Switching topics, I decided to ask a prodding question. I was too freaked to continue this topic. “Do you wonder what you would be doing if we had never met and this never happened?”
“I have thought about it, but it isn’t the situation and I have only forward to go. Pharmaceutical salesman as a profession is one I am far less likely to be pursuing anytime soon. I prefer to focus on us and what will happen in the future,” he said thickly.
I didn’t miss the innuendo but chose to ignore it and store it in another one of my boxes on an internal shelf. I liked Noah, but the loss of Tom was just too fresh to get past. “I was a real estate agent before this. I just graduated college with a business degree last winter. The job market is tough right now in this economy,” I admitted.
I walked over to the curtains and peaked out long enough to see the rise of the vivid orange sun on the horizon in the east. I smiled at the view and pulled the curtains open slightly to enjoy the sunrise. Noah joined me and we just stood there against the window watching the sky turn from darkness to a fresh orange glow. It was time for the day to start if we were going to make up the time we lost.
Before waking anyone up, I changed back into my faded frayed jeans and brown V-neck tee today, not wanting to wear that horrid black outfit again. Noah motioned to the shower and I nodded. He went to the shower and I was left alone with my thoughts once again.
There were now five of us in our merry band of misfits. If we found any more people, we were going to need a bigger car. The whole situation was the stuff of horror movies and novels. We were living in a nightmare that had come to life. My mom must be worried sick, but I knew I couldn’t involve her in this mess. I loved her too much to risk her safety.
Soon, I heard Mia stirring and I turned my attention to her. “Good morning, hope you slept well,” I offered politely.
“I did sleep well, thanks. My headache is much better. I wonder if I will get a power like you guys have,” she asked hopefully.
“I have no doubt that you will, we just don’t know what it is yet,” I replied.
Just then, Noah stepped out of the shower in nothing but a towel and I couldn’t help but stare. He was so dark and rugged that I almost swooned. He pretended not to notice, though I was pretty sure he did it on purpose. He grabbed his bag and slid back into the bathroom with a click of the door.
I shook my head and returned my attention to Mia, who no doubt noticed our little interlude. She chose not to address it and I was thankful.
“What should I wear today?” Mia asked, looking at the bag I was stuffing my tee and shorts back into.
“Here is a spare pair of jeans and a floral baby doll tee that you can borrow. The jeans might be just a little big and long, but your pumps should fix that until we can get you some new clothes.”
“Thank you so much. The thought of wearing that dress another minute sends chills up my spine. I hate dresses,” she said quirking a smile.
I decided not to tell Mia of our discovery until everyone was up so Noah and I could address it at the same time. Noah finally stepped out of the bathroom, fully dressed in his original polo and khakis and Mia rushed behind him to get dressed.
“I take it you found her something to wear?” Noah asked.
“Yeah, it should work until we can get her a few things from the store. When we get to Kansas City we need to stop for coffee, food and clothes. I am just about out of money so we need to figure out what we have left. Also, if we come across any more of us, that car is going to get us nowhere.”
“I can pull some more money from the ATM and as far as the car; we may need to trade it in for a van. They are usually pretty cheap and we can have Shane or Mia finance it. They aren’t really running from the law. As long as you and Nessa stay out of sight, we should be good,” he replied.
“Brilliant idea, I guess we should wake Shane and Nessa now and let them know our plans and discuss the clue we found,” I said.
“I will take Nessa, you take Shane,” I added.
Noah nodded and approached Shane’s sleeping form. I turned and headed to where Nessa lay blissfully asleep and winced at the thought of waking such a peaceful slumber. I gently shook her and she slowly cracked one eye open.
“It can’t be time to get up yet, I am not ready,” she said.
“I am sorry. We tried to wait as long as possible, but we have a lot of ground to cover today. If you want, you can sleep and I can drive,” I offered.
“Okay, okay I am up,” she groaned.
Nessa tossed the covers back and sat up. She tucked her honey blond hair behind her ears as she so frequently did and yawned. Then she noticed the grim look on my face that I couldn’t disguise from her.
“Cora, what is going on? Did something happen?” she asked, concern abundant in her voice.
“We will talk about it once everyone is dressed and awake. I want to tell everyone together.”
Nessa wasted no time grabbing the bag and heading for the restroom just as Mia was coming out. Her eyes bugged out and she looked to me.
“Geez, what is she in such a hurry for?” Mia asked.
“After everyone is up and dressed we need to have a little group discussion that is all.”
“Oh, so now we will just be waiting on Shane,” she said, pointing to Noah still trying to wrestle him out of bed.
“For Pete’s sake, let me try,” I said as I moved to Shane’s side.
I hollered for him to get up and he finally stirred.
