‘Thanks,’ he mumbles. ‘I mean, sorry!’
‘Don’t litter! It’s bad for the environment,’ I say in my best teacher voice. ‘And Billie Eilish protested for the climate with Greta Thunberg. You can’t like “Birds of a Feather” and litter at the same time.’
‘He won’t do it again!’ says the panicked driver, leaning across the handbrake towards me, as though I might somehow have a direct line to Billie herself. ‘I didn’t even know he did it!’
‘Dean, shutup,’ the passenger hisses.
‘You’re the one who littered!’ Dean grumbles.
I let them argue for a bit before clearing my throat to get their attention. ‘Just don’t do it again.’
And with that, I walk away. God, that feltgood.
I strut round to Victor’s rolled-down window. ‘Did your dream woman come back?’
‘Hey now, my dream woman is back home,’ he says, as though I’m going to tell Shreya. ‘Mike’s charge is still missing.’
I’m still hopped up on adrenaline from the thrill of scuppering a mild environmental crime, so I say, ‘I’ll go find out what’s going on.’
Victor catches my wrist. ‘Please, Carys, just get back in the car. We just need to wait it out. I don’t want you to get hurt on my watch.’
‘I’m a first aider and someone could be injured,’ I insist. ‘I’ll come back at the first sign of danger, I promise.’
He sighs. ‘Alright, just be careful.’
I swear I hear Mike mutterwhat is up with the women todaybut I choose to ignore it as I walk ahead.
The problem becomes pretty apparent as I reach the front of the traffic jam. One car is jack-knifed across both lanes, wedged close enough to the barriers that no cars can pass.
My emergency first response training kicks in. There’s no sign of collision or fire. The car isn’t damaged, in fact.
I’m relieved not to hear any screams of pain, but instead, on the other side of the car, are two women, one on a Lime bike, arguing very loudly. I can’t believe I couldn’t hear them from the car.
And watching the whole scene is the golden Goddess herself.
I take a deep breath and walk up to her. ‘Is anyone hurt?’
She turns her head, and adjusts her gaze right down to me. Even in my heels, I’m nearly a foot shorter than her. The Goddess thumbs at the yelling women. ‘Are they yours?’
‘Them? No, I was in the car next to you and wanted to make sure…’That you’re okay? Is that weird to say?‘I mean, I’m a qualified first aider. I came to help.’
‘Oh.’ When she shakes her head, her icy hair flicks about like the tip of a flame. ‘Not physically.’
‘Oh? Good. I think?’
‘A lotta hurt feelings, though.’
‘What?’ I say, just as I hear the one on the bike yell, ‘I just want my cat back and for you to fuck off out of my LIFE.’
My ears prick up. I take animal welfare very seriously.
As if for emphasis, she rips off her helmet and flings it down on the concrete, where it bounces dully. So dully that I think it’s probably not a very good helmet.
‘You agreed we could share custody,’ whines the Car Woman, pressing her hands to her forehead. ‘What happened to an amicable breakup? What happened to doing the best for Leonard?’
‘That was before youfuckedmy ex!’
The blonde Goddess beside me sharply takes in air. ‘Sheesh.’
