by Alesha Cary
She was glad when the song was over, and she could sit back down at the table. She was flushed and silent as she sipped her wine. She looked up at Tony, not knowing what to say. He had definitely turned her on, but now she was more uneasy than ever.
But right now Tony wasn't paying any attention to her. He was scowling over at the bar.
She took a deep breath. "What's the matter Tony? Is something wrong?"
"I don't like that guy."
"What do you mean? Who is he? What's he done to you?"
"He's staring at you. I don't like the way he's been staring at you."
Sarah was tempted to look over her shoulder and see who Tony was talking about, but he seemed to be getting far too angry for her to do that without making it worse. She was afraid that she might end up being the cause of an argument or fight, and that was the last thing that she wanted.
"Tony, let it go. I don't know who the guy is, but he isn't worth it."
"Yeah? Well I don't like it."
"Well maybe we should get up and dance again?"
Tony just scowled even more. "Okay then," she said to him, "I need to use the restroom. I'll be back in just a moment."
Sarah took her time walking to the restroom. She didn't really need it, but at least if she was gone the guy couldn't be looking at her. She was hoping this might be a way to get Tony's mind off the staring issue. God, why did he have to be so intense?
She walked back to the table after washing her hands, and surreptitiously glanced at the bar to see who had been doing the staring. She didn't see anyone who looked familiar. Whoever this guy was, she didn't know him.
But apparently, he was continuing to notice her. She could tell by the deepening scowl on Tony's face.
"Stop staring!" Tony said rather loudly in the direction of the bar. He glared again. "You heard me, leave my chick alone. You're making her nervous."
Well actually, at this point it was Tony who was making Sarah nervous, but she knew this was not the time to bring that up.
"Tony, why don't we dance again?"
He turned to scowl at her this time. "What, you got some kind of action going with this dude?"
Sarah stared at him for a moment. What was he asking her? Did he think that she had something to do with this guy and his staring? This whole thing was getting way out of hand!
She didn't know quite what to say to him, or how to react. She didn't like threats, and she didn't like violence, but it sure felt like that was the direction this was headed in.
She shook her head, and Tony jumped up from the table, striding over to the bar.
"So what's your story," he asked the stranger. Before the poor guy could answer, Sarah grabbed Tony's arm.
"Hey Tony, I have a splitting headache, can you take me home?" she pleaded.
"Aw, come on," he said, still glaring as he turned his head towards her. "It's still early, you don't want to go home yet."
"I know, and I'm so sorry, but I'm not feeling very good, I have a headache and I'm feeling nauseous, can we please go?"
Tony dug angrily down into his front jeans pocket and pulled out a few dollar bills and some change. He threw it on the table, glared at the guy in the bar, and then turned his frown to Sarah.
"You seemed like a nice chick, but you're turning out to be a handful of trouble," he said to her as they walked out of the bar.
Well, talk about the pot calling the kettle black, she thought as they walked to the motorcycle.
On the way home, Sarah worried about this new side of Tony that she was seeing. It wasn't a very flattering side. In fact it made her even more concerned than what had happened at the picnic. I hardly know this guy, but here he is - acting like a jealous lover, she shivered as she realized how close he'd been to getting into a fight.
She wondered how he was going to react when they got to her door and he found out she wasn't going to let him in. In his present state of mind, she doubted it was going to be as easy as that first night when he had given her a quick peck on the cheek.
As they pulled up to Sarah's, she was feeling apprehensive. She'd noticed that his driving, although still good, was a bit more aggressive on the way home than it had been before. It was obvious that the guy at the bar had set him on edge somehow.
Before she could get the helmet off, Tony had grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close to him.
"Don't you be flirting when you're out with me," he said to her with his face no more than 2 inches away. "You don't be trying to turn on the other guys."
"Tony!" Before she could say anything more, he had pulled her into an unyielding embrace, his mouth smothering hers, forcing her head back, startling her with his unexpected force.
Then he pulled away and she was able to catch her breath, her heart pounding. But this time she knew it wasn't the heat of passion. This time it was stone cold fear.
Who was this guy? And why hadn't she paid attention to the warning signals earlier?
She pushed him away, with more strength than she knew she had. She turned and ran up the steps into her apartment, not looking back.
"Sarah! Sarah, come back here!"
That was the last thing she heard as she slammed and locked the door behind her. She stood there trembling with her eyes closed for a moment trying to catch her breath and praying that he would simply go away.
She glanced around the room, looking for something she could use to defend herself if necessary, and trying to decide if she should call someone.
A moment later she was relieved to hear the bike start up as Tony drove away. Sarah collapsed into a chair and started crying.
CHAPTER FOUR
The day was not going very well. Even though she had faked one last night, Sarah's headache today was real. As she made her rounds at the hospital during the morning, she couldn't help but think about the previous night.
She had seen a side of Tony that had not been evident previously. His anger and jealousy - and his willingness to start a fight with a stranger - had startled and alarmed her.