“I see, he wakes up for you but not me,” Noah said.
“He just needed a woman’s touch,” I said teasingly.
“Get dressed, we need to have a group meeting,” I said, tossing him his clothes.
He patiently waited for Nessa to leave the restroom and proceeded to jump in for a quick shower. When he finally came out, we were all sitting there in silence waiting for him to join us.
“Okay, who died?” he joked as he shook the water from his blonde hair.
“Sit, we have a few things to go over,” I said in a neutral tone.
Once everyone was seated, I gave Noah a look and he nodded encouragingly.
“We need more money first of all. Noah is going to pull more cash out of the ATM. Also, when we get to Kansas City we need to get coffee, food and some clothes for Mia. Is everyone okay with this so far,” I asked looking around at the group nodding in unison.
“Second order of business is the car situation. We don’t know who else we will come across and no one else is going to fit in that mustang. Mia and Shane aren’t on the run and have no connection to Nessa or me. We should trade in the car for a van. Mia or Shane can finance it.”
“I will, I feel partially responsible for this situation and am happy to be able to help,” Mia said.
“Great and now on to our third and final issue we need to discuss. Noah and I scoured the newspaper for any clue and we found one,” I said passing the classified page around the room.
Nessa sucked in a deep breath as she read aloud “Ashes to Ashes life evolves. He put the blue recycle sign with it. I guess now we know what it means. Good job finding it, I never would have.”
“Does this mean he is going to turn the world to ash and we will be left standing?” Mia asked with fear in her voice.
“I think so,” Shane said as he stared at the picture grimly.
“Let’s take it with us and get to Kansas City. We have a lot to do before we can head towards Denver,” Noah said grabbing the bags off the bed.
“All right everybody, let’s head out,” I said taking queue from Noah and following him.
Nessa took one last look around for anything we missed and followed us outside.
“I am driving first shift,” I volunteered.
“I will navigate,” Noah said jumping at the opportunity to sit passenger.
I pulled up my seat and Nessa and Shane climbed in. Noah opened his door and pulled forward his seat for Mia. It was ironic to see Shane in the middle of a fema
le tug of war. I pushed my seat back and got in. Noah did the same and I started the engine and flipped through the stations for something to wake me up. I settled on an angry girl band and put the car in gear.
I made my way back to the highway in silence, everyone absorbing all the information of the morning. The highway was finally empty and we cruised along at a decent pace until we made it to the outskirts of the city. The cars started creeping along in the midst of the morning commute.
“Okay navigator, where do I go now?” I asked Noah.
“We can take highway 470 and stop in Independence. They should have everything we need there. It is up just ahead five miles.”
“Five miles is like thirty minutes in this traffic, yuck. But it is the nearest exit so I am in agreement. I definitely need a Starbucks. My head is beginning to pound from caffeine withdrawal,” I pouted.
We slowly crawled through traffic and made it on to the exit for Independence. I sighed in relief and began to search for the nearest Starbucks.
“Take the first exit, there is a Starbucks to the left and a Target as well.”
I followed Noah’s instruction and made the first exit. I was so focused on getting my Starbucks that I almost ran a red light and ended up sitting in the middle of the intersection at a dead stop just inches from the turning cars.
“Cora, you are going to kill us! I say Noah takes over the driving and you navigate,” Nessa said.
“Besides, you never were the best driver,” she added.
“Fine, after I get my coffee though,” I conceded.
The light turned green and I made my way to the parking lot at Starbucks. There was a collective sigh of relief as we pulled to a stop and everyone climbed out of the rusty mustang.
Chapter 16:
I opted for a vanilla latte and Nessa got her usual. Everyone ordered their various choices and Noah picked up the tab. I sighed in contentment as I sipped the warm sweet espresso drink. Noah looked over and gave me a smile. His smiles were working more and more on me. I felt guilty though and every time I stopped to enjoy him, my mind reeled back to Tom. I knew that he was dead, but I was still grieving for him. It still felt like he was with me somehow.
I looked down and realized I was still wearing my engagement ring and shook my hand in distress as I fought back the tears. Nessa noticed me and came over to wrap her arms around me. “Oh honey, it will be alright, I promise.”
I gave her a wan smile and we made our way out of Starbucks, the others trailing behind. We all got back into the mustang and Noah took over the driving as promised. The sky was overcast and promised rain in the near future. I rolled the window down and let the sticky summer air wash over me as I tried to calm myself down.
I looked out the window in silence as we made our way down the street to the nearest Target. No one really said much until we had managed to make it to Target.
“I say us girls get Mia clothes and you guys can get some food and miscellaneous items we need,” Nessa said.
