Just to be Left Alone

by Ginny Lynn

  I smiled at his lack of comfort.

  “Oh, boy! You can image how hard it is for me to talk to you about this subject. She’s amazing and then you add the sex. For the first time in my life I truly think I have met my match.”

  He tore into the bagel.

  “Parker, if you’re uncomfortable with it going this fast, then you need to tell her. She won’t break and if the sex is that great, then she’ll think you’re insane. Has she explained her attitude towards sex with you?”

  “Yes and I get it. Usually guys are the ones like this, not a hot blonde female. My guys would put me away if they knew the things going through my mind.”

  “Listen, just go along with it. Be honest with her about how you feel, because she hates guys who can’t talk about serious matters. Go for it and don’t hold anything back because she’s well worth it. Now finish your bagel and get your butt moving, we have lots of things to accomplish today.”

  “Okay, pal. Thanks for the advice and we’ll keep it between us, all right?” He asked with a shaky grin.

  “Sure, no problem and I’ll listen anytime you need me to.”

  I finished off my last bite of bagel before licking my fingers clean. I heard a truck pull up and knew it must be the crew coming.

  Within an hour the crew had devoured the bagels and had taken over the whole dock. The crew set up temporary support beams so they could dismantle the damaged beam. By Wednesday the temporary beam would be in place and they would start the replacement of the damaged one. Hopefully, the beam to replace it would be down and removed by Friday afternoon.

  By noon, the crew was off for their lunch break and I headed to the diner to get meatloaf for Parker and myself. Parker was staying behind to call corporate. I got a call from Conrad as I drove back to work and it made my spirit soar.

  “Hey hon, wanna have dinner with me tomorrow night?” He asked.

  “Of course. Where?”

  “My favorite Italian restaurant, Bistro Italiano. Can I meet you at the restaurant at six?”

  “Sure, as long as you don’t mind me having a light dust coating, I’m all yours.”

  “I’ll take you any way I can get you. The restaurant is casual so dusty jeans will be just fine. Besides, I can always brush you off when I get there.”

  “I bet you’d do a great job at that.”

  “I’ll always do my level best for you. Just don’t be surprised if I dust certain areas better than others.”

  “I might not mind that, we’ll have to see. Now let me get this food in for Parker before its ice cold, okay?” I chastised him playfully.

  “Tell Parker I’m jealous that he’s seeing you more than I am.”

  “I’ll pass the message along. I’ll see you tomorrow at six, with dusty jeans.”

  I hung up as I pulled into the parking lot and saw Parker on the phone by his car. As I got out, he grabbed the bags without getting off his call. He was wearing a frown by the time we got the food into the break room.

  “I’ll set it up and get back to you with my E.T.A. Thanks.”

  He hung up with a groan

  “Problems?” I asked as I dug the food out of the bags.

  “Yes, and I have to go out of town for a few days to solve it. One of the jobs I handled earlier has a glitch with the repairs we made. The repairs didn’t come up to code with a second inspector, so I have to go back to oversee the correct repairs. You’ll be okay through Friday, right?”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve memorized the plans. You go ahead and we’ll just touch base later this week. If I run into anything that I can’t handle, then I’ll call you.”

  “I have to cancel a date with Chastity for Thursday. We were having dinner at her place and maybe renting a movie. I’m sure she’ll let me make it up to her.”

  He said the last part while wagging his eyebrows. He was catching on.

  “Don’t let her bully you and bring her a single yellow rose when you see her again. She’ll melt when she sees it and don’t you dare tell her I gave her secret away. I don’t want her to chop my head off for letting you in on her weaknesses.”

  I laughed when he crossed his heart in a boyish way.

  He went to make his calls. I went to Ramirez and informed him of Parker’s new plans. He in turn told me he was getting supplies before he got to the warehouse in the morning.

  Parker and I put together a work plan for the next couple of days. By the time we had those taken care of and a small lunch of deli sandwiches, it was approaching four o’clock. We closed the warehouse down as Ramirez drove off in his work truck and Parker set off to his place to grab his bags for the trip.

  I was ready for the layers of dust to be scrubbed off my body. I got home after a minor traffic delay and started for the shower. Bella wanted attention, but she’d have to wait another ten minutes unless she wanted to lick dust from her white fur.

  After my shower, I gave Bella the attention she was craving and grabbed my phone. I got Felicia as she was holding for a mortgage broker on the house she had under contract in her home neighborhood. I kept it brief and she would ring me tomorrow for the smaller details she had missed.

  I made chicken fajitas for dinner and then snuggled in the bed with Bella as I read a new mystery novel.

  Chapter Six

  I was in my office when I saw Ramirez pull up to the dock by the front door. He was bringing the supplies through the larger door to make it easier and didn’t have the workers going up so many steps. We all got to work and before I knew it, Ramirez was calling for a lunch break. I headed to the closest fast food chain when my cell phone rang. It was Felicia. She was apologizing for not getting to talk last night.

  “Its okay, Felicia. Did you get your client taken care of with the mortgage company?” I asked while I waited in line to for my order.

  “Yes, it’s looking good. Do you want to catch dinner tonight?”

