I have plenty of those.
Of all the days to not have my car.
I steel my face, sealing off all my anxieties, and take the passenger seat. I have no desire to make small talk with this jerk, so I tuck my chin down and stare out my window. Thankfully, it only takes a few minutes, and we arrive at the barbershop. I easily spot my Uber and point. “There it is!”
Jackson pulls up into the empty spot right behind it, and we both push open our doors so quickly, we practically tumble out of the car. I wave wildly at the driver as I approach his car and open the back door, and blurt out apologies, “I’m so sorry for bothering you.” My eyes land on a couple of bags, exactly where I had left them. One is Bella’s backpack, but the other one is not mine . . . “What is this?”
My heart drums against my ribcage. All background noise fades as I deadpan on the bag that isn’t mine.
It’s a black purse.
Not my black purse.
I slide into the seat, put my hand on the bag, and repeat, “What is this?”
“Those are your bags,” the Uber driver states, his tone losing patience.
“This is my bag.” I pluck Bella’s backpack from the seat and shoulder it before I dare lose it again. Then I grab the purse by the strap and hold it up as evidence. “This is not my bag.”
“That’s not your bag?” His brows furrow. “It’s not your bag,” he repeats, not as a question but as a statement, as it’s finally sinking in.
“Not my bag,” I say again. “Who else was in your car?” My brain is working fast, trying to solve this mystery. “Someone took my bag instead of their purse.”
“Oh dear.” His palm slaps his forehead. “I’m afraid that’s Mrs. Wagner’s purse.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and fight to keep my voice even. “Where did you take Mrs. Wagner?”
“I took her to work at the bank. She doesn’t drive anymore since she has cataracts.”
“The cataracts might explain how she took the wrong bag,” I murmur to myself as I try to figure out the logistics. I blurt out, “I need to get to the bank, but I’m out of time.” I back out of the Uber, close the door, and yell in, “Thank you!” Then I snap my gaze back to Jackson and repeat, “The bank.”
He winces hard and sucks in a deep breath while he checks his watch. “I’m cutting it so close to practice. Can you grab it?”
“Me?” I’m reminded that I have an exam to take, and I’m also cutting it close. “I have a test I can’t miss, or it will ruin my whole semester. I’m so close to graduating. I need a little over an hour. I can meet up with you after my class to grab it from you.”
“You’re not grabbing it from me, because I can’t go right now,” he says decisively as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“It’s just practice for you. It’s not like a game.” I gesture forward as I’m not understanding what the big deal is. If this glove is so important, he can grab it and be a few minutes late to practice.
“You don’t understand my boss. He has this whole rivalry thing. This is probably one of the most important practices of my career. If I’m even a few minutes late for practice, my boss will see it as a rebellion, and I might be thrown off the team. Not to mention this is your fault for losing the bag. You’re the one who is putting me out.”
“Excuse me?” I fake cough to cover all the choice words I would love to say right now, but with kids in tow, I would never lose my cool. “Putting you out?” I raise a sharp eyebrow and tack on, “Remember, I found your glove.”
He childishly rolls his eyes, checks his watch again, and says, “We are wasting time.”
“You’re right about wasting time. Hopefully, my car will be done by then. I'll have to grab that, and I still think you might be faster to meet up with her because you have a car. To be safe, do you want to hold on to this bag, just in case you get there first. I just don't see me walking all the way down here going that fast.” He takes the bag, keeping his lip buttoned. I straighten my spine, almost clicking my heels together as I peer down at Bella. I have nowhere to take her since she missed the bus. Even if I had a place, I would not have time to drop her off anywhere. “We’d better get moving. It’s going to take a while to walk back to campus.”
“You’re going to walk all the way down there?” Jackson’s lips twist with a skeptical slant. “Then you’ll for sure be late. Do you want me to give you a ride?”
I’m not a prideful person, but something about the way he looks down at me with disdain makes me stand even taller. I’m done owing any man favors. “I think we can both agreethat neither one of us wants to ride in a car together. I’m fine walking.” I pull out my phone, open the contacts, and slide it over to him, “Can you add your phone number?”
“I’m so glad you're finally being reasonable,” he mumbles but takes my phone, inserting his number before handing it back to me.
“Bye.” I shove my phone in my oversized coat pocket and snatch Bella’s hand while lightly pulling her forward in the opposite direction. “We need to hurry as fast as we can. My teacher is a total old hag with a miserable life who hates me.”
My gut fires knots as we race down the sidewalk. Bella looks at me quizzically. “Why didn’t you take the ride, Mom?”
“It’s just…” I close my mouth, and fumble for words. How do I admit it is not an ego thing? I didn’t like his vibe. After all the years of overlooking Chase’s rude behavior, I have zero tolerance for rudeness. “It’s fine,” I assert as I check the time on my phone and see we are cutting it very close. I hope my teacher didn’t have a horrible morning like I did, or she’s not going to tolerate me arriving late. Since I can get my test done within the hour, I should be okay.
