She could've flown, but it would've been an expensive bill to get her car shipped across the country. Besides, she and Gary could use a road trip.

As the road trip began, Carrie was really happy to have her new Jeep. Mostly because it was packed full. She definitely wouldn't of been able to haul this much with her old car. The backseat of the Jeep was folded down and the entire back of the car was loaded with boxes that stacked high enough so she couldn't see out of the rear view mirror and had to rely on her backup camera.

Gary sat beside her in the front seat next to her purse and folded up laptop, and above the large box that was squeezed in front of the seat. It was a 36 hour drive from Beverly Hills to Charlotte. Carrie and Gary split that into four days and 9 hours in the car every day. Then when it was time to pull of the highway and get some rest, she put a pillow in between her back and the door and stretched her legs over the center console and onto the box in front of Gary's seat.

But tonight after the 9 hour drive, Carrie stretched out across the front seats with her laptop on her lap. She also loved her Jeep because it had a wifi router. No need to use a hotspot. She burned a few hours as Gary slept by researching about the Panthers. Carrie found everything from each players stats from last season to completed trades and trade rumors.

After filing through the trade reports and adding new Panthers players to her roster, she made a list of players she'd like to interview, and that her bosses would like her to interview. That list included Harrison Ford, Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Greg Olsen, Christian McCaffrey and head coach Ron Rivera.

For some reason she decided to check out Harrison Ford's stats. She'd only seen him play once and that was when the Panthers came to Los Angeles to play the newly relocated Rams last season.

In between her seat and the center console was a notebook. That notebook was where she kept most of her article drafts before she would type them up and publish them. Carrie flipped to a blank page and began writing down last years season stats as well as career stats and some accomplishments.

One time defensive player of the year. 6 time pro bowler in the 6 seasons he played so far. 18 time defensive player of the week. 8 time defensive player of the month. One Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl 50 when the Panthers got their asses handed to them by the Broncos. The year of the Super Bowl they went 15-1 in the regular season. The following season they went 6-10.

But Harrison had a pretty impressive resume for only being in the NFL for 6 seasons. She wanted to interview him if she could.

❺❾

The next day after another 9 hours of driving, Carrie stopped for a drink. Tomorrow was the last day of driving and she and Gary would be moved into their new apartment. The following Monday she started work for the Panthers. It was media day meaning she'd have a great opportunity to interview most of the players on her list.

She made her way into the packed bar. As she made her way around the pool table and dart board there was one seat left at the bar which she took next to a group of bikers.

Carrie slid her credit card across the bar table to the bartender. "That won't be necessary," a husky voice beside her told the bartender.

Her card was pushed back to her as she turned to her right. It wasn't one of the bikers. It was a man her age with blond hair and blue eyes. "You look like you could use a drink," he said as the bartender took his card.

Carrie knew she looked like a total mess. Her eyes were red from the horrible sleep the past few days and she felt horrible.

A bottle of beer was pushed across the counter. She then thanked the guy next to her. "So what do you do for a living?" He asked.

"I'm a sportswriter," she answered. "What about you?"

"I work in construction."

Carrie took another sip of beer. "Tell you what, a shot for a question," the man suggested.

She considered. He was getting irritably persistent. Maybe getting a few shots under his belt would be enough to keep his persistent efforts to get to know her away.

"Fine."

He smiled as two shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey were placed in front of them. "I'll go first."

The man downed the first glass. "Name?"

"Carrie." She drank hers. "I'll just turn it around on you."

"Tyler. Now what's your number?"

She gave him a fake number and he believed it. Carrie was not a good lier but a drunk Tyler didn't seem to notice her bluff. They kept drinking until he leaned over and pressed a sloppy, drunk kiss, to her lips which she did not handle well. After that happened, she left, leaving him to follow her across the parking lot.

Carrie slipped into her Jeep just in time as he walked by. Gary immediately jumped into her seat. "Hi buddy!"

He barked and licked her hand as she tried to pet him. "We're going to be there tomorrow. I promise."