sweet like honey | taylor swift

The grass in front of the car flickered with shades of blue and red, as did the grove of trees to the right. There were no other lights on the street besides those and the headlights of Nick's car, which were still on.

Dorothea held the steering wheel in a death grip. She was staring straight ahead at the endless stretch of grass, her chest rising and falling with each breath. Well, it was less so breathing and more so hyperventilating. Each gasp for air sent her entire body rattling.

She glanced at the passenger seat and saw that her handbag had tumbled onto the floor, along with all of its contents. She could see her phone, which was lying on top, blink with notifications one right after another.

She looked in the rear view mirror and saw two state highway officers striding alongside the muddy tire tracks she'd left behind. By the time they reached her, there were tears spilling down her face.

"Ma'am, before we ask for your license and registration, are you okay?" The taller officer asked. He had deep blue eyes and young, yet sharp features. He reminded her of her brother, Dean.

When was the last time she even talked to her older brother? Or any of her family members, for that matter? She was in their group text messages, but when was the last time she'd participated in any of them? They just felt so far away, halfway across the country in Dallas. But not as far away as San Diego. San Diego was the perfect distance to go if you wanted to hide something, or at least that's what it once seemed like.

"Ma'am? We need you to try and speak to us, to let us know if you're okay," the older, heavier officer said. "Do you need us to call for medical assistance?"

Dorothea shook her head numbly, swiping her hands across her eyes. "N-no. I'm fine, thank you."

"We only saw you as you reached the bottom of the Valley, but it seemed like you were going very fast," the first officer commented as he shined a light on her driver's license. "Dorothea Madison. The car's registered under Nicholas Keller."

"He's—" The words got caught in her throat. She drew in a shallow breath, then as she let it out, she said, "He's my husband."

But he cheated on me.

And I cheated on him.

So where did that leave us?

"Does he know that you took his car?"

Dorothea nodded. "Yes, sir."

The officers exchanged glances with each other. Then, the older one came forward and rested his elbow on the door. "Mrs. Madison, is there a reason you were heading towards Manhattan at such a high rate of speed on this Thursday night?" he asked gently.

She went still as the image of Taylor's apartment filled her mind.

She shook her head as she looked up at him. "I had a bad day at work," she lied. "I just needed to clear my head. I was going to turn around as soon as I reached the service station a few miles ahead."

A few minutes later, the younger officer handed her a slip of paper with a sincere expression. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs. Madison. From now on, try to be more careful. For your own sake, as well as your husband's."

She gave him a watery smile as she took the ticket. Then as he walked away, she crumpled it up and threw it on top of everything else that had spilled out onto the floor.

Instead of continuing towards the city, she steered the car back onto the road and in the direction of The Lakes. When she arrived at the house, she parked the car outside of one of the garage doors and gathered the contents of her purse, along with the ticket. She then got out of the mud-streaked vehicle and walked up the path to the front door.