by Angel Marks
Without having said the R word, rape, he had figured it out. She was weak and vulnerable, broken and scared. That was why she wasn’t in New York or Boston. In that moment, he looked at her with his serious green eyes and said, “Noelle, you need a man, not a boy, a man.” And as she looked into his eyes she realized that man was standing right in front of her.
Chapter Two
Will leaned into her cubicle, asking, “Ready?” He nodded at Pauly who gave him a little wave.
“Yes, just a sec,” Noelle replied as she hit save.
She had just finished writing the copy for Manual Methods: The Art of Gratifying Sex, bulleting the art of everything from trust in the BDSM relationship to proper anal penetration. Her job at Harness was educating her in more than just publishing.
She smiled at Will, as always flushed by his masculine appearance, almost six feet tall with broad, strong shoulders and arms, narrow hips, and a six pack faintly visible under his shirt. He grinned back at her and a naughty thought or two from Manual Methods dared to cross her mind.
“You kids have fun!” Pauly said as he scooted out the office door, eyes on his phone.
She slipped out the door with Will for their fifteen minute break-date. Outside, the spring sunshine highlighted the blighted despair of Brighton. The grit of the city was now covered by pretty weeds that no one cut down. Will picked her a wild daisy that had been growing by the sidewalk.
“Oh, thank you.” She smiled at him and admired the soft, white petals and yellow center consciously choosing not to revert to her game of he loves me, he loves me not. Will’s daisy meant more to her than all the flowers she had ever received, all carefully cultivated and wrapped in cellophane packages. It came from a man unlike any she had ever loved.
“I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I graduated. Next month will be my one year anniversary at Harness.”
“That’s great.”
“Thanks, I’ve almost “made it.” I’m so close to getting out of here, but I’m broke more now than I was when I started. When you decide to go to college, I recommend getting a degree that pays.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Really?”
“If your bills are a problem, I’d be happy to go over your finances with you.”
“What do you know about finance?”
“Oh, a bit.” He grinned at her. “I was the top student in my economics class. I’ll probably major in economics or business when I go.”
“That sounds great, two majors I would never be successful in. Good for you.”
“I could never major in English. You’re a talented writer. That’s not my strong area.”
She blushed at his compliment and then felt her heart race as they rounded the corner toward the stretch where she had been harassed on her first walk alone. This was the first time they had gone this way as a couple. All their previous walks, Will had taken her down different streets and they had turned around rather than loop, but today he said he wanted to show her something.
“Walking by this place is making me sick to my stomach.”
“Don’t worry about it, you’re fine with me.”
The oversized drive was strewn with men in slouchy clothes and hats, standing around, doing nothing. Before they approached, Will slipped to the inside of the sidewalk, shielding her from their stares. They didn’t speak to her with Will by her side.
Once past the place, Will stated, “It’s a halfway house for ex-cons on probation. They live and work there and if they leave, they get sent back to prison. Like I said a few weeks back, this is not a safe neighborhood for you to be walking around in by yourself.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Because this is what I wanted to show you today.” He pointed to a tree-lined street not far from them. “My dad’s office is right down there. I grew up riding my bike around this neighborhood. I’d go to work with him all summer long and any day I didn’t have school.”
“Really? He was able to bring you in like that?”
“It’s his business.” .
“Oh, what’s his business?”
“Law. He’s an attorney for real estate, estate planning, and taxes now, but he used to be a prosecutor.”
“Oh, wow, a prosecutor? That’s serious, and he’s so close to the probation house.”
“Yeah, but his office has always been there, even before he became a prosecutor. He wasn’t about to hide. As soon as you start living your life scared, it becomes harder to live it at all.”
“Good advice. He’s a brave man.”
“Yeah, well, it was hard for him and our family when he was prosecuting people for felonies. Growing up, my parents were always worried that someone he helped put away would get out and come looking for him or one of us. Eventually, he went back to his private practice which made my mom a lot happier.”
Noelle didn’t really know what to say to that. She wavered before asking, “Are there people out there now who may want to come after your father?”
“There’s always the possibility. He has to live with that, and so do we, but he’s helped some people, too. Whenever he helped put away a case he felt uneasy about, usually a juvenile felon, he would visit the person in jail, chat with him or her, you know, encourage them to turn their lives around.”
“Did they?”
“Actually, yeah, a few of them have that I know of came back to thank my dad for setting them on the right path. One of them became a lawyer.”
“That’s amazing! Your dad sounds like a good person.”
“Yeah, I pretty much idolized him as a kid. He’s a good guy, a great dad. He raised my younger brother and me to always stand up for ourselves and to never back down from a fight.”
“Fighting?” Noelle gave Will a quizzical look. “Do you fight?”
“If necessary I have, but for sport, I box.”
“You know, now that I think of it, you look like a boxer, but your face isn’t all smushed up from being punched too many times.”
Will looked amused. “That’s probably because I’m good.” He smiled at her and she asked for details. “I’m a mid-heavy weight amateur, Noelle, not a pro, but don’t worry, you’re always safe when you’re with me.”
