuesdays.”
He shrugs, his phone buzzing and I watch him pull it from the inside pocket of his suit and read the text. His warm smile disappears and for the first time, I wonder what he’s like in court.
His fingers move over the screen and I turn forward, only to find Abe’s eyes on mine. He smiles, and I smile back, staring out the window as he winds through the streets of the city toward downtown.
I inch forward. “Hi, Abe, I’m Victoria.”
He smiles at me in the mirror again. “Not Vicki?” he asks, amusement creasing the wrinkles around his eyes.
“Definitely not.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“Are you on call for this guy?” I thumb in the direction of Reed, who’s still off in lawyer land.
“Every morning. He’s on his own at night.”
“Maybe he’s cheating on you with a Lyft driver?”
Abe chuckles, turning right. “Not Reed.” He winks. “Any music or morning show you prefer to listen to?” His fingers are poised over the controls on his dash.
“No. I’ll just work. Thank you though.”
I slide back in my seat and he turns on a talk radio station.
“This is the best. Turn it up, Abe.” Reed’s bubbly personality is back, and his phone is tucked away. “It’s the Second Date Update.”
Abe ups the volume and the radio personalities are talking to a girl about a date she went on and now she’s complaining that the guy won’t return her phone calls.
“This show will call the guy or girl to see why they’re not returning the phone call,” Reed whispers to fill me in. “You gotta hear some of this crap.”
We listen to a woman explain how she was left at a cooking class. Her date excused himself to go to the bathroom, and never came back.
“See. I’m already looking good,” Reed says, waggling his eyebrows.
“Because you’ve never left me at a cooking class? We’ve never even been on a date.”
“Yet.”
“Never.”
“Listen.” He taps his ear.
Hitting some traffic, Abe slows down.
The radio announcers call the guy to get his side of the story.
“I’m not sure what the argument could be for him leaving her at a couple’s cooking class,” I mumble, and Reed’s hand stretches out, squeezing my knee.
Skin to skin contact. All the air leaves my lungs in a rush.
“There’s always a reason,” he says.
Abe nods his head in agreement.
The man answers the call and at first, he’s pissed that they’re calling him, then after a minute, he doesn’t want to share the reason why because he doesn’t want to embarrass the girl.
“He doesn’t want to embarrass a girl who just called a radio station on him? I think this is set up,” I say, my usual skeptical self.
“Either way, it’s hilarious. The perfect way to start your morning.” Reed elbows me gently.
Abe nods his head in agreement. Of course, he’s not going to offend the guy who’s footing the bill.
We continue to listen and the guy explains that the girl told him she slept with some other guy in the class. And then she proceeded to go on and on about how good the guy was in bed.
Reed shoots me a look that says, ‘See? I told you this was the best morning show ever.’ It was funny, especially when the girl said that her date missed out because she’s never had an upset customer.
“Customer?” Reed roars and Abe looks at us through the mirror, his own amusement lighting up his face.
“See how many crazy women are out there? Save me.” He clutches his heart and his head falls to my shoulder.
I push him back up by his forehead. “I think you’ll do just fine out there.”
“I’d do better with you.”
“Stop it. Otherwise this co-commuting stops.”
He holds up his hands. “You can’t tell me you don’t prefer a ride in on an Uber that gets you to work faster while enjoying the company of me and Abe over a jam-packed train.”
I say nothing because what can I say? He has a point and for some reason, I have no snappy comeback for him, so instead I take a sip of my coffee.
When the big architectural high-rises swallow us up as we hit downtown, my body calms knowing my close proximity to Reed is coming to an end. A girl only has so much willpower this early on a Monday morning.
“Abe, my building is right above The Sandwich Place on Washington,” I say.
He nods and smiles through the mirror.
“Have you been? To The Sandwich Place?” Reed asks.
“Yeah, we go a few times a week.”
“I guess I’ll have to frequent there more often.” His teasing grin goes on display.
“I’m usually with my boss.” Hopefully that will keep his stalking tendencies to a minimum.
“I’m as good with bosses as I am with parents.” My stomach flips when he winks.
“Abe, how much longer?” I ask.
Reed chuckles beside me.
“Three minutes,” Abe says.
Luckily, Reed’s phone rings and a scowl appears when he looks at the screen. “I have to take this, hold up.”
“Reed Warner,” he answers with authority. My mind shoots to me secured to a bed with his ties and him using that same stern voice as he explores my body. “No, that’s not the deal.”
The car slows even though there’s plenty of space between the car ahead of us and our bumper. Abe couldn’t make it any more obvious that he’s trying to make sure Reed finishes his phone call before I hop out of the car. We’re inching forward at a snail’s pace and he’s purposely stopping behind the buses now.
“I can get out here,” I lean forward and whisper to Abe.
“Wait until I stop,” he says.
Reed’s hand lands on my knee again and then he holds up one finger. I’ve been here before. When one minute turns into five, turns into one more phone call. I used to sit there next to Pete as everything got pushed ahead of me. Well, my time is important, too.
“I gotta call you back,” Reed says, his eyes on me the entire time. “No, Bill, I don’t give a shit. I’m asking for five minutes, not a lifetime which is exactly what your client is going to get if this goes to jury because you keep me from saying goodbye to my girlfriend.” He doesn’t wait for a reply and clicks the phone off.
“I’m not your girlfriend.”
“Yet.”
“Never.”
“I got it from here. See you tomorrow morning, Abe. Thank you.” He opens his door and steps out of the car.
“Thank you, Abe.” I slide toward the open door.
“See you next Monday,” he answers.
“Oh, no. This was a one and done.”
I accept Reed’s hand but before I clear the interior of the car Abe speaks. “Whatever you say. But I’ll see you Monday.”