by Selena Scott
“When?” Andrea asked.
“The day before Halloween. What’s that, October 30th?”
Andrea’s heart sank. The pieces were coming together. But she had made some underestimations.
“Yes.” Andrea answered the question.
“I knew about your stay in the hospital that night, with the cracked cheekbone. I knew it wasn’t a fall in your kitchen. But I knew because Sally told me. I didn’t see you that day.”
“Obviously,” Andrea retorted.
“Lloyd hit you that morning…”
“Don’t tell me what I already know, Will,” said Andrea, cutting him off. “Please, spare me. So, Sally took it upon herself to get you involved. Jesus.”
Will wasn’t sure what to say. “She was upset.”
“Yeah?” Andrea was the one now staring out into the crisp night.
“Yeah, look – listen,” Will turned his body in Andrea’s direction and looked her straight in the eyes as she turned herself. “Sally despised him. How he sponged off you…”
“Don’t,” Andrea shook her head. “Don’t.” Her eyes were as fierce as he had ever seen them.
“Okay, look, sorry. I did what I thought was right. Jesus, Andrea, he put you in the hospital.”
“Really?” Andrea’s chest heaved as she took a deep breath and let her body and her thoughts settle. “I know he put me in the hospital. But I had this under control, I had it sorted. What I didn’t want was Sally and you to jump in gung-ho. How dare you? How dare both of you?”
Andrea’s voice was calmer now. Will thought it better when she was seething. Now disappointment and a strain of resentment was making its way into her voice.
“I’m sorry, Andrea and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“You should have told me; of course you should have. Goddammit – who do you and Sally think you are? Good intentions? Sure. But Jesus, you had no right. Neither of you.”
“I know.”
Andrea opened the car door, but didn’t slam it shut. This man would do anything for her. But he couldn’t ask her out for a drink. What type of man was he? Did he want to solely protect her? That wasn’t enough. She wanted to be with him. But what was he?
And then the thought struck her.
She turned sharply, at which point Will was getting out of the driver’s side. He stood on the far side of the bonnet. He didn’t need to speak because he saw the concern in her eyes. Instinctively he knew what she was going to ask. He pre-empted her answer.
“No,” Will said.
“No, what?”
“No, I didn’t hurt him.”
“Please don’t lie,” Andrea pleaded. As much as Lloyd scrounged off her, as much as he promised and failed to deliver, and the things he said. The horrible things he said, that hurt as much as the fist to her face. Despite all this, she didn’t wish hurt on him. Despite it all.
“I’m not.” Will shook his head slightly.
“Guys like Lloyd, they aren’t going to disappear because you made him see sense.”
“You’re right,” said Will, “they’re not.”
“So, what does that mean? You didn’t hurt him, you didn’t appeal to his non-idiot side. What did you do?”
“I retired from the Navy three years ago. I was thirty-five.”
“Great story, Will. Congratulations. Hope you had a nice leaving do. Any context here?”
There was a marginal drop in the charged atmosphere. Andrea placed herself against the front of the bonnet and buttoned her pink, faux fur, trim puffer jacket to the top. Protecting herself from the sharp wind as it gathered pace. She was indicating she was going to listen. But it better be good. And quick.
“There is context.” Will waited to see if Andrea was happy for him to go on. Her silence indicated so. “I always said I would hang on ‘til I was forty. Financially it made sense. But I couldn’t. I ran into a problem there – that’s not important here.”
“More mystery, great,” Andrea said, elevating her eyebrows.
“Anyway,” Will felt he was getting himself side-tracked, “I had a bit in my Thrift savings plan with the navy. And my pension, while modest, was okay.”
Andrea looked at him, wondering what in God’s name his point was. What was this nonsense and what had it got to do with Lloyd?
“But I came into some money. Around the time I left, I had some luck. Not Hollywood luck; but luck all the same.”
“Okay.” Andrea was matter of fact and wanted the point.
“Okay. Well look, people like Lloyd, they understand money. If you think I rocked up here screaming the odds and preparing for some sort of fist-to-fist combat, then no. And Sally, well Sally just filled me in. She was worried. I persuaded her to give me your address. So, if you’re pissed at someone, let it be me, just me.”
“I am, but Sally should have spoken to me. Neither of you have the right to have this on me.”
“We don’t have anything on you. That wasn’t the intention. I told him to go and I paid him. I knew it was the only thing that would work.”
“I get why you did that. Okay, it’s pretty dramatic, but I get it. But you shouldn’t have done it.” Andrea went quiet. She tapped her fingers on the side of her leg and thought. Rationalized. “You had no right, because I was going to deal with him. You think I’m afraid of a man because he knocks me out cold in our front yard. I didn’t even get a chance at retribution. I yearned to get home. To confront him. Do you think I feared Lloyd?”
“No,” replied Will. And he meant it. He could see it.
“I grew up learning, no matter what, you stand your ground and you face up to shit. You took that opportunity away from me.”
“Jesus.” Will felt deflated.
“But,” Andrea started, “do you know what pisses me off the most?”
“What?”
“Well, apart from doing this. Doing this but not being able to do the simple stuff.”