“That sounds like a plan. I want to get some toiletries and maybe another bag for our increasing amount of stuff,” Shane replied.
We parted ways and watched as the men headed off with their cart towards the luggage section before making a move. Nessa and I needed to get Mia about two to three outfits and a pair of pajamas. She also needed a good pair of shoes. Black pumps were not real practical.
“Let’s start with shoes. We need to get you a more practical pair of flats or something,” I suggested.
“I just need a pair of cheap black flats. They will go with just about anything that I pick out. Black happens to be my favorite color.”
Nessa and I were surprised at her confession. We never figured a churchy southern girl for a Goth. “That should be easy enough,” I told her as we made our way back to the shoe section.
We browsed through the isle of flats and Mia settled on a pair of cute black flats with a small bow in the corner. They were a little more girlish than I expected but we had yet to see her wardrobe choices.
Mia turned out to be a quick and efficient shopper. She picked out a pair of black and grey plaid pajama shorts and a matching black tee in two minutes flat. In the intimates section she grasped a matching pair of black bra and panties before reaching for a soft pink set as well. Then she flittered over to the clothing section and headed for the rack of skinny jeans. She pulled out a pair of black ones and a pair of faded blue jeans.
“Okay, I just need to find a few shirts and I am good,” Mia said.
“You are the fastest shopper I have ever been shopping with,” Nessa admitted.
Mia gave a crooked smile. “I am a low maintenance kind of girl I guess.”
She pulled a teal frock off the rack and added it to her selections. It was really cute and I began to realize how easy her sense of style came to her. I was actually a little jealous. It took me forever to find anything cute that worked for me.
“How about this one,” Mia asked as she held up a grey eyelet tank to show us.
“Really cute, you should definitely get it,” I replied.
Mia seemed pleased with my answer and added it to her cache of clothes. She quickly skimmed the isles and settled on a red baby doll top. Then she turned to us and just said, “All finished.”
A magenta tee with loose sleeves caught my eye and I knew it would look perfect on me. I grab it and gave Nessa a pleading look.
“Yeah, yeah you can’t wear all my clothes forever I guess,” she said but with a small grin and a twinkle in her eyes.
At the concession, I surged ahead with another request. “I would really love my own bra and underwear as well. I can’t exactly continue on one set of yours.”
“All right, let’s head back to the intimates section again. You get two sets and hurry.”
Mia and Nessa trailed me as I stepped back into the section and quickly searched through my choices. I wanted something sexy and flirty, but practical. I grabbed a black and white plaid matching set with black laced underwear. The second one I picked up was a little more innocent but equally sexy. I grabbed a white lace bra and matching lace panties, leaving not much to the imagination.
“I think these will do,” I said as I lifted them up for Nessa to see.
“Wow, those are bold choices. I have to give you props for the self-confidence to wear those in a group like this,” Nessa replied with a wink.
She knew exactly why I picked those particular sets out and I couldn’t believe it myself. I shouldn’t have, but I had the strongest desire to look daring. I ended up naked all the time anyways, might as well have something sexy to step back into.
“Okay, it is time to toss all this in a cart and meet up with the boys. I am scared to think what they call food. We may have to veto some items and add more,” I said, changing the subject.
It didn’t take us long to find the guys. They were still looking for nonperishable food items and had managed to fill the cart. Items like potato chips, hostess snack cakes and water jam-packed the cart.
“You know, their fruit snacks are actually made of real fruit. We could use the nutrients given your choices. The water is a good call though,” I told them.
“Good point, any other items you ladies want?” Shane asked.
“Red vines, nuts and Gatorade,” Mia added.
“I could go for some animal crackers and peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches,” Nessa offered.
“Don’t forget the plastic silverware and plates,” I said.
“Okay, just add them to the cart. It looks like you got the clothing all sorted out,” Noah noted. There was a glint in his eyes as he spotted the intimates in the cart, but he didn’t comment.
“Oh and we got three duffel bags. We got one for food and two more for me and Mia,” Shane said.
The men just kind of stood there while we went and got our choices of food and piled them onto a heap in the cart. I felt kind of like a teenager on a road trip with a bunch of friends. Even though the situation w
as serious, it was crazy to think about how close we had all gotten. Even Mia was becoming just one of the girls.
I juggled the last of my items and a box of fruit snacks slipped from my grip. I dumped the rest in the cart and looked down to find that Mia had actually caught it.
“How on earth did you just do that so fast?” I asked her.
“I am not sure. I just saw it slipping and then I caught it.”
“Think fast,” I said as I tossed another box at her.
She caught it with one swift movement before it even came close to her. “Holy smokes,” she said in amazement.
“I think we just found your ability, super human reflexes,” Shane said.
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