Her quick, easy stride halted abruptly. I felt a tug of nerves pull at me as she turned.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so, Manny. That could be considered a conflict of interest, and I wouldn’t want to break any of my daddy’s rules,” she cooed.
Okay little Miss Shortcake, if that’s how you wanna play it, then that’s how it will be played.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest, smiling like a Cheshire cat, “Suit yourself.”
She drew her eyebrows in, as if questioning my response, but her puzzlement didn’t deter her long. She disappeared inside the station a second later.
I chuckled softly to myself.
It’s gonna be a fun night…
Charlie
I texted Jackie to let her know I had solved my car issue from the night before. This time, I had parked on the street, far from the garage and the annoying motion-detector. Avoiding any and all attention was my only goal for the evening.
I won’t make the same mistake twice—that stupid prison-break-light can be seen from the moon.
Jackie: I can be there in 20!
Me: PERF!
Jackie: J
I walked carefully along the far side of the fence, making my way toward the street, smiling as I approached my car. I glanced into my purse, digging around for my keys. But just as my fingers made contact with the cool metal, I nearly had a heart attack.
A man jumped out from behind my car.
“Going somewhere?”
I screamed.
The manny!
As I fought to remain standing while clutching my heart and panting like an old lady who had just lost at hide-and-seek, he laughed at me.
“I tried to play nice,” he said, “I even gave you the benefit of the doubt…but this is how you repaid my generosity.” He shook his head dramatically while pointing at my car. “Unfortunately, what you failed to realize was that I wrote the book on defying rules, Shortcake. In my day I ruled-the-roost.”
I put my hand on my hip. “Oh, in your day, huh? What are you, eighty-five?”
He laughed again—heartily.
I wanted to deny that his laugh held within it the most contagious quality I’d ever heard, and how it transformed his entire countenance into a snapshot of joy. But most of all, I wanted to deny the fluttering.
My insides felt like the release at The Butterfly Kingdom exhibit.
I bit my cheeks to keep from encouraging whatever twisted campaign he was about to reveal.
“You’re funny, Shortcake,” he said, grinning from his mouth to his eyes.
I stood there—void of all emotion, thinking hard about my next move.
“Okay, so you caught me, but I’m totally fine with pretending you didn’t. Let’s just go back to our own little worlds of make-believe and my daddy will never have to know any of his precious rules were broken.” I pushed him aside, making my way to the driver’s side door.
“That only solves half the issue,” he said pointing to himself, as if indicating that he was the other half.
“Tell yourself whatever you want to—you’re conscience isn’t my problem.”
As I pulled up on the door handle, two things happened at once: One, his arm had magically snaked itself under my elbow, turning me around fully in less than half a second. Two, my keys were no longer in my hand, they were in his.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna work for me, nice try though.” He looked past me then, staring at my car with lustful eyes. “I’ve always wanted a convertible.”
I was seriously contemplating punching him—hard—in the throat.
When I pulled out my phone to check the time, my frustration peaked. “Look, I don’t care about whatever stupid arrangement you made with my father. I have to go. You’ve made me late.”
A wave of panic washed over me as I saw his hand tighten around my car keys.
“And just what are you late for?”
Is he speaking that slowly on purpose? Unbelievable.
I couldn’t leave Jackie at the club alone—that would be like throwing a package of raw steak to a group of hungry pit bulls.
She needed me; we needed each other. That was the first rule of clubbing: Never go alone.
“I have to go meet a friend, she needs me. You could be jeopardizing her safety if you don’t let me go,” I pleaded, hoping he would take the bait.
He crossed his arms over his chest, considering me, “Where?”
“None of your business,” I challenged.
“Suit yourself, see ya.” His long strides had him halfway up the driveway before I could react.
Seriously?
“Urgh! Manny—wait!” I stomped my foot like a tantruming toddler. He stopped immediately, turning around to face me again. “I’ll tell you, but I still have to go regardless of what you think about it, ok?”
“I’m listening.” He raised one perfectly arched eyebrow.
“The Dive—on Jefferson Street, it’s a-”
His face darkened. “Oh I know exactly what it is, Shortcake, and if you think for one second that I am going to let the Chief’s daughter go off to some booty-call club, then you’ve pegged me for the wrong kind of manny.”
Though he had practically spit each word out in disgust, I felt my earlier resolve start to buckle at the mention of his now self-proclaimed title. No amount of cheek biting could hold it in this time. I laughed, the tension between us broken, at least for the moment.
He joined in almost immediately.
After I finally pulled myself together, he stared at me. “Do you really have a girlfriend that’s supposed to meet you, or is that just another ploy?”
I sighed. “Yes, I really do have a girlfriend meeting me there, in fact, she’s probably there already.”
“Text her. If she doesn’t respond in two minutes, I’ll drive you.”
I looked up at him, a fresh argument ready to launch off my tongue. But maybe it was time to switch gears. If he was willing to try—even though the reality of my current situation was completely asinine—then I could try as well.
