<span style="font-style: italic">A rural road in England</span><br/><br/>A weekend holiday had sounded like a good idea at the time. That was until she began to complain about cell service and that she was bored. Richard Vanderbilt and his much younger wife, Helena, were driving down a country road. Richard was old enough to pass for Helena's father. He knew people often judged them. Especially since they got married only a few months after his first wife, Daphne, had passed away. He knew his five children disliked their stepmother with a passion. Especially when his youngest was the same age as Helena. Sadly, Helena seemed to share the same dislike for them. She made no effort to get along with his children or grandchildren.<br/><br/>'Age is only a number,' Richard would often tell himself. Helena made him happy, most of the time. She was beautiful and full of energy. Others times, like right now, she drove him crazy. Helena was grumbling that her phone would not get any service.<br/><br/>"Richard, this why I didn't want to go to the country. I can't get any bloody service!"<br/><br/>Richard was driving and keeping his eyes on the road. It had started to rain. He told his young wife.<br/><br/>"Helena, you can live without that phone. It wasn't until the-"<br/><br/>He was about to say how long mobile phones had been around and that until about the last twenty years, people got along without them just fine. In fact, he had a very simple phone, for business purposes only. Not Helena, though. She had to always be texting, or posting on Facebook and Instagram. He swore she had her face more focused on that little screen, then she did with the rest of the world.<br/><br/>"Don't tell me what I can't live without!"<br/><br/>Helena snapped at him. Richard glared as he drove.<br/><br/>"Don't act like a child. Read a book or look out the fucking window and enjoy the scenery."<br/><br/>Daphne never complained like this. She used to enjoy country drives. It was times like this that he missed his late first wife. Daphne had such simpler needs and never acted like a spoiled little brat. Helena didn't like being lectured and said.<br/><br/>"Yeah, I'll just look at the fucking rain. How exciting."<br/><br/>Helena scoffed at Richard, slumping down in her seat. Like a disobedient teenage girl. She was certainly not acting her age and Richard was angry about it. It was starting to rain hard and he needed to focus on the road. Before he could say anything else, suddenly he heard the loud pop of the back tire of their car. It was flat and he had to pull off to the side of the road.<br/><br/>"What the hell was that?!"<br/><br/>Helena asked as Richard got out of the car. He started to curse as he saw what had happened. Helena didn't want to get wet and was yelling at him through the window. Richard, who was starting to get soaked, stomped over to her side of the car and yelled back.<br/><br/>"The back tire is flat and we don't have the spare since you needed room for your bag of shoes!"<br/><br/>Richard usually had a spare tire in the trunk, but no...Helena hadn't had enough room and she refused to put her luggage in the back seat of the car. Wanting to save it for things she wanted to buy. She argued that they never had to use the spare tire. Well, they could have used it now! Helena glared at her husband.<br/><br/>"Well, what the hell are we going to do? I can't get any service and your phone is from the time of the dinosaurs!"<br/><br/>She yelled back, making no effort to get out of the car or make any suggestions. Richard want to shake her all the sudden and told himself to count backwards from one hundred to calm down. He looked around and saw an old inn.<br/><br/>"We'll go there, maybe they'll have phone we can borrow."<br/><br/>Richard said and Helena nodded her head.<br/><br/>"Grab the bags, I don't want someone stealing our stuff."<br/><br/>At least, her stuff anyway. Her clothing cost a great deal of money and Helena could easily see some poorer people rummaging through cars to take things. Richard sighed at her.<br/><br/>"Helena, I-"<br/><br/>He saw the look on her face that she was damn determined to take her fucking clothes and decided to not fight her. He was already soaking wet. Hopefully this place would have a phone and a place for him to dry up. He had did have a bag of his own clothes in the trunk too.<br/><br/>"Fine. Come on."<br/><br/>Richard told Helena, grabbing the little cart they had taken with them to drag all of  Helena's bags around. She made him pull the cart as they headed up the hill. At least, Helena grabbed the umbrellas they always had in the car too. Not that Richard saw the point taking one for himself now. He was already soaking wet.