Strong Enough (10 page)

“Hmm, well I think I would have to side with
you and say you’re right.” Quick smile at both of them and I swift
spin on my heels and I walk off toward the office tossing my towel
at Stormy and hollering I was taking a break.

Pushing open the office door, I am a little
more mindful of who might be behind the door this time. Peaking in
I see no one is around. I reach under the desk and open the white
mini fridge and grab a diet coke. I am thankful Derek stocks them
for me as I pop the top and ease myself into the big office chair
and pull my legs up toward my chest. I don’t even want to think
about what just happened and instead just want my twenty minutes of
quiet. No customers, no bitching, no Derek and no hot guy’s eyes
following me. I just want to close my eyes and just breathe, just
for a minute.

Knock knock… Knock
Knock…

My eyes pop open and instant irritation sets
in.
You have GOT to be kidding me
.
“Come back later,” I yell through the door.
Knock… Knock…

I jump up and go to grab the door handle
when it starts to turn. Learning a lesson from smacking Derek in
the face earlier I lean away from the door as it pushes open.

He walks in with a slight resistance but
more so with comfort shutting the door behind him. I want to be
irritated, but I have a sense of relief that he is standing
here.

“I heard you say you were going on break.
I’m sorry if I’m bothering you, I just wanted to talk to you away
from the crowds.” He glanced over his back toward the direction the
crowd at the bar would be.

“Not sure what you really want to talk
about. Seems the one question I ask you can’t seem to answer so
don’t really have anything else to say.” I bite back.

“You’re mad because I haven’t told you my
name,” he said very matter of fact.
No shit
Sherlock!

I glance down at my feet briefly, probably
just to avoid looking into the depths of his eyes and becoming
putty in his hands.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m mad or not nor
does it matter if you tell me your name. I don’t play these games
for a reason,” I say still looking at the ground with my hands half
way tucked in my shorts pockets.

His hand reaches out and touches the end of
my chin and with his index finger gently brings my face up to look
at his that is now crouching down to see me and showing me a small
smile.

“Why would you think how you feel doesn’t
matter? Who said anything about playing games Reese?”

I just stare, not sure what to say. That
calming thing he does is taking over again.

“I’m not playing games with you. If you
thought I was, I apologize it wasn’t meant to seem that way.”

I can sense the sincerity in his voice. His
eyes are a lighter brown and his smile has faded. He looks as if he
really is concerned about how I feel.

His hand drops away from my chin and he
stands upright and turns toward the door. The movement causes a
wave of his cologne to cross my nostrils and I tense. I know that
smell, the grapefruit, the cedar and a hint of tobacco. He reaches
for the door but pauses and turns. My eyes shift slowly to him, and
he sees the recognition on my face.

“Zane, my name is Zane Bauer. It’s a
pleasure to meet you Reese Miller,” he said with a stoic face and
opened the door and walked out.

How did he know my last
name was Miller?

B
usy bar means I stay busy
keeping them happy and no time to think about what had happened
earlier in the night. Zane left immediately after leaving me in the
office, or at least I guess he did since I haven’t seen him since.
It’s close to closing time and tabs are closing out while the
bouncers on duty are shuffling people toward the door.

Busy with other customers I didn’t notice
Mr. East Coast walk up and stand in front of me.

“You sure do make a lasting impression on
people.”

Looking up to see a big grin on his face,
I’m not sure what exactly he is referring to. “Oh yeah, how
so?”

“Well let’s see, you manage to captivate
Zane from the minute he walked in this place, you put on the