Five minutes later we were driving toward Jefferson Street, in his old, restored ’67 Chevy truck.
Briggs
When Charlie laughed, she glowed. Her eyes were intense—both deep and fiery at the same time. And the sound? I wanted to bottle that sound.
Immediately after she climbed into my truck and secured her seat belt, she reached for the radio, turning it on.
“Um…what do you think you’re doing?” I asked.
“What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’re being a little too handsy with my truck.” I patted the dashboard for effect. “She’ll need to warm up to you a bit before you start putting moves on her like that.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her decide whether or not to take me seriously. I smiled when she leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her, a smirk twisting her lips as she spoke.
“And what kind of warm-up might she need?”
Ah, now I’m getting somewhere.
“The usual I suppose—small talk first. She’s rather particular, not just anyone gets to ride in her cab,” I replied. I leaned over as if to tell her a secret and whispered, “She’s the jealous type, so you might want to put her at ease.”
“And fairly high maintenance it seems,” she whispered back, “Is this where I declare my intentions?”
I laughed, “Nah, but conversing with her driver seems to work well.”
“Well, let’s see,” Charlie started, “how long have you worked at the station, Manny?”
“Six years.”
“How old are you?”
I smiled, “Not eight-five—shocking, I know!”
She laughed, “Really…how old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Why did you agree to be my manny for the month?” Her tone had quickly gone from sweet and playful to sour and testy.
I glanced in her direction before respondi
ng, “Because I like your dad. He’s a good man—even if his rules seem extreme at times.”
“So you agree this whole shenanigan is extreme, huh?” She asked, her voice noticeably warmer than five seconds prior. “That’s five points to you, Manny.”
“I get five points for agreeing with you on something? Wow, that’s…generous. How many do I get for driving you to the booty-call bar?” I asked.
“Two.”
“Two?” I turned my head toward her, laughing in surprise. “Please explain how the points went down for driving you across town in the middle of the night to help your friend ward off a sexual assault.”
“Let’s see,” She held her little hand out, ticking-off a finger for each point-deduction. “You busted my escape, stole my car keys, and ruined my plans for a great evening.”
I laughed. Feisty little thing she is.
A second later we pulled into the parking lot for The Dive—which was exactly how it looked, like a run-down hole of a business.
I put my arm out to stop her before she could open her door, “Do not leave my side tonight, Charlie. Taking your keys away is nothing compared to what I could do…if the need arose, got it?”
Chapter Three
Charlie
I stared at him for a long second, searching his face for any sign of humor. There was none to be found.
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes as we made our way through the parking lot. “But I don’t need a bodyguard,” I mumbled, letting the music drown-out my words.
After showing my ID to the bouncer and paying the cover charge—which interestingly enough had been waived the night I didn’t show up with the manny—we made our way through a sea of sweaty bodies.
“You’re really cramping my style,” I said flatly.
Naturally, he found this funny and laughed me off.
I checked my phone every couple of minutes. Jackie had yet to respond. I stood on my tip-toes and searched for her through the crowd.
“So, what does this girl look like?” Manny asked as we slid behind a group of rowdy women.
“Like a celebrity. Tall, blonde, thin…and gorgeous.”
For once he had no comeback.
I texted her again.
Me: I’m here. Where are you?
After twenty minutes of walking around playing detective, I told Manny I was going to check the restroom.
“Okay, but I’m going with you.”
“No way!” I balked, “You’re not coming with me to the ladies room—that’s weird.”
“Do you know where the majority of assaults happen in places like this, Shortcake? In. The. Restroom.” He leaned in close so that I could hear him over the booming bass. His warm breath on my neck caused goose bumps to work their magic down my arms. “So yes, I am coming with you. Two minutes should be all you need to check the stalls.”
Swallowing hard, I could only nod in response.
True to his word, he stood directly outside the door to the ladies room while I went inside to look for Jackie. He’s almost as bad as my father.
The narrow bathroom housed at least twenty stalls and reeked of urine and body odor. I scrunched my nose up, determined to breathe only when it was absolutely necessary. I always did my best to avoid public bathrooms, so the two-minute time limit set by the manny seemed far too generous.
“Jackie?” I called, my voice echoing off the grimy tile walls and floors. “Jackie, are you in here?”
“Charlie—that you?” The last stall door swung open to reveal all five-foot-nine-inches of her statuesque body at once. Jackie tugged at her mini skirt as she stepped out, smiling down at me.
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” I said, defensively.
“Well, I’ve been looking for you too!” She huffed back at me. “My phone died on the way over and my stupid brother took the charger out of my car—again! I just walked in here a second ago to use the restroom…we must have ESP or something.” She shrugged, making her way over to the trough-style sink, as if to dismiss the worry I’d felt over her for the last twenty minutes.
That was irritating.
“Charlie? Is everything okay in there?” A distinctly male voice called into the bathroom, straining to be heard over some techno beat.
I rolled my eyes. Great.
“Yep. I found her, give us a sec alright?”
