Chapter Three

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“How do I know you’re not going to kill me?” I stared anxiously at the mysterious man standing outside of my car window. I must’ve fallen asleep and to my surprise woken up to the loud banging of his hands against my poor little car.

"Look, I'm just trying to help, okay?" He held up his hands accusingly. "It looks like you're having car troubles. I have a truck..." he said as he pointed to the charcoal gray F150 parked across the road. "I can pull you into the next town if you need."

"I'm not having car troubles." I smiled smugly. "Thanks anyway!" I waved my hand hoping he'd walk away. 

"Okay." He sighed in defeat. His hands grazed the back of his head as he began to walk away. "But, I guess I can't say I didn't try to help."

I watched as he slowly began disappearing into the darkness. My eyes glanced towards my side view mirror and then in front of me. There were no signs of life out here. Maybe I was making a mistake by letting him go. Who knows when I'd see someone again. 

I struggled to roll my window down. "Wait!" I narrowed my eyes to see him better. "What's your name?" The noise of shuffling gravel stopped when he turned to look back at me.

"Nolan...Nolan Fletcher."

"If my car did happen to die, do you know where the nearest auto shop is?"

I heard a faint sigh. If it weren't for the lifeless desert setting I'm sure I wouldn't have heard it otherwise. 

"The next town is 30 miles ahead. I know a guy who's about 10 minutes further out. This looks pretty costly, so I can ask him to help you out."

I would be lying if I didn't think this all sounded too tempting. What did I have to lose any way? Just my broken car, a backseat filled with my belongings, and oh, my life. 

I stuck my head over my window that I could only manage to roll half way down. "Okay."

There was silence for a brief second.

"Okay, what?" Nolan asked. "I thought you weren't haven't car troubles."

"Well, maybe I am." I admitted. 

I watched as Nolan shook his head and jumped into his truck. It roared to life as he revved the engine.

I gasped, mildly offended. "Wait!" I waved my hand. "Aren't you going to help me?" I wasn't sure who I was talking to, Nolan clearly couldn't hear me over the racket.

I watched as he looked at me and shook his head. His truck jumped forward as he switched the gears and began driving. 

"Oh my God," I whispered to myself. Was he seriously about to leave me here after that whole spiel about how unsafe it was?

I watched as he pulled onto the highway and drove away. My jaw was still hung open from what had just happened. 

That's when his break lights turned on. Either he was stopped in the middle of the road, or reversing his car. I couldn't exactly tell. I opened my car door and walked towards the middle of the road. I could hear rocks being crushed under his tires. I sighed with relief knowing that he was backing up his truck. He moved slowly as he parked it in front of my car.

"That wasn't funny." I angrily pouted with furrowed brows. 

Nolan laughed at my expression and rolled his eyes as he walked to the bed of his truck. "You were giving me a hard time, so I had to return the favor." He leaned forward as he pulled out some chains. "You mind coming here?" He asked as he held the chains in his hands. He squinted one eye as he looked at me. "I want to see if this'll fit around your neck." He continued to laugh as I stood there with my arms crossed. "Oh, come on, I'm just yanking your chain." He laughed louder this time. "Get it?"

I remained silent as I watched him entertain himself. 

After Nolan was done hooking the chain to my car he walked around to open the passenger side door to his truck. "After you, Miss..." His eyes looked at me questioningly.

"Harper."

"Harper..." He waited for me to finish

"Just Harper."

"Alright Just Harper." He smiled knowing full well that he'd figured out exactly how to irritate me.

By the time we finally made our way into town the skies had lightened in preparation for the morning sun. I stared out of my window for majority of the ride watching as the horizon sprung into ombre shades of orange with occasional breaks of mountains obstructing the view.

"So, where are you moving to?" Nolan asked after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

I looked at him confused. "Who said I was moving?"

"No one." He shook his head and looked in the rear view mirror. "I just figured you were with the amount of stuff piled up in your car. Either that or you have a problem."

"The latter." I lied. "I like to keep my things with me."

Nolan looked at me with a smile, unsure of whether he should laugh or not, but it quickly vanished when he saw the straight look on my face.

"You do have a home, right?" He asked nervously.

"Not really." I smiled to myself mischeviously. I mean technically I was evicted from my apartment and I was on my way to my parent's house, but he didn't need to know that. It was my turn to mess with him. "Are you weirded out that you picked up a homeless woman?"

