by Selena Scott
“Don’t you dare roll your eyes at me, boy!” Sally was pushing sixty and even though Jay was not many years behind her, she often felt the need to chastise him.
“I’m not, I’m...” but Jay knew it was futile to argue.
Andrea looked knowingly across at Will, and she smiled, letting her soft hair brush off her sallow face. Will smiled back.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t throw your eyes up. I saw you.” Sally’s face stalled and she raised her eyebrows waiting for a retort. When she knew none was coming, she continued. “Jay, I told you about this creep.”
“You did.”
“Good for nothin’, sniffin’ around here last few days.” Sally stopped and she looked at Andrea; the drama had overshadowed her instinct. She rushed over and held Andrea. Andrea, her manager. One of the closest people she had in her life. She didn’t ask because she worked everything out from what lay in front of her eyes. She just held her. Andrea felt overwhelmed, and within seconds the tears flowed with purpose, relief and emotion.
Andrea surprised herself, but she felt good being held by Sally. Sally and Will felt like her whole world right now.
Sally removed her glasses and held her cheek to Andrea’s. The two of them looked nothing alike, Will thought, but they were like mother and daughter.
Will felt awkward, and distracted himself by grabbing the gunman who was now coming around. He dragged him by his arm, letting his legs clamber beneath him and led him into the biting April wind. It did nothing for the broken nose, adding to the discomfort.
Jay meanwhile did likewise with the second assailant, dumping him to the curbside of the entrance. Jay might not have had Will’s physique, and he had many years on him, but he could handle himself. There was no way these two goons were going anywhere soon. The black and white pulled up.
Will pulled out a Chesterfield and lit it against the bite of the night.
“Where’s my manners?” He shuffled again in his pocket and produced one for Jay. Jay initially waved him away. “Don’t worry, Sally won’t see you.”
The reverse psychology worked. “I couldn’t give a God damn if she did see. Going on like she’s my mother. Smoke this up in her face.”
“Is that right?” Sally said, coming to the door. “You think that heart attack in 2011 was a joke?”
“Christ,” Jay answered. “You made me jump.”
“Jump? The way you eat and smoke, you be lucky if you can jump. Jump my ass.”
Andrea, linking arms with her friend, smiled.
Jay waved his hand and turned towards the two cops from New Hampshire’s Manchester police department who walked towards them with resolve.
“Jay, how you doin’?” the taller of the two said as he shook Jay’s hand and then Will’s. Their worlds regularly intersected. Dwight Ward. He stood with his partner, Stan Warlock.
The two men were of similar age and build. Both were members of the street crime unit and knew how to handle this situation. They took control of the two drunk, broken, failed thieves and cuffed them, allowing them to retain their position seated on the ground. They called for backup and for medics to attend. Both these guys were being escorted to the hospital first, before they went anywhere.
Andrea felt calm. Oddly so. These two men had made her feel a raw fear she had not felt in a long time. Sure, Lloyd had wrecked with her head and then tried to wreck her face. But this evening, with a gun in the small of her back, she felt this could be the end. She thought of nothing as the fear took hold. That was until Will showed up. She looked across at him now, and the shyness had returned somewhat. Sometimes she oddly felt jealous of Sally, who seemed to be able to put him at ease and talk to him with a stronger level of comfort. But then again Sally had all the wisdom one woman could muster. She knew how to deal with anyone. Apart from Jay, it appeared, who seemed to simply set her off without notice.
“You, my dear,” Sally said as she held Andrea’s chin in her palm, “are not hanging around here, doin’ your usual thing. Bet you guess you are going to clean up this mess?”
“Well I can’t just…” but Sally already had a forewarning finger pointed in her direction.
“Yes, you can just, honey. And you will. You are going to give your statement to these men and then in the morning you can follow up with them if needed. Then you are taking her home.” Sally had swung on her heel and now had her finger pointed at Will. “And by you, I mean you, Will. Me and Jay will sort all this crap out.”