  “Sorry, Conrad already has dibs on me for tonight. How about lunch tomorrow? I don’t know if you’ll be anywhere near here.”

  “I actually have an open slot then. My first appointment is at nine a.m. with nothing afterward until one-thirty. Can we meet somewhere close, so I’m not late for my appointment?”

  I grabbed my food before heading out the door towards my vehicle.

  “How about the deli that’s three blocks from your office? I would love to get one of those Cuban Melts you got me a couple of months ago.”

  Between our conversation and the smell of my lunch, my stomach was rumbling.

  “Great, I’ll even buy if this deal goes through this evening. There goes my other line. I’ll call you tomorrow to make sure things are still on. Love ya, bye.”

  It had started to rain half way to work, and I ushered a silent thanks that I remembered to put the vinyl top back on the Jeep the night before. Once in the parking lot I made a run for it and was sufficiently wet by the time I got inside the office and sat at the break room table.

  As soon as I got the first mouthful down, Ramirez came in with a bright flush to his face.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt but I have a problem. The larger supplies were to be delivered by now and they claim they were told to cancel the order. Do you know anything about that? My men say they had nothing to do with it and the supplier said it can’t go out until tomorrow.”

  “No, I didn’t call them. Are they able to put a rush on it?”

  My food wasn’t going to digest very well after this.

  “No ma’am. They have the items in stock, just no delivery trucks available. I’d get it myself if the load wasn’t too large for my truck.”

  “How about two trucks? Can we make it then? If they can get the stuff ready, then I can put the smaller items in the back of my vehicle.”

  It was worth a try.

  “Let me call them. We’ll be able to squeeze the heavier items in my truck if you help with the rest.”

  He made the call from my office and it would be ready in an hour. One small crisis av
erted as I managed to get the rest of my lunch down.

  We headed out in the pouring rain. I was lucky enough to have several tarps in the warehouse at my disposal. I thought I was water logged by the time the supplies were loaded and driven back to the inside dock bay around back. Luck was on our side as we noticed the supplies were dryer than us and able to be put to use right away. The workers were glad to have something to do and set about correcting the delay.

  By four-thirty, Ramirez had his crew cleaning up for the day. I was just pulling into the parking lot when Conrad pulled up in his truck. We made a run for it. At least this trip was more pleasant than the one while loading supplies earlier.

  “Now, I’m all wet again.”

  “Well, at least this time it’s my fault,” he replied with a huge grin plastered on his face.

  I blushed.

  “I hope they don’t mind me in this condition,” I said as I tried to pull my hair up in a knot.

  “Stop worrying about it. You look fine. They won’t care how you look as long as you enjoy the food.”

  I stopped fussing over my appearance and told him about the day’s events while we waited to be seated.

  “At least that explains why you’re wet as well as dusty. I’m glad you were able to get things taken care of.”

  He asked the host to seat us in the back corner and we followed him to a small candle lit booth. Conrad ordered sweet tea for the two of us and promptly handed me a menu. I looked over the expanse of lovely entrées listed. When our waitress appeared with our iced tea, I ordered the lasagna before taking a long swallow of my drink.

  We were only sitting there a few minutes when the salad and garlic rolls were brought to our table. I served up the salad while Conrad plated a few buttery garlic rolls onto our saucer plates. Taking a bit of each, I realized they were as wonderful as he had said. I dug in and anticipated the main course.

  Just as I finished my salad, I noticed Conrad watching me from the corner of his eyes.

  “I’m glad to know you aren’t one of those girls who picks at her food. I always hated girls who thought it was bad to actually eat in front of a guy.”

  He smashed a whole roll into his mouth before puffing out his checks to mock the comment he made.

  “I know I haven’t made a pig of myself. I grew up with a healthy appreciation of food and know when to cut back or exercise more.”

  “This food is too good to pass up for some liquid diet. Believe me when I say that was a compliment instead of a complaint.”

  We were halfway through our entrees when I got a peculiar feeling. I looked in the direction of the front door to see Jason standing there with his gaze riveted to me.

  I dropped my fork. Conrad glanced at my face before he glanced in the direction of my wide eyed gaze.

  “What’s wrong?” He questioned.

  I whispered, “Jason’s here.”

  I felt him stiffen as he looked closer to the front entrance.

  I said, “By the front door, behind two ladies.”

  When I looked back Jason had vanished and the ladies were being seated a few feet away.

  “Are you sure he was there?”

  “I’m positive. He was standing there staring at me and it felt like he was glaring a hole in me.”

  “If that was him then he moved quickly. Did you see what was he wearing? Did you see where he walked?”

  “No to both. He was just standing there and was gone too fast for me to get details. I looked at you for just a second and now he’s gone.”

  I shivered.

  “Hang tight for a minute. I’ll scope out the restaurant and be right back.”

  He slid out of the booth, and I started to panic slightly.

  “Don’t leave me here. What if he comes back?”

  “I’ll just be gone a minute or two. Why don’t you call the detective and inform him that Jason is in town so they can try to serve him again. If you see him before I get back, just grab the waiter or yell for me.”

  He squeezed my hand before walking away in the direction Jason was seen. I got my phone out and got Montrose on the second ring.

