Married This Year 4: Ticket To Ride

by Tracey Pedersen

  Jordan let out a weak laugh and finally let her legs start shaking like they’d wanted to do for the last twenty minutes. She bent over and sucked in big lungfuls of air as he rubbed his palms against his thighs..

  “I’m really, really sorry. I’m guessing you want to flee home, now?”

  “That’s probably best. Should I wait a little while, though? Do you think she’d be watching?”

  “Probably,” he said with a flippant tone that told Jordan he put up with this behaviour from his ex quite often. “I’ll make us a coffee and tell you the whole sordid tale, if you’d like.”

  “Can’t wait.” She sat on the couch where they’d laughed earlier tonight. All the fun had drained out of the room, though, and she wanted to get home to lie on the couch and be greeted by Rex.

  And Luke…

  Shaking her head at the way Luke’s face always popped up when she was on a date, she accepted the coffee that Tom handed her. “Okay, give me the short version of this story. I expect it is long and I could be here all night.”

  “It is very long. Diane and I were married for eight years. Everything started fine, of course. We were happy and our life together was great.” He sipped his drink. “About two years ago, she lost her job. Her company made her redundant, and she took it badly. She wasn’t motivated to go to any interviews, and after six months of it, I’d come home to find her sitting in the same place she was when I left in the morning. I tried to get her to go to counselling, but she wouldn’t go, so I went alone. After eighteen months of hell, I finally told her I wanted a divorce. That pushed her even further over the edge, and now we find ourselves here.” He laughed without humour as he stared into his cup. “I’ve only been on a couple of dates, and she’s managed to ruin every single one.”

  “Sounds like you might have a stalker.”

  “Yes, I have considered that. She’s harmless, though. It’s such a shame, because we were in love. I thought she was beautiful when we first met. She was fun, and we got along well from the first day. The redundancy changed her, though. She’s never been the same.”

  “Tom, are you still in love with her?”

  “What?” He snapped out of his reverie. “No, of course not. I might have been able to take her back, but now she’s done too many awful things. Sometimes things go missing from the house and the yard. One day, I came home and there was no toilet paper in either of the bathrooms.”

  They drank in silence, and Jordan tapped her foot, desperate to leave but worried it wasn’t yet safe to go. She didn’t want to run straight out on him, but she didn’t want to be here, anymore. She put her empty cup on the table and said, “Well, it’s time for me to call it a night.”

  He stood and walked her to the door as he continued to apologise. She walked to her car with her spine ramrod straight, refusing to give in to her desire to check the bushes along the driveway for crazy ex-wives. As she drove away, she didn’t even look to see if he was still standing outside.

  Jordan ran over the events of the night in her head and was in the middle of a pep talk, telling herself she’d had a lucky escape, when her fuel gauge started beeping and the yellow light came on. She turned in the direction of home, knowing she’d pass several petrol stations before she got there. After pulling into the first one she found still open, she rifled around to get her purse from her handbag. As she opened the door, a navy blue sedan parked right beside her at the pump. She filled her tank and went inside to pay, where she grabbed a chocolate bar to calm her nerves. Sugar always did the trick.

  She got back into her car and pulled out onto the street. As she did so, she noticed the sedan leave the driveway at the same time.

  Funny—I didn’t see anyone get out.

  Pushing the irrelevant thought aside, she continued toward home. She took a left at the lights and then turned right to use a side street, which was quicker. She glanced in the rear view mirror, where a dark-coloured car followed her.

  The same car from the servo?

  She watched the car, convinced that no one had emerged from it while she had filled her own. They’d left at the same time as her, and now here they were, behind her in a side street that would be wildly coincidental for two cars to take at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday night. She knew in her heart that she was being followed, and there was only one person who would have a reason to do that tonight.

  She tapped her phone in the hands-free holder and brought up Tom’s number. He answered on the first ring and said, “Jordan, is that you?”

  “Yep. I think your crazy ex is following me home!”

  “Damn. She texted me and she seems angry. Now she’s not answering her phone, so I don’t know what she’s up to.” His voice was strained.

  “This is madness, Tom. Are you sure she’s not dangerous? As it stands, I’m too scared to go home. I don’t want her to know where I live.”

  “Fair call. I wish she didn’t know where I lived.” He sounded sad, and Jordan felt a wave of sympathy for him. The poor guy. He’d been dealing with this for months and was obviously suffering. “It’ll be okay. Are you doing okay? This must be hard for you.”

  “I’m alright. I wish it had turned out differently, that’s all.”

  “Everything will work out in the end, Tom.” He sniffed and she noted that he hadn’t asked if she was okay—not even when she told him she was being followed.

  “Okay, I’m not going home. I’m going to drive around for a while and see if I can lose her.”

  “Alright. I’ll have a think about things and I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly as she clicked the disconnect button. She had no idea what he was talking about or what he’d have to let her know tomorrow.

  Right now, though, she needed to get rid of the current Mrs Diane Sinden. She took the next turn a little faster than she’d intended and her rear tyre spun.

  Calm down, Jordan, you don’t want to have an accident. You’d likely wake up to find her standing over you, like a scene from a horror film.

