Agent for a Cause (The Agents for Good) (4 page)

She looked up at me out of her compelling green eyes and asked, “Where do you usually take your girlfriends out on a date?”

It was embarrassing to admit what I had to.

“I’ve never taken a girl out on a date. Actually I’ve never had a girlfriend to start.”

Oh this was awkward! Her eyes seemed to glow softly with some soft emotion and then she said, “Well I guess I’ll be your first then.”

What did she mean by that? Her eyes changed and the humor that always seem to be near the surface came back out as she tugged on my arm leadingly towards the parked taxi. I recognized the taxi driver as Bill and I realized how neatly I had been set up. She was good!

I opened the door of the taxi for her and her eyes danced in merriment, as she brushed past me to get in. I got in and Bill started off, leaving me to wonder where we were headed to. I glanced at her, but she wasn’t given anything away. Her hand had captured mine when I had sat down and I looked down at our connection of touch.

She had entangled her fingers with mine. As a rule I didn’t like being touched, but as shocking as her touch was I didn’t mind her touching me at all. Everything was so completely different with her!

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Cheap date.”

And that was all she would say. Later I stared in surprise at the mall entrance before us as Bill pulled away from the curb, with a smile on his face.

“The mall?” I exclaimed somewhat surprised by her choice.

“Sure!”

She tugged on my right hand as she started for the door. “But what are we going to do here?” I asked puzzled.

“Just walk around hold hands and talk. I told you it’s a cheap date. It’ll be fun I promise!” She said girlishly with a grin as she continued to tug me along.

It was a very large mall and we did a lot of walking and she did a lot of talking. I don’t think her mouth ever stopped and in a way I hope it never did.

Typically I didn’t like to be around people who talked a lot, but with her I wanted to hear everything she had to say.

“Mr. Tyre I’m hungry and I think it’s time that I bought you dinner.”

Amused by her offer to buy me dinner I let her pull me into a fast food place.

At the cash register she held up a twenty dollar bill, “I’ll have you know if you are wondering that yes I truly did earn this money and that it’s not some of yours.”

I respected her attempt to show me the genuineness of her desire to do something for me, but I really wished she’d just let me pay for everything.

She was chewing on a french fry when her face grew suddenly pensive, which was so unlike her. She put the rest of her fry down and reached across the table and touched my hand and I waited to see what had brought this change over her.

“I want you to know how much I appreciate all that you’ve done for me Tyre! Walking me home, giving me your gun, your money, especially the taxi, but as much as your kindnesses mean to me they are not why I’m here with you on this date. I’m here because I want to be! I want to spend time with you and I very much want to be your girlfriend completely outside of what you have given me.”

I saw a bead of moisture slip out of the corner of her eye and she wiped at it laughing a little nervously, “You will have to excuse me I get very emotional very easily.”

She started to pull her hand out of mine, but I reached out and caught hers between both of mine, which surprised her. I wasn’t going to leave her hanging in the wake of her emotional declaration to me, but that meant I had to say something emotionally responsive and that was a very hard thing for me to do.

She seemed to be hanging on what I was about to say for her next breath, “You’re the only girl I’ve wanted to be with and it means a lot to me to know that you like being with me. I didn’t think any girl would ever want to be with me.”

Both of her eyes were tearing up now. Had I said too much? She brushed at the tears on her cheeks as a smile started to emerge.

“You put yourself down too much Mr. Tyre! If other girls knew what I know about you they’d be lined up around the block knocking on your door!” She finished passionately.

I highly doubted what she’d just said about other girl’s wanting me. I let go of her hand and she finished wiping at her eyes. I sat there feeling awkward in the aftermath of my statement and gratefully she was the first to break the ice.

Her eyes full of their familiar sparkle she asked, “Wanna buy me ice cream?”

I grinned, “I’d love to.”

It was becoming a familiar thing, feeling her hand in mine as we walked.

