Road Trip

Chapter 1

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A/N - I hate having to do this, but since NovelHD has already started to pirate some of my books, here we go. These works are mine. My poor little brain came up with the plots and characters, and I'd really prefer you to not steal them. If you're reading this on a site that is NOT Wattpad then it is most certainly stolen.

Thanks!

Loiosh

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"So, Lisa and I were driving on I-24 westward out of Chattanooga, on our way to Nashville for a music festival. We'd left Atlanta that morning and were making good time after a quick rest stop break when we got to Tennessee. So far, the trip seemed like it would be a good time. Now, Lisa was on her phone doing whatever while I was driving, so it was quiet. But I don't mind that, I'm just driving and getting into that driving zone, you know where you could drive thirty minutes and then wonder how the hell you're in a different city? Yeah, that zone. I was there. Now, what I didn't know was that when you're driving on I-24 it actually drops back to the south a bit into Georgia, which is a little weird, but I knew we were going the right way, so I didn't think too much of it. I even said, something innocent like welcome back to Georgia, because it seemed like a strange way to build a road." I paused for a breath and sip of water, wondering if the therapist wanted to ask anything. She remained quiet, so I continued on.

               "Anyway, Lisa didn't know this either and flips out, accusing me of taking her somewhere else and not wanting to go to the music festival and all kinds of things that made zero sense. She literally made me get off the highway at the next exit, I can't even remember if it was still Georgia or we had made it back to Tennessee at that point. She got out, slammed the door and called an Uber. I never saw or talked to her again, just broke up with me on the spot and blocked my number."

               My therapist, Doctor Helen Merritt adjusted her glasses and looked over at me. "Ethan, did you try to get in touch with her again?"

               "I sent a text and then tried to call once a few days later to make sure she had gotten home safely, but she never replied. I hope she did, but I have no idea."

               "And how long ago was this?" Dr Merritt took a few notes as she asked.

               "Two years or so."

               "You didn't want to go see her again? I thought you liked this girl?"

               "Oh, I did like her. But I learned my road trip lesson a long time ago, and this was just the final straw."

               "A road trip lesson?" she said, peering over her glasses.

               "Oh, yes. Road trips and I don't get along, every time I'm on one I break up with the girl I'm dating.

               "So, this has happened before."

               "Oh yeah. Absolutely."

               "Well, you're going to have to tell me the next time Ethan, We're out of time for today. See you next Wednesday?"

               "Oh sure, why not?" I replied. In truth, this was about the most social interaction I got these days, so I might as well talk to another human at some point.

               I sat on the porch overlooking the snow speckled trees and sipping on a whiskey, waiting for the sun to rise. I'm not a big drinker, but the morning after therapy was usually a good time to drink, it settles me down before bed. My sleep schedule was odd, since most of my clients were overseas, and so I was usually up all night before going to bed in the morning. Being an independent consultant had its advantages, though the time differences between me and the people I needed to talk to weren't one of them.

               The previous year I had sold my little tech company, that made a productivity phone app, to a European conglomerate for a nice bit of change. I'm not tabloid cover rich, but more of a wealthy enough to retire if I don't do stupid things like buy lots of houses and planes rich. So, I live relatively frugally, drive only one car, don't eat out too much and live off the interest of the sale. Anything I make as a consultant goes into the investments. The only extravagance I have was living in my cabin. I had rented it last summer and vacationed here right after the sale as a little celebration, nothing fancy. But I loved it so much that I contacted the owners and bought it outright. It was much too big for just me, most of the vacation rental cabins in the area were designed to sleep entire families, but I couldn't get past the view, it kept me calm.

               There was a hot tub on the porch, and once the snow melted there was fishing in the pond below the house. It wasn't too bad a drive into Asheville for my weekly therapy session, as well as the occasional shopping trip, and everything else I could order online. It was a nice life for a solitary person. That being me.

               At thirty, I wasn't really looking forward to being alone, but I'd given up hope that I would find someone to settle down with after all the other failures I've been through. Maybe someday I'll find someone, but considering I'm almost never in public, they would most likely have to get lost and stumble across the cabin. That didn't seem too likely.

               I've lived all around the country, bouncing from house to apartment to condo over the last ten years, and the cabin was the first place that I could see myself living in for longer than a few months. All the others had lost their luster shortly, perhaps because of a bad breakup to spur it along, and then I was in the wind to a new city or state.

               The sun finally rose, slowly but sure lightening the sky and providing a glorious end to my day while beginning everyone else's. I stayed out on the deck and stared at it rising till it started to hurt my eyes, then took another sip of the whiskey and went inside. I didn't need any more to drink so I dumped out the glass and loaded it into the dishwasher with the lone plate and bowl from my early morning steak dinner. It was about time for bed, so I went and took a warm shower, brushing my teeth under the water while listening to a little random music to start winding down the day. My playlists tended to be very eclectic, usually things I picked up from exes or my sister, but before bed I always went with some softer music. In this case the shower was accompanied by Silent Lucidity, and after toweling and crawling under the sheets I drifted to sleep with a little Comfortably Numb. They seemed about right for sleep these days.