Craving Shannon (7 page)

“One thousand dollars?” the driver asked skeptically.

Chad pulled five hundred dollars from his wallet and handed it over. “I have five hundred more right here,” he held up another five, one hundred dollar bills for the driver to see through the rear view mirror. “I’ll hand these over to you when you drop me off in front of my building in Tribeca.”

Within minutes, the cab was racing back uptown.

Chad sprinted from the cab and barreled into the foyer of Shannon’s building, trying to ignore the drug deal taking place in the courtyard. He scanned the list of names next to the individual doorbells, but couldn’t see Shannon Walsh among the them. A man walked into the building behind him. He turned and addressed the man. “Sir, do you know where Shannon Walsh lives?”

“You a cop?” the man replied suspiciously.

“No, I’m her friend,” Chad answered. “Do you know her?”

“There’s a pretty white girl that lives on the third floor. Is that her?” the man queried.

Chad shrugged. “What apartment?”

“3B, I think,” the man answered.

“Thank you,” Chad called out, pushing through the door that should have been secured by a lock. He took the stairs two at a time. Turning to face 3B, he pounded on the door, not caring about the time of night or whom he may be disturbing. “Shannon!” he bellowed. “Shannon, open the door!” He leaned his forehead against the door and prayed he had the right apartment. He heard the chain pull back and the lock click.

Shannon opened the door and stood in the entryway sheepishly, her lip trembling.

Chad pushed past her into the apartment and stopped short, horrified by the scene in front of him. “Dear God, it’s a fucking crack den,” he said in a weak voice.

Shannon let one fat tear escape. “It’s all I can afford,” she said, wiping her eye.

He turned on his heels and faced her. “Pack your stuff. You’re leaving here,” he barked out. “This is absolutely no place for a young lady.”

She took one look at his face and walked across the floor.  She pulled over a small duffle bag and picked a handful of discarded t-shirts off the floor.  She threw the t-shirts into the bag then swung it over her shoulder. She walked back over to Chad and stood before him, totally deflated.

“I said to pack all your stuff,” he stated, fury rolling off him.

“This is everything I own,” she admitted.

Chad nodded. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t say one word to her all the way back downtown to Tribeca. He stared out of the window, biting the pad of his thumb, wondering what kind of trouble she was in, but more than that, he wondered why it affected him so badly.

When the cab reached the front of Chad’s building, he handed over the other five, one hundred dollar bills and exited the cab, saying nothing. He opened the lobby door, gestured for Shannon to enter, and pulled the bag off her shoulder.

Once inside his apartment, Chad gestured to the bedroom on the right. “My guest room is that way. Please make yourself at home,” he said.

“Chad, can I say something?” Shannon asked nervously.

Chad shook his head. “I’m tired, Shannon. Go get some rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Shannon puffed out a large breath and turned on her heels to walk toward the bedroom that Chad had pointed out to her. She opened the door and let her hand roam around the wall until she found the light switch. Turning on the light, she looked into a pretty black and white room. The walls and carpet were white, the furniture black and the bedding a swirly pattern of black and white. The only other color in the room where tiny specks of red thrown in haphazardly—a cluster of red candles on the black dresser, a small red throw pillow on the bed, red ties holding back black and white curtains, and several canvases of black, white and red abstract artwork on the walls.

Despite the uneasy feeling inside, Shannon breathed a sigh of relief. The room was clean, warm and completely safe.

She pulled a hair tie off her wrist and scooped her hair back into a ponytail. She opened her duffle bag and rooted around for her oversized t-shirt. Stripping off her jeans and sweater, she pulled the large t-shirt over her head and climbed under the clean, thick covers.

The bed spun initially, no doubt from the effects of three glasses of wine and three beers. She thought she might be sick, but then seemed to grow accustomed to the movement because before long, she was more concern with Chad’s strange mood than with her own motion sickness. She couldn’t begin to figure out what had gotten into him. He was always so sweet and kind, but since he suggested driving her home, his mood seemed to take a turn for the worst, like he was extremely pissed off at her for something.

She cringed at the memory of the look on his face when he glared into her disgusting apartment. She died a little inside at that moment. As thankful as she was to be in his warm, safe home it hurt to have Chad know exactly what kind of girl she was and what she’d come from.

She blurted out a tiny, sarcastic chuckle. What did she think would happen anyway? After one fun day together, did she really think he’d want to date her? In spite of her silly little crush, she knew Chad saw her as nothing more than a friend, something more along the lines of a kid sister maybe. She was only nineteen after all. If she was lucky enough to ever have a boyfriend like Chad, it would be years into the future. As of now, she was just a stupid girl with an attraction to a man almost double her age, a man that was entirely out of her league, one that she would never, ever be good enough for.

