Chapter 4

“You are making the biggest mistake of your life and you will realize it soon. You can’t break up with me!” Maria said.

She was angry now and had abandoned the idea of crying altogether as she pushed away from Emma to stand face-to-face with Peter.

“You are going to come crawling on your knees, begging me to take you back but I won’t!” she yelled, poking Peter’s chest.

Peter was phlegmatic about her reaction. “Trust me, when I ditch a thing, it remains ditched,” he said calmly.

“How dare you!” Maria cried as she thumped her fists on his chest. He was like a rock, tall and stolid, unflinching from the blows she dealt him.

“You ingrate! How dare you, bastard!” she cursed as she continued to hit him. Emma was watching and she looked helpless.

Peter knew who the real ingrate between them had been. Over the years they had been together, he had persuaded himself to think that Maria was the ideal woman for him.

She was tall, classy, and beautiful and never made faux passes at events they attended together. She commanded attention wherever she went with Aplomb and he loved and encouraged her, celebrating her wins with her and regarding her with pride.

She was the ingrate between them and she knew that much.

He caught both her hands in one of his and brought them down.

“That is enough. You will have to move on because I’m never going to come back to you. It is over between us.”

“This is our fourth anniversary! Do you realize that?!”

“I know.”

“You have put a ring on my finger, you won’t walk away from this relationship!”

“But I can. And I will. I have.”

Maria was breathing heavily now and she looked around her as if to appeal to invisible people to come to her aid.

Emma volunteered herself and moved forward, gingerly taking one hand up to Maria’s shoulder.

“You should not say anything more. You two are going to figure out a way.”

Maria shrugged her hand off and stomped off into the night.

“Where do you think you are going?” Peter asked.

She came back and stood before him, fidgeting from anger. “Anywhere that I do not have to see…”

There was an oncoming vehicle, slowly down as it started to reach them. Peter bent over the bonnet to take one more look when the Bentley stopped, its headlights serving as a good source of illumination. A head stuck out of the vehicle as all three of them turned to stand by their broken car.

“Hello, guys. Are you in some form of dilemma? Need any help?” the female voice asked.

“Are you some kind of car engineer? Can you fix a broken car?” Maria asked.

“I’m sorry about that. You could help give us a ride out of this pathetic highway,” Peter said. He was holding his torch and his shirt was on the roof of his car.

“Okay, you all can hop in,” Betty said.

“We want someone who can fix our car and not a lift. How do you know if we are heading your way?” Maria asked. She was bent on making a senseless point like she always did.

“I can just see you all into town and be on my way. That’s cool?” Betty asked.

She was losing her patience and a part of her wanted to drive off but the man whose broad chest and taut biceps had held her attention was grabbing his shirt and making his way round to come and enter the car. And the lady with short hair. She was eager to get into her Bentley and Betty was not about to let them down. Especially since the man looked like a snack.

“Mar, get in, let’s go,” Peter commanded.

“No. I’m not about to get a lift from someone I don’t know and you two are not going without me. So, get back here and wait with me.”

Emma looked puzzled. “Do you know it’s not safe here?” she asked.

Just then, a car whizzed by and she hit her forehead with her palm.

“I could have stopped that car!” Maria cried. “If we have to hitchhike, it should be someone else who is offering to carry us and not her,” Maria said adamantly.

“Do you know me from anywhere?” Betty asked.

“I’m sorry, please ignore her,” Peter pleaded before turning one more time to Maria. “You will get in now or we are leaving without you,” he said.

Emma looked away as Maria tried to look her way.

“Fine. You can all go to hell. I’m not coming with you!” With that, she stomped off into the dark.

“So, are you two leaving her behind?” Betty asked as she started to turn on the ignition.

“We don’t have a choice. She is a grown woman and I’m sure she knows what she is doing,” Peter said.

“She is your girlfriend?” Betty asked him. She was still salivating over his hot physique and she tried to conceal the sudden lust that she felt.

“My ex is stubborn but I’m sure she will find her way safely.”

“Maybe you could go after her and persuade her to come into the car?” Betty suggested.

“She won’t come. She is that stubborn. Besides, you won’t wait that long for me to go after her.” He was silent for a few minutes. “I don’t want to go after her. Not this time.”

With that, she drove off and they did not see Maria as they did.

Peter sighed and reclined on the seat.

Emma was trying frantically to make a phone call and Peter could see from the rearview mirror that her hand was shaking.

“Where are you headed?” Betty asked as they started to approach the town.

“Not anywhere in particular. We will just…”

“I’ll stop once you get into town. I have to see someone around the Mexican border tomorrow,” Emma said.

“And yeah, I reached Mar and she’s safe.”