“I don’t get you,” Will’s cheeks and eyes pulled closer together as he squinted, briefly.
“Do I need to spell it out?” Andrea could feel her heart beating and her mind racing. So much was unfolding that she thought why not just say it. “You. You baffle me. You give away, God knows how much money. And for what? To protect me?”
“Yes, to protect you.”
“Why? Why do you want to carry out these grand gestures? Yet can you ask me to the movies? For dinner? For a drink? What the hell is your interest in me if you go to these lengths yet don’t want to do the basics? I like you, Will; do you get that? Do you actually get that?”
Will was now close to the curb that Andrea’s feet rested against. She then stood up straight and they faced each other. He bit his lip and intensity filled him.
“Yes, I get that; but I can’t. I can’t ask you out. I can’t do normal stuff, not with you.”
“Why?” Andrea’s voice was raised. “Why not?”
“Because I can’t. Because of what I am. Because of what I have done in life. Because of the man I can’t be, and because, because, because I’m not normal.”
“Will, tell me what is normal? And tell me who hasn’t got a past?”
“Not mine. Not my past.”
“Oh, get over yourself, Will. You going to make that decision for me, too? Like Lloyd. You going to decide if I will accept you? Christ, don’t be so selfish.”
Will hadn’t looked at things in such a way before. Andrea had done something no one else apart from Maria had ever done. She lifted the burden. Somewhat, at least. Will felt a surge. A relief. Not a relief that she would accept him when she knew. When she saw. But that she would allow him to give her the opportunity.
“I’m sorry,” Will said. He felt his muscles relax, he felt his blood running through with freedom. There was an abandonment in his spirit he hadn’t felt in a long time. A freedom. This was just how Andrea made him feel. The anxiety was there still, sure. But he felt he could connect again.
“You should be. Now I owe you a
coffee. A homemade one. For all your escapades. Those approved of and those not.”
Andrea stepped up onto the curb and across the grass verge. Will watched her confident shape. He followed Andrea up the cobble stone drive.
Just being with her like this. He wanted more. But she must see first.
As they made their way across the driveway, Will stopped and turned. He had that same feeling he had had in the parking lot. Except this time there were no eyes he could see.
“What is it?” Andrea asked.
“Nothing,” said Will.
But it was something.
There was something.
He could feel it.
CHAPTER FIVE
When Will had paid Lloyd a visit that time, he didn’t cross the threshold. They stood in the same front yard where Lloyd had struck Andrea cleanly and coldly.
This time, though, was his first time in the house. The two experiences couldn’t have differed more.
The first thing that hit Will, in Andrea’s house, were the cathedral ceilings. Cathedral ceilings, to him, lacked comfort and offered too much distraction. But not the way Andrea had the place laid out. Her warmth continued from her, to Cup Character, to home. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
“I’m just going to call Sally,” Andrea said, as she undid her jacket and hung it on a white, wooden hook next to her staircase.
“Sure,” Will replied, following her into the kitchen area, through the carpeted hallway of a deep red color that followed up the staircase. The red suggesting an energy which flowed throughout.
The kitchen area was modern, a granite-topped kitchen island and a stained hardwood floor. To the right, where Andrea led Will, was a living space brimming with stacked bookshelves and a moderately-sized, but classically-styled fireplace.
The back yard was sizeable and had a timeless looking red cedar decking area that took up nearly a quarter of the garden space. The perimeter of the yard was lined with beech trees on either side and an American basswood tree which essentially sprawled out and covered the full back wall.
Will sat in the center of a three-seater, pillow-back sofa. He sat back and for a moment or two, he felt relaxed in himself. He looked across at Andrea as she prepared their coffee. The pride didn’t end in the shop; a silver bean-to-cup coffee machine sat center of the work-top to the left of the range oven. A barista express coffee machine, was how Andrea described it as she prepared food. She rejected an offer of help and insisted Will sit.
He never thought the hospitality she offered in Cup Character wasn’t genuine. But now he could see the sincere place it grew from.
Andrea grabbed an array of salad bowls from the fridge as bacon was turned on the grill. The coffees were made and the island set for the pair. Two steel, leather-covered, high stools lingered on the cusp of the island.
“Cappuccino,” Andrea said as she nodded her head for Will to join her at the island. “You can move out of your coffee comfort zone.”
They shared a smile.
“You speak to Sally?” Will asked.
“No, but then again there is nothing unusual in her not answering her cell.” Andrea recalled a line Sally liked to trot out regularly. “‘One day people will look up from their cell and realize life has happened.’ Wise words. But, come on, why does she even have one?”
Andrea smiled as she dished out bacon and salad for Will. The cream, ceramic plates settled under the crisp salads; couscous, pasta and beetroot and potato mixed together with a spring onion finish. Andrea added the crispy bacon and with the fusion of flavors, coupled with the adrenalin-sapping drama, it didn’t take long for the pair to clean their plates.
Andrea grabbed her own cappuccino and Will followed her back into the living area. Across the glass-topped coffee table, Andrea settled into the two-seater. She slid her shoes off and curled her feet under her.
