My vision gets blurry, sending me into panic mode, and I realize quick it’s because I’m crying.
Blinking rapidly, I grab my suitcase and enter the bus station. It’s quiet, only a few people are sitting on the benches in the lobby, and I go to the desk, ready to purchase my ticket back home.
The lady is nice as she tries to help me find the cheapest route, and all I can do is smile and tell her thank you through the tears. I think she feels bad for me.
I feel bad for me, too.
“Will that be cash or charge, hon?”
“Cash.” I dig through my tote, searching for the ugly flowered cosmetics bag, but I can’t seem to find it. Frowning, I pull everything out of the tote, item by item. My snacks, the bottles of water, my crappy wallet that has maybe twenty bucks inside yet no credit cards, my phone, my actual cosmetics bag full of makeup, and all the other crap that’s rolling around in there.
But there’s no bag of money.
It’s fucking gone.
“Shit,” I mutter as I prop my elbows on the counter and rest my head in my hands. Where did it go? Did it fall out of my bag and in Rhett’s car? Or did it fall out when I fainted in Rhett’s arms? For all I know it could be lying in the gutter right in front of my crappy rental, ripe for the picking.
A wave of nausea washes over me, and I swallow hard. That was so much money, at least to me. How could I have lost it?
“Everything okay?” the ticket clerk asks.
I shake my head as I start shoving all my stuff back into my tote bag. “I don’t have enough money to pay for the ticket.” My voice is shaking and I’m going to start full on balling soon, I swear.
“Aw, honey. Are you sure?” Her kindness is going to break me.
“Yeah. It’s okay, though. I’ll be fine.” I sniff. “I’m gonna call my friend, see if I can get some help.” Feeling numb, I head outside, dragging my suitcase behind me, and I settle on the bench right in front of the station. I cry for a little bit, letting my sadness consume me.
What the hell am I going to do now?
Wiping at my eyes, I glance up to find Rhett’s car sitting in front of the bus station. I blink a couple of times, like maybe I’m dreaming this, but nope. His car is still there.
I can’t believe it.
He rolls down the passenger side window, his expression contrite when his gaze meets mine. My jaw drops open as we stare at each other. I can’t believe he came back for me. Me. Everyone leaves. They don’t care about me. They never did.
Rhett cares. I don’t understand why, but he does.
We keep watching each other for what feels like forever, and then he’s climbing out of the car and I’m running toward him, abandoning my suitcase like an idiot. We meet each other on the sidewalk and he pulls me into his arms, his mouth at my ear as he squeezes me tight.
“Come home with me, Jens,” he whispers and I nod, too choked up to actually answer him.
My cosmetics bag full of money isn’t in Rhett’s car. At least, it’s nowhere I can see, and I tried my best to be discreet as I scanned the floorboard where I last had my tote bag. Rhett doesn’t say much as we drive back to his place and neither do I, because what can I say?
Tell him I’m sorry for being a lying jerk? It feels pointless to apologize.
When we get to Rhett’s house it’s dark and quiet, like no one’s inside.
“My roommate isn’t here,” he says as he pulls the car into the garage and puts it in park. He turns to look at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good.” I nod, relieved that his roommate is gone. I’m glad we’re alone with no one to bother us. I don’t think I can face another person tonight.
I follow Rhett to the back of his car to grab my suitcase and when he opens the trunk, I see my faded cosmetics bag lying there, just beneath my suitcase. My heart racing, I snag it up without him noticing, shoving the beat up old bag into my tote as Rhett grabs my suitcase to bring it inside. The relief that floods me at finding my money is downright overwhelming. As we walk into the house with me trailing behind him, I suddenly feel so tired, so broken down over everything that’s happened to me these last few days, I’m afraid I might collapse.
“You should take a shower and go to bed,” he tells me as we enter his kitchen, his tone casual, almost indifferent. Like he’s merely a friend letting me crash at his place for the night. But maybe that’s all he wants us to be now. “You look exhausted.”
“I am,” I admit as he leads me down the hall, showing me first a giant bathroom and then the guest bedroom, where he leaves my suitcase by the door. I enter the bedroom behind him, dropping my tote bag in the middle of the double bed.
“Well, the bathroom should have everything you need, so…” Rhett’s voice drifts and I turn to find him standing there, looking lost. A little uncomfortable.