Accidental Meeting

by Susette Williams

  Accidental Meeting

  By Susette Williams

  EBook ©2012 by Susette Williams

  Cover Art ©2012 by

  The characters and situations in this story are fictional and are a work of the authors imagination. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment and may not be re-sold or the download rights transferred to any individual. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please kindly respect the hard work of the author whom benefits from actual sales/downloads of this eBook.

  Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

  Other Books by Susette Williams:

  NEW GARDEN'S CONVERSION in The Quakers of New Garden - Barbour 2012

  FALLING IN LOVE - Seasons of the Heart novella series

  WINTER CHILL - Seasons of the Heart novella series

  Coming Soon

  Novellas -

  SPRING BREAK - Seasons of the Heart novella series

  HEATED SUMMER - Seasons of the Heart novella series

  Novels -

  A BRAND NEW HEART

  SOMETHING ABOUT SAM

  DEADLY BUSINESS - Maid for Murder trilogy

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to God for giving me inspiration and desire to write; my husband, Rob, and my six children (Delilah, Eric, Melissa, Gabrielle, Nehemiah and Nathaniel) for encouraging me and allowing me to pursue a writing career; and my friends and critique partners, Jacqui Hopper and Cynthia Hickey, for encouraging me and offering guidance in publishing this, and other, stories.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Excerpt of Falling in Love novella

  Psalms 97: 10, 11 (NIV) Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

  Chapter One

  Abbey Martin turned the key in the ignition of her blue Ford Focus. Nothing, not even a grind or wheeze sounded with each exasperating attempt. She clutched the top of the steering wheel and rested her head against her hands for what seemed an eternity. Where was a man when you needed one?

  Abbey’s head popped up, sending a cascade of auburn wisps fluttering to frame her oval face.

  Her roommate, Monica, had the day off. Maybe she could borrow Monica's car. The last thing she wanted was to be late for today’s meeting. After six years with Abbot & Ellingsworth Institute of Technology, she finally had the chance to advance up the corporate ladder, providing her boss.

  Unless, her boss, Gary Hartman, stood in her way. Although Abbey knew she shouldn’t hate anybody, she couldn’t help feeling enraged by Gary’s ability to turn things around in his favor and make others look incompetent.

  Grabbing her briefcase and purse, Abbey hurried back upstairs to their apartment. “Monica,” she yelled as soon as she opened the door.

  Monica’s long blonde hair swayed gently as she peeked around the kitchen doorway. “Hey, you’re back. Don’t tell me they shortened your work day.”

  Abbey sighed, ignoring her roommates teasing. “My car won’t start. Can I borrow yours?”

  “Sure, my keys are in my purse. Help yourself.” Monica disappeared back into the kitchen. “Are you sure you don’t want something for breakfast? That toast you ate won’t hold you 'til lunch. I’m almost done making breakfast for Eric and me. There’s enough to share.”

  “Thanks, but I’m too nervous to eat. Where’s Eric?” Abbey looked around the living room of their two-bedroom apartment for Monica’s son. The hunter green and navy plaid sofa sleeper where Eric slept was already made up. Usually Eric was sitting there watching TV until it was time for him to go out and wait for his school bus to come.

  “I’m here.” The seven-year-old leaned his upper torso out of the bathroom, tooth brush still in his mouth.

  That brought a smile to Abbey’s lips. Retrieving Monica’s keys, she stopped just a moment to kiss Eric’s head before she headed back out the door, hollering over her shoulder as she left, “I may be late tonight.”

  "Abbey," Monica shouted.

  Halfway down the first flight of stairs, Abbey stopped and turned at the sound of her name reverberating off the walls.

  Monica bent over the banister. “If it’s not too much trouble would you mind stopping on your way home, and picking up some more milk? We’re out.”

  “Okay.” Abbey turned and began her descent again when she thought of something. “Hey, I almost forgot to ask you to call the garage and see if they can look at my car today. I would, but I’ll be in meetings all day.”

