“And that’s when you compromise, Colin. Not be an asshole to get what you want. Toddlers do that. Not grown adults.”
“I did compromise,” I said. “I went first in the shower and the bathroom to give you time to wake up.”
“Ah, fifteen minutes of compromise. How sweet,” she said.
“I’m going to assume you were being serious so this doesn’t turn into a fight,” I said.
I grabbed my packed suitcase and walked out of the room just as she threw her towel at my head. I had no idea what the hell was up her ass, but I wasn’t going to deal with it. She could sit quietly in the car for all I cared, but she wasn’t going to make the rest of the five hours of this trip a living nightmare for me. This conference was going to introduce what we were doing with the European marketplace, and I was going to be shaking hands with many people I would eventually be working alongside all this year.
I had a great deal to prepare, and Abby wasn’t going to slow me down.
Again.
I cranked up the car and started warming it up as Abby came out of the room. She slung her bag into the backseat with a huff, anger still painted on her face. A motel like this didn’t have coffee and breakfast, so that was one stop we had to make on top of gas. I could already feel time ticking down like a bomb ready to explode. I needed to get somewhere where I could work in peace. Away from anyone who found my schedule to be an inconvenience.
Abby walked one last time through the motel room before she grabbed her purse, slammed the door behind her, and jumped into the car.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Whatever.”
I backed us out of the parking space and engaged the four-wheel drive. The car rode smoothly down the snow-covered roads and I could feel the progression surging through my veins. All my life, that was what I needed. Forward progression that led towards positive outcomes. It was how I kept my head in the game. It was how I kept moving forward during difficult moments. Knowing there was a light at the end of the tunnel that I’d created for myself helped when it felt like life was intentionally trying to stall me.
Like at this very moment.
“Coffee?” Abby asked.
“Trying to find a gas station now.”
“Ah, gas station coffee. Figured,” she said.
“Take it or leave it.”
Her eyes slowly panned over to me as I felt my hands grip the steering wheel.
She held my profile in her gaze until I came to a stop at the gas station. She watched me get out of the car and walk around to start pumping gas. I could feel her eyes on me as I walked into the gas station, and I’m sure she was probably trying to watch me as I walked up and down the aisles. Gas station coffee and doughnuts would have to suffice for breakfast, because I wasn’t stopping again until it was time for lunch. If I could keep a steady pace of fifty-five miles an hour on the highway, that would put us just two hours outside of our final destination.
At lunchtime today.
The thought made me smile as I paid for all of our stuff.
Abby was less than thrilled at things, but she took the coffee without a word. The roads were completely clear as we hit the highway, and I drew in a deep breath of pride through my nose. Even though Abby was upset with me, I knew I’d made the right call. There was no blizzard, the sky was clearing up, and the sun was rising.
Which meant some of this stuff on the road would start to melt.
The roads hadn’t been plowed, but they were no match for the four-wheel drive on our rental car. It felt like the world was buzzing by us as we cruised down the highway. Things in the car were completely silent, with Abby’s eyes gazing out the window just so she could avoid eye contact with me. She mindlessly sipped her coffee and didn’t once touch her doughnuts, but I didn’t care either way.
I was just ready to be in Kansas for this damn conference.
Then, I hit a patch of ice and the car slipped. It slipped so badly that I went over the line and into the other lane of traffic. I put my coffee down and gripped the steering wheel as Abby shrieked in the car, and I could tell by her panicked breathing that she wasn’t okay.
“If we’re going to drive in this crappy weather, the least you can do is slow down and take it easy,” she said.
“We’re just fine. It was only a little patch of ice,” I said.
“That almost got us killed,” she said. “Watch it, okay? I’m not telling you to stop, or turn around, or whatever the hell it is you think I’m trying to do. I’m not here to sabotage you. I’m just trying not to die.”
“And here we go again. We aren’t going to die. The skies are clear, there’s no blizzard in sight. All I have to do is keep my eyes on the—”
We slipped again on another patch of ice and I had to slow the car down in order to regain control.
“Road?” Abby asked.
I shot her a look and I could see her cowering against the door. Her hand was grasping the emergency handle above her head and I could see her knuckles whitening. No matter how tense the atmosphere was between us right now, she was scared.
So, I slowed the car down a little bit before I set my cruise control again.
“Better?” I asked.
“Thanks,” she said.
Just then, my
