Hummingbird (22 page)

Dan spluttered and coughed, ‘Are you crazy? I’m old enough to be your father!’

Chloe laughed and turned in her seat to face him, as she did Dan’s eyes were drawn to her legs, her suspenders now on full show from where the dress had ridden higher up her thighs.

‘Jesus Christ Chloe! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?’ he managed, tearing his eyes away from her legs.

‘Sorry but I’m not embarrassed and neither should you be, and I very much doubt you’re old enough to be my dad, I’m nineteen and you’re what?’

‘Thirty one.’

‘There you go, so unless you were fucking at the tender age of eleven it’s a scientific impossibility.’

‘You’re crazy!’ Dan proclaimed and shook his head trying to clear his mind.

‘No, I’m not and you know it, what else would you call it but love?’

‘Mutual attraction?’ Dan said, still trying to cope with the whole situation.

‘Don’t be asinine, it’s more than that, its fate that we met and are falling in love.’

‘We’ve known each other for ten minutes!’

‘So, that doesn’t change the facts,’ Chloe said in her soft voice that he was beginning to like hearing. This is nuts! He thought to himself.

‘Fuck! Are you trying to scare me, because if you are then you’re succeeding?’ It was unbelievable, the whole thing. What was she, some kind of nut, but there was something deep down inside him, something he tried to ignore that whispered to him that maybe she was right.

‘No I’m not trying to scare you,’ she said and she put her hand gently on his left thigh and he almost jumped out of his seat, ‘You’re scared enough as it is but we’ll get on to that in a minute.’

He kept glancing in his rear-view mirror, there was still no visible tail, but he knew that one was out there, somewhere in the dark and closing in on him – on them. Dan glanced quickly at Chloe, making sure to keep his eyes on hers before resuming watching the road out the windscreen.

‘Fate you say?’

Chloe nodded, ‘Yes, look why else would I have been standing where I was when logic dictates that I would have had a better chance of getting a lift home by staying up at the main building to the services, one of the cafes maybe, or I could have rang for a taxi even, I have the money for one. Or I could have stayed with my date, he only went off to the toilet, he was a jerk but he would have given me a lift home because of my friend. I could have done a hundred different things, all of them easier than walking in the pitch dark, dressed like this, in these heels, all the way down to the motorway’s entrance ramp. I’d have to be crazy, unless...’ Chloe let the sentence hang in the air.

‘Unless what?’ Dan asked taking the bait.

‘Unless fate wanted me to be there at that exact moment. That exact time when you would be driving by. When you shot by me you couldn’t have seen me or my outfit as anything other than a brief blur so you didn’t stop for a cheap thrill. Something made you stop, and on this of all nights when stopping was the last thing you had in mind or wanted to do, so if not fate what then?

‘Coincidence?’ Dan said, but he knew that she’d have none of it.

‘Bullshit!’ Chloe said, ‘and you know it, you’re not stupid and neither am I.’

‘Still...’ He had nothing else to add so he shut his mouth and concentrated on his breathing, desperately trying to settle his rattled nerves.

‘Why is it so hard to believe in love at first sight: in fate?’

Dan laughed gently and said, ‘Because that only happens in films and in novels.’

‘Maybe but where did the writers get those ideas from, had to happen somewhere for someone to even think about writing such things.’

‘Chloe, you’re stunning, I won’t lie about that, you look like, well I don’t know.’ He wasn’t making any sense. ‘I find you very attractive and intriguing, but love at first sight, come on?’

‘Come on nothing,’ she paused, the tip of her tongue licked her lips, and then she added, ‘well, not yet!’

The words sunk in as Dan played mental catch up. He coughed and almost choked as he realised what she had meant by her blatant sexual come-on.

‘Fucking hell, you’re not exactly backward in coming forward are you?’

