Carried Away Read online

  “It’s alright, Arnold. I have already apologized. Why are you taking it too far?”

  “Too far? Is that what you think this is – too far? This is nothing at all. This is just me showing you that I am displeased at how you put my son in avoidable risk.”

  “What is wrong with you, Arnold? I was there in the same car?”

  “I see. I keep on forgetting that vital point; that you were putting two people’s lives at risk while driving and texting to two different men.”

  Angela shook her head and looked away from him. He couldn’t tell if she didn’t want to see him or if she was hiding his face from him so that he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes.

  Arnold was enraged. He could not believe that Angela had someone else in her life. But what even pissed him off the more was that she had led him on into believing that she was special. Feelings of hatred, displeasure, and disappointment flooded through him. He remembered Jenny his ex-wife and how she had cheated on him. He looked at Angela and the same feelings of betrayal stabbed him all over again.

  For a while, an uncomfortable silence hung between them. He took a deep breath. Maybe he had been a bit too hard on her. “See, I think I took all this the wrong way, Angela.”

  She sniffed and nodded. “It wasn’t called for at all.”

  “I know now. I mean, you are an adult and you know what is best for you.” He paused as he thought over what he had just said. Wasn’t I the one that was supposed to be best for her?

  “I made a simple mistake, Arnold, but still you make it look as if I have done something unforgivable,” she said with more sniffs.

  Unforgivable, he wondered to himself. Perhaps what she had done was actually unforgivable. She knew that he was interested in her and yet she felt okay with sending him such messages that were meant for someone else. Still, he really wished he had been the one her words were meant for.

  Awkwardness crawled through Arnold. Had it not been for her revelation that he was not the intended recipient of that alluring text he would have not hesitated to reach out to her and hug her to reassure her and comfort her. But with the way things were, making such a move did not seem called for. He just remained where he was and nodded. He scratched both of his palms as if trying to discourage any urge in them to reach out for her.

  “Who was it for then?”

  He saw her hesitate and bite her lip. When she did not say anything, he was certain that he had bungled it again.

  As she remained in silence, Arnold could imagine what she was thinking. Hadn’t he just said that she was an adult and knew what was best for her? Why would he be asking her now who she had sent the messages to? She was not his ward or child. She was merely his employee and all employees had a right to a life that was private, personal, and out of reach to their employers. He had no right to ask her such questions.

  He squeezed his temple and wished he could take back what he had just asked her. And secretly, he wished that he could also take back the way he had been feeling for her all this while, right from the first time he had met her.

  It was clear that his emotions had beclouded his thinking. He was her boss. He had no right to feel anything intimate towards her. She was an adult. He had no right to pry into her private life. In fact, in other corporate settings, Angela could accuse him of harassing her.

  Harassing her, he mused. And also violating her right to privacy.

  But he also felt violated, albeit in a different way. She had led him on, played with his emotions, and now abandoned him like used tissue paper.

  He looked at her. There was something distant in her eyes that he could not recognize. He was used to her warmth and charm. All of that seemed to have faded away like old paint. All that remained was aloofness and a wide gulley. He was not familiar with the space that now suddenly existed between them. The closeness that he was felt for her was now replaced by a wide distance. It was the kind of distancing that a woman would give to a man she was clearly not attracted to.

  He sighed. “Well, what did you say you wanted to tell me about Mrs. Rhodes then?”

  He saw some light come back into her eyes. It was as if he had turned on a PC monitor and it was now flickering on.

  “Yes, Mrs. Rhodes. I did promise to tell you all about her, didn’t I?”

  Arnold nodded. But before he could say anything, Cyril peeped around the open door of that led into the office. “Sorry to interrupt.”

  “Sure, come on in,” Arnold said as he waved him in. “What’s the problem?”

  “There is someone here with his car. I and Paul have accessed it. He wants to make a down payment.”

  Angela was already on her feet. She reached for her bag and then dashed out with the POS machine. As she left, Arnold rubbed his chin. He had to give it to her that she was efficient and hard-working. She had contributed immensely to turning around the way things were being done in his workshop. She was both sincere and dedicated to her work.

  He was still rubbing his chin when he caught sight of her phone. In her haste to attend to the customer, she had left it behind. Butterflies flutter in Arnold’s stomach as goosebumps seemed to burst out all over his body.

  The urge to find out who was Angela’s mystery lover was so strong that he felt annoyed at himself. He was a grown man with a son of his own and she was a single mother of twins. Why did he feel like a jealous school kid with a crush on a girl in his class who was dating a rival?

  Rival, he mused as he looked at the phone. Perhaps whoever she had sent that message to was indeed a rival.

  And he deserved to know who he was.

  Arnold was fast. One moment he had reached for her phone and next he was scrolling through the call log. He immediately recognized his number and then he cross-referenced the time he had gotten the texts from her. He nodded as he noted the times and then he saw a new number logged in between his. The same number appeared several times within her call log. He took note of it.

