A/N: Okay, I still can't type very much... I'm mostly limited to author's notes, reviews & replies, email, and the occasional text. But, I wrote this on actual legit paper in while traveling, and then found a dictation app to use. So sorry if there are words in places that don't make sense. It's not always super accurate. Let me know, and I'll fix any errors.
Now, background for this story. It is based around the song 'Two Black Cadillacs' performed by Carrie Underwood. (Hence the title.) If you aren't familiar with the song, you should listen to it, or look up the lyrics. I would put them on here, but I've heard that's not allowed these days. This isn't a songfic; instead it is structured like my Harry Potter fic 'Dead Lilies.' So, without further ado, I present to you another creation from the scary place known as my mind.
Warning: This will become quite dark and involves a character death.
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. The main plot events belong to Carrie Underwood. I'm just smashing it all together to make something that's hopefully interesting to read!
Zoe:
Once again, the house was dark when Zoe drove in with Emily. She parked her shiny black Cadillac in the garage and opened the door to darkness. She wondered where he was.
"Em, call your father and find out when he's coming home," Zoe said. Emily rushed to the phone with the enthusiasm only a ten year old girl could have. Zoe smiled at her daughter and pulled a frozen dinner out to heat up.
"Well?" Zoe asked when Emily hung up the phone.
"He's working late again," Emily said. She looked a bit put out. Not that Zoe blamed her, because he had been working late a lot. She knew what it was like to start out in the business world, but she wished he was home more.
She put dinner in the oven to heat up she listened for the sound of clinking dishes as Emily set the table like she always did. When they didn't come, she turned around and found Emily standing in exactly the same spot as she had been before. Em looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how.
"Em?"
"Does dad work with someone named Gill?" Of all the things Zoe expected, this was not one. She tried to hide the shock and fear.
"No. Where did you hear that?" Zoe asked.
"He called to someone while he picked up the phone."
"Honey, I'm sure you misheard. Things you here at the beginning of calls like that aren't always clear. Cal works with Joel remember," Zoe reassured. Emily didn't look happy.
"He'll be home soon," Zoe said. Emily didn't reply. She pulled to place settings out and set the table.
Late that night when Emily was asleep and Cal still wasn't home, Zoe lay awake. She couldn't stop thinking about what her daughter had said. She didn't want to even go there in her thoughts. Sure, Cal worked late often, but his company was just getting off the ground. It was bound to happen. On top of that, his business partner was a guy. Joel. Some sort of voice specialist.
If Cal wasn't working, then he was probably out drinking with Joel. That was it. But, as far back as Zoe could recall, she had never actually met Joel. For all the time he spent working with Cal, she had never even met him.
She was going to have to go there in her thoughts.
Just as Zoe came to that conclusion, Cal stumbled into their room and passed out on the bed beside her. He was drunk; she could smell the alcohol on him. Drinking with Joel it was. The case must be going badly. Emily must have heard wrong.
Satisfied, Zoe finally fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Zoe woke up in a good mood. She sent Emily off to school with no trouble, and got ready for work. She stepped back into their room to check on Cal and she nearly tripped over her heels due to the darkness. But today she wasn't bothered by that.
She walked over to the bed, and watched Cal sleeping for a moment. As she turned to leave Cal grabbed her wrist.
"Zoe?" But Zoe was staring out the fingers of the hand that gripped her wrist. He wasn't wearing his ring. She slid her hand from his and said,
"Go back to sleep Cal," before walking away. She wasn't amused. She wasn't even angry. Furious was more accurate, although even that didn't quite sum up her feelings.
She may have slammed the door with more force than necessary and may have been more aggressive driving to work than normal. She may have been more snappish and quick to jump on the defense at work. She may have pretended that she was normal, but she didn't do a very good job. She wasn't even fooling herself.
By lunch, she decided just to take the rest of the day and head home to a hopefully empty house. For once she was pleased that the house was quiet and empty. Emily wouldn't be home for hours, and Cal, well, she had no idea what time he would show up tonight.
Zoe tossed her briefcase on the kitchen table and left her jacket over a chair. She kicked off her shoes and was just about to sit down for a little while when she saw Cal's cell phone on the counter.
He must have left it there when he went to work. Before she managed to talk herself out of it, she snatched it up and searched for recent calls. In Cal's call log, there was an unlabeled number that he had called almost every day at least once.
Zoe swallowed. If he was hiding a big secret, this was the way she was going to find out about it. Of course, if it was someone involved in the company, a client, she would just apologize and get on with her life. If not, well, Zoe wasn't sure what she would do.
Zoe made her decision with one slip of her finger, and began the call. She stepped out into the yard and waited as the phone rang.
A/N: What do you think so far? Okay? & I promise, I am still attempting to work out another chapter for Spring Lies, Summer Changes. I have a hard time switching from typing to writing on paper in the middle of a story, so yeah.