by S. J. Smith
She saw in the mirror that Reginald was helping a tall man looking at watches. Actually, Reginald was explaining the watch and the man was looking at her. He saw her see him in the mirror and smiled slightly before returning his attention to Reginald. She realized she recognized him from somewhere, she just could not remember where. Boy, was he tall, though, easily six and a half feet, if not more. Making him over a foot taller than she was. Well-proportioned though, and he also had red hair. His clothes looked designer made. Hmm. Nice looking guy in a jewelry store. She wondered if it would be worth the effort to say hello. He glanced over and saw her checking him out and his smile widened. It was her turn to focus her attention back to the jewelry, embarrassed.
Despite what her parents thought, she was not a slut. She did occasional like to have a good time and human contact was important, she believed. She heard the bell on the door ring and as she looked up a voice called out.
“All right everyone, stay where you are!” She saw four men file in wearing ski masks and dark clothes. Her first thought was, how cliché. Then she jumped when she saw they all had big guns. Lizzy put her hands up quietly as did the tall man. Reginald came around from behind the counter.
“What do you think you are doing? You just can’t walk in here and expect—” he was interrupted as one of the gunmen pistol-whipped him and he went down. Lizzy cried out and moved towards Reginald. She could see blood where he slumped on the floor next to the tall man who was bending to the fallen store owner.
“Hold it lady. Forget about him, worry about yourself,” The biggest gunmen said to her with a Midwest accent. She kept moving.
“He is injured and needs help,” she told him softly. The big man grabbed her arm and swung at her, she sidestepped with old practice at avoiding someone swinging at her face, so his punch landed on her shoulder. She gasped and staggered. The guy was strong! Using his grip on her arm he spun her around. She heard someone shout not to hurt her as she flew into the jewelry case she had been looking at moments before. Lizzy had brought her arm up as she was thrown and as she was slammed over the case her forearm shattered the glass and she cried out, in pain this time. He jerked her up by the hair and as she was spun around she saw the tall man with a gun to his temple frozen in a half crouch next to Reginald. She caught his eyes and she could see the regret that he couldn’t do anything for her. There was a struggle showing clearly on his face. He was on the edge of doing something stupid.
“You need a lesson in how to keep to your place!” The big gunman shouted in her face and then punched her in the stomach. She bent over gasping and gagging then her leg was kicked out from under her. She rolled into a ball with her back against the counter in case he was going to start kicking her more, cradling her slashed right arm. She received a kick in the leg and held back her cry of pain, waiting for the next one.
“Come on man, time for us to go before the cops come!” She felt another kick in the leg and held back a scream of pain, tears beginning to run down her cheeks. She did not want to give him the satisfaction.
“The authorities are on their way. I triggered the alarm when you walked in,” she heard Reginald’s voice. He sounded weak. Lizzy slowly uncurled painfully and saw the three of the four men gathering up last handfuls of jewelry before heading out the door. The fourth man waited until they were at the door before he removed his gun from the back of the tall man’s neck. She heard him say, “Sorry man,” as he backed away and then went out the door. Lizzy straitened herself up against the counter and tried to slowly straiten the leg he had kicked. He had connected with the side of her knee and she gasped as she straightened it out. That was going to hurt even more in the morning.,
*****
“Look mom, you know I am recording this for posterity don’t you?” Lizzy asked her mother over the phone, rubbing her temple. She looked around her condo. Police report on the table, her arm wrapped and her leg in a brace. Her wounds were throbbing, but after the initial painkillers the doctors had given her she refused anymore. She did not trust pills.
“I don’t care Elizabeth Ann Storm you have no right to do this to us,” her mother told her harshly.
“This isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about…”
“I don’t care!” She interrupted Lizzy. “You cannot treat us this way, it is our money and you just can’t do this!”
“According to the contract Dad made us all sign, I can. As long as I am currently enrolled in school, and working towards my degree it is my money. I am enrolled and almost done with my degree. I will be happily graduating from NYU next year and I will never have to deal with you people again!” Lizzy finished and then internally cursed herself. She had sworn she would not get herself sucked into this conversation again.
“After everything we have done for you!” Her mom continued. That did it.
“Do you mean being knocked around by you and Dad? Or is it being called a slut and whore from puberty when I developed early? That was so helpful!” She said to her mother.
“That was to teach you Elizabeth. We had to teach you!” She told her sadly.
“Forget it Mom. If you are trying to show compassion, I am not buying it. Now let’s stop this and let me tell you why I needed to call, it was courtesy call really,” she told her trying to get control of the conversation again. She had attended enough therapy that she should not allow herself to get dragged into this again. Her mom remained silent for a change.
“Okay then, today or tomorrow you will be getting a certified letter stating my intentions. It is a no contact order and restraining order preventing you from coming near me or talking to me. Any and all contact from this call forward will go through my lawyer, not yours. His number will be on the forms. Goodbye Mom,” she finished and hung up. Then she shut off her phone.
“Now I can have a drink,” she said to herself out loud.
Lizzy levered herself up and with a cane hobbled over to the bar to pour a weak spiced rum and coke. She took a sip and sighed, feeling the tension from the conversation draining out of her. Her arm and leg stopped throbbing so bad too.
