by Claire Adams
“Yep, I’m going to pack up and head out.”
I turned around and stood there, still naked as the day I was born. I watched him walk toward me with a sincerity in his eyes that I had not seen before.
“Be safe,” I said as his lips met mine.
“I will.”
He gave me one more quick kiss and then turned to leave the house.
Chapter 19
I went up to my bedroom so I could watch what he was doing. I didn’t know Chris very well at all but he certainly liked his secrets. There was a way where he told me just a little bit of information to make me think I had it all, but in reality I had no real information.
Chris stayed in his house for about an hour before I saw him coming out the back door with two black duffel bags. They looked like the bags he had before when he had carried them all into the house. My heart sank as I remembered touching the cold metal guns that were in those bags. He certainly was doing some sort of dangerous job if he was carrying around that many guns.
I watched as he loaded all six of the bags again and then went back into his house. I wanted to get a closer look to make sure the bags were the same as before, but I decided not to push my luck.
I fell asleep while watching Chris’s house but when I woke up his Jeep was still there. I decided to hop in the shower and then maybe I would stop by his house again to see what was going on. He had thought he needed leave pretty quickly when he was on the phone but apparently he was able to spend the night.
My art show was just a few days away and it was going to be so important for everyone who worked with me on my team. They all helped me so much with getting my show to go off the ground. Being an artist in today’s world can be very difficult for anyone who takes their work seriously. Art isn’t a way of making a lot of money and it takes a lot of work. I was lucky enough to have been somewhat successful and at least had people willing to buy my pictures. If I didn’t have people buying my photos I wouldn’t be able to be an artist full-time.
I really had to stop worrying about Chris and whatever he was doing with his job and start worrying about myself. My show was getting really close and I couldn’t be unprepared when I showed up. I needed to have all my prints ready and be willing and able to describe my methods for each of the photos. As much as I needed to work on my project, I couldn’t tear myself away from the thought that Chris was involved in something big. Whatever he was doing with those guns, I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t know Chris’s skills in defense tactics, but he certainly seemed skilled in many other areas.
Silently I said a prayer for Chris so that he would return home in good condition and he would accomplish what he had set out to get done with his job. I had never dated anyone who wouldn’t tell me what they did for work; not like Chris and I were dating. But why wouldn’t he just tell me what was going on? He could keep things generic and just explain a general idea of what he does; but even that wasn’t allowed apparently.
Chapter 20
My eyes got big as I watched Chris come out of his garage dressed in all black. He looked like some sort of swat team member and I was turned on. Police officers had never been a big fetish of mine before, but if they all looked like Chris then I could reconsider the option. His muscles seemed to be showing off in the tight shirt he had on and his black cargo pants and black combat boots seemed totally out of place. I decided I had to try and follow him.
Obviously, I wouldn’t be able to follow him all the time; but that moment just seemed perfect for getting into my car and seeing if I could follow Chris. He didn’t look back in his mirror and instead kept his eyes on the road as he speed through the traffic and made his way to the downtown area. I had not been down in that area of St. Louis in a very long time.
I felt a buzzing in my lap and I looked down at my phone. It was Chris, he was calling me. I certainly couldn’t answer the phone while driving on the interstate and following Chris. I decided to pull over quickly so I could answer his call.
“Hey, I just wanted to make sure I had your number right.” Chris said as he drove off and I lost him in the traffic of then busy city.
“That’s great.”
“I shouldn’t be gone for more than a couple days this time; hopefully you won’t get too bored.” I could hear the smile in his voice. Did he call me on purpose to get me to pull over? Where was he going? I just wanted to ask him that and see what he would say.
“That’s really great. I think you should start keeping all of your jobs to only a couple of days.”
It seemed obvious to me that Chris was making an effort. He seemed to actually care about my feelings and worked hard to ensure I would understand enough about his travels to know when he would be coming home. As we got off the phone, I continued to drive right to the airport. Just by luck I saw Chris’s jeep sitting in an unusual spot on the airplane tarmac. There was no way I could get to it and instead I just had to observe from afar.
I pulled my car up in a wooded area near the cargo loading planes. I just wanted to see if I could figure out what was going on and why Chris was involved. But it was impossible to see what was happening.
It was impossible to even know what people were in the plane or what was going on during this trip he was going on. I wanted to be supportive, but I couldn’t trust anyone yet. There was just a lot going on for the kids lately and I didn’t have the energy to trust people. I watched in silence as the ten duffle bags were unloaded from the Jeep to the new cargo plane. I assumed the bags were still full of guns, but I had no way of knowing for sure.
I continued to watch as a group of other men, who looked very similar to Chris, arrived and started to load themselves onto the cargo plane. The men all seemed to know each other very well. Whatever these guys were doing for a job, it seemed pretty dangerous. They all were bringing on black duffle bags that seemed to look a lot like the ones that Chris had had in his home.