‘Actually I’m normally quite shy, I know I don’t look it dressed like this, but I explained my outfit.’ Chloe smiled mischievously at Dan. ‘Besides, the fact that you’ve had a raging hard-on ever since we met I know you like it.’ She laughed warmly and rubbed his thigh with her delicate fingers. Again Dan almost jumped in his seat, he couldn’t believe her forthrightness.

‘Chloe I don’t need this.’ Dan shook his head, again trying to clear his mind, too many thoughts and desires were clouding his brain, he laughed, ‘I really don’t need this.’

‘I know, you’re having one hell of a night, but like I said we’ll get onto that in a minute. First I need you to acknowledge that you’re falling for me, I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’ve already fallen for you, and neither should you be.’

Dan squeezed his eyebrows together with his right hand and blew out a huge breath of held air, this was crazy, and probably the craziest thing to happen to him since, well an hour or so ago, and this day was proving to be absolutely bizarre. Dan struggled to think straight.

‘I’ll admit that as crazy as it sounds there is a connection between us, I don’t know what, but that’s the best I can manage for now.’

‘Okay,’ Chloe sat back in her seat and faced the windscreen, she didn’t remove her hand from his leg and Dan couldn’t explain why but he was greatly comforted by her small act of companionship. This whole situation, this whole night was crazy; he still couldn’t explain why he had run when the psycho had told him to, he would have to think about that more when he had the time to actually sit and think, so far all he’d been doing was reacting to the events as they occurred and he needed to take a moment soon to really evaluate his situation.

‘That’ll do for now,’ Chloe said. She patted his thigh affectionately.

Dan felt compelled to talk and said with embarrassment, ‘Chloe you’re right, about the hard-on, and I’m sorry, I’m really not a pervert, I’m sorry.’

Chloe smiled, ‘Don’t be, and we’ll sort that problem out later but right now I want to know who you’re running from.’

Dan glanced quickly at her, ‘What do you mean?’

‘About what? Sorting your hard-on out or who you’re running from?’

‘Christ, the latter, I don’t even want to think about the former!’

Chloe laughed, and he realised that she had laughed a lot since he’d picked her up and he was beginning to love the sound of it.

‘You’re obviously running from someone.’

‘Is that right?’ Dan said, trying to sound sarcastic, attempting to deflect her probing questions.

‘Yeap,’ Chloe put her stockinged feet up on the dashboard, her dress slipped up her thighs leaving nothing to the imagination. Dan’s eyes went where she expected them to.

He sighed, ‘You’re very sexually confident, aren’t you?’

‘Only because it’s you, and you’re changing the subject again, I know you’re running from something.’

‘Is that so? And how do you know that?’

‘Fine.’ She sighed theatrically. ‘We’ll do it your way.’ Chloe used her fingers to count her observations off, ‘One, you were going, what? A hundred and thirty when you shot by me?’

‘Actually one twenty.’

‘Right, two,’ another delicate finger was raised, ‘You keep looking in the rear-view mirror every ten seconds, that and casting furtive glances at me hoping to glimpse my tits for which you’d only need to ask. Three, you’ve been doing one twenty for the last thirty miles and several speed cameras have flashed us and that hasn’t bothered or slowed you.’ Chloe ran her hand over his knee, and this time he didn’t jump, her confidence was infectious. ‘Four, your knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel, indicating high stress levels.’ Chloe shifted in her seat and he almost caught sight of her left nipple as her plunging neckline stretched downwards.

Chloe raised her baby finger and looked at Dan, ‘And last but by no means least you have blood seeping through your jumper on your shoulder, I noticed it when I opened the door and the interior light came on. You’ve either been shot or stabbed, and so my conclusion is you’re running from something bad, and I doubt it’s the police as you don’t seem to be the type to get into trouble with the law.’

Wrong, Dan thought but he didn’t say anything, that life had been a long time ago. He looked at her. Chloe ran her fingers down the front of her plunging dress and pulled the material down exposing her large, firm rounded left breast. The nipple was stiff, the puckered flesh darker than the rest of her skin. She covered her breast as quickly as she had flashed it and beamed a huge smile at him.

