Chapter 2
1444 Words
Two months earlier, Elizabeth became engaged to a person whose trust fund was, for some inexplicable reason, significantly larger than her own. Since then, an enormous amount of planning has begun, not only for the wedding but also for the approaching engagement party. As Elizabeth's mother often reminded her, Elizabeth was, in fact, a Vaughn.
In addition to that, it meant that Alice had to locate a date for not just one but two separate parties as a result.
Alice recounted the events of the afternoon in a short amount of time, focusing on the enormous diamond that was sitting on Nicole's slender finger. At the same time, she was still aware of the fact that the truck in front of her was travelling at a comfortable speed of twenty-one miles per hour.
In a zone with a speed limit of twenty-five miles per hour.
"Are you freaking serious? Elizabeth ruminated that Nicole and Ethan have become engaged. "How are you making it through this?"
Alice let out a sigh. "Has seen better days. I'm on my way back to the house."
Before eight o'clock? That sets a new high mark. Hold for a second, I hope you're not listening to that depressing Bonnie Raitt song again, because I'm about to say something.
Alice paused just as the repeated chorus about how to make someone love you even if they didn't started playing loudly on her speakers. It is too late to turn it off at this point. The answer is "maybe."
"I was sure that I had thrown out that CD a year ago."
It was true. However, this was one of the many benefits of having everything be digital. All that was required of Alice was to make a new purchase of the song and add it to the playlist of breakup songs she'd compiled months earlier. For precisely times such as this.
"You need to get back to your house and open a bottle of wine. I'm sorry I can't make it over, but I have an appointment with the caterer for the engagement party and I'm running a little bit behind schedule. Supposed to put the finishing touches on the menu. However, I'll give you a call later on?
"No, don't be concerned about that at all. I'm going to take a long bath with lots of bubbles and then console myself with a pint of coffee ice cream. If I can just bring the temperature of my bathwater up to sixty-four degrees, I'll be happy.
"I cautioned you about purchasing a home that needs some work. You need to find someone who is able to assist you."
"I'm trying to figure it out." The truck in front of her came to a stop at the four-way stop as she approached it. Alice hastily bid her friends and family farewell and then disconnected. She reached forward and turned the dial on the radio so that it was playing at a higher volume before looking back at the road.
Shit! She applied the brakes so forcefully that she came dangerously close to colliding with the truck that had just come to a stop in front of her at the stop sign. Her mobile phone somehow managed to dislodge itself from the centre console of the vehicle and landed with a thud somewhere near her feet. The best.
It is the vehicle. She took advantage of the lull in the action to say a quick prayer, hoping that he would either hang a right or go straight. So long as he got the hell out of her way, everything would be OK.
He veered off to the left. Oh, eff.
Alice hesitantly continued her pursuit and headed to the left. Up ahead, she was finally able to make out the top of the newly purchased two-story house she had been looking for. Even though the down payment alone had been comparable to her total student loan debt, it had been well worth it for her to purchase the century-old home that was located in the prestigious Avenues neighbourhood just east of downtown Salt Lake.
The arrival of Anna was imminent. She was swept away by an ocean of serenity.
That is, until she noticed that the guy was taking a slower pace. A lot.
Oh. Lord. What if she moved into a block where this man was already living? Even though she had moved in almost a month ago, she had only met her next-door neighbour, Evelyn, a kind widow who had brought over a batch of cookies the day after Alice had moved in. Other than Evelyn, she hadn't met anybody else in the neighbourhood because of the late evenings she spent working.
He sneaked passed her house, as well as Evelyn's house, and the house after that...
Phew. She sighed a sigh of relief and made the turn to the left into her driveway. She caught a glimpse of the white truck performing a U-turn out of the corner of her eye. He came to a stop on the curb in front of Evelyn's house.
After parking her Audi, Alice sagged into the plush beige leather seats and closed her eyes. How much more miserable could this day possibly become? She contemplated hiding from him in the safe haven of her vehicle and acting as if she was searching for something in her handbag in order to distract him until he left. However, she was not at all a cowardly person, thus she would not have resorted to that method of escape.
A quick look The woman noticed in her rearview mirror that the guy had opened his own door with some effort. The guy walked around to the front of the vehicle as a crown of hair with a colour similar to coal-black appeared over the top of the cab. Above the white T-shirt that clung to his toned upper body, he wore a light blue chambray shirt with the buttons undone, which served as a jacket. Ripped and baggy pants dangled loosely from the wearer's hips.
She had considerable trouble swallowing what she was eating. He was undoubtedly attractive to take a look at.
Even at this distance, his brilliant eyes stood out against his skin that had been kissed by the sun. Keeping an eye on her.
Frederick Sorensen was conscious of the fact that the she-devil was observing him as he stood outside of his truck. The crazy woman's outburst of road rage may have caused other guys to lose their cool, but he found it...amusing. Other men may have lost their cool.
It turned out that this new neighbour was his aunt. Ever since Evelyn came in, she had been making efforts to bring the counsel they both needed together. If his aunt ever believed for one second that the two of them could possibly be compatible, she was suffering from a severe case of hallucination. Her Audi was more expensive than all of his income from the previous year combined. When it came to a woman like that, he'd once made the mistaken assumption that he was sufficient on his own. And all that it had accomplished was to cause him emotional distress when she broke up with him, citing his lack of ambition as the reason for her decision.
Nevertheless, it would be best for him to go make his introduction because else his aunt would never let him forget about it.
When he got closer, her door opened on its own, but she was so bent over that she wasn't even aware that he was there. It appeared to him that she was looking for something that was relatively close to her feet. Most likely the mobile phone that was located three inches to the right of her right foot. Because she was so intent on finding what she was looking for, he refrained from interfering.
Especially considering the fact that the top of her shirt was hanging open, exposing an interesting amount of cleavage. After all, he was just a human being.
She sat up, her eyes opened, and she reached for her phone as she turned around to see him standing outside her door. It's possible that your eyes are blue. In contrast to the scorching, fiery red of her hair, which appeared to gleam even when it was tied up beneath the waning fall sun, these colours, whatever they were, were brilliant and blazing in their intensity.
Even though Evelyn had remarked on how gorgeous she was, there was more to the story.
He flashed the most endearing smile he could muster. "I've never seen anyone drive so...determinedly before."
- Writer