I closed my eyes briefly to imagine what these guys needed all these guns for. Nothing that I could think of seemed like a very legitimate business. Although I was sure that somewhere there was a fake twitter account for these guys and their sexy hot bodies. The other men were the first to get on the plane and Chris seemed to be in charge so he waited and got onto the plane last. I watched each of the body guards intently as their muscular bodies seemed to have no problems with anything that came their way.
Chapter 21
I watched as the private plane took off and I couldn’t help but think that something illegal was going on. There was no way Chris worked for a police department or even a special agency; they didn’t let their men travel on private jets. It was hard to differentiate between the Chris I knew and the Chris that I saw loading up guns onto that private jet. The Chris loading up guns seemed very deadly. The look on his face was serious and he was not someone you would want to mess with. The Chris I knew was kind and caring and willing to carry an injured woman a half of a mile to her home.
I turned my car around and made my way back home. There was no use trying to figure things out right then, Chris said he would be gone for a couple days and that meant I wouldn’t hear from him that whole time. At least we had gotten to talk a little bit before he left.
The next day I was preparing my photos for my art show and I got a Skype call from Chris.
“Hello,” I said as I held the phone up to my face.
I had never Skyped anyone and wasn’t even sure why I had the app on my phone. Probably something Rebecca thought I needed. When I bought my phone she had made sure to install every possible application she thought I would want to use.
“Hey, I promised to do better. So here I am,” Chris said.
He was wearing a t-shirt and looked very casual in a hotel room. I couldn’t help but smile at the effort he was making to stay in touch. I also couldn’t help but wish I was in that hotel room with him. I bit my lip as thoughts of him naked rushed through my mind. His smoldering brown eyes looked at me as if I was the only woman in
the world. It felt good, but it felt like he could tell exactly what I was thinking.
“Where are you?”
“Chicago.”
“Doing anything fun?” I didn’t want to come out and ask exactly what he did for work or why he was in Chicago, but I desperately wanted to know.
“Nope. How about you? That’s a sexy top, let me see it.”
I was out in my garage and wearing a torn up old t-shirt. I had gotten it while visiting Paris and it always gave me inspiration. I set my phone on the table in my garage and took a few steps back.
“It’s nothing but a rag,” I said.
“Yes, it’s horrible. Take it off.” Chris leaned closer to his camera and smiled.
I lifted my t-shirt up over my head and threw it to the other corner of the garage. Chris’ jaw instantly dropped. His eye widened like he hadn’t really expected me to do it. Come to think of it, I didn’t think I would either. Slowly I moved back toward the camera and let my fingers play with one of my nipples. I moved in nice and close so Chris could see what I was doing. He still had not said a single thing since I took my shirt off.
“Mmmm, I wish your lips were right here,” I said as I let my finger circle around my hard nipple.
“You don’t know how bad I wish my lips were there too.”
“Show me,” I said.
It was fun to play this game. Chris could only see my breasts at the moment and couldn’t see my face. It gave me a weird sense of confidence that I had never really felt before. I certainly would not have felt this confident if I was standing right in front of him.
“Oh you can’t handle seeing this,” Chris said in his usual cocky tone.
“You’re right. I better just get dressed and get back to my displays.”
I looked at the screen and there he was, sitting in some hotel room chair with his cock out in his hand. The camera watched as his hand slid up and down the shaft and I got wet just seeing him.
“When will you be back?” I asked as I picked the camera up and moved it to my face. I bit my lip slightly and licked my lips at the thought of feeling him inside of me again soon.
“I’ll be there for your art show. I promise.”
Chris moved the camera back up to his face and I suddenly felt embarrassed now. His chiseled jaw and defined muscular torso made me nervous. I could feel the flush of red taking over my face.
“I’m really nervous. I’ve never had a show as big as this one.”
“Don’t worry, people will love you,” Chris said confidently.
“What are you doing in Chicago?”
“Just work stuff. Nothing exciting.”
“I really am so nervous about this show. I’m afraid I’ll get there and no one else will show up. Or worse yet, people will show up and say the photos are terrible. I don’t know if I can take that kind of rejection.”
“You’ll be great. I’m going to get going. See you in a few days,” Chris said and he was quickly off of the call. It struck me that I felt bonded to Chris. We had not known each other for long and I certainly did not know much about him. I felt somewhat different about us after our conversation. I still wanted to find out all of his secrets, but I was alright waiting for a little bit if that is what he needed.
I finished putting one of the frames together for a picture and then made my way inside. As I walked across my yard, I thought I saw a light turn off from inside Chris’ house. I watched patiently from the comfort of my living room, just to see if anything unusual happened. I wanted to see if anyone else was coming or going from his house. He certainly had not talked about anyone being at his home, but then again he might not want to share that information until necessary. I continued to watch his house and felt like I was going crazy. No lights turned on or off and there certainly did not seem to be anyone running around outside. There wasn’t even a car around. After walking around the house and checking all the door locks and windows, I headed upstairs to my room.
