Jo sighed loudly, wondering whether or not Brian would hear it. However, her boss seemed far too caught up in the sound of his own voice to even pause for breath, continuing to talk about everything that was expected of her. “Yes, yes, I know,” Jo muttered, gritting her teeth.
“You absolutely must get this artist on board,” Brian insisted, his voice taking on a slightly lofty air. “The success of our little gallery depends on it.” He’s using that posh voice again, Jo thought to herself, rolling her eyes.
“You might say, we are all relying on you, even with your lack of experience!”
I have plenty of experience, Jo growled inwardly, leaning against the side of her car and sighing again.
“Well, best of luck! You know what I expect now, don’t you? Keep me informed.”
With a couple of beeps, Brian disconnected, leaving Jo in silence. There were no other cars at the gas station so she was quite alone. Taking a few deep breaths, Jo struggled between wanting to call Brian back and scream at him, or simply bashing her head against the car until she stopped feeling so angry. Deciding that neither was particularly a good choice, she pushed back her unruly mop of brown hair and let the wind cool her hot cheeks.
“Best fill up while I’m here,” she muttered to herself, hoping that perhaps focusing on filling her tank with gas would distract her from thinking about Brian. Swallowing another sigh, she watched the numbers slowly go up as the gas filled the tank.
Another two days of this, she thought to herself, groaning. She’d already had one full day of travel and had stayed overnight at some small – and fairly dirty – motel. It had been so like Brian to book her into the cheapest place possible. Now another day’s drive was ahead of her, thanks to Brian’s economical ways. Not wanting to pay for a flight, he’d convinced her that she’d enjoy the drive, that there would be spectacular scenery along the way but so far, there had been absolutely nothing she’d call inspiring. Flying from Thorpes to Dornwich would have been much more simple, but, of course, more expensive. Brian wasn’t just frugal, he was cheap.
“Heading anywhere nice?”
Trying to raise a smile to the girl behind the counter, Jo shook her head. “Just going to Dornwich. For work.”
“Have a good trip!” she replied, handing Jo her receipt. “Drive safe!”
“Thanks.” Crumpling up the receipt in her hand, Jo walked back out to her car. At this rate, she wasn’t going to have enough energy to convince their client that they were the best Art Gallery to display his work. Glancing at the clock on the dashboard, she buckled her seatbelt, revved the engine and pulled out on to the road.
“At least it’s quiet,” Jo said to herself, aware that she hadn’t seen a single other traveller in her two hours of driving. “And that’s probably because everyone else is flying,” she muttered, grimly. This simply didn't seem worth it, not for any job. Jo shook her head to herself, fully aware that she wasn't happy. At first, being the Artist Liaison Officer of the prestigious Liberty Art had been a dream come true, until she'd met Brian. He was the Gallery Manager and insisted that she travel here, there and everywhere to secure new artists. Initially, Jo had loved every minute of it, before slowly realizing that she was being paid to travel great distances via her own little car. She was reimbursed, of course, but the travel was beginning to seep tiredness into her bones. Even though she'd discussed the matter with Brian and begged him to hold the purse strings a little less tightly, nothing had changed.
On her next assignment, Jo had been told that she was to go and meet with the agent of the amazing Martin Fresnel. It was her job to get his work in their gallery, and Brian had expected her to drive there, as per usual. Jo had argued over and over until he'd harshly reminded her that her job was to ‘liaise' and if she did not fulfil her job's criteria, then he would have to look for her replacement. It had been a thinly veiled threat but it had done exactly what he'd wanted. Jo had stared at him for a moment before silently leaving his office.
That had been the day she’d started hating her job. Now she could hardly face the thought of where he’d make her go next but if she wanted to keep her job, she had to do it.
“Maybe I don’t want my job anymore,” she voiced aloud, the shock of her statement rushing through her. “Well, maybe I don’t!” she continued, a little defiantly. “I could do something else, couldn’t I?”
Not in the same town, a little voice said. You’ve just gotten a house here. Do you really want to uproot yourself and start all over again?
Frowning, Jo held back a groan. She liked having a house of her own, having a job to go to. There was a sense of security there. To quit her job would throw all that away. Would she be able to cope?
Deciding that she needed to focus on something else, Jo glanced up at the views, noticing that the clouds were still dark and the sun almost entirely hidden. Everything around her was gray and gloomy which didn't help to lift her spirits. Even the trees were beginning to become a little more dense. "Looks like the road goes through a forest," Jo mused. The tall trees hid even more daylight and branches littered the ground. Knowing that she would have to be careful, she slowed the car down, flicking her lights on for good measure.
Out of nowhere, a large brown object came flying down one side of the road, as Jo quickly caught it out of the corner of her eye. Slamming on her brakes, she screeched to a halt as the large object hit the side of her car with immense force.
“What on earth?” Jo exclaimed, breathing hard from shock. The car had been pushed to one side from the impact although, thankfully, it had not gone over the verge. Pushing down on the brake firmly, Jo grasped the steering wheel as though her life depended on it. The brown object turned out to be a great brown bear that slowly got to its feet and looked her directly in the eye.