She wondered what had set him off with that guy at the end of the bar. The guy had just been sitting there, minding his own business as far as Sarah could tell. There hadn't been any kind of interaction between the two of them, and if it hadn't been for Tony's glaring, she would not have even noticed the guy. But for whatever reason it had triggered something in Tony, something aggressive and primal, something frightening to Sarah.
And that was too bad, because they been having fun up until Tony's outburst. There was obviously more here than met the eye, and it made Sarah wonder what else was going on for Tony.
Not that she wanted to figure him out, because at this point she was starting to be more wary of him than anything else. Even the times when he had been nice to her, when he'd been charming and endearing, were not worth her taking chances with her own safety.
~ # ~
Sarah's cell phone started vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw it was Tony calling.
She had just finished delivering the necessary toiletries to the rooms, so she stepped away down the hall and took the call.
"Hello Tony."
"Sarah. I wanna see you tonight."
"Tony, I'm really tired from last night, I think I need a night to rest up."
Sarah could sense that this wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. "Sarah, dammit, why can't you see me tonight? You didn't even give me a chance last night."
She could hear the anger building up in his voice like it had the previous night at the bar.
"Tony. I told you. I'm still really tired from last night, I still have a headache. I need some time to myself. Can't we figure out something later?"
"Sarah, why are you being so difficult? I only want to see you."
"I told you, I have a headache and I'm not feeling good. Look why don't you call me in a couple of days and we'll work something out."
He was quiet for a moment. "I just wanted to see you. I figured we could just hang o
ut and talk. When should I call you?"
"Give me til Friday. I should be better then." Sarah hung up the cell phone and put it back in her pocket. She was relieved to get off the call so quickly and easily, but she had no intention of going out with him this weekend.
She wished she'd been more creative, but it was the only thing she could think of to get out of seeing him tonight.
Now she would have to find a way to postpone it indefinitely - or at least until she figured out if she ever wanted to see him again.
~ # ~
She shook her head, frowning as she carried a stack of towels out of the closet. She definitely didn't like this. She was feeling way too pressured by Tony and she didn't want to be.
"You okay Sarah?" Bradley was standing there with a large cart he was using to collect the trash bags from the rooms. "You look a little worried?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just got a call from this guy I went out with last night, and I don't really want to see him again."
"Just tell him."
"It's not quite that simple." She really didn't want to get into the details. She liked Bradley, but she didn't know him very well. And besides, Sarah was not one to gossip, especially about her own love life, and even more especially to Bradley - the one guy in the hospital who gave her butterflies and made her catch her breath every time she saw him.
"Look, if he's any kind of man at all, he'll respect your wishes. But you gotta tell him, you can't string him along. It isn't fair."
Sarah knew he was right. "Well, we took a ride out to the lake last weekend for a picnic. When he asked me to go to the Rusty Spike last night to listen to some music, it seemed like it might be fun."
"So, was it?"
"Well, yeah... at first. But then he got really angry."
"At you?"
"Yes. No. There was some guy at the bar who was upsetting him."
"So what was the guy doing?"
"I don't know. Tone -- uhh -- my date got really angry and told the guy to stop looking at me. It happened all of a sudden. We were sitting there talking, and then he's totally pissed off at some poor guy. I felt sorry for that guy at the bar.
"I couldn't figure out a way to get my date calmed down, so I told him I had a headache and to take me home."
"So that was him on the phone?"
"Yes. He wasn't very happy last night when I pushed him away. I guess he wants to have it out. To settle things."
"Sarah, is this guy getting too forward with you? Has he tried anything?" It was clear that Bradley wasn't happy about what he was hearing.
Sarah felt her cheeks flush bright red. "Um, well, uh, he's been a little pushy, but I've been able to get him to stop." She was embarrassed by the conversation. It was bad enough to have gone through it the first time, but now she was talking about it, out loud, and with HIM. The Hunk. Oh, God.
She didn't want him to think she was just whining, or someone who couldn't take care of herself, but she didn't want him to think she was just a - a - prude, either. She didn't know WHAT she wanted him to think! But the conversation was definitely getting too personal.
Sarah looked over and noticed that Bradley himself was turning kind of red. But this was anger, not embarrassment. Uh oh. Now she had two guys getting angry around her!
"Sarah," Bradley said taking a deep breath and speaking in very measured tones, "has - he - hurt - you - or - tried - to - force - himself - on - you?"
She was a little surprised at the tone in his voice, but she managed to answer. "Well, not really? I mean, kind of, but I stopped him. He got too possessive. It made me nervous."
He scowled even more deeply, "You have to stay away from this guy. You can't go out with him again."
"I'd come to that decision myself."
"If he calls you again, especially here at the hospital, I want to know about it right away. Is that clear? Promise me." He was staring at her intensely.
"Sure." She was relieved to realize that Bradley wasn't angry with her. And even more relieved to know there was someone here at the hospital who understood what was going on.
