The Deal

Chapter Two

The next morning Summer woke with an excruciating headache which was strange because she hadn't consumed nearly as much alcohol as she usually did on a Friday night- in fact, she'd only had one mojito and she wasn't that much of a lightweight. But nevertheless, with her head feeling as if it were going to explode, Summer began compiling clothes into an overnight bag for her stay at her parent's house. She was already running late- with it already being eleven o'clock- and she hadn't even eaten breakfast nor run to the store to get her father a birthday card. He was turning fifty and so she agreed to spend the weekend celebrating with her parents and brother. Once she had loaded her bags into her car Summer returned to her apartment and scooped her one-year-old kitten Bella into her arms. She patted her on the head- to which Bella responded by pushing her head into Summer's hand as a sign of affection. She then gently placed her into the carrier and took her down to the car.

Bella rode shotgun all the way to the store keeping her owner company and quietly meowing at the passing trees and the swooping birds. She cracked the window open just a little which was enough to let some air into the car as she nipped inside to grab a 'happy birthday Dad' card. Within only a couple of minutes, Summer had paid for her purchases- which included the card, a bottle of cola and some treats for Bella- and she was back in the car feeding the small rectangular chewy biscuits to her cat.

The car sputtered and churned as she turned the key in the ignition but roared to life seemingly without a real problem and Summer found herself grinning at the thought of the universe being on her side for once. She rolled down the windows allowing air to flow freely into her car as she sang along to the lyrics of a song on the radio by an upcoming country star who she had heard mentioned many times in her small town. She turned the volume up, almost certain that the cows in the fields running parallel to the road could hear her awful singing but she didn't care. At that moment she was carefree and all of her troubles and worries seem to fade away the further she drove from Oak View. With each corner, she turned and every stop sign she passed another worry seemed to slip into the depths of her mind to be forgotten over that weekend and only return on Monday.

The rhythmic tapping of her fingers on the steering wheel as she drove down the country road came to a stop almost immediately as the car lost its power. She still continued to sing but now under her breath as if she was in a state of disbelief and shock. She wasn't even halfway to her destination yet and her car had already begun to fail her. She wasn't completely upset by the fact that her car had suddenly lost all power to the engine because this had happened a couple of times before. And so, Summer flicked on her hazard warning lights and guided the car to a stop at the side of the vacant road. She glanced over at Bella who was fast asleep in the back of the carrier and smiled to herself. She was looking forward to introducing her kitten to her family- they hadn't met Bella before but that was mainly because they refused to travel into Oak View. She hadn't been back to her family home in around two years- but that didn't mean that she hadn't seen her parents. In fact, she saw then at least once every two weeks if not more. They simply met somewhere more convenient for the both of them- and that was typically at a restaurant. But this was different and Summer knew that she had to make an exception for her father's birthday. It wasn't so much that she had to but at times it felt as if it were a chore- especially as her father was quite the character. He was like anyone's father, wanted the best for his children but sometimes he took that a little too far. He was a man of many accomplishments- one of his biggest and proudest was being a neurosurgeon and having the ability to help and shape people's lives. And because of that accomplishment, Dr Stevenson wanted the same for his two children.

At the end of the day, Summer knew that if she didn't travel the two hours to her parent's house then she would never hear the end of it. And becoming an even bigger disappointment than she already was definitely wasn't on her to-do list that weekend.