  “Will do. Good luck.” Monica smiled and went back into their apartment.

  “I’ll need it along with a lot of prayer,” Abbey mumbled to herself. She left their two-story apartment building and hurried to Monica’s red Neon. It started fine and she zipped out of the parking lot and into traffic—which was moving at a turtle’s pace.

  “Of all the mornings for traffic to be backed up.” She was tempted to park in a parking lot and walk instead. It would be faster. As if echoing her thoughts, a jogger passed her vehicle like it was standing still.

  Right now she needed peace and was too stressed by further delays to pray and ask for help. Normally, she put on a praise tape and sang. Today she didn’t feel like it. Something was up at work, but what—she didn’t know. They'd kept the contents of today’s meeting under wraps for some reason, but Gary had told her she would also find out about her promotion at the onset of the meeting.

  Irritation clouded her mood every time she thought about her boss. She should have gotten a promotion six months ago, but Gary didn’t think she was a 'team player.’ The only kind of player Gary was interested in was one that would rumple sheets with him and that was one thing she wasn’t about to do. Gary seemed to take some sort of sick satisfaction in keeping her as his assistant and under his thumb.

  The only other person up for the promotion was Stacey—blonde, leggy, and skin-tight-clothes-wearing competition. Those were Stacey’s main attributes. Abbey couldn’t help the smirk that crept to her lips. There was no way Gary could honestly pass her over this time. If he promoted Stacey instead, it would become obvious to others how his promotions worked. Abbey had better qualifications and an associate's degree. The only thing Stacey had going for her was… Gary.

  Abbey turned into the parking lot and parked. Smoothing her hair, she gave herself a quick look in the review mirror and then grabbed her purse and briefcase and exited the car. She rushed into Abbot & Ellingsworth, took the elevator to her floor, and didn’t stop until she reached her desk and opened up her briefcase.

  “Little late today aren’t you?”

  Abbey looked up in time to see the smirk on Stacey’s face.

  “Oh, by the way, Gary wants to see you in his office right away. The meeting has been postponed an hour.”

  Abbey nodded. “Then I don't guess I'm late.”

  Stacey smiled sweetly. “I don’t think Gary’s in a very good mood. Be careful.”

  Glancing at her watch, she frowned. She wasn’t that late. Not that it took much to set her boss off.

  Smoothing out her black, pin-striped skirt, Abbey directed herself towards Gary’s office. Outside the door, she took a deep breath and knocked.

  “Come in.”

  Abbey’s hand shook a fraction as she gripped the handle and entered. “St
acey said you wanted to see me, Mr. Hartman.”

  Gary hadn’t donned his jacket or tie, the top button of his white shirt was still unfastened. It didn’t look like he was in a rush this morning. He glanced at his watch before his gaze focused on the clock on the wall, almost as if he was confirming that his watch was right. When he finally looked at Abbey, her pulse raced. She knew he wouldn’t miss using this opportunity to his advantage.

  “Sorry I was a few minutes late.”

  Gary frowned.

  “My car wouldn’t start and I had to borrow a friend’s car to get to work.”

  “Sounds like your day isn’t starting off well.” Gary sat down on the black, leather loveseat and motioned for her to sit down next to him. Abbey took a seat. File folders lay strewn across the coffee table in front of them. He picked up one and thumbed through its contents. “I hope your day turns out better. Maybe we should go ahead and plan a celebration? Where would you like to go for dinner tonight? I know of—“

  “No,” Abbey cut in. “I can’t. I promised my roommate I would stop and run some errands for her after work.”

  Gary seemed to contemplate her words. “No reason we can’t celebrate now. The meeting starts in an hour.”

  Gary’s hand reached to caress her cheek.

  Abbey pushed his hand away and stood. “Stop!”

  “I thought you wanted to move up in the company?”