"I mean..." He cleared his throat. Suddenly his tone was a lot more serious. "Do you know where you're going, you know, after you get your car fixed? And how exactly are you going to get your car fixed?"

"I thought you and your buddy with the auto shop were going to help me out?" I clasped my hands together as I begged. "Oh, please mister, please help this lil ole lady out!" 

I couldn't help but burst into laughter after seeing the squimish look on Nolan's face. "Oh man, I really needed that laugh. Now, I get why you were being so weird back there."

"So, you're not homeless?" He asked unsure by my manic episode.

"No, I'm moving back East." I wiped the tears from my eyes and went back to staring out of my window. The orange hues had turned to pinks and blues the further the sun rose. "L.A didn't exactly treat me too good."

The traffic began picking up once we were near civilization. I didn't feel so threatened by Nolan any more. The more time that passed the more he began looking like an average guy than a serial killer. Maybe it was just the harsh shading of the night that gave him such a smoldering look. 

"Fuck." Nolan whispered under his breath as we pulled into the empty parking lot for the auto shop. I looked at him confused. "What day is it?"

I wasn't sure myself. "...Sunday?"

He jumped out of his truck, grabbing his cell phone from the console, before he walked a good distance away. 

I watched as he paced back and forth anxiously with a concerned look on his face. After a few minutes he came back inside, shut his door and started his car.

"There might be a problem." He finally spoke. 

"Okay..." I leaned in on my elbow turning my full attention to him. 

"I forgot today was Sunday. All the shops in the city are closed. I just called Alex and he won't be able to come in either."

I swallowed empty air. "What does this mean exactly? You're just gonna abandon me in a random city?" 

"This isn't really my problem." 

"Wow," I mumbled under my breath.

"What were you going to do if I didn't pick you up?" I thought maybe be might be kidding, but the expression on Nolan's face said otherwise. "I got you this far didn't I? Maybe we can try finding a hotel for you close by here."

He wasn't entirely wrong. I didn't exactly want to hitch a ride with him, but after being in this nice clean truck that still had a new car smell, I was pretty upset I had to go back to my dinky broken down trash mobile. 

"You're right.  This isn't your problem. Can you please unhook my car?" I huffed as I flung my door open and hopped out of the truck. 

All I heard was a heavy sigh before he walked out and began pulling the chains off both of our cars. I looked around realizing how run down the area was. Maybe it was because today was Sunday and half the city was shut down, but this place really looked like a post apocalyptic scene from The Walking Dead. I shivered as I imagined zombies emerging from around the corner. 

"You can just leave your car here." Nolan dusted off his hands as he walked towards me. "Look," he pointed down the street to a motel. "Get in the car I can take you there."

"You've done enough. Thank you kind stranger, but I can walk." I gave half a smile and began my trek down the street.

By the time I made it to the first stop light I looked over my shoulder to see Nolan slowly inching his truck in the same direction I was walking. He rolled down his windows and shouted. "Can you just get in the car so I can take you there?"

"It's literally one street over." 

The signal turned green and Nolan began driving at a normal speed only to slowly down and turn into the motel's parking lot. I rolled my eyes and crossed the street to meet him there. 

"This place doesn't look too safe." He was still sitting in his truck with the windows rolled down. I looked around and I couldn't even maintain a normal expression. Unsafe was an understatement. 

We watched as a woman in metallic shorts so tiny they looked like underwear, stepped out of a rusted Camaro. She scratched the bird nest that was her hair as she chugged back on her beer and stumbled slowly and eventually to her motel room.

Nolan and I exchanged glances of concern. "I have to drive north of here for work. It's gonna be out of your way, but at least that city is more..." He fell silent trying to figure out the right word. "Lively."

"Oh God," I quickly scurried to the passenger side of his truck and jumped in. "I thought you'd never ask."

Nolan laughed as he reversed his car and went back towards the auto shop. He went out again to chain our cars together again. I began shuffling through my purse as I waited for him. The weather was really drying out my hands and I needed some lotion. 

My hand hit something hard and rectangular. I flinched not remembering putting something with it's texture in my bag. I pulled it out wondering what it could possibly be. 

21 Questions For Finding Love written by Alexander Nottingham

I sighed and rolled my head back. "Celeste..."