  She went left and then right, heading toward the city. The best chance to lose her would be at traffic lights; if she could slip through a light about to turn red, she’d be set. Luck was on her side, and three intersections later, she planted her foot as the light turned amber.

  Two cars were waiting to turn right, and they edged out after her, before Diane had the chance to speed through the light. Brakes squealed, and Jordan was too scared to look in the mirror to confirm she’d lost her tail. She quickly took another left off the main road and then took the first right, where she parked the car on a side street far from a street light. She slid down in her seat and grabbed her phone to dial Luke.

  “Hey, there,” he said, and the smile in his voice warmed her terrified insides.

  “Hey. Where are you?”

  “I walked Rex and I was about to go home. Where are you?”

  “Can you stay? I’m on my way home. Would you mind coming down to the car when I get there?”

  “Of course not. How long?”

  “Five minutes. I’m just around the corner.”

  “Okie doke. See you soon.” He hung up and she smiled at her phone. Once again, the guy with the pushbike was the only one there to hold her hand.

  Universe, you are so unfair!

  October

  It was October first, and Jordan lay in bed, single and fending off text messages from dates who’d decided their heart was still with their ex—the same date who had told her last night how crazy the ex was and how she was ruining his life.

  I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST.

  The words popped up on her screen, and Jordan snorted. Rex lifted his head to look at her, and she pushed his protesting body off the bed with her foot. “That’ll teach you to look at me like that. I dodged a bullet last night, Rexy.”

  She had a date tonight, and she groaned when she thought about it. She was tempted to cancel, but this was the last one—the last stranger she’d agreed to meet in
the hopes of a serious relationship coming from it. She could only imagine what new crazy person she was about to let into her life. Surely there was nothing else left to endure? Couldn’t she have one nice night out with a man who didn’t turn out to have a screw loose?

  It wouldn’t matter after tonight, anyway. The wedding was on the twentieth, and she would be busy all month helping Shelly make sure all the details were perfect. The bridesmaid dresses would arrive this week, and they’d have their final fittings. Shelly was so excited about it every time they saw her that she could barely breathe.

  Am I disappointed I won’t be planning my big day any time soon?

  She smiled to herself as she realised she wasn’t disappointed, at all. Once she got over the heartache of Richard, she’d realised that she wasn’t compatible with any of the men she’d spent time with during the year. Trying hard to create a relationship didn’t make it magically happen. When the right man came along, she’d know.

  Her phone vibrated, and she pressed the screen to answer. “Hi, Mum. How are you?”

  “I’m perfect,” she said. “I’m picking out my outfit for the wedding today, and I wondered if you’d come help me. I don’t want to look like an old lady.”

  Jordan smiled. Her mother had never asked her for help with shopping.

  Nor has she ever started a conversation without asking you about your current boyfriend.

  Maybe things were looking up for her.

  ***

  Her date insisted he would pick her up and take her to a nearby pub for dinner. Her desire to cancel from the morning hadn’t subsided, and several times she’d nearly sent a text to get out of it. It was too late now, though: Xavier had sent a message to let her know that he was on his way and that he only had to make a quick fuel stop.

  Ten minutes later, her phone beeped and she made her way downstairs. He kissed her on the cheek and showed her to his car, where they made small talk as he drove down the street and turned at the intersection. They were almost at the pub when he pulled into a petrol station and parked his car near a pump. Jordan had noticed that his fuel light was on, but she hadn’t mentioned it, assuming it was broken.

  He faced her with a sheepish look on her face. “Err… Jordan, this is a bit embarrassing, but do you have a couple of dollars?”

  “Uhh… sure.” She pulled out her wallet, “How much do you need?”

  “Honestly, a two dollar coin will be fine. I have three, so I’ll chuck five dollars in and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Didn’t you just fuel up?” She kept a pleasant look on her face as her heart sank.

  Here we go again.

  “I did, but I had to use a lot to get to you. Maybe next time you should drive yourself.”

  “Really? You were minutes away when you filled up twenty minutes ago, and now you need fuel again?”

  “Yeah. My car uses a lot of petrol, I guess.”

  “I guess so. How about this?” She smiled at him, hoping he couldn’t see the scorn in her eyes. “I’ll give you ten bucks, so you have enough fuel to get home, and then you can drop me home and we’ll call it a night.”

  “No, but I—”

  She raised her hand to cut him off. “It’s not about the fact that you were going to add my two to your whopping three dollars. I know this isn’t going to work out, and I should have cancelled hours ago.” She held out the ten-dollar note. “Go on, put it in, and we can end this sooner.”

  He looked sad as he took the money and went to the fuel pump. It was all she could do not to scream laughing as she watched him put six dollars of fuel in the car. He paid, got back in, and didn’t mention the price difference.

  He must need those few bucks.

  When he dropped her home, she skipped happily up the stairs, safe in the knowledge that she was done with dating.

  ***

  Shelly and Boyd’s wedding went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect, the venue divine, and the happy couple beamed all day. Even Jordan’s mother making eyes at her up at the alter couldn’t dim the happiness she felt for her friends.

  There’d been an awkward moment with George at the reception, but she’d glossed that over by asking if he’d jacked any cars lately. He soon decided to keep as far away from her as possible.

