Hailey brought the bike to a stop, and rolled her wrists. The air had gotten warmer, and the wind had picked up. Her hair flew around her face and her inner thighs ached from being pressed against the bike for hours. She sighed and smacked her hand against the bike. The low fuel sound had started clicking a half hour ago, and she was kicking herself for not having the sense to grab a twenty out of Rocco’s wallet.
She sighed and looked around the gas station. It was a small mom and pops gas station on the edge of Ohio. Hailey tapped the bike and mumbled, “I guess I’m lucky that I even got this far without having to fill up.”
She pulled her arms over her head and stretched. Hailey bent over and stretched her legs the opposite way. As she lifted her head up, she made eye contact with a man that was walking into the gas station.
He was tall, but not too tall. He had a neat haircut and dirty blonde hair. He grinned and nodded at Hailey as he headed towards the station.
Hailey narrowed her eyes and watched him disappear inside. She smiled and ran her hands through her hair before going into the gas station. The man was in line to pay for his fuel and a pack of cigarettes. Hailey pointed at the cigarettes and said, “Those will kill you, you know.”
The guy turned around and chuckled. “Thanks, I already have my mom saying that to me every time that I visit her in the city.”
Hailey turned her head to the side and grinned, “In the city? What city are you from?”
He moved forward in line and said, “I’m from New York.”
Hailey smiled and said, “That’s funny. I’m from New York too, well, my mom lives there.”
“Does she nag you too?”
Hailey giggled and said, “Only sometimes. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get there though. Did you see that bike out there?” Hailey raised her hand and pointed through the glass. She smiled and said, “I thought it would take a lot less gas to get where I need to go.”
The guy set his cigarettes onto the counter and handed the cashier his credit card. “Are you stuck here?”
Hailey wiped an imaginary tear off of her face and said, “Yeah, I guess I am.”
The guy looked back and forth between the bored expression that the cashier wore and the desperate expression on Hailey’s face. He pointed at the motorcycle and said, “Give me $50 on that pump with the motorcycle beside it.”
Hailey beamed and stepped to the side as the man moved out of line. “Thank you so much for that. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
He shrugged and said, “It’s no problem, just be careful. If you ever want to make it up to me, you need to accidentally bump into me in New York, and let me take you to my favorite restaurant.”
Hailey nodded and said, “Looks like I’ll have to do that.” She offered him one more smile before she stepped outside the gas station. She wore a small grin as she moved over to the motorcycle and unscrewed the gas cap.
One last thing to worry about.
***
Rocco blinked as the sunlight fell onto his eyes. He rolled over and groaned into his pillow. “Hailey, did you open the blinds or something?” He sighed and reached to the left of him. When his fingers were met with the comforter and not the feel of Hailey’s skin or the soft strands of her hair, he opened one of his eyes.
“Hailey?” He rolled his neck as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He snatched his cell phone off of the end table and the white, blocky letters on the screen reflected the time: 10:45 AM.
“Looks like I slept in,” he mumbled. He tossed his legs over the side of the bed and opened the bedroom door. The smell of fresh coffee hit him first. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the corners of his eyes before he moved into the kitchen.
His eyes connected with Becca’s. Her fingers were wrapped around the handle of the coffee pot, and she held the pot up to him as he moved further into the kitchen.
“Good Morning, Rocco. Want some coffee? I hope you don’t mind that I helped myself but it’s been so long since I’ve been able to enjoy something like coffee and donuts. There’s still a lot of grounds left in the jug-”
Rocco held up his hand and shook his head. “You’re fine, Becca.” Rocco moved past her and opened the fridge. He pulled out a pastry and held it to his lips. Did Hailey get an early start on the day?
He wiped his hands clean of the pastry and moved past Becca. He knitted his eyebrows together and moved towards the bathroom. He raised his hand and knocked against the door. “Hailey? You in there? Taking a shower?”
Becca’s footsteps came from behind him and she said, “You know, I haven’t seen her yet this morning. I thought that she went for a walk or something.”
Rocco pushed the bathroom door open and was met with the sight of the lonely toilet and empty shower. “Hailey?!” He brushed past Becca and hurried towards the front door. He opened the door and stuck his head out into the hallway. The stairwell was quiet, the usual sounds of kids running throughout the corridors and people bringing their groceries in was gone. Rocco shut the door and pulled open the door to the balcony.
It was abandoned save for the crumbs that had been left on the wood panel the day before, and a couple of birds that eyed Rocco quizzically as he slammed the balcony door shut.
Rocco stopped and ran his hands over his face. There’s no way that Meish or a good got in here last night and did something with her. She would tell me if she was going somewhere, wouldn’t she?
Becca frowned and set her cup down onto the kitchen counter. “Rocco, is everything okay? I just thought that she went on a walk or something.”
Rocco shook his head. “No, I don’t know. I have no clue where she is. Meish has got guys scanning the neighborhood, I don’t want them to run into her and take her back to the club to get me to talk.”
He rushed into the kitchen and did a doubletake upon being met with a clean countertop where his keys normally were. He turned towards Becca and said, “Have you seen my keys?”
Becca shook her head. “I haven’t seen them.”
Rocco jerked his finger at the counter and said, “I left them here. I always leave them here.”
Rocco swallowed a lump that was forming in his throat and opened the door to his apartment. He flew down several flights of stairs before he made it to the first floor. He burst through the front doors and narrowly avoided bumping into an older woman that lived in the building.
“Fuck!” He screeched. He earned nasty looks from a group of moms that walked by with their six year olds beside them.
Rage shot through Rocco’s body and he said, “Are you fucking kidding me?! My bike?!” He ran his eyes up and down the street and tossed his hands above his head. I don’t fucking believe this.
Rocco headed back into the building and jogged up the staircase. He stopped just outside of his apartment and made an attempt to slow his heartbeat. She ran off with my baby.
Rocco pushed the door open and Becca hopped off of the couch. She frowned and said, “What’s wrong? Did you find her?”
Rocco closed the door behind him and shook his head. “Hailey’s gone.”