“Will I now?” Jay had every intention of helping, but he wasn’t going to let Sally think she was calling the shots.
“Don’t you even…” Sally stepped towards the head of security at Foxfield.
“Don’t I even what? Oh, please.” With that he blew a waft of cigarette smoke in her direction.
Will laughed as did Andrea. But Will felt nervous, too. He had faced down a gunman, albeit knowing it was a replica, and had floored two thieves. But that wasn’t it. He felt nervous at the thought of having to be so near Andrea. To feel how he was feeling, his automatic response was to retreat. But no way was he arguing Sally down. Regardless, he wanted to protect Andrea. But from a distance. She simply couldn’t know.
She couldn’t know the man, the animal, he really was. Because if she did, she would never want to see him again. And having moved right across the country and building a quiet, simple life for himself would have been for nothing.
No woman could possibly want him, not how he was. When he shifted, when he got out to Bear Brook State Park to roam, he felt so alive. Free and raw. Physical and all encompassing. But a wolf was not a man, and Andrea needed and deserved a man, a proper man, after all she had been through.
If she saw him, the yellow base of his coat, the salt and pepper color that made up the body of it, his upright ears, his eyes that looked more imposing than a human’s could. If she saw all this, she would run, run in fear and disgust. So, he had to settle for the next best thing. To protect her.
Protect her he had done. Not just tonight, but in the time they had known each other. She just wasn’t aware of it. He was happy for it to remain that way.
It was a lengthy process and before they knew it, a couple of hours had run into each other. Andrea felt tired and wanted to be at home. But she was frightened. Will was bringing her home. There was no question as to that. But would he stay with her? She knew he would never stay in that way. She just wanted to feel safe.
Maybe going home with Sally would have been the smarter move. But her house was chaotic. She wanted peace, too. And anyway, Sally hadn’t offered. What she had offered, without his consent, was a lift home with Will.
But Sally wasn’t stupid either. She knew what she was orchestrating. Or trying to. Obviously, she had taken Andrea’s statements of non-interest in Will with no face value.
Andrea looked over at Will and she knew it was time to go. Will knew too.
But Will was watching something else. From a distance, through the moderate crowd of onlookers that had gathered, someone had observed the aftermath. Without movement or animation. Military almost in posture. That wasn’t too unusual. But keeping that much of a distance.
There was one thing Will did consider.
But there was no way he was going to find Will.
Surely not.
He looked at Andrea and wondered. Were they in danger?
CHAPTER THREE
Will drove his sixth-generation Dodge Charger through Manchester with calm. Andrea was quiet. But the atmosphere wasn’t awkward. Not in the sense of being uncomfortable or unpleasant.
A calmness breathed its way around the car. Andrea had her head back against the headrest and felt the warm air of the heater nestling on her skin. The coldness had begun to bite outside Cup Character. It was pleasant to now be warm and shrouded in a feeling of safety.
Andrea opened her left eye and Will was fiddling with his cigarette box, as he waited for the traffic lights to change.
“Go on,” she said.
Now both eyes were open.
“Sorry?” Will looked across, his sharp eyes widening slightly, a nervous smile threatening to reveal itself.
“The Chesterfield. Go on, I don’t care. I might even have one myself.”
“Really?” Will answered. “Miss Clean Living herself?”
Andrea smiled.
“I smoked in high school, a little in college. When I dropped out I gave it up. Couldn’t afford it anymore.” She gently slid the cigarette box from his grasp and placed one between her lips. She wondered how she looked.
Will stretched across and lit it for her.
“College dropout, eh?” Will smiled. Almost at ease. His phone vibrated again in his pocket. What’s App message from Jay probably. He must check his phone after he left Andrea at home.
“Hey!” Andrea replied. She thought of giving him a playful slap in the arm. But no. Why could Sally do it, yet she felt too nervous to do it? His reaction, she thought. That’s why. She knew the attraction between them was genuine. It had to be. But she had had too tough a night to have a first move rescinded.
