Femme Like Her by Fiona Zedde

Author:Fiona Zedde [Zedde, Fiona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Hills Publishing

Pauline’s mood doesn’t get any better. By the time the Uber drops us off at her place and drives away, she’s growling under breath like a rabid dog. I ignore her.

My stomach is a twisted mess. Now that I know she’s okay, all I can think about is my car. When I finally see Earl, the air rushes from my lungs in a painful gasp.

Wrecked. That’s what he is.

He sits at the end of Pauline’s driveway, the bumper and trunk completely crushed in. The rear window is shattered, most of the glass missing. A piece of the hard convertible top juts out, twisted and spindly, like a hand signaling for help.

The sick feeling in my stomach rushes up to my throat, and I swallow.

Years before I got Earl, I wanted a Camaro. Thoroughly American in a way I’d wanted to be since I came to the States as a child, the car meant freedom to me when the only thing I did was work, go to family dinners, and very occasionally see my friends. During my commute, I played American music and imagined sharing a car ride with a woman I loved, or at least cared about enough to have sex with on a regular basis.

In a single breath, the memory of the evening with Scottie is right there. Scottie in her underwear, swimming close and teasing me with her smile, with possibilities between us that I’d given up on a long time ago.

A shaky breath burns through my chest.

I must have made some sort of noise, because Pauline looks at me, holding her swollen hand against her chest. The “flesh tone” Band-Aid on her forehead looks like more a bruise than whatever it’s hiding.

“Shit.” She stares at Earl. “I fucked up. I’m sorry.” She does a one-handed fumble in her shorts pocket for her house keys. “I’ll fix it,” she says heavily from behind me. “I know a guy.”

“I can’t deal with any of this right now.” Tears prick my eyes. My emotions are all over the place. “Just…just fix it, Pauline.”

All I want is my own house and a glass of wine to drown my anger before I fall asleep.

“You want to come in for a drink? Let me make up for being such a dick the last couple of hours.”

“No, I’m good. Let’s connect later.”

“Okay.” Pauline takes a rough breath and looks back at my car then at her phone. “I figured you’d say that. Your Uber is about three minutes away.”

Pissed as I am at her, I’m grateful she understands me that much. “We’ll talk later, then.”

“Cool. Okay.”

Bright headlights sweep the end of the street and head toward us. Probably my ride. The car stops at the gate and the passenger window goes down. A brown-skinned man with deep lines between his bushy eyebrows squints out at us.

“Pauline?”

She waves her phone at the driver. “Yeah.” To me, she says. “Go home. I’ll call you later about the car.”

Once I get home, I take a shower then climb into bed with a glass of red wine and a book.

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