The 2014 R.L. Mathewson Chronicle Collection by R.L. Mathewson Page A

any excuse not to go that she’d take it.
                “They have coffee there,” she lied. Well, she was pretty sure that she’d just lied since she’d never actually been to one of these places before and wasn’t exactly sure what they did or didn’t have there.
                “Fine,” Nick said around another loud yawn that almost had her feeling bad enough to cancel her plans for the day and let him go back upstairs to catch up on some sleep.
                Almost.
                “Where are we going? The rental car is parked over there,” he said when she bypassed the walkway that would have taken them to their rental car and instead headed towards the area that the concierge had pointed out yesterday morning as the area designated for taxis.
                “To get a taxi,” she said, hoping that he’d just go along with her plan without arguing.
                Apparently that was too much to ask for, because with a sigh of exasperation, Nick tightened his hold on her hand and with a small nudge, headed towards their rental car.
                “But,-” She started to protest.
                “We’re not wasting money on a taxi when we have a rental car,” he explained in a firm tone, the same tone that he normally used when he found her curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor, praying for death and promising anyone that would listen that she would never touch another sweet morsel for as long as she lived.
                “But-”
                “Unless alcohol is involved, we’re taking the car,” he said, pausing by the silver sedan to open the passenger side door for her.
                “There’s no alcohol involved,” she mumbled as she glanced at the taxis, wondering if she should try to drag him back over there.
                When she hesitated, he looked heavenward for a moment before shaking his head and promising, “I won’t ask where we’re going. You can put the address in the GPS to keep it a secret.”
                Deciding that this was probably the best compromise that she was going to manage to get from him so early in the morning, she accepted his suggestion with a nod and climbed into the car. As soon as he shut the door, she was fumbling with her bag, frantically searching for the address before he got in the car so that he wouldn’t see the name of their location. Just as she found the crumpled up piece of paper, Nick was climbing in and starting the car.
                Thankfully he focused on buckling his seatbelt and fighting back another yawn as she quickly typed in the address to their location on her phone’s GPS application. A minute later the GPS announced that they would arrive at their destination in twenty-two minutes, more than enough time for her to chicken out five or six times and convince herself to man up before they got there.
                “Why the rush?” Nick asked in a conversational tone that she wasn’t buying one bit.
                “No rush,” she said, proud of herself for sounding so casual even as she kept throwing nervous glances between Nick and the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, wondering if he already knew what she had planned.
                “I see,” he murmured, following the GPS’s direction by taking a left.
                He didn’t say another word as they drove and neither did she, too excited to say anything. She was finally going through with it!
                She couldn’t believe it! Finally, she was going to know what the big deal was. Of course, it would probably help her with her books, she mused, barely listening as the GPS announced that they would be arriving at their destination in four hundred yards. It would definitely help spice things up, she thought, barely registering the car pulling into a parking spot or Nick