It had been so long since she had slept in a comfortable bed, it almost made it harder to sleep. So foreign was the soft, fluffy mattress that Shannon’s body almost missed the hardness it was used to, but not for long. Soon, her thoughts began to blur and take on a life of their own. She jerked hard, half-dreaming that she fell down a step, it was the last coherent thing she remembered.

⃰    ⃰    ⃰

The smell of fresh coffee brewing was always hard for Shannon to resist. Even in her thick haze of sleep, some rational part of her mind understood that if she forced her eyes open, she would be rewarded with a piping hot cup.

She sat up and looked around, momentarily confused by the strange décor until the events of the previous night slowly began to seep back in. She scowled at the memory of Chad’s face as he stood in the doorframe of her apartment.

Another thought suddenly occurred to her. It was Monday morning and she simply couldn’t afford to be late for her new job.  She needed her job more than anything and was determined to keep a good track record.

She hopped from the bed and raced out into the living room to find out the time. Seeing no clock, she hurried into the kitchen to find Chad washed and dressed in a navy-blue suit that sat perfectly on his muscular body.  “What time is it?” she questioned in a hurried voice.

“Eight-thirty,” he replied, setting an empty coffee cup into the sink. He turned and stared at her. His eyes fell to her feet then traveled up her legs and stopped around the area of her breasts. She felt her face flush, knowing that he was admiring her body through her small, thin excuse for pajamas. Why hadn’t she changed out of the t-shirt before leaving the room? He pulled his eyes up to her face and sighed. “Go back to bed, Shannon,” he said in an authoritative voice.

“But work—

He cut her off. “I’ve already texted Sarah and told her to let whoever it is you report to know that you’ll be out doing research for me today.”

“Maureen Black,” Shannon whispered.

Chad nodded. “I’ll call Maureen later to confirm that she got my message.”

Shannon stood stock-still not sure of how to react.

“I’m going into the office to attempt to contact Danya Lovitz and to call Bazarov. I’ll be back in two hours or so. I’d like to have a serious talk with you when I return.”

“Okay,” she replied, feeling like a child being scolded by her father. She had an urge to ask him if she’d done something wrong, but thought better of it. She was an adult after all, not some naughty child who deserved to be sent to their room until their parent had a chance to
‘deal’
with them. She squared her shoulders, raised her chin and tried to look as dignified and mature as she could manage in her flimsy nightwear. “If you don’t mind, I’ll have a cup of coffee first,” she stated confidently.

“Help yourself,” he answered. Shannon thought she saw a small grin play on his lips. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” he added and headed for the door.

Shannon took her mug of coffee into the living room and plopped down onto the couch. She picked up the remote control and turned on the sixty inch TV. She realized that she hadn’t watched TV in weeks but after flicking around the channels, concluded that she wasn’t really missing anything. She wandered over to the long bookshelf that framed one side of the TV and glanced over the titles. Chad certainly liked Science Fiction and Fantasy. With the exception of a couple of non-fiction books on yoga and meditation, that was the only genre he owned out of a least one hundred books. She pulled ‘The Hobbit’ off the shelf, knowing that it was the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. Since Chad was determined to make her see the movies, she supposed she should start the experience by reading at least some of the story first.

She went back into the guest bedroom, changed back into her jeans and sweater, lay down on the bed and opened the book.

Within what seemed like only minutes, she heard the front door open. As she dog-eared the book, she realized the reason for the time warp—she had managed to make it through half the novel and was enjoying every word.

She walked into the living room just as Chad was setting his briefcase next to the hall closet. “How did it go?” she asked.

He turned around and smiled broadly. “Really well. We’re in the process of setting up a meeting for some time in December,” he answered.

“In Israel?” Shannon probed.

Chad nodded. “Tel Aviv,” he responded. “I have you to thank for that, by the way.”

“You probably would have found the information yourself eventually,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders modestly. “What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked, seeing no point in stalling.

“Let me change out of this suit and I’ll be right with you,” he replied then walked toward his bedroom.

He came back into the living room moments later, wearing an old pair of gray sweat pants and a white V-neck undershirt. Shannon felt her heart stammer in her chest, overwhelmed by how beautiful he looked in casual clothes. He jumped onto the couch, tucking his right leg underneath so that he was sitting on it and flung his right arm over the back of the sofa. With his left hand, he tapped the seat next to him in a gesture for Shannon to join him. She sat down and turned around, leaning against the arm so that they were facing each other. She said nothing, just stared at him, wondering what it would be like to kiss his perfect mouth.

“First of all, I want to apologize for my foul mood last night. It was uncalled for,” he began.