The music muffled again suddenly as I looked at Jackie, who was smiling at me like I was about to hand her a new puppy. She raised her eyebrows. “That your guardian man out there? He doesn’t sound so old and creepy to me, Charlie.”
“Yes, well…I may have exaggerated a tad,” I mumbled. “Come on, let’s get out of here…it smells.”
Manny stood post like a guard, waiting attentively for us outside the restroom door.
Jackie pushed me aside to step in front of him, reaching her hand out to make her introduction. A bitter taste filled my mouth as I watched the interaction. I couldn’t hear what she said to him, the music was too loud, but I could see his cheeks flush as she bent her head back and smiled. The bitter taste grew more and more acidic with each passing second.
He was her type—heck, he was any woman’s type.
His dirty blond hair was a messy kind of gorgeous—longer on top and perfectly groomed on the back and sides. Some sort of wax product must have held the look together somehow, but nothing about it looked unnatural. His tall, lean body had to be a tad over six-foot as he towered over the majority of people who passed by us. With eyes the color of rich chocolate, it was no wonder why women stopped to ogle him when we had entered the club. Whether he didn’t notice, or didn’t care, it was a constant occurrence nonetheless.
“I’m gonna hit the floor,” I called out over my shoulder as the two love birds continued their intimate conversation.
I made it about ten feet before I felt a strong grip on my shoulder—a familiar voice accosting my ear, “I thought we had a deal, Shortcake.”
I turned dramatically, staring straight into his eyes as I nodded in the direction of Jackie. “Looked like you were busy, and I want to dance.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, “You have thirty minutes. Use them wisely.”
Briggs
Every one of my five senses was screaming for relief.
Not only was the smell of this grand establishment equivalent to a middle school locker room, the last fifteen minutes alone had made me want to flush my eyes out with disinfectant.
I checked my phone again for the time as I leaned against a metal railing.
Charlie and Jackie were dancing just a few feet out from where I stood, yet my eyes continually scanned the crowd around them. I had a knack for predicting the behavior of others—one that had been carefully honed after nursing dozens of black eyes, broken ribs and bruised organs. Fighting had created many opportunities for me to sharpen my observational skills.
It wasn’t that I thought Charlie was stupid—in fact, I believed the opposite to be true, but this evening had seriously made me question her judgment. It bothered me more than I cared to admit that she had been in places like this before with only the protection of friends like Jackie. I shook my head remembering Jackie’s soft-spoken words that held the venom of a cobra. Her not-so-subtle invitation had supplied me with all the information I needed.
Her face was equal parts surprised and curious after I had turned her down.
I wasn’t into casual sex—at least not anymore.
A particularly vulgar group of males was on the move, stalking their prey like a pack of hungry wolves. I straightened; my jaw clenching tight as I focused my attention on one in particular who had made his way over to where a certain redhead was dancing. I was in motion a good ten seconds before he even touched her shoulder.
As I pushed through the sweaty mass, I saw her turn toward him, a look of evident disdain on her face. I saw her lips move quickly as he began to close the gap between them, it was then her eyes found me. But as I reached her, the creep had already backed-of
f. Whatever she had said to him had apparently been received.
For being the size of a Keebler Elf, the girl was no lightweight when it came to her tenacity.
The rigidity in my shoulders relaxed as she smirked at me and shrugged.
“It’s time,” I said tapping my invisible watch.
She rolled her eyes, but surprisingly, she complied. I watched as she pulled Jackie away from some dude who had practically tattooed himself onto her thigh. She was none-to-pleased, but she followed after Charlie regardless.
As we parted ways with her in the parking lot, Jackie blew me a very dramatic kiss. I ignored her, which apparently did not dissuade her.
“Hope you don’t keep the hottie all to yourself, Charlie!” Jackie bellowed through the parking lot.
Charlie waved without comment and then looked at me incredulously.
“You gonna tell me what that was about—hottie?” She asked, sarcasm dripping from her last word.
“Are you gonna tell me what you said to that creeper in there?” I challenged back.
“Ladies never kiss and tell.”
I laughed. “Well, if that is your idea of kissing, then your daddy has nothing to worry about.”
She smiled, looking out the window without saying another word. Perhaps we both felt the events of the night had filled our quota for social stimulation. I wondered how long my ears would keep ringing from the hideous excuse for music I was forced to endure.
The silence was greatly appreciated.
I walked her to the front door after parking my truck in the driveway. I pulled out her keys, which had been in my pocket all night, and unlocked it for her.
“Thanks.”
I nodded, knowing it was meant to cover much more than that simple gesture.
After I watched her enter the foyer I called to her. She turned.
“Here,” I said, tossing the keys at her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she caught them.
“Am I free from my house-arrest so soon, Manny?”
“No,” I laughed, “but if you find yourself itching to leave this house again, I want your word that you’ll tell me first.”
She held my gaze as if analyzing each word I had spoken before answering, “Okay.”
All She Wanted (Letting Go) Page 3