  “I don’t plan,” Abbey motioned frantically to the couch as she continued in a strained voice, “to do it this way.”

  “There’s no harm in having a little fun at work. Why not enjoy your job?”

  “Argh. Don’t you get it? I’m not interested.” Abbey backed further away from the loveseat.

  “Apparently you’re the one who doesn’t get it.” Gary stood and moved around the coffee table toward her. When Abbey backed away, he stopped. “If you want to be on the team—you’ve got to be willing to play.”

  “I’ll be sure to tell Mr. Linden you said that.” Abbey folded her arms across her chest.

  Gary laughed. “Go ahead. He already knows you’re uncompromising.”

  Abbey felt her mouth drop open. Gary took a couple of steps, closing the gap between them.

  “I told him I’d let him know this morning who I felt was best suited for the promotion. Now it’s up to you.” Gary twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. “So, who’s going to win?”

  “Certainly not you! I quit!”

  “You can’t quit,” he said in a low voice before he headed to his office door and opened it, shouting, “You’re fired!”

  Abbey wanted to stomp her foot and scream. As she passed him, he whispered, “Don’t even think of claiming harassment. Everyone will think you’re just trying to get even for getting fired.”

  This time she gave into the urge to stomp her foot. “You won’t get away with this.”

  She held her head high and looked straight ahead; stopping long enough to slam her briefcase closed and grab a photo of Monica and Eric off her desk. Then rushed to catch the elevator. Before the elevator had time to reach the ground floor, tears were brimming in Abbey’s eyes. He would get away with it, again. Hadn’t she been naïve enough to believe her predecessor wasn’t qualified, even though her files were impeccable when she reviewed them? What would make anyone think any differently about her? Especially with the display Gary put on for the other office workers. He was right; they would think she was being vindictive.

  Abbey stormed out of the building and scurried to her vehicle in the parking garage. Within moments she was speeding off the lot and into morning traffic. Calm down, she told herself as tears began their descent, rolling until they dropped in her lap. Abbey popped a tape in the cassette player. Lord, help me to find the answers. Why did you allow this to happen? I need a job. What am I going to do now?

  I surrender all floated through the air, lifting her spirits with the refreshing chorus. Abbey had given her life to Jesus when she was eighteen, a little over ten years ago, and since that time she had learned to put her trust in Him. Lord, I give it all to you and I thank you.

  This time when the tears flowed, they were tears of joy and thanksgiving. God had a plan, even if she didn’t know what it was, she knew she could trust in Him. He would reward her for taking a stand. Abbey blinked rapidly, trying to focus before reaching up to wipe the remaining tears from her eyes.

  A horn blared. Abbey swerved to avoid hitting a truck. Black flashed into view. She gasped and hit the brakes. She screamed just before she clipped the back end of a slick, black Lincoln MKS luxury car. The tail end of the car slid with the impact, the driver quickly regained control of his vehicle and pulled over to the side of the road. Abbey followed, parking a car length behind him. Her heart pounded in her chest. Oh, Lord, please don’t let him be hurt.

  Glancing at the embankment on the right side of them, she could only imagine what would have happened if his car had gone over the edge. Not that it was a far drop, but a vehicle out of control probably would have rolled. Abbey shoved the door open. Carefully, she tested her shaky legs, then stood. Glancing toward the other car she saw a tall man in a black suit was examining the damage to the back of his vehicle.

  He’s all right, Abbey sighed as fresh tears began to flow. She started toward him, so relieved she didn’t think. As she approached him she reached out in relief to hug him. Brown eyes widened. He stepped back. Her shoe caught on a rock. She fell forward and knocked him even further off balance. His body tumbled backwards over the side of the embankment. Mixtures of black and white swirled as his body rolled. Abbey gasped in horror. It was only a fifteen-foot incline, but he was sure to be bruised. Thankfully, he stopped before colliding with a tree two feet beyond where he lay.