Will sat back on his previous spot. He finally removed his black bomber jacket, having laid it on the back of his high stool, beside which his phone now charged on the island. A part of him was anxious about the evening’s events. Something didn’t fit. A similar feeling to being watched. He sensed something. But he had to deal in logic, too. And logically, nothing was amiss.
Will looked over at Andrea’s 40-inch flat screen TV. It was flanked by boxsets on each side.
“Most people watch their shows online these days.”
“Really?” Andrea grinned as she placed her cup on the table, a dribble of coffee meandering down the deep mug and smudging the glass top marginally.
Will raised his eyebrows, and nodded at the smudge, smiling. Andrea’s cheeks rose with her smile and Will responded in kind. There was a silence between them. But it was not hindered by embarrassment; more filled with charm and attraction. But deeper than that, a comfort in being together. Both wanting to be in that moment.
Andrea pulled her feet from under her and placed them on the ground. She leaned forward and let her hands loosely hold the couch for support. Her body leant forward and Will sat still. He pursed his lips and then bit his lower lip slightly.
“I want to know.” They were both silent. “I want to know what it is, Will, what it is that holds you back. That won’t let you go. I trust you and I want you to do the same. Return the favor. Tell me.”
“No.” Will shook his head.
“No? Great.” Andrea’s body slumped backwards, moderately.
“No, I can’t tell you.”
Will was looking at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen before. An intensity that said he was about to let something go.
“I can’t tell you, Andrea; I can only show you. That’s the only thing that will make you understand. But once I do, everything will change. I wish it wouldn’t, but it will.”
Andrea’s face stiffened, but only in concentration, as if she wanted to convey the sincerity of the words that were about to be spoken.
“I don’t care what it is, Will. It doesn’t matter.”
“We’ll see,” Will answered.
With that, he undid his boots, only realizing how tired his feet were as he loosened the boots from his feet.
Will walked over towards the patio door and turned the silver key. He slid the door open, stepped into the cold night, and closed it behind him.
Andrea took three steps forward. Arms folded, she watched. And waited.
Will turned and looked at Andrea and smiled solemnly. Then walked to the edge of the decking area.
This was it.
CHAPTER SIX
Will moved out of the security light in the yard and over to a more discreet location. He stripped off his clothes, letting them fall into a ball. No need for order now.
He had never shifted for someone before. Simply to show what he was. But he was content to do it. More than content. He wanted to get this out there for Andrea to see. So then all the not knowing would end. All the anxiety that shrouded his feelings for her would be gone. At least now if she didn’t accept, it was laid bare.
Andrea watched from behind the double-glazed sliding door. She didn’t follow Will’s movements into the corner. Her eyes lay firmly ahead.
A deep mix of anxiety and excitement wrestled together. She knew something dramatic was sure to unfold.
Unless this was a rather dramatic ruse for the sake of a practical joke.
She seriously doubted it.
But her legs lightened. Not weak, but excited and nervous. She trusted this man, so it couldn’t be that bad.
Could it?
The first thing that struck Andrea was the strength and power of what stood in front of her. His jaw looked as robust as it did in human form. But he wasn’t in human form.
Will was looking at her, but not as himself. Not as the slightly tanned, physical, beautiful man she knew. But as a creature. The base of his coat sandy-yellow. The fullness of it salt and pepper, fused with a whitish finish.
A wolf.
He looked like he should be roaming a prairie or hunting as part of
a pack across a grassland. He looked capable of devouring prey many times his size.
The eyes.
The eyes were so intense that there was no mistake. She knew there was no elaborate hoax. She never really thought there was. But the eyes caught her in the same way that Will’s did. They didn’t look at her, they looked inside her. They pressed into her very being and asked her to look back in the same way.
She asked herself how she wasn’t in shock. How was this normal? There was nothing normal about this, she thought. Watching a man transform into a wolf and roam her backyard was not what you did on a Thursday night.
But it didn’t feel weird.
Surprising, sure. Awestruck? Yes, she told herself. She was. But that was it. That was the word. She looked at him in awe.
His long legs looked capable of overcoming most obstacles. His long mouth and long tail. The structure of his physique. The strength. The power. The sharpness of the teeth. They should intimidate. But they didn’t. Because when she looked out, she didn’t see something to be fearful of. She saw eyes that burned and which had sadness buried in them at the same time.
Andrea slid the door open and stepped out. The coldness at her feet she felt, but it was not a burden. The heaviness of the night, the drama of it all, dissipated from her consciousness. She was involved in the moment and enthralled by it.
Andrea moved slowly, arms still folded as she edged closer to Will. As a wolf. She still couldn’t believe how normal this felt. Out of context, if she had to explain this very situation to another soul, they would struggle to let their mind comprehend it. But she did comprehend it. More than that, she felt it. And she felt alive.
Andrea sat down on the first of the two steps that led to her finely manicured lawn, which by day held a healthy shade of green, despite the elements of the winter having tried to take its toll.
As Will moved over, she understood. She understood this change in him was total in its physicality.
His eyes asked the question. And she, too, didn’t need to speak. Because her eyes answered in return. The acceptance that flowed between them was as vibrant and real as anything either of them had ever felt.