Noelle hugged herself and looked at him sideways. She did feel safe with him. She had from the moment they had their first conversation. He had a really good vibe, and she felt like she could trust him with her life.
They were back at Harness Publishing’s door, but before Will opened the door for her, he invited her to meet him out after work.
Despite her best efforts, Noelle couldn’t resist Will Martin. That afternoon she found herself following him to a nearby dive bar.
It was called the Iron Glass, a hole-in-the-wall of a rundown street in a derelict part of the city that was chock full of empty, old churches and equally as many full, ancient bars. Inside, no one carded Will, who easily looked over twenty-one with his scruffy face and confidence, and he had a beer. Noelle, who looked more nineteen than twenty-two, but didn’t drink anyway, ordered ice water and lemon.
She glanced around the dark space and sighed. Avoiding his eyes, she said what had been on her mind from that first moment on the docks.
“Will, we can’t date because we work together.”
Undeterred, Will smiled. “We’re in different departments.”
“You’re also three years younger than me.”
“Noelle, I live on my own, make my own money, and am more of an adult than a lot of people in their twenties, than any guy you’ve ever dated.”
Sadly, he was right and he knew he was right when she avoided his eyes and sucked in her lips trying not to smile.
“Okay, so maybe you have a small point. I’ve yet to date a man as independent as you claim to be, but Will, I’ve told you my dating history. You should be running away.”
“Noelle, you haven’t scared me away, and I’ll be twenty next week.”
/> “We still work together. Isn’t there some company rule against dating your colleagues? I need a good reference to get out of Brighton.”
Will leaned in and smiled. His dimples showed as he whispered, “We can keep it real quiet.” He caught her eyes and she shook her head, smiling, trying not to laugh.
The bar was starting to fill up with the after work crowd and he knew that though she had worked nightclub doors and sold shots at eighteen and nineteen, she wasn’t into the drinking scene and was anything but a party girl. That was one of the many reasons he was so attracted to her. So he escorted her to her car and opened her door after she beeped her key in the broken gravel parking lot.
In her heart she didn’t want to put him off, but she felt it would be wrong to encourage him—it would be inviting him to date her and her big suitcase full of issues. No thanks. He didn’t need that dumped on him. He was far too kind and chivalrous, too deserving of a nice, polite, good girl, not her.
Noelle would always blame herself for that one night, when not even in a bar, but in a dorm room, with practical strangers and alone, she sipped that drink.
Yet, after figuring out her history, he still insisted on dating her.
Will had an overwhelming desire to protect her and make her whole again. In his heart, she was already his to take care of and it would just be a matter of time before she realized it.
Yet she sat in her driver’s seat feeling conflicted. A dirty location, and an overall depressing scene of career drunks. If Will was a guy who was okay with this, one who frequented dive bars, she would have to pass him up. She was looking to get out, not make Brighton City her future. But she also felt like there was much more to him, heaps of potential that didn’t belong here and in her heart she knew she needed him to make her feel whole again, and she was clearly falling for him.
Noelle looked out at him standing by her open door, daring herself to see past the grimy circumstances of their first date, falling into his beautiful green eyes, and almost whispering, “All right, kiss me.”
Will had been waiting for this moment, when she would finally let her guard down enough to allow him to touch her like this.
He leaned down to her open door and gently cupped the back of her head with one hand as he came in with his full, slightly parted lips. He smelled musky, not of cologne, but a combination of deodorant and man with a hint of beer on his breath. His shirt smelled freshly laundered, despite having worked in it all day. Eyes closed, she surrendered as he softly pressed his mouth down on hers. In that moment, she knew what he had already known, she would be his.
He let go and stood up, never taking his eyes off her. A kind, playful smile on his face, he looked at her and asked, “So how was that?”
Noelle tried to compose herself. She was flushed red with excitement and concern that she wouldn’t be able to control herself. She peeked at Will, who stood there looking down at her with a very confident smirk on his face.
“I really have to go,” she said, despite having no plans whatsoever.
“Okay, tomorrow night, if you’re free, you should come to my softball game. We could hang out, catch up after.”
Noelle sighed, turning the key in her ignition as he closed her door. “Okay, I’ll be there.” She put her seat belt on and somehow managed to drive away.
Chapter Three
Will noticed Noelle as soon as she arrived at the field and that the other guys in his dugout noticed her, as well as the guys in the opposing team’s dugout, and the guys who were in the stands having beers, too. But he also noticed that she was oblivious to the fact that she was noticed. He watched her carefully climb the bleachers and perch near his parents, who he’d also invited and who never missed one of his games.
She didn’t know them, but he had told his mom and dad about her, that he thought this girl at work, who he really liked, might just be into him, too. He had mentioned that she might be coming to the game, and he noticed his parents taking note of Noelle as she sat down. He nodded at his parents and his dad gave him a little ‘thumbs up’.