“This isn’t your idea of a date is it Tyre?”

I glanced at her as we made our way through the sea of people around us completely unnoticed by them.

“It wasn’t, but you’ve opened my eyes to some of the possibilities of what a date can be.”

“What’s your idea of a date?” She asked inquisitively.

“I guess what you see in the movies. Dining out at a fine restaurant and then some noteworthy event, like a concert or something.”

“That’s a good idea too, but it’s more expensive and you don’t get to talk as much. By now I’m sure you’ve realized that I like to talk. A lot!” She added with a self deprecating laugh.

“No really?” I said chuckling in response.

She abruptly stopped, “What is it?” I asked concernedly, before looking around for someone with a gun about to shoot innocent bystanders.

I didn’t see anyone more threatening than the sour faced woman passing out extra calories in the form of free pretzel samples. I glanced back to Anna to see her looking at me deeply.

“I liked that. You chuckling just now. You’re like a completely different person, when you laugh! ”

“You do it to me.” I responded honestly.

She gave me an intense look, “I’m going to make it a goal of mine from now on to make you laugh more.”

I shook my head despairingly, even as some deep part of me really hoped she would succeed in doing just that.

After a while she asked, “So do you like movies?”

I nodded.

“What kind of movies?”

“All kinds except for horror. I frankly don’t see the point in those movies. There’s enough horror in the world without fabricating more.”

“I couldn’t agree more with you there!” She said echoing my statement.

Then she asked, “So do you just like to watch them at home or do you like to go to the theater?”

“Both, but I really like the theater. I like the still darkness of it and the sense that I’m about to see something that I’ve never seen before. I find it sort of relaxing.”

“When was the last time you went?”

“It’s been a while.” I admitted.

“If it’s something you like doing then why don’t you do it more often?” She asked curiously.

I paused for a moment before answering, “As much as I like the experience of watching the movie in the theater I don’t like the feeling of being alone that I have while I’m there.”

She squeezed my hand, “Well now you have me! Maybe our next date could be going to see a movie.”

“I would like that.” I admitted softly.

“It’s a deal.”

I glanced at her again, but she wasn’t looking at me at the moment and I studied her. She’d just given me something precious, her time and attention focused solely on something that I wanted.

It made me want to give her something in return. I glanced around and my eyes picked out a jewelry store and I seized the opportunity presented.

I led her in the direction of it and she glanced forward and put two and two together, “Oh no you don’t! This is a cheap date night and in the spirit of cheap date night nothing expensive can be bought or eaten!”

She pulled back on my hand resisting my path to the store and I pulled her close and whispered directly into her ear, “I’m your boyfriend and I hereby overrule cheap date protocol. You’re getting something and that’s my final word on the matter!”

She didn’t resist me any further, but meekly followed me into the store, which surprised me some. I had expected her to put up more of a fight, at least vocally. Admittedly I had a lot to learn about females, and this one in particular especially.

Upon entering the store my mind switched back to the purpose of my visit and I immediately thought of emeralds to match her eyes. Upon seeing what they had though I changed my mind.

The emeralds were too dark for her and didn’t capture the spirit of her and then I saw the peridot collection. There lively light green color was perfect for her, one necklace in particular was especially so.

I was about to just ask for the necklace, when I thought, ‘why not more’? I glanced at the earrings they were pretty too. Did she wear earrings I’d never noticed if she had or not.

I glanced up and one ear was free enough of her hair for me to see that her ears were definitely pierced. Come to think of it I’d never seen her wearing any jewelry. She’d probably sold it all to make ends meet. That wasn’t happening again I had already made sure of that.

Whether I was in the picture or not Anna wasn’t going to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get by ever again. In addition to the fund I had set up for her, I had also made her the primary beneficiary of my will. If a bullet found me tomorrow she and Kevin would at least be safe and taken care of. That was something of a comfort to me.