It was done, she told herself. The restraining order had been overkill; her parents had never left the tri-county area of Kansas she grew up in their whole lives. She had felt it necessary to make her point though. Her dad was going to flip. She was glad that prospect did not bring her joy, Lizzy did not need that level of hatred. She had managed to lose those horrible feelings and wanted to live a life of her own, happy and stress free. Now she just had to avoid being beat up in a robbery. Then she remembered a final thing she had to do.
Lizzy got on her smart phone and brought up the phone call recording and sent it to her lawyer with a message explaining the call. Then she sent it to her e-mail. Going to her computer she brought it up, saved it to a thumb drive and wiped it from her computer. She did not really think she was any danger of being robbed for it, but she had been warned to take all precautions, just in case. She locked it in her safe with a few legal papers and put it out of her mind. She had a dinner reservation downstairs at her buildings 5-star restaurant, so she finished her drink and went to get cleaned up.
Lizzy checked herself in the mirror in the entrance to Lancers Dining. Not bad, she told herself. A green silk blouse and a black ankle length skirt to hide her knee brace and show off her voluptuous figure, just a little. She had left her wavy red locks free to flow around her shoulders. Just a touch of highlight makeup on her heart shaped face and she was looking good. The maître d’ spotted her with a smile.
“Good evening Miss Storm. It is wonderful to have you back so soon. Would you like a quiet table or one more near the festivities?” He always said that. They had a lively bar for the building residents and he was hoping to get her in there one day. Not today.
“A quiet table, Rodger, and I will be fine, it has been a bad day,” she told him.
“I heard something about that Miss. Since you brought it up, I must say everyone here at Lancers wishes you s
ympathy and hopes things get better soon,” he told her formally and with feeling. She thanked him.
“That is sweet, Rodger. Please tell everyone thank you and, as of this evening, times are better. How is that?” She asked him with an honest grin. He returned it and led her to her table. She ordered a bottle of wine and hors d’oeuvres. Sipping her wine, she relaxed some more. She found herself thinking of the robbery.
Reginald was going to be fine and Lizzy had promised she would be back to make that purchase from him. The tall man was named Randy Koch and was a starting forward for the National Championship basketball team. She knew she had seen him somewhere. She was not a fan of sports, but did watch the news. Him and his buddy Jack Trainer were the stars of the team. In fact, Jack had shown up just after the cops. He had been there to meet Randy, but had arrived after the robbery. The three had hit it off sitting around the back of the ambulance and they exchanged numbers. She took another sip of the wonderful wine.
The cops had told her to watch herself because the thugs had seemed focused on her. She found that ridiculous. She was not a Kardashian or any other media-craving rich girl. She had never spoke to the press and never would. It was her life and no one else’s.
The stuffed mushrooms and shrimp were amazing as always and she ordered her main course happily. Her injuries were not hurting as much and she was able to just enjoy herself. It was then that she got a surprise.
“From some admirers Miss Storm,” Rodger told her presenting another bottle of wine. She looked to where he gestured and she saw two very tall men. To her surprise she felt a greater happiness and waved them over. Maybe she did need some company tonight. She began getting her feet.
“Now way, you stay down with that leg,” Randy told her. She eased herself back down. Secretly relieved she did not have to stand right then. They sat on either side of her square table. She was amazed they fit with their long legs. Fortunately, even the small table were big at Lancers.
“So Randy filled me in a little bit about what went on during that robbery. You are one tough chick. When we saw you here in the restaurant we wanted to stop by and make sure you were okay,” Jack told her. Randy nodded as Rodger came back with menus.
“We don’t want to intrude,” Randy began. Lizzy chuckled.
“Please, join me. I have decided a little company tonight would be a good thing and it is good to see two also. Really Jack, I am not that tough. I had two things going for me,” she told them. The two men finished ordering dinner.
“What’s that Storm?” Randy asked. She hadn’t heard anyone call her that in years. It was nice.
“First off, I have plenty of practice ducking from my early years and secondly as strong as he was, he really did hit like a girl,” she told them and they all laughed as Rodger poured wine for the two men and refilled her glass. Jack had a great laugh and with his brown curly hair and sparkling brown eyes he was adorable.
“Here is to robbers who hit like a girl!” Jack toasted and she joined them laughing. Dinner came and they ate together and Lizzy had the best time. It had been a long while since she had just cut loose and enjoyed herself. She had to stop Randy from feeling guilty.
“Come on, man, the guy had a 44 magnum to the back of your head. If you had got yourself killed protecting a woman you did not even know, I would have thought, what an idiot!” She told him. Jack laughed and even Randy chuckled a little.
“She is right, Randyman, at least about not being able to do anything. I do think saving this lovely lady would be well worth the time, if you had the opportunity, which you did not.”
Lizzy blushed a little at the compliment, glad she had dressed up for the night. She thought it was funny too that Jack called Randy, Randyman.
They stayed for several hours after dinner, joking, and she heard many tales of life on the road for championship basketball players. Lizzy had a pretty good buzz going and decided regretfully, that she needed to go upstairs. If she stayed through another few glasses she would have a time getting home. She felt she had begun new friendships though and was proud of herself. It was not something she did easily, thus she had few friends. They insisted on seeing her to her condo after Rodger offered someone to see her home.
