Runaway

New Beginnings

Another morning relaxing in bed with my newest romance novel before I have to face the world. That’s when I hear the school bus coming down the street to pick up the neighborhood kids. “s**t!” I shout as I jump out of bed and run for the bathroom. The sound of that bus means it's now 6:30 am and, per usual, I’ve gotten lost in my book and forgot the time. So now I have an hour to shower, shave and be ready to leave for work.

In all honesty, I probably should’ve started getting ready for work an hour ago. The CEO will be coming into the office today for some big announcement. In the last six months I’ve worked at the company, I have never seen the CEO. Apparently, his son and him have been traveling around the globe securing new business. So I suspect the big announcement is some merger or expansion. Either way, as long as they keep paying me the fat salary I’ve become accustomed to, I shall not complain.

An hour later, I am putting on the finishing touches, my hair is curled, my false eyelashes in place and now to complete my outfit with my favorite red bottoms. It may seem as though I dress a little over the top for the office, and that would probably be an accurate assumption. I grew up obsessed with Dolly Parton, big hair, and heavy makeup. I don’t dress to please others; I dress to please myself and being over the top makes me happy. It always gives people pause, but once I set down to the table I always give these boys in suits a run for their money. I guess you can say I fancy myself a real-life 9 to 5 version of Dolly.

As I am running around my house looking for the match to my nude Louboutin pumps, I hear that all too familiar groan and huff from my favorite girl Charlie. She is my best friend and constant companion. I swear she hates morning as much as I do and grumbles and complains at the amount of noise I make every morning when I’m getting ready for work.

“Awe Charlie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you” I say.

She just looks at me with her big brown eyes, and shifts on her bed so she doesn’t have to look at me and then huffs again. Feeling guilty, I walk over to her and give her a big hug and kiss. She continues to ignore me, but I know she loves me.

“You’re going to miss me while I am at work, so don’t ignore me. At least give me some goodby love” I say.

At this she turns an ear in my direction. Now I know her resolve is finally starting to break. She loves me too much to let me leave without her, at least giving me some love first. I know this exchange has cost me time I didn’t have, but she is worth it. So, finally, with a last groan, she stands up and stretches, and leans into my body for me to hug her. When she trots off to get some water, I curse as I realize the hussy has been lying on my missing shoe the entire time. Not to mention, I now need to lint roll my outfit to remove all the hair she left on me. I just roll my eyes and move along.

Finally, I’m out the door and headed for my car. One of the first things I bought with my most recent promotion was a beautiful new Mercedes AMG-GT coupe. She is a thing of beauty and I drive her like I stole her. I ordered her in with matte black paint with gloss black pinstripe. I call her black widow. I guess you could say it was one of those post-divorce splurges. Other than my home she was the most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased on my own. It was a big moment being able to spend that kind of money without asking for anyone's permission or opinion on the matter. I wanted it, so I got it.

I pull out of my driveway and onto the street and check the clock on the dash. It’s already 7:45 am, and I still have a 20-minute commute into the city. It doesn’t look like I’ll be stopping for coffee this morning, I’ll have to speed the entire drive in just to make it by 8 am. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for a miracle that traffic isn't terrible in downtown Atlanta on a Monday morning. I know it's unrealistic, but a woman can dream, right?