  Emily, Andrea, and Jordan sat outside hours later, watching the bride and groom make their way around to each of their guests. A waiter bought them drinks and complimented them on their beautiful gowns. Lori slipped into the vacant seat beside Andrea and they held hands.

  “You know, I thought I would feel a little sad for me today. It’s October, and I’m obviously not going to get married before we tick over into the New Year. This wedding had the potential to upset me, but I haven’t thought about it at all until now. Even then, I’m only bringing it up to tell you that I don’t think I need to get married to be happy.”

  “What?” Andrea cried. “After we’ve tried to get you hitched all year?”

  “I know!” She laughed, “It seems crazy to me, too, but I’m good with it. The world will go on, my mother will keep nagging, and I need to relax and stop trying so hard to press my will onto things that need to take their natural course.” She took a sip of her champagne.

  “I’m happy, I’m healthy, I love my job, and I love all of you guys. I’m only twenty-eight years old—that’s nothing. I have a whole lifetime ahead of me to travel, have kids, and meet my perfect match, if that’s what’s in store for me.”

  “You know,” Emily said when Jordan took a breath, “since you’ve stopped drinking as much, you’ve been a lot less worried about this kind of stuff.”

  “Ha! You could be right. I wonder how this conversation would have gone if we’d gotten shit-faced. I’d probably be a blubbering mess.”

  “Well, drunk people do speak the truth.” Andrea reminded them of her motto.

  “Maybe it wouldn’t be a cry-fest, then. I can honestly say that I’m more at ease now than I have been at any other time. I even knocked back a date from the caterer earlier. My new-found peace around marriage could change at any moment, of course, should my mother wander past.”

  “What’s that, dear?”

  “Nothing, Mum. Come and sit down with us.”

  “Give me a second—I’ll just tell Luke where I am. I don’t want him to think he’s been abandoned.” She waved her arm across the green lawn and then settled herself in the nearest chair.

  “Tell me again how Luke came to this wedding with you.”

  “I invited him, dear.”

  “Obviously, but why him? Surely Dad wanted to come?”

  “Nope, he was content at home. He’s planning our trip to Paris.”

  “You agreed to go to Paris?” Jordan rolled her eyes, and the girls all laughed. “Finally!”

  Patricia sniffed and smiled at Emily and Andrea. “I figured I’d ask for the best place first,” she confided, and they all laughed again. “Anyway, Luke was around mowing the lawn to help Dad out, so I thought it would be a nice reward for him.”

  “What?”

  “He sometimes does that, dear. It’s such a nice help. He and Dad did an oil change on the car a couple of weeks ago. Dad was so proud—it was his first one.”

  Jordan did a double take at her mother. “Luke comes to your house often?” she asked, her face a picture of disbelief.

  “Not often, but more than you do.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her mother. “It’s every few weeks, or so. Next week, he’s going to hang my new curtains in the sitting room. He’s bought all the hooks and the railing, and now they have to be installed. You should come over when he does it—maybe you could give him a lift him to help him out.”

  Jordan barked out a laugh as her mother kept prattling on about Luke. She soon moved on to ask Andrea and Lori where they’d met, and Luke wandering across the grass in his suit caught Jordan’s attention. Two small boys were running along beside him and laughing as he blew bubbles for them from the wedding favours. It
was like a scene straight out of a movie.

  Trust Luke to look so perfect with children falling at his feet.

  November

  Emily, Luke, and Jordan sat in the hotel bar at a table in the corner. They were waiting for Shelly and Boyd to come down from their hotel room, and the bar seemed as good a place as any to wait. Emily had volunteered to take them to the airport today for their official honeymoon.

  Jordan and Luke had been about to have lunch nearby when Emily had called. Luke joked now with Emily about her single status, and Jordan’s attention was drawn to the door, where a small scene was taking place.

  A man was loudly asking about the hygiene of the attached restaurant, and the maître d’ was trying to quiet him while he answered his questions. The man making such a fuss was Matt, from the bank. Jordan’s lips twitched as she watched him grilling the staff about their processes in the kitchen.

  Wow. I’m so glad I picked those berries that day!

  She snickered, and Luke turned his attention to her before following her eyes to see what was so funny. “Who’s that?”

  “Oh, you might be able to guess, if you listen to the conversation for a minute.”

  He tuned in, but turned confused eyes on her. “Nope. I’ve got nothing.”

  “That,” she took a sip of her drink as the voices near the door finally quieted, “is Matt, the bank teller.”

  “Crazy germ-phobe Matt?”

  “The very same.” They watched as he left the restaurant without making a booking, and Luke grinned at her.

  “Lucky escape.” He nodded, and she put her drink on the table.

  “Oh, Jesus, what’s in the water today?” The words escaped her lips before she could stop them, and once again, Luke followed her gaze.

  “This is getting interesting,” he laughed as he saw who she was looking at. “Which one is he?”

  “That’s Pierre, the Frenchman who likes to stack his dates one after the other. I wonder how many there’ll be tonight?” she giggled as he and his date took a seat at the bar. “It couldn’t happen to him twice, could it?”