Page 62 of Wilde About You

The woman looked over her reading glasses at the photographer in the corner. "Ask Lyle," she said curtly.

Lyle walked toward me. "Sadie came in about twenty-five minutes ago to cancel the interview and tell me goodbye." The guy looked me up and down again. "Aha, you're him. The man she's been texting me about. She was upset this morning but wouldn't say anything except that she was in her usual downward spiral."

"Was she going back home? Where does she live?" I sounded stupid as hell asking that simple question, and Lyle gave me a deserved arched brow in response. "She said her apartment was ransacked so she didn't want to go back there."

He paused and seemed to be trying to decide how much to tell me.

"Look, I want to find her. I'm—I'm in love with her."

A grin split his face, then his expression turned serious. "She deserves the best. Can you promise her that?"

"I can only promise that I love her and I'll protect her and why the fuck am I telling you all this? Where can I find her?"

"She had her bags with her. This guy she used to work for called her from Bali in Indonesia. He needed an assistant and sent her the money for a plane ticket. She's on her way to the airport. She was walking three blocks down to the bus stop to catch the 11:25 to the airport." He glanced at his watch. "You probably just missed her."

"We'll see." I slammed out the door and ran to the bike. Seemed my unconventional mode of transportation might have been a good choice after all.

twenty-nine

. . .

Sadie

The bus rattled and hissed as it pulled away from the stop. I was going to be cutting it close for the flight but then Ian hadn't given me much time. His usual assistant, a woman I'd always found condescending and annoying, had decided she could no longer take the heat or insects in Bali so she quit. Ian had been hired to take photos for a travel brochure, and since I, as usual, found myself with nothing to keep me home, I told him I could help out. I wasn't looking forward to a long plane ride, but I planned to buy three or four tiny bottles of rum and sleep my way out of my misery and heartbreak.

I was having a hard time believing the horrid way my otherwise dreamy relationship had ended and then I remembered it was me, Sadie Rivers, expert saboteur of her own happiness. A million things could have happened to cause Colin to crash, lose the title and basically bring his career to a screeching halt. A million things could have caused it, but it wasn't a million things. It was me, me and my stupid yellow ribbon. I'd cut the damn thing off the second I got to the apartment. Then I sat in my torn-up place and looked at the sad disaster surrounding me, and I laughed thinking what a perfect metaphor it was for my life.

I squeezed my bag between my feet to keep it from sliding under the seat as the bus pulled up to the next stop. Two more passengers, a mom and her young child, got on. They took the seat across from me. The boy, five or six, immediately crawled up on his knees to stare out the window. Something had his attention outside, but his mom was busy looking at her phone. The bus would fill up as we headed toward the airport. I would have to fly through security and customs to make my flight. At least I'd have a paycheck again.

"Mommy, look at that guy on the motorcycle. He's going super fast."

"Sit down, Bryan, before you fall off the seat."

The kid sat with a huff and crossed his arms angrily. Outside the half open window, the buzzing sound of a motor grew louder.

"That's him!" the kid shouted and jumped back up to his knees. "It's the guy on the red motorcycle." The kid looked over his shoulder at his mom. "It's a dirt bike like the one Dad rides."

I glanced up from my own phone and stretched up to look out the window. It was unusual for a dirt bike to be zooming down a city road. I assumed the little guy just thought a red bike was always a dirt bike. Then I heard the buzzing motor again. I couldn't see it, but he was right. It was a dirt bike.

The little boy had a blast watching the crazy person tearing down the street on a dirt bike. The bus driver wasn't loving it as much. I could see his big wobbly cheeks every time he glanced into his sideview mirror. He looked irritated.

I focused back on my phone to check if the flight was leaving on time. It seemed they were always right on time whenever I was late, and they were delayed whenever I got to the airport early. The bus rumbled to a stop, and a few more people got on. The driver shut the doors, but the bus didn't move. He honked a few times in a friendly manner, but whoever was in the way didn't pay attention. He blasted the horn and waved through his windshield for someone or some car to get out of the way.

"It's the dirt bike," the little boy said confidently. "I knew he was chasing the bus."

The driver stood up. He was a big man with lots of meat around his gut. He had his two-way radio in hand as he opened the doors and stomped down to the bottom step. "I'm going to call the police," he barked.

Everyone on the bus was muttering about the incident and stretching up tall in their seats to see what was happening. I was going to miss my damn flight because some unstable person decided to block the bus. I sat back, exasperated by the whole situation. Through my loud sigh of disgust, I heard a familiar voice.

"I just need to see someone on that bus. Please. It won't take long."

I sat forward, my heart doing a quick jig in my chest.

"Sadie!" Colin called from in front of the bus. "Sadie, you belong with me!"

People were looking around for the possible Sadie, and somehow, everyone managed to puzzle it out. All eyes fell on me, some smiling about the scene, some angry that their day was being held up.

The driver grumbled as he stepped back on the bus. He filled the whole front cab area. "Who the hell is Sadie? Your boyfriend is going to be arrested if you don't get off the bus and get him out of the way now."