‘Now that we’ve got that out of the way perhaps you could tell me what’s gotten you so spooked?’

Dan watched the central white lines on the road whizz by, he was quiet for several miles and Chloe waited. Finally he gave in, his shoulders slumped and he offered her a crooked smile. He saw the look of genuine concern in her eyes and he said, ‘Jesus Chloe, what have I gotten you mixed up in?’

Chloe squeezed his leg reassuringly, ‘I don’t know so why don’t you tell me.’

And without fully understanding why, he told her, all that he had experienced over the last hour or so, and as he told her, as he spoke to her in the darkened car he felt that spark that Chloe had first mentioned earlier grow between them until it felt like a physical presence in the car, a “third” passenger and he had to admit to himself that maybe she had been right about love at first sight. He didn’t vocalise this, not wanting to admit, just yet, what he was actually beginning to feel.

Ten minutes later and the Astin Martin was doing 135mph back down the other side of the motorway, heading east once more. At Chloe’s suggestion they had got off at the next junction and crossed, via a bridge, onto the east bound carriage-lane, heading back in the direction he’d just come from.

Dan had told her everything, the words spilling forth in a torrent, like water finally free of its dam. Chloe had listened silently, only interrupting to clarify details. When he’d finished she had twitched her nose and said calmly, ‘Right Dan, we need to get to my place quickly, I only live about thirty miles back that way.’ Chloe had pointed over her shoulder at the countryside flashing by.

‘Are you nuts, the psycho’s back that way?’

‘True, but he’ll be on this side of the motorway and I figure we have about an hour or so on him.’

Dan looked at the sign for the junction up ahead, ‘How do you know that?’

‘Simple mathematics honey, speed of the car by the amount of time you’ve been driving, factor in he’s in a different vehicle, with different speed limits etcetera, there will be a time difference so I’d say roughly an hour.’

Honey, he liked that she had called him that.

Without thinking Dan took the next exit, braking all the way, and now they were speeding back on the east bound lane heading for Chloe’s place.

‘Get off at the second exit,’ Chloe said, ‘I’ll give you directions to my place.’

‘Why your place? I’ve been thinking about just driving, keep on going.’

‘And you would have burned out, you’re wired and tired. I figure you could use a shower, I can get a change of clothes.’ Chloe caught the fleeting look of disappointment flash across Dan’s face and she laughed, ‘I can’t believe you’re disappointed that I’ve suggested I change into something less blatant.’

Dan nodded sheepishly, ‘You’re right, I’m sorry but it’s a hell of a look.’

‘That’s okay Dan, but I need to change, these clothes were for the party, not you.’

He didn’t know what to say to that, unsure of her meaning.

‘Anyways I have a lot of clothes, I’m sure I can find something suitable.’

Dan nodded his head and ran a hand back through his hair. ‘A shower would be good.’ And it would, he needed to take a closer look at his wound and to clean it; he didn’t need an infection on top of everything else.

‘Wouldn’t it just,’ she replied and he heard the teasing in her voice and he chose to ignore it.

‘Whilst you’re in the shower I’ll make us some coffee.’

‘Oh god, coffee would be really good.’ Dan said.

‘So it’s agreed, my place?’

‘Agreed.’

Following her directions Dan got off at the right junction and she guided him through a business district, on through the city centre and into a residential area where newly built high rise blocks of
flats towered high over them, blocking out the landscape. The buildings were close together with only the occasional forlorn looking tree and the odd scattering of grass. Immigration had led the previous government to introduce these schemes all over the country and now they were everywhere; a constant blot on the landscape.

During the drive to Chloe’s place the city’s lights lit the car better and Dan was able to see Chloe properly for the first time. She was stunning and judging by her nonchalant pose as she reclined in the seat, her feet on the dash, her stockings on show, Dan guessed that she knew it and the effect that she had on men. Chloe had pulled her dress closed over her plunging neckline when she had seen his eyes glued to her impressive cleavage.