  He was done in less than ten seconds and quickly returned the phone back to where he had seen it.

  Arnold stood up and walked out of his office. He did not go to where Angela was attending to the customer. He just walked to the vehicle he had been working on.

  Chapter Two

  The next day, Arnold arrived at the workshop early. As he unlocked the doors, Thomas opened the door of the SUV and wanted to come down.

  “No, no, there is no need for that,” Arnold instructed.

  His son frowned at him. “No need? But I have got to wait for Angela to come and pick me up at school.”

  “Yes, I know, son. And I am telling you that you don’t have to wait for Angela to help you do anything. I am there and I can take you to school.”

  Thomas was still holding the door about to come down from the SUV. At his father’s statement, he closed it and waited. He watched his father open the workshop and then return back to the SUV. Arnold started the engine and began to drive the car off the driveway. Thomas looked at his father. “Are you serious, Dad? What about the arrangement that –”

  “Forget about the arrangement, okay? I am your dad and it is my responsibility to look out for you, my son.”

  “Look out for me?” Thomas repeated. “Am I in some kind of danger here, Dad?”

  Ever since Angela had gotten Thomas enrolled, she had offered to be taking him to and bringing him back from school. All Arnold had to do was bring Thomas to the workshop and then Angela would arrive there with her twins and take Thomas to school. The deal seemed perfect because Arnold was able to start work on any outstanding cars while Angela hurried off to the different schools with the kids. But after yesterday’s events, Arnold was no longer confident in the plan.

  Arnold looked at his son as the memories flashed through his mind. He recalled Angela texting and driving with his son in the car. He couldn’t tell which was more concerning – that Angela was not concentrating on her driving because she was driving and texting or that she was messaging some other man instead of
him.

  “Well?”

  Arnold glanced at his son. “Look. I can handle taking you to school, you know?”

  “Yeah, I know. And that means your business is also going to suffer.”

  “It wouldn’t suffer. I have people running it for me.”

  “You mean Cyril and Paul? Didn’t you say you needed all hands on deck? If you start taking me to school, there would be less hands on deck.”

  “Look, just relax, okay? I am going to take you to school.”

  Thomas shrugged. “Okay. If you say so. Is Angela aware of this?”

  Arnold felt hot under his collar. “Is Angela aware of what?”

  “The new arrangement, Dad. Does she know that you are going to be taking –”

  “What has that got to do with anything?”

  “I don’t know, but I figured that you two must have discussed this. And if you did, why wasn’t I informed beforehand?”

  “Informed beforehand? Are you now the president of the country or something? Since when do I have to ask permission from you before I take you to school?”

  “No, not permission, Dad, just information. I’m the one being taken to school. I should know who is taking me there.”

  “Thomas, you are going to school. Your concern is to be in school, and not who your driver is.”

  “I see. And since you have torn up the perfect arrangement that Angela designed, what happens when you are too busy to drive me?”

  Arnold licked his lips as he stared at his son. The kid has a point, he agreed, but I’m was not going to address that now. “Never mind about that, son. When we get to that bridge, we will find out how to cross it, okay?”

  “Dad, there are no bridges on the way to my school.”

  “I know. I am just speaking figuratively.”

  “Really? Figuratively? I would have thought it sounded more like angrily.”

  “What do you mean by that? I am not angry.”

  “It shows in the way you are talking, Dad. You sound mad and disappointed at the same time. Did someone upset you?”

  Arnold took a deep breath and exhaled. He tapped a finger on the steering wheel as he thought over his responses. Am I acting angry? he wondered. And if he was, did it mean that he was really that upset over what Angela had done to him that he was acting it out?

  “Are you mad at someone, Dad?”

  Arnold shook his head. “No, of course, I am not,” he lied. “It’s just some deadlines that I have to meet at the workshop, that’s all.”

  “Really? You have deadlines and still, you decide to take me to school?”

  “And I told you not to worry about it.”

  “But clearly, I should be worried about what you are doing, Dad. You are angry and I am starting to feel that you don’t even like this idea anyway. Why are you insisting on doing this?”

  “Because I want to.”

  “No, I’m sure it is because you are angry with Angela.”

  That caught Arnold by surprise. He glanced at Thomas. “Why would you say such a thing?”

  “Because it’s obvious. You have not mentioned anything about you and Angela talking about this plan at all.”

  “And what makes you think that?”

  “Because if you did then Angela would have told me about this yesterday. But she didn’t. And that means that you are just doing this on your own. And if I am right, then it is because you are angry with her.”

  “I am not angry with Angela or anybody. I told you that I have work to do.”

  “It’s alright, Dad. I know you are angry with her. I would probably do the same thing if I were mad at a very good friend of mine.”

  Arnold paused. He bit his lip. “You would do the same thing to your friend?”

  Thomas nodded. “Sure I would, especially if I felt disappointed in the way I had been treated by them, or if they betrayed my trust. I sure wouldn’t want to hang out with them. I would do my own thing alone without them.”

  “You would really do that?”

