Complete Without You (ONC 2022)

Chapter 5 - Road Trip (Neil)

It astonished me there were places in the world where you could drive 600 kilometres without encountering a town or an attraction. Just miles of red dirt, yellow grasses and scrub brush, and occasional trees for six straight hours. Although I should have been used to it, having driven to Karijini from Uluru. This time we were bound for the coastal town of Broome.

Sadie stared out the window in some sort of daze. Was she thinking about my confession yesterday? Debating when to pull a runner and find more normal company?

You make me feel safe, her breezy voice echoed in my mind.

Ally had never seen it that way. At first, she found my asking to hold and kiss her cute, but soon she grew tired of it. "Neil, I'm your girlfriend, not your mother. You don't have to ask me for every ruddy thing. After six months of dating, that should be obvious. It kills the mood." When I asked my mates about it, they agreed with her.

So I tried to fix my problem by being more spontaneous with her, acting like the guys in the romantic comedies she'd watch. Sweep her off her feet, kiss her unexpectedly, whisper compliments in her ear as we lay together. She had explicitly asked me to, and it made her happier than ever. Things were good for a while.

"What are you thinking about?" Sadie asked, her words making the cold air from the vents stronger.

"Do you really want to know?"

"If you want to tell me."

I wasn't the suavest guy, but even I knew confessing to dwelling on another woman while with a wonderful one wasn't bright. "This endless drive."

"You sure? That looked like an unwarranted amount of contempt unless you're worried about my company." She crossed her arms over her baggy t-shirt.

"You're clever. If I stick to my story, It'll seem like I'm insulting you, which I won't do."

"And you're deflecting."

I grinned at her in the way Ally always told me was irresistible. "You're really good."

Sadie chuckled. "Last question and I'll shut up. Was it your ex?"

My hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, and I focused on the road. She saw right through that greasy attempt to charm her. What was wrong with me? It had been a desperate knee-jerk response to protect myself.

Sadie drummed her fingers on the dash. "Since we started working on our bucket lists, I've thought about mine more. Memories of us making it together and how devastated I was when he bailed on the trip. But also how boss I was sliding down that waterfall and all the cool stuff I accomplished solo. I got this scar on my elbow mountain biking down a legit mountain in New Zealand." Sadie held up her arm.

I could picture that satisfied yet terrified smile she wore after abseiling. "You are truly remarkable."

"Thanks, I keep trying to move forward. But sometimes you have to look back to learn from your past pitfalls."

"I can't imagine you doing anything wrong."

Sadie ran her hand through her long hair. "I wasn't always honest about what I needed and who I was—with him and myself—which led to our unhappiness with the relationship. In retrospect, our trip was a last-ditch effort to regain the rush of falling for each other before we both started holding grudges."

The night the bucket list seed was planted came to mind. Ally had stumbled home from the pub where she and her girlfriends usually met up on Friday nights. She raved about a vacation Jasmine and her fiancé had taken.

"They got engaged on the beach at sunset!"

"Engaged?" Anytime I mentioned marriage, Ally brushed it off as some far-off notion, but if she was bringing it up, it had to be a sign. "She must be thrilled. They've been together just over a year now, right?" We'd dated for nearly two and been friends for ages before that.