  “ Hey, um excuse me…” she said worriedly. Abbey took her shoes off and slowly edged her way down the slope. “Hello?” she called out.

  He sat up and held a hand to his temple. “What? Are you coming to finish me off?”

  Abbey stopped beside him and knelt to examine his head. “Are you all right?”

  He snorted. “Why? If I am, are you going to change that?”

  “Change what?” Abbey asked. What was he talking about? She assumed he might be delirious after his fall. “Let me help you up.”

  Brown eyes flashed with irritation. He pulled his arm away from her grasp. “I think you’ve done enough already.”

  “I didn’t… I’m sorry,” Abbey stammered and stood, stepping away from him as he attempted to stand. He winced when he tried to put his weight on his right foot and limped. “You’re hurt.”

  “Rocket scientist, are you?”

  “I’ll see if I can get somebody to call an ambulance.” Abbey climbed up the slope, grasping patches of grass to hold onto as she climbed. ‘Limpy’ was going to have a problem getting up to the top of the slope on his own. What was his problem anyway? It wasn’t as if she purposely ran him off the road. He should be glad he wasn’t hurt… worse.

  Abbey slipped her shoes back on and grabbed her phone to call, but a police car was already pulling over. Someone must have seen the accident. Two officers casually strolled over to her, one holding a notepad, the other glancing around. The tall blond spoke. “Where is the other driver?”

  “She pushed me over the side.” Limpy had just made it to the top of the incline. Instinctively, Abbey went to help. He backed up and staggered, balancing himself before he took another tumble down the slope. “Keep her away from me.”

  “What? I didn't push you! I was only trying to help.”

  One of the officers stepped between them and took her arm. “Perhaps I should take your statement over here.”

  “What? Surely you don’t believe him?” Abbey stammered.

  She allowed the officer to lead her around to the back of her car. While Abbey absentmindedly answered the policeman’s questions, she focused on Limpy talking to the other officer.

  If his arms weren’t flailing about wildly as he talk
ed to the policeman, he would have looked rather cute. Strands of hair were scattered across his forehead, no doubt caused by his tumble down the embankment. His melodramatic reenactment made him look like a wild man. Abbey felt heat rise to her cheeks as he pointed to her. What was Limpy telling the other officer?

  “It wasn’t my fault.” Abbey said and crossed her arms in front of her.

  “What?” the officer questioned. “The accident?”

  “Huh?” Abbey looked squarely into blue eyes that seemed to question her very existence.

  “You were the one driving the red Neon weren’t you?”

  “Yes, Officer… Detrichs,” Abbey noted, reading his nameplate.

  “And you did hit Mr. Harrison from behind.”

  “His car,” Abbey agreed, her own arms flailing about recklessly as she tried to explain. “But I didn’t push him!”

  Chapter Two

  St. John’s Mercy Hospital

  Abbey peered around the corner of the emergency waiting room hoping to find Mr. Harrington. There were several people wearing jeans, with leather jackets or vest and a chain hooked to a pocketbook or wallet, that looked like they belonged to a biker gang, and one little old lady, but no sign of a tall, brown-haired man with an attitude.

  If the officer hadn’t mentioned Limpy’s name, she wouldn’t be now. She had been on an emotional rollercoaster from the moment her car decided to quit and after the accident she was too disheveled to even exchange information with him for their insurance companies. When the ambulance drove him away, she was left standing there dumbfounded. The sight of his luxury car on the side of the road made her glance back towards the ambulance. His car was expensive and he would want the damage repaired. Limpy's injuries didn't appear to be bad enough to warrant an overnight stay. He would need a ride home from the hospital. Since it was her fault he was without a vehicle to begin with, it was her duty to see that he made it back to his car. That notion, and that notion alone, brought her to St. John’s Emergency room now. Maybe Limpy… Mr. Harrington, she mentally corrected herself, would realize she wasn’t such a bad person after all when he saw how she went out of her way to help him.