  “Detective Montrose, it’s Samantha Malone. I just saw Jason Strickland and was hoping you’d already served him.”

  “No ma’am, we haven’t caught up to him yet. Where are you right now?”

  “I’m at the Bistro Italiano with Conrad.”

  “Where is Conrad right now?”

  “He went to check out where I spotted Jason. The bugger disappeared when I got Conrad’s attention.”

  I scanned the patrons around me, looking for both men.

  “I’ll head out in the next hour and run by his house to see if he’s there. How far are you away from Mr. Strickland’s residence?”

  “About forty five minutes, give or take some traffic on highway forty-two. Conrad’s coming back and he doesn’t look very happy.”

  “May I speak to him?”

  I handed the phone to Conrad as he sat back beside me. I heard a lot of blunt answers coming from Conrad before he hung up. He handed the phone back to me.

  “Did you see Jason anywhere?

  “No and no one noticed him either. The detective asked me to walk through your apartment before leaving you there alone. He’ll call us when he reaches Jason’s home.”

  Just then my phone rang and I yanked it up again.

  “Hello.”

  A creepy whisper came over the line.

  “I thought I told you to stay away from him.”

  I looked around for Jason again.

  Conrad knew something was going on and mouthed, “What?”

  I mouthed who it was and Conrad reached for the phone. I moved away from his hand as I spoke to Jason again. I wanted an answer and knew Conrad wouldn’t get one by talking to Jason himself. “Where are you and why are you doing this?”

  “I’m very close and you know why I’m doing this. You’re mine and I’m not going to let that change. You need to go home right now, don’t let that man touch you again. I don’t want you tainted,” Jason ground out.

  “Jason, I’m not yours and never really was. Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I questioned sternly.

  “You’re only saying that because you’re mad at me right now. I know the truth. You can’t change my mind about how I feel. Now be a good little girl and do as you’re told before something bad happens.”

  Conrad grabbed the phone from my still fingers and looked into my pale face.

  “Hello, hello?” He barked into the phone. “He hung up. What did he say to you? Don’t leave anything out.”

  He slid the phone back to me. I relayed the conversation even though I didn’t want to.

  “What did I do to make him feel as if he owns me? It’s as if a switch went off in him the night that you and I met.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t feel responsible for his apparent melt down. You are in no way to blame for any of this.”

  “I know, but he needs to understand he can’t keep acting this way. It’s insane.”

  “I’m going to call Montrose and let him know Jason called you. This will add fuel to the fire and hopefully Montrose will be pulling up to Jason’s house in time to catch him.”

  He used my phone to redial Montrose and the detective was furious at Jason’s gall to call me with more threats. It needed to go in the case file for more backup against his violent actions. This would ensure the reasons behind filing charges.

  “He’ll call us when he gets there. For now I’ll take you home.”

  He flagged down the waiter for the check and some take-out boxes. I still gave a backward glance to make certain Jason wasn’t looming in the dark to accost me.

  I gnawed at my lip all the way back to my apartment and mentally crossed my fingers in the hope that the detective would catch up to Jason by the time I was settled at home. Conrad walked into each room before I slumped onto my couch. Bella came out of my room to meow at Conrad’s intrusio
n of her personal space. The house phone rang and I jumped up to grab it. Conrad was there first.

  “Hello, hello?” He hung up. “How many times has that happened recently?”

  “Only a few these days. You think it’s him, don’t you?”

  “It might be him wondering if you went home as instructed,” he said gruffly. “Don’t worry about it. I can stay tonight to make sure nothing weird happens. I’ll sleep on the sofa and make myself handy.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I can call one of the girls if I feel that there is a problem.”

  “No, you might need someone right away and none of us would be able to get here fast enough. I’ll just wake up a little earlier so I can go by the house for a quick shower. My boss is very understanding and knows I’ll show up even if I’m a few minutes late. You can call the girls after Montrose calls with an update. The girls will be mad if they don’t hear about this from you when it happens.”

  Just as he said that my cell phone rang from the coffee table, we both looked at it for a moment before I picked it up. It was Raven.

  “Hey, Sam. I missed you earlier and wanted to check in with you.”

  I let out my breath and said, “Hey girl, I’m okay right now. Conrad and I went to Bistro Italiano and Jason showed up while we were eating. We spoke with Detective Montrose about it and the detective is heading to Jason’s home to try serving those papers. Jason even called me to say I wasn’t supposed to be with Conrad and to go home alone. He insinuated that something would happen if Conrad even touched me. We’re waiting for the detective to call back on whether Jason is home or not.”

  “That creep! What did Conrad do to him at the restaurant?”

  “Nothing, he disappeared after I spotted him. Conrad’s still here. He thinks I shouldn’t be alone since Jason may try to show up here.”

  “I’m on my way over there,” she exclaimed.

  “No, it’s fine. Conrad is offering to sleep on the couch tonight so he can be here when I get my phone call from Montrose. I don’t think it’s necessary for everyone to form a wagon train around me just yet.

  “I don’t think he’ll show his face considering Conrad answered the phone when we got here. He only likes to act like a bad ass when no one is around to counter his actions.