Will hit two home runs and made a few outfield plays before his team, the Red Aces, won the game. Afterward, he introduced Noelle to his parents inside the bar. Mr. and Mrs. Martin were smiling and laughing. Will’s dad had a beer with his arm around his mother, who sipped a white wine. They seemed like genuinely happy people. Noelle noted they were completely opposite from her own parents.
“Would you like anything to drink?” Will asked her as he ordered himself a soda. They sipped Cokes and she felt comfortable at his side as he joked around with his friends and parents who were more than gracious to her, making her feel truly welcome.
“Hey, would you like to come over to my place?” Will asked, but Noelle knew she had to decline. She lost complete track of time because she was having so much fun.
It was late and she knew if she went, she would not want to leave and her mother would not be pleased. She couldn’t believe Will rented and hadn’t lived with his parents since he had graduated high school almost a year before. Before he could walk her to her car, she said good-bye to his parents and slipped out. There was no way she would survive another one of his kisses.
As soon as she arrived home she heard his message. “You left without saying good-bye. I hope everything is all right. Call me at this number to let me know that you got home okay.”
“What are you doing waiting up for me to call?” she said playfully as he answered on the first ring. She knew exactly what was happening, though. She was falling in love, and she wanted to be with him so terribly it had hurt to leave. Hearing the worry in his voice made her heart ache for him more.
“Don’t do that again, please. I only knew you had left because my parents said you had said good-bye to them.”
Noelle gulped. “I’m sorry, Will. It’s complicated. I must have made a poor impression on your parents. I was afraid if I said good-bye to you, I wouldn’t be able to leave.”
“Then don’t.”
“Yeah, that really isn’t going to work here in my world in Andes.”
“You’re an adult, Noelle. You can make your own decisions now, and my parents loved you. You made a great impression.”
Noelle smiled inside and felt it come out as she said, “I think I’m falling for you, Will Martin.”
“Good.”
She heard the smile in his voice and it gave her flutters in her stomach.
“Are you busy tomorrow?” he asked.
“I wish we could get together, but I have plans. My cousin’s baby shower three hours away. I won’t be back until Sunday night.”
“All right, well thanks for coming to my game tonight.”
“Thank you for inviting me. You know, I don’t have any plans yet for next weekend.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you like to try fishing?”
“I’ve never done that before, but sure. So long as I don’t have to bait my own hook or touch a fish. Sorry, I’m one of those girls.”
“You don’t have to touch anything,” he assured her.
“Good, then it’s a date. Oh, by the way, when did you get a cell phone?” she asked, curiously.
“I didn’t. I’m still at the Lone Star. This is their landline. By the way, you looked really good tonight,” he complimented.
“Thanks, but you’re talking to me from the bar’s phone! That’s a little weird.”
“It’s all good. Don’t worry about it. Now that I know you’re safe at home, I’m going to head out. I’ll see you on Monday, all right?”
“Yes. Goodnight, Will.”
“Goodnight, dear.” Though he was younger, she felt like he was older than her. The endearment rolled over her and carried her through the night.
Noelle took a long, hot bath, feeling optimistic for the first time since coming home from Boston. After soaking, she slipped in her childhood twin bed, quickly falling asleep.
Chapter Four
> Noelle paid her bills before heading out to meet Will at Perry State Park on Friday afternoon after work. Student loan, car loan, car insurance, credit card, rent money to her parents—though she still had to abide by her mother’s curfew and no boys upstairs rules. It was, after all, her parents’ house—phone, and what was left over was for gas, food, a slight clothes shopping habit, no savings, and more than $35,000 debt accruing interest. I’m going to have to get a second job to get out of here, maybe wait tables. She made a face at this thought. There had to be a better way. She was not a star in the service industry. She was way too sensitive and hated the unwanted attention.
She felt sleepy and overwhelmed when she entered Perry, but she was also overcome by the beauty of the hot summer-like day though it was only mid-May in upstate New York.
As she drove along a stretch of country highway to the park, the setting sun hit her windshield in a most peculiar way. As she squinted, feeling it hot on her face, smelling the fresh cut grass from her open window, she didn’t notice that the car in front of her with no break lights or turn signal, had slowed down to turn into the Colorado Mountains Trailer Park.
Noelle slammed on her brakes, but rear-ended the old Pontiac in front of her. The impact was enough to deploy her airbag and jostle, but not unhinge, the bumper on the Pontiac.
Soon people were at her door—others who had been driving along by her. The driver of the Pontiac was thankfully unhurt and the lone occupant of her car. When the police arrived, it was discovered that the Pontiac was unregistered and uninsured, and the driver was driving without a license. Still, Noelle was legally at fault and was issued a ticket and a court date.
Noelle sat on the side of the road, holding back tears when Rhonda, Will’s direct boss, drove by the scene, saw her, and stopped. It was fortunate as she immediately took control, defending Noelle from the irate driver and having her excused by the police after noting where her car, whose front end had crumpled up like a bag of chips, would be towed.
Rhonda tucked Noelle into her mini-van like a mother hen, and drove her the additional mile to Perry State Park, taking her directly to Will, who was packing his tackle box into his trunk.