I looked up at the woman across the counter, “I’d like the entire set.” The woman beamed at me and started collecting the pieces together.

“Would you like the ankle bracelet and broach as well?”

She asked sounding like she was already counting up her commission for the sales.

“Yes.”

I glanced over at Anna to see that she was completely speechless. I smiled inwardly at the knowledge that I knew what it required now to stop her from talking.

The mall was going to close in about a half hour, as it was almost 9:30 somehow. Where had the time gone?

I hailed a taxi and held the door open for my silent Anna. During the drive something wet touched my hand and I glanced at Anna. She was silently crying beside me as she played with the jewels of her necklace.

A tear must have ricocheted off one of the stones on to me. I put my arm around her and pulled her closer to me and she laid her head on my shoulder. Her leaning against my left side hurt, as she was pressing on the bullet wound on my side, but I didn’t say anything wanting more than anything just to give her the comfort that she needed right now.

“It’s been a long hard road for you hasn’t it?” I asked softly.

She nodded.

“Well, not anymore.”

She started to raise her head, but I pushed it back down onto my shoulder.

“The work I do is dangerous and the guarantee of survival isn’t very high at times. I don’t have anyone I really care about in my life except for you. I was going to just give everything to charity, but I’ve reserved a fund out of it for you.”

I handed a slip of paper to her, “That has all the banking information you’ll need to access the account and here’s the debit card for the account. On the back of the paper is an address and a phone number. The man’s name is Flint and if you’re ever in need of help and I’m not around or I’m dead, contact him and he will help you. He’s a good man and you can trust him.”

She took the paper and the card, but the tears hadn’t stopped.

“Now I’m a cautious man by heart, which is why I’ve done all of this. I certainly don’t plan on leaving life anytime soon. I’m having far too much fun believe it or not dating you, but just in case now you have everything you need to be secure with or without me. I want to make it very clear that there are absolutely no strings attached to any of this. I could get out of this taxi right now and never be seen by you again and none of what I’ve given you would change.”

At my words her hand clutched onto my knee, as if to ensure that I’d stay in the cab and by that one action she unlocked yet one more part of my heart that I had thought was completely shot away.

“I do have one request as to what you do with your money. I want you out of your apartment and neighborhood as of tomorrow! I will help you move.”

She nodded in response. Time passed by.

“I don’t deserve any of this.” She whispered.

I felt her slimly muscled shoulder under my hand and squeezed, “That makes two of us. Money being as rare as it is in life to us at times has never been as rare in my life as simply having a good time. Anna you’ve given me nothing but a good time and I’m very grateful for every moment of it!”

Her hand drifted across my chest to rest over my heart as the diamonds mixed in with the peridot stones on her bracelet winked reflecting off of the street lights.

“You don’t ask for much.” She said softly.

“I’ve learned to be content with what I have as tomorrow can always get worse rather than better in the pursuit of more.”

We were at her building and I escorted her inside. She opened her door and started to say something, but did a double take look at me.

“You’re bleeding!”

I glanced down to see that my coat had fallen open and the wound on my side had bled out past the bandage onto my shirtfront.

“Oh it’s alright, nothing to worry about.”

She practically dragged me into her apartment, which I noticed was as thread bare as I had expected it to be. She sat me down in a rickety chair and left to pull a case out of a drawer and then she was back taking my coat off. She paused at the sight of the double pistol shoulder harnesses I had on.

“I never even guessed you had those on! How do I take them off?”

I showed her how to take them off and she laid each of the guns carefully onto a nearby table with their harnesses and then she took my shirt off.

I watched her eyes coast approvingly over the hard muscles revealed by the absence of my shirt. I may be short and on the slim side, but that didn’t mean I was a pushover.

She focused in on the gash on my side getting onto her knees on the floor beside me.

Her expression of concern grew stormy with passion, “What quack of a doctor botched up this stitch job?”

My eyes danced away from her questioning gaze.