Page 68 of Run
Sophie rolls her eyes. “I’m her ride, period.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Lizzie, I’m, uh …”
I quickly jump in. “Lizzie is the wife of the guy who ran me over with his truck.”
Lizzie winces then seems to regain her composure. “I cannot deny those allegations.” Her shoulders hunch around her neck as she looks back at the blonde who just picked up a phone call. “Here, let me give you a quick tour.”
Lizzie leads us into a mess of cubicles. “So, this is what we call the bullpen. That over there is Zack.” A young man swivels around in his chair and gives us a salute. “He and George, who is out at the moment, are fellow reporters. Our photographer should be in any minute, and over there”—Lizzie points to a woman in a room on the other side of a glass window—“is our editor Cherise. And back there”—she points to a door to a back office—“is where our graphics guy, EJ, works. I don’t think he’s in yet.”
We make our way back up to the front office where the blonde is zipping up her jacket. “Did she tell you ladies I’m her better half?” She winks. “I’m Dee.”
As we finish some more introductions, a middle-aged guy with a camera slung over his shoulder comes through the door. “Howdy, ladies.”
“Monty,” Lizzie greets him. “This is Ariel and her friend Sophie.” She gives me a guilty look before adding, “I kinda filledMonty in on your visit yesterday, and he was the one who told me to reach back out to you.”
“I’m her voice of reason.” Monty throws an arm around Lizzie.
“Oh, please,” Dee scoffs. “Let’s go, ladies. I’m so hungry I could eat a giant cock right now.”
My eyebrows shoot up and Sophie chokes on her own spit. Lizzie giggles nervously as Monty mumbles, “Oh, brother.”
“Sorry,” Lizzie says with a blush. “I should have warned you about Dee’s mouth.”
“Oh, no need,” Sophie says with a smile. “I like her already.”
Dee points at Sophie and smiles back. “Thank you!” Then she turns to Lizzie and me, “Shall we?”
“Godspeed,” Monty yells over his shoulder as he heads toward the back of the office.
We go to a little bistro one block down from the ROC Record offices. The four of us are finishing off a plate of nachos as Lizzie describes the night of the accident. It’s weird hearing it depicted from another point of view. Chilling. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Knox and his friend when he hit me. Lizzie said they had “gone through something” that night, and that he was distracted and thought all this time it was his fault.
“No.” I shake my head. “I stepped right out into the roadway. I also had a bad night, I guess you could say. And I was also distracted.”
Lizzie twists the napkin in front of her. “Is that why you never pressed charges or went after monetary compensation?”
I lock eyes with her. “It wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.”
Lizzie tips her head. “It wouldn’t have been wrong, either.”
We fall silent as the waitress brings our lunches over.
“Anyway …” Lizzie lifts the top piece of bread off her sandwich and plucks off the tomato. “I was just wondering, is thereanything we can do for you? Knox and me? Like, can we give you rides to and from physical therapy?”
I shake my head, but Sophie blurts out, “Yes.”
“Soph!” I shriek around a mouthful of food.
“What? She asked. “She clearly wants to help. Right?” Sophie gestures to Lizzie, who is nodding aggressively.
“Yes, absolutely! Please. It would make Knox and I feel better to do something—anything to help.” Lizzie reaches out a hand and places it on top of mine on the table. “This may sound weird, but the whole situation may have made Knox and me even stronger, and I feel bad that it came at your expense.”
“It didn’t,” I reply instantly.
Sophie shakes her head at Lizzie. “It really didn’t. This girl’s life was prettyfuuuuckedup.” She hooks a thumb in my direction. “I would almost say the accident also made her life better. Now she lives with me—kind of—and that asshat boyfriend of hers fell off the face of the planet.”
The table falls silent, but for only a moment, as we finish our lunch.
“OK, this is too much bonding for me.” Dee wads up a napkin and drops it on her plate before pushing it away. “Who wants to hear about my date last weekend?”
