I was forty minutes into the drive, cruising down the highway, when my phone buzzed against the center console. Then it buzzed again, then a third time. I glanced at the screen: three missed calls from Elena, one text message from Elena.
I didn't answer. I didn't even unlock the phone.
I knew exactly what was happening: the photoshoot was over, they had moved to the bar, and she had reached for her clutch to buy a round of drinks for her new friends. Or maybe she had just realized I wasn't holding her purse anymore.
I kept driving. Ten minutes later, the texts escalated:
Elena: Where are you?
Elena: Stop joking around. Come back. Julian needs to charge his camera.
Elena: Mark, seriously, you're embarrassing me. Where did you go?
I pulled into a rest stop about ten miles from the city limits. I needed gas, and I needed to handle the logistics. I parked the car and finally picked up the phone. There were now twelve texts; the tone had shifted from annoyance to panic.
Then came the text from Chloe. Chloe was Elena's bestie of the month, the one who enabled everything, always whispering in Elena's ear that she deserved more, that she was a star.
Chloe: Where the hell are you? Elena is crying. You ruined the whole vibe. Come back and pick us up right now.
I stared at the words: Elena is crying.
A week ago, that sentence would have made me turn the car around. I would have apologized, I would have begged for forgiveness, I would have driven back at 90 mph to dry her tears. But today, I read it like a supply chain report.
Why is she crying? She wasn't crying because she missed me—she had just told me my face ruined her aesthetic. She wasn't crying because she was worried about my safety; she hadn't called to ask if I crashed. She was crying because she was sixty miles away from home at a remote vineyard. Uber surged to about $180 for that distance on a Saturday night. She didn't have a car, Julian didn't drive, and most importantly, I realized with a dark, grim satisfaction, she didn't have any money.
I had given her a supplementary credit card on my Amex account for emergencies; she used it for Sephora and brunch. That card was in the purse I had left on the grass.
I opened my banking app:
Status: Active.
Recent pending charge: $0.