“That’s cool,” Will smiled, “you can’t be perfect.” Will could feel his cheeks warm.
“Perfect, eh?” Andrea smiled as she lit the cigarette. She felt the same warmth as Will had. But also a secure warmth that grabbed her inside. He had let it slip; she knew that. But that wasn’t the point. In saying that, he had showed his hand a little. Still, she felt a hesitancy from him, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
Will knew the roads of Manchester well. He was heading in the direction of Bear Brook State Park. He knew his way there with considerable ease. He might have lived ten minutes the other side of Foxfield, but this is where he liked to set free. The later and quieter the better. Bear Brook offered him the chance to breathe, for his soul to breathe. His true self to let loose.
Under the moonlight and at the time he roamed, he was unlikely to be spotted. Whenever he was, he was gone too quickly. People would question what it was they had seen.
He had grown more accustomed to letting loose. When he first shifted, he didn’t know what had taken hold of him. That was thirteen years ago. Now, though, it was more regular, but more controlled. From a handful of times a year, to a dozen times. Now it was twice a month. It was his greatest release. But sometimes it wasn’t enough. In fact, it no longer was enough. But the full life he craved was out of reach. Andrea would never want him. Certainly, not if she knew. Not just the shifting. But about Lloyd. And that was only scratching the surface of his past. There was too much more.
After a still silence and as the slight crank in the car windows allowed the smoke to escape to nothing in the unsympathetic New Hampshire night, Andrea renewed the conversation.
“Will?” she asked, slipping a mint from her Patricia Nash crossbody saddle bag.
Will glanced over and waved away the offer, instead producing his own stick of mint chewing gum.
“Fine.” Andrea said in false anger.
Will flashed his smile again. Andrea wondered what their night held. But she let this moment sink in. Pushing the power button on the CD player, Will tightened his eyes on it. Not remembering if it was Kid Quill or Van Morrison sitting in the tray. For the first moments that the music navigated its way out of the speakers embedded in the car door, his heart sank. He blushed again. Yes. It was Van he had left playing when he turned off the engine that morning. Someone Like You. Of all the songs. Every lyric encapsulated their feelings. He wasn’t blushing now, he was nervous.
Andrea smiled. She knew Will dared not look over in her direction. She was aware that a type pf mortification had set in. She laughed aloud.
“What?” Will darted his eyes across, moving his head briefly and sharply.
“Typical guy.” Andrea chuckled.
“I just, you know…” Will was on the verge of a stutter. If he was going to endear himself to Andrea anymore, he had done it.
“Sorry, I’m not laughing at you, Will. Well, I am, to be honest.” Andrea’s affectionate laugh continued to echo around the sedan.
Will relaxed somewhat. He joined in the cordial laughter. How he yearned to let go. He wanted to let go. Maybe he would broach the subject most on his mind. The other stuff, well, she didn’t need to know about that. But him, what he was. After Maria, he promised he would never put himself in that position. What happened to Maria was because of him. Five years had passed. He would never forgive himself, even if Maria did in her final moments. He had put her in that position. But he wanted to love again. Not for the sake of it. But because he was in love.
Will looked at Andrea and wanted to hold her. More than anything he wanted to hold her.
Andrea looked back across. The laughter had settled. She felt something strong and warm-hearted fill her.
Lloyd she had loved. But even at their most heightened attraction, she had never felt this. If she had known the waste of time and space he would become, she doubted she would have fallen for him. Strong of body, but with a lazy mind. And no work ethic. Will, though. His muscles didn’t bulge through over-washed training tops. It was restrained. He was restrained, he was respectful. Yet he radiated a thermal tenderness that Lloyd, that bully, that man who cracked her cheekbone, could never have possessed.
Six months Lloyd was gone. It had all built for so long. Then she discovered what she did about herself, and he changed. His attitude towards her morphed into deeper negativity.
To hit her, though, that first and last time. She was ready for him. The next day she was going to grab him by the balls and throw him out of her house. But he was already gone.
