Free Sinful Secrets:Take Me by Natasha Wade Page A

up.
    Okay, okay.  I’ll admit it.  I was highly suspicious.  There were things that stuck out to me here and there.   The way that he would snap his password-protected laptop shut when I entered the r oom made me wary.  But when push came to shove , I was constantly just too tired to care.
    “Well?!” Chris’ wavering voice echoed through my head.
    I shrugged my shoulders, “Then go.”
    A welling of red flushed his cheeks.  I didn’t usually call him out when he was acting like a big baby but I was just over it.  I wanted to pack my bags in peace and relax.
    Chris stormed out of the house at break-neck speed.  I could hear the squeal of his tires as he peeled out and barreled down the street.  When I was sure that he was far, far away, I went into our bedroom and flopped down onto the bed with a sigh.  Something had to change, even if it was just the scenery for a while.
    I folded my hands behind my neck and stared up at the whirring ceiling fan.  The soft, gentle br eeze from it blew back the tiny wisps of chocolate hair in my face.  It felt so nice.  The small patches of sweat left on my scalp were ice cold under the wind.  It made chills race down my spine.
    I could only hope that the tropical air waiting for me would feel as good.
    ---
    I woke up to my cell phone buzzing away in my pocket.  The sound and feel of it rattled me; the sensation was jarring.  For just a moment I forgot where I was.  I looked down and noticed that I was still in my uniform from the night before.
    The phone went right on ringing.  I fumbled for a moment as I yanked it out of my pocket.
    “Yeah?”
    Ari was on the other end, wondering where the hell I was.  I jumped up out of bed.
    “Oh shit, I’m sorry!  How much time do I have?”
    One hour , she told me .
    “Okay, okay.  I will meet you there.  Bye.”
    I hadn’t even started to pack yet and had over-slept.  Great.
    There was a mad dash to round up everything that I was going to need for the trip.  I grabbed my one large suitcase and began tossing in all of the stuff that I could think of.   My pace was so fevered that I started to notice a couple of beads of sweat forming on my brow.
    It took a good, long while for me to notice that Chris hadn’t come home the night before.  When I did it was a welcome relief.  That was one less thing that I was going to have to deal with on top of being horrifically late to the airport.
    I was able to call a cab and have him at the front porch only a few minutes after I had finished packing.  Just as I sat down and the bright yellow car began to pull away, I looked back and saw Chris pulling back up in his truck.  He watched the cab roll down the street with a sour look on his face.   Big Baby wasn’t getting his way for once and he was pissed.  Just before my sight of him was masked by a row of low-hanging tree branches, I watched as he slammed the truck door closed and stomped his way up onto the porch.
    “What’s the matter, you running from something?”
    I turned in my seat and met the cab driver’s gaze in his rear-view mirror, “Maybe I am.”
    “It’s bullshit, you know,” his thick accent and long, unkempt moustache garbled his speech.
    “What do you mean?”
    He smiled and turned the wheel almost robotically, “People say that you can’t run from your problems but sometimes you just have to know when to cash out .”
    I looked out of the window just in time to see the airport’s tower coast by.
    “Maybe you’re right.”
    The man smiled and nodded his head in approval just as we pulled up to the terminal.  He helped me get my solitary bag and slammed the trunk shut.  After paying him I heard Ari screeching my name.
    “ Sophie !”
    My frien d ran over and hugged me tightly.  Her excitement was almost contagious.  I gripped the handle of my bag and looked over my shoulder.  The cabbie gave me a little two-finger salute and ducked down into his car.
    I turned back to Ari with a smile,