  “Absolutely. But I know that I’m going to be hurting inside while I carry out my plan.”

  “You would be hurting inside?”

  “Sure, and that would make me angry because even though it’s my friend, I don’t like being alone and doing things without them. But I need to let them know that I’m not happy with them. And so, I would suffer to make them feel my pain.”

  “You mean suffering in silence? Suffering to make them suffer?”

  “There you go, Dad. You are the man and you know all the words to use. But you understand what I’m driving at, don’t you?”

  Arnold felt good about himself. “Well, sure, I’m the man. And I know how some of these things work. Sometimes, you just have to let people see that you are annoyed with them.”

  “So, it is true then?”

  “Is what true?”

  “That you’re mad with Angela?”

  Just when Arnold was about to respond, his phone began to ring. As he reached for it, he remembered what he had chastised Angela about texting and driving. He sighed and ignored the persistent sound.

  Thomas was surprised at his father’s behavior. “Aren’t you going to answer your call?”

  “While I am driving? No way, son. That is not the right way to drive a car.”

  “Really? And what if it is an emergency?”

  “I have to let that emergency wait otherwise I risk placing us into another emergency.”

  “You mean we might crash because you are on the phone while driving?”

  “Exactly, son, you see why I love your smartness?”

  They soon arrived and Thomas waved at him as he rushed to the school gates. Arnold sighed. He took a look at his phone. There were several missed calls from Angela. He frowned as he called her back.

  “My goodness, what is going on, Arnold?” she quickly demanded.

  He shrugged. “Going on? I don’t understand. Where?”

  “What do you mean ‘where?’ Where are you?”

  “Why are you asking about my whereabouts, Angela?”

  He heard her gasp. “Why? Look, stop the games already. This is the second time I am coming back to the workshop. I have been to your house, called you several times and you ask me why I am looking for you?”

  “I have a right to know, don’t I?”

  “Am I not taking Thomas to school today?”

  “Thomas? No, I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so? Is he not well?”

  “No, he is perfectly fine. I already dropped him off in school. You don’t have to bother about taking him.”

  There was a heavy silence. “I see. And you didn’t think you should have told me that this was what you wanted to do?”

  “You mean I should take permission from you to take my own son to school?”

  “No, not take permission from me. You don’t report to me. But we had an arrangement and –”

  “Forget all about the arrangement. I can take care of my son myself.”

  Another silence. “Okay. But how do you handle business along with –”

  “I’ll figure out a way,” he cut in. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

  Angela paused. “No, nothing at all.”

  Arnold ended the call. He sat there, looking at his dashboard. That was when he realized how tightly he had gripped his steering wheel. His breathing was also very heavy and beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead. There was no doubt about it, he was really angry and his anger was directed at Angela.

  Does she really believe that we can both carry on as if everything is cozy and fine after all that had happened yesterday, and all that I now know about her?

  Does she?

  He doubted it.

  If there was anything he hated, it was being taken for a ride and he believed then that was what she had done to him.

  No bras, no panties, just you and me in the flesh.

  It seemed as if those words had been engraved into hi
s mind. He could not shake off the images that kept on flashing through him as he imagined Angela and some other man making out all sweaty, all naked, all…

  He shook his head as he tried to clear his mind.

  He decided he had to confront Angela and get to the bottom of all this. He had to ask her outright about the relationship she was having.

  He recalled that when he had scrolled through her phone he had memorized a number. He could not tell whose number it was. Angela had only saved it under ‘Mr. R.’

  Mr. R? Who was he and what did he mean to her?

  She had saved his own number with ‘Mr. Arnold.’ At least anyone who saw that could tell that she was not shy about having his full name on her phone. He was her boss, wasn’t he? Arnold did not know whether to be happy or angry about it.

  But Mr. R? Was it R for Romantic or R for Right? Or R for ReallyGoodToMe?

  What did the R stand for? Who was Mr. R?

  These thoughts were on his mind as he drove back to the workshop.

  As soon as he arrived, Paul and Cyril met with him. “Is everything alright, Boss?” Paul asked.

  “The workshop was open but we didn’t see you around,” Cyril added.

  “Sure, everything is alright,” Arnold said. “I just took Thomas to school, that’s all.”

  “Really? But I thought I saw Angela drive off a while ago,” Cyril wondered.

  “And you assumed that my Thomas was with her?” Arnold asked.

  Cyril shrugged. “Well, yes. I mean, she always takes him to school with her boys. Does it mean she didn’t take Thomas as well?”

  “Didn’t you hear me the first time, Cyril?” Arnold asked. “I said I was the one that took my kid to school. How could she have taken him when I was the one who did so?”

  Arnold saw that Paul was scratching his head. “Yes, what is on your mind?”

  Paul shook his head. “Nothing really. Well, maybe something. I was only wondering why Angela wouldn’t take Thomas to school? I mean, it does help you to start early and concentrate on work, you know? Having to deal with the traffic and all can take away valuable time from –”