Michael felt alarmed; something must have happened for Sara to call him. They barely knew each other but he was glad that she felt like she could trust him enough to call him. He threw on a charcoal chunky sweater and grabbed the keys to his grey Audi S3 and sped off to find her. It only took him 5 minutes but the whole time his mind was filled with worry. He imagined different scenarios but came to the conclusion that it must be to do with her fiancée. Michael did not like that man one bit, but had to respect Sara, as much as he liked her. He parked across the road from the diner and went in, looking over tabletops until he spotted Sara. She was slouched in a booth, clutching a mug of presumably coffee. She looked sad and withdrawn and her face was red. It took Michael a second to realise that her cheek had a red raw imprint of a hand. He clenched his insides.

"Sara? What happened?" He sat down opposite her, trying to keep his cool. Sara looked up at him.

"I'm ok, I'm alright," she began. "I'm sorry to have troubled you, I don't know why I rang you."

"Did he do that to you?"
She was silent and looked into her coffee mug as she swirled the contents round.

"Sara, did he…"
"Yes," she finally said quietly. "I've left him. I panicked and I rang you and, I don't know why but I did and I'm sorry. This isn't your mess to deal with."

"Don't be sorry," he said gently. "I'm glad you rang."

A tear fell down her cheek.

"Hey, don't cry," Michael said passing her a tissue. "Its ok, you're bound to be upset at the end of your relationship but you've done the right thing."
"I'm not upset it ended," she said a little aggressively. "I'm glad. I'm relieved. I'm just so embarrassed!"

"You've got nothing to be embarrassed about Sara, this isn't your fault."

"It's still pretty humiliating, your so called fiancée slapping you round the face and calling you a slut!"
"He did what?" Michael's eyes were wide open in shock.

A small smile escaped Sara's lips.

"He found the business card you gave me, thought I was having an affair or something. Then started saying how ungrateful I am, he gave me bags and shoes and dresses and fancy dinners and it still wasn't enough! He didn't even know me! I hate all those 6-inch heeled hooker shoes! I'm not one for $1000 designer dresses! He couldn't even work that out after three years together!"

"Screw him, he sounds like a right jerk!" Michael said. He wanted to say a lot more than 'right jerk' but held back.

"Where are you gonna stay?"

"My stepmom, my dad's ex wife, we get on really well, and she's almost like a mother to me. I called her and she said I could stay with her."

"That's great, you've got somewhere to go."

"I know, she's amazing, I wish her and my dad were still together."

"And what about your mom? If you don't mind me asking?"

"She's dead." Sara said as a matter of fact.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, so stupid of me to ask." Michael felt embarrassed.

"No, its ok, she died when I was 9."

"Still, I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't worry."

There was a couple of seconds of silence. Awkwardness filled the air.

"My mom's dead too," Michael finally said.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Michael replied. "I was young too, 6. She was ill, a tumor, she died peacefully. Since then it's just been me and my big brother."

"Your father?"
"He died when I was a year old."

"Oh Michael, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," he said, smiling. "Me and Linc got through it ok, we managed!"

"Good, that's great."

Michael eventually dropped Sara to Annie's place, half an hour from Chicago. Her car keys, along with her car, were still at her apartment and going back to see Fillipe was the last thing she wanted to do. After Michael dropped her off, he didn't go straight home. Instead, he drove around the city, his head suddenly filled with a mass of confusion. Sara had gotten into his mind, big time. She hadn't even tried anything, flirted with him, come onto him, but still he felt himself craving more of her time and attention and prayed that he would hear from her. Of course, the last thing she wanted was to get involved with another man, but he couldn't help but hope that she could see he was very different from her scumbag ex-fiancée.