Lloyd. Who had leeched off her for so long, left of his own accord. Yes, she was going to make it happen, but Lloyd was warped. He wouldn’t just leave. He saw it as a game. He would have wanted to try and manipulate. At the very least he wouldn’t leave with nothing. But that was precisely what he did. Just gone.
Will pulled the car around the corner and into Old Boston Road. Andrea was surprised and disappointed that the journey was going to come to an end. But still, more possibilities lay ahead. As her heart beats fused with the wave of excitement in her chest, she wanted just one thing; to be with Will. How wasn’t important. To sit together. That would be enough.
Will slid the car into second gear and the tires slowed over the damp road. Will pulled up outside 1182 Old Boston Road.
And suddenly, like a fresh, sharp bolt, Andrea sat upright.
Will knew why.
He had made a mistake. How was he going to cover this up?
“Will?” Andrea sat and looked straight ahead.
Will tried to produce a casual veneer.
“Yeah?” He forced a smile.
“Will, I trust you. I feel safe with you. But what the fuck, Will?”
“What do you mean?” Will’s attempt at acting casual wasn’t fooling her.
“How did you know?” Andrea was looking at Will now. She couldn’t understand.
“Know what?” Will grabbed a Chesterfield from the box he had left on the dashboard, and lit it on the first try, as he took a deep intake.
“Will, you never even asked the specific road name. Let alone the house number. How do you know where I live, Will? How could you possibly know?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Will looked straight ahead, out of his tinted windscreen. Andrea looked directly across at him.
“I can explain.” Will’s attempts to look casual were not becoming. “It’s pretty straightforward. Sally told me. Simple as.”
“Simple as? Don’t bullshit me. I’ve no time for it.” Andrea’s warmth for Will didn’t just evaporate. The excitement of being with him remained. But it felt tainted. He was lying to her. And she didn’t tolerate it.
“Look, I asked Sally for the address earlier. It’s an easy one to remember and I know the area.” Will’s argument wasn’t holding much credibility.
“Jesus, Will, you telling me that just because you do a bi
t of jogging in Bear Brook, that I should believe you can just find my house on a whim? You have a satnav right there,” Andrea tapped the mini-screen facing them from the dashboard, “and you’re telling me you didn’t need this? She told you my address and what? You entered it into the satnav in your fucking brain?”
“Andrea,” but Will stopped. He was lying, obviously. But what was even more obvious was that Andrea wasn’t going to entertain it.
Will’s phone vibrated again in his pocket. He slid it out briefly and powered it off. This would have to be done now.
“Okay.” Will took a deep breath. He gathered himself.
“Okay what?” Andrea’s frustration was fused with confusion and surprise. And it was all underpinned by the fact that she really trusted this guy sitting next to her. It didn’t make sense.
Will looked out the side window and closed his eyes briefly. He opened them swiftly when a dipped headlight caught his side mirror. A red-colored Jeep Cherokee coasted by. Had he seen this earlier?
“Andrea, I have been here before.”
Andrea felt more intrigue than shock. She felt some rational explanation was sitting somewhere in the background. Her trust in Will was complete. She felt comfortable, even now, that he was not a threat to her. She knew the reason would make sense.
But she knew this didn’t necessarily mean she was going to be happy about it.
Will felt his head ache. It wasn’t the want to shift, to escape – or to fulfill – depending what way you looked at it. It was the pressure of what he knew, the things he had done and what he was. And something about what happened at Cup Character; there was something amiss. The onlooker in the parking lot. The Jeep Cherokee. Was it twice he had seen this same one?
So much to tell Andrea, but what did she need to know? Well, she needed to know this much. She needed and was entitled to know how someone who, she thought, had never been near her house, had now somehow brought her to her door. Unprompted and unaided.
“Sally,” Will started, “Sally did give me the address.” Will looked skywards and then turned his head at an angle to Andrea. “Just not tonight.”