“We got this Rodger. It is good to know this little lady has people like you looking out for her though,” he told the man. Rodger smiled and bowed slightly before going back to work. Jack made her use him as a crutch and Randy held onto her other arm.
“Look, Storm, we are basketball players and know something of knee injuries. You may not feel it now, but if you don’t take it easy you could end up with more damage that you started with,” Randy told her, seconded by Jack.
“Okay guys, I promise to take it easy tomorrow. I actually don’t have any appointments until Thursday so that will be two days, how is that?” She asked cheerfully.
“That is good. Just take it easy okay? You didn’t deserve what you got so we want to make sure you are going to be good,” Randy said. Lizzy was touched and had a thought.
“You two didn’t run into me by accident did you?” Jack pretended ignorance but Randy grinned.
“Partly accident. You had mentioned were you lived and I knew they had a good restaurant downstairs. I did not really expect to see you here but when we did we figured, might as well say hello,” he explained. They stepped into the elevator and she pressed her floor button. She was two floors down from the top.
“I want to thank you guys. I was just planning on a nice meal and that was it. You made it much more fun and it is appreciated after today, so thank you. It is nice to make some friends,” she told them honestly. She got a hug from both of them and then they were on her floor. They helped her hobble to her door.
“Would you guys like to come in for a night cap?” She asked. Trying to be polite. They both looked tempted.
But Jack said, “Ah shit. We both have the final team meeting’s starting tomorrow, before the off season starts for real on Friday. We probably shouldn’t be too trashed when we show up.”
“Yeah, having a good reputation sucks sometime. Can we get a rain check, Storm? Maybe Friday night, we can try out the bar downstairs. Rodger was obviously pushing it,” Randy asked. Jack liked the idea too. That made three of them. Maybe it was the wine’s influence but Lizzy tugged them both down lower so she could give them each a kiss.
“Thanks again. I’ll get in touch on a good time for Friday, kay?” She said. They nodded and hugged her and she went into her apartment. It was not long before she was laying down on her bed and quickly fell into a deep slumber. When she awoke she was sore, but glad for the previous evening. She felt like her life was finally starting anew, despite the injuries.
*****
Lizzy spent the next two days puttering around the house and sleeping a lot. Her knee was not losing the dull constant ache and that bothered her. She went to dinner Wednesday night just to get out of the house though. It was wonderful as always and Rodger was as flattering as usual. Come Thursday she was ready to go out for the day, despite her knee.
Lizzy went to the doctor and he chastised her for being on her feet too much and gave her the number for a massage therapist who would work wonders, if she let her. He also gave her some directions for exercises to strengthen the injured part of her knee. The cuts on her arm were healing nicely and probably wouldn’t even scar so that was the good news of the visit. Then she dropped by her lawyer George Manster’s office for some paperwork she needed for her next appointment. When his legal aid, Donna, let Lizzy in to see him, he chastised her for being on her feet to much and informed her no progress had been made in finding the thieves yet. The police were watching pawn shops that might take stolen goods.
“Oh by the way, I haven’t heard anything from your parents so that is good news. Maybe they just accepted it and are going to let you be,” he said. She truly hoped that was the case. Lizzy said her goodbyes and promised to be off of her feet more. She figured when she got home she would be ab
le to rest a full day before her date with the basketball players.
She arrived at Wonders Woman’s Shelter on her crutches. It was taking a while for her to get used to using them. It had been since she was a child that she had an injury bad enough to need crutches. She noticed as she approached the door, after the cab let her out that her reflection showed her how her use of the crutches caused her large breasts to push up and together in the red turtleneck. No wonder guys had been giving her more than the usual once over. Once through the door the woman who ran the place saw her crutches and hurried over.
“Good Lord, Miss Storm, you could have postponed if you are injured,” she said, helping her to a chair in the office.
“I will be fine Mrs. Kale, thank you though. I felt this was important and you are my last stop for the day. Then I will be going home,” Lizzy promised the woman. Mrs. Kale was a shorter stout blond in a simple blue dress over a white t-shirt.
“Call me Martha, please,” she requested.
“Okay Martha, if you will call me Lizzy,’ she returned with a smile.
“It is a deal Lizzy,” Martha told her returning the grin.
The meeting went great for all concerned. Lizzy was donating a sizable amount of money to the shelter that did so much for battered woman. Lizzy felt like she should give back. Even though her own good fortune came with a hefty price tag of abusive parents, she still had more than most woman ever would and she was glad she could do something.
“Are you sure Lizzy? This is a lot of money,” Martha asked a little nervously.
“I am sure Martha. Will it help keep the lights on and the rent paid?” she asked.
“For most of the year, to be sure,” Martha said nodding.
“Good, then it is worth it. I also wanted to offer my services around here. When my knee is better of course, but I would like to make myself useful in other ways if I may. I can wield a broom like a badass,” she told her and that got her laughing.
“I will keep that in mind Lizzy. We always accept any help people are willing to give,” she was told.