Shannon nodded.

“I guess I was just tired, not to mention a little drunk, and your living conditions were cause for worry.”

Shannon nodded again.

“So do you want to tell me what you were doing in a place like that?”

“It’s all I can afford,” she said again.

Chad ran his left hand through his hair and shook his head. He looked straight into her eyes, his expression dire, letting her know he was not playing games, that he was not interested in half explanations. “Why don’t you tell me where your mother and her husband are?” he said.

“My mother is dead,” Shannon answered, meeting his fixed stare.

His eyebrows rose. “How long?”

“Two weeks ago,” she replied bluntly.

“Fuck! Are you kidding me?” he questioned, leaning forward, a horrified look crossing his features.

“No, I wouldn’t joke about something like that,” she explained.

“Tell me the whole story, Shannon,” he demanded. “I want to help you but I need to know what I’m…what you’re up against.”

Shannon took a deep breath and nodded. She sensed that he was sincere, that he was a good guy that cared about people, someone that could possibly care about her. As it was, he was the only person on earth who cared enough to show her any concern at all. Ironic and sad no doubt, but no less true, he was her only friend in the world, even if she’d only met him a couple of days ago.  “There was a time when I had a normal family,” she began then looked down uncomfortably.

“Go on,” he encouraged, smiling reassuringly.

She picked up a couch cushion and rested it on her lap. She toyed with the zipper nervously. “I already told you how my father and brother died when I was eleven and how my mother remarried a few years ago.”

Chad nodded. “A businessman from Miami,” he recalled, “and then you moved there.”

“Yes,” Shannon confirmed. “But I didn’t tell you what Bill’s business was.”

“Go on,” he pushed.

“He is a drug dealer,” she said, glancing up to gauge his reaction. “Or was,” she added. “I don’t know if he’s still alive.”

Chad blew out a sharp breath. “Really?” he asked. “Did your mother know when she married him?”

“I don’t think she did at first,” Shannon replied. “I can’t be sure, but I think it didn’t hit her until we moved to Miami.

“Which was three years ago,” he recalled.

She nodded. “At any rate, Bill drove a nice car and had a beautiful house. He had a real comfortable life. Business must have been good for him before my mother came along.”

“What did she do?” Chad questioned.

“I guess my mother found out what Bill really did for a living and couldn’t resist sampling the goods. She was never the strongest woman and always had an addictive personality. I think the only thing that kept my mother on a straight and narrow path, when I was young, was my dad. Unfortunately, Bill didn’t have a strong personality like my father, and was already living a shady life.”

“Was your mother a drug addict, Shannon?” he probed.

She nodded again. “Yes and it didn’t take long until he was nipping into the product also, I can only assume at my mother’s coaxing. By the time we lived in Miami for fourteen months, both my mother and Bill were completely strung out. Both of them had that skinny, druggy look after a while, complete with bad skin, bad teeth and sunken eyes.”

“What were you doing at the time?” Chad questioned.

“Mainly just going to school and taking as many babysitting jobs as I could. All I could think about was saving enough money to run away, which I suppose was a bit of a pipe dream—babysitting doesn’t really pay that much.”

“Did you try to get them help?” he asked.

“I tried to talk to my mother, but if you mean professional help…no. The last thing I wanted was to end up in a foster home—the devil you know…” She shrugged her shoulders and bit her lip, trying to suppress tears. She didn’t want Chad to have to witness a display of self-pity.

“What about when you turned eighteen?” he probed.

“They were already so far gone at that point. My mom kept making false promises that she was going to get help, but she never did. I wanted to believe though…”

“Of course,” he said kindly. “That’s completely understandable.”

“Anyway, at one point, almost a year ago, the house had to be sold to pay off Bill’s suppliers. That’s when we moved into a trailer park with a nasty reputation. This wasn’t one of those nice places that elderly people move to when they want to downsize; this was a place for meth heads and criminals. I stopped babysitting at that point. I didn’t really like leaving the
house
or whatever you’d call it. I went to school and straight home, that was it, well apart from the supermarket. What little money my mom and Bill made went to drugs. I used to check their pockets when they were asleep and steal any cash I could find to buy food.” She looked down with a guilty expression. “Sometimes I just stole it to add to my babysitting money.”

“It would have only gone to drugs anyway,” Chad piped in. Shannon could tell he was trying to ease her conscience.

“So I guess Bill ran out of ways to pay off his suppliers. Two weeks ago, some men came to our door looking for him. My mom seemed to know who they were and what they were capable of. When it became obvious that they were going to break down the door, she pleaded with me to hide in the cupboard under the sink and to remain there regardless of what I heard…” Shannon bowed her head, overcome by the painful memory.