It made her feel a little more safe and a whole lot less alone.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the parking lot Sarah sat in her car thinking. She pulled out the cell phone and called her Aunt Carrie. Luckily Carrie was home, and picked up on the third ring.
"Aunt Carrie, I need your help."
"Sure Sarah, what's wrong?" Even though Carrie had been living in town for a few months now, this was the first time Sarah had called for anything other than a quick social visit.
"There's this guy I went out with a couple of times. He's charming but now he's gotten a little strange. I know you can read handwriting and all and I wondered if you'd look at his?"
Carrie laughed. "Sarah, you can read handwriting, too. But I know what you mean - you want me to analyze his writing for you?"
"Well, that's what I meant." Her Aunt Caroline Dawson was a Handwriting Expert who had worked with the District Attorney back in Boulder before she'd moved here to the coast.
"Sure, hon. I'll be happy to take a look. How much writing do you have?"
"Not a lot. I hope you don't need much. I have a note he wrote me with his phone number and name and a short note. I just got off work, can I come by tonight?"
"Sure, I'm just putting on a light dinner now, why don't you pick up a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and come eat with me."
"You're a life saver, Aunt Carrie," Sarah let out a sigh of relief. Maybe that was being a little dramatic, but she couldn't think of anyplace else to turn.
~ # ~
On the way to her Aunt Carrie's house, Sarah wondered what would happen next with Tony. She had seen her friends become involved with men who were abusive, and she wanted nothing to do with it.
There was something wrong with a woman who was willing to stay with someone who was abusive to her. When Sarah had talked with her friends who had been in that position, they always wanted to justify it. Sarah suspected that more than anything, the women had self-esteem issues, and for some reason thought they either didn't deserve to have someone who treated them nicely, or that they wouldn't be able to find anyone better. So they stuck around.
But violence, or even the threat of violence, was something that Sarah would not put up with. So she wondered what she might say to Tony the next time he called. In truth she didn't really want to see him again. She didn't like the way she'd felt when she was with him last night.
And what was he doing grabbing her at the door? That was totally uncalled for. She had done nothing to make him angry with her, and she did not like being manhandled.
In fact, that was the second time she had to ask him to back off. If warning signs hadn't come up before, they certainly were waving directly in her face now.
~ # ~
Carrie was warming tortillas while Sarah chopped the salad makings. It had been a couple of weeks since they had last talked, so it was nice to catch up on things.
"School's okay. Sometimes I get a little lost in that organic chemistry class and I'm a little worried about getting a passing grade, but everything else is pretty much under control for the moment," Sarah reported to her.
"How about you, Aunt Carrie. Found any cute guys yet?" Sarah knew all the sordid details of her aunt's very messy divorce, so she knew it would probably be a while before Carrie would want to date again. But Sarah couldn't help teasing. "There are plenty of fishermen around, and it's crab season, you know, so they're all hanging around town."
"Right, so all I have to do is wave some nasty old fish around or look under the rocks and they'll come skittering out." Carrie laughed. Sarah liked seeing her aunt laugh - especially after the mess she'd been through.
"Well I hear they have some new cologne at the market in town, Eau de Dungeness, I should have picked some up for you when I got the wine." Sarah ducked as Carrie threw the hand towel at her.
"Just what I need, a crusty old fisherman complete with barnacles. You k
now what they say, Old fishermen never die..."
"...they just smell that way," finished Sarah with a smile. She loved her Aunt's silly, punny sense of humor and word play. It reminded her of her dad. It must have been a family thing. It certainly made her feel like she was at home.
"Let's do the set-up here on the counter," Carrie said, transferring the fried fish over to the serving platter. "It's easier."
They made their fish tacos, grabbed wine glasses and moved over to sit at the table so they could watch the sun setting over the ocean. Thank goodness the days were getting longer, just a month before and it would have already been dark.
"So where's the sample of writing?" Carrie asked her as they stacked the dishes in the dishwasher. Sarah had been dreading giving it to her. On one hand she hoped it would verify what she suspected, but on the other hand she was reluctant to hear the worst. That it would show that maybe she hadn't been such a good judge of character.
Even though Aunt Carrie usually worked with jury selection and forgeries, that meant she also knew a lot about personality profiles. Depending on the details of case and the likely approach of the Defense, she knew how to spot certain personality characteristics in the jurors' writing that could help or hurt the case the Prosecution was building.
Sarah took the note out and handed it to her aunt.
"Now where did I put my glasses?" Carrie asked.
"Did you lose your cheaters again? I swear, I'm going to tie them to your wrist or something!"
"Oh, it's not that bad. I just misplaced them. I don't really need them anyway," she insisted.
"Right. That's why you have a pair on every table and you still can't find them," Sarah teased her aunt.
"Sarah! You know I only use them for detail work, when I want to see something up close."
"But that's the only kind of work you do."
"True enough, but remember, I'm NOT working. I am taking a year off to figure out what I want to do next."
"Just make sure it's not detailed work," Sarah sassed her with a laugh, handing her a pair of non-prescription reading glasses.