For some reason, I felt scared. I had lived in my grandparent’s house on and off for years, and not once had I ever felt afraid while I was there. My instinct was that someone was watching me from afar and I either needed to confront them or pretend like I didn’t notice them. Unfortunately, I had no idea what I should do or if there was even a person out there that was watching me.
Chapter 22
“So tell me more about this mysterious neighbor man,” Rebecca said as she and Robert helped me bring my pictures to the art gallery.
“There’s nothing much to tell. He’s a mystery man.” I said and then laughed.
“You haven’t found out any more about him?”
“Nope, nothing. I guess he doesn’t like to reveal too much about his life.”
“You’re lying to us,” Rebecca said as she stopped and looked me in the eyes.
“What? There has been nothing to lie about. I don’t know anything about him.” I continued to bring my pictures out to Robert’s truck while behind me I heard Rebecca and Robert having a little bit of an argument. Robert was telling Rebecca to leave things alone and Rebecca was telling Robert that he didn’t know what he was talking about. It was actually very fun to listen to the two of them argue.
“Ok guys, I’ll tell you the truth. I fell down a mountain and he carried me home, we had sex. We had sex again just the other night. But I don’t know where he is at or what he’s doing now and I’m perfectly fine with that.”
Rebecca broke out in hysterical laughter. Her body was bent over and she held onto the table for support.
“Oh Katelyn, you are so funny. I love your sense of humor.”
Sometimes honesty is better than any lie you can tell. I knew Rebecca wouldn’t believe me. I knew that the idea of me sleeping with a stranger would not be something she could even comprehend. But to me, Chris wasn’t a stranger anymore. Sure, I did not know much information about him. I wasn’t too worried about it though, the man did live right next door. Sooner or later I would find out more about him, which was a natural thing that happened over time.
“Well, I’m glad my life is amusing to you,” I said with a smile.
“Seriously Katelyn, you should stay away from that guy. Whatever he’s doing it’s probably illegal. Only criminals like to keep their life so shrouded in mystery.” Robert said as he continued loading the artwork into his truck.
“I appreciate you both worrying about me so much.”
“Katelyn, he’s very handsome. Do you think you would consider dating a guy like that someday?”
I could tell what Rebecca was really trying to get at; it was if Chris looked like a guy that I would consider my type. If I said yes, then surely Rebecca would have a date lined up with a guy that she thought looked a lot like Chris. If I said no, the date would be with someone exactly opposite of Chris. There really was no way for me to win.
“I don’t know. He is very handsome.”
“I think you two should stop talking about how handsome this guy is,” Robert laughed.
“Oh darling, you are much better looking,” Rebecca said as she hugged her husband.
Both Robert and I laughed. He certainly had a good sense of humor, but handsome was not a trait I would use to describe Robert. His tall, thin frame looked like it barely kept him from falling over on a windy day. Although Robert did go to the gym often, he didn’t appear to be making any progress on his goal to bulk up and get more muscle.
“When you are married someday, you will see your husband as the handsome model that he is in your eyes,” Rebecca said as she kissed Robert.
The two of them were such a sweet couple. It was encouraging to see them together and how they interacted with each other. Rebecca was more of the caretaker for the family and Robert was the provider, but they switched roles as necessary and took care of each other very well.
“I’m really excited about this photography show. I hope there are a lot of people there,” I said, trying to change the subject.
“Yes, I’m sure there w
ill be. There have been flyers all over Kansas City and I think they said all the tickets for the event were sold out.”
I couldn’t help but smile. All the tickets being sold out was a big deal. That meant there would be over a thousand people at my show. All of them interested in seeing my art and possibly buying some of it. I would really love to sell a few pieces to help pay for the renovation to my family’s home.
“How many total pieces do you have?” Robert asked.
“I should have twenty-six. I’m not sure if they will be showing all of the pieces or picking twenty of their favorite.”
“This is big Katelyn. Like really big. People will come to your show and be talking about your photography in the newspapers and stuff. You might just end up being really famous.”
I couldn’t help but smile at Rebecca’s enthusiasm. She was always one of my biggest supporters and it made me feel so optimistic about my show. I had sold a few photos through friends and local people, plus I had sold several pictures online, but I had never had a real show. I had never put my work on display for people to critique and judge with me standing right there. It made me nervous even to think about it.
The thought of people picking apart my work or saying bad things about my photos, it made me feel pretty anxious. I really did hope that Chris could make it to the show and I wanted him to be able to walk around with me to be my protector from the critiques. His physical presences would make it hard for people to say too many bad things to me. At 6’2 and with all the muscles Chris had, no one was likely to be talking very poorly in front of him at least. They would be too afraid of him.
Chris wasn’t a scary guy, even if he looked like it on the outside. In reality, he was a very kind man who seemed to have a lot of demons in his past that he liked to keep protected. He always seemed to be protecting something. I did really want to get to the bottom of what he did for a living and why he was here. It seemed like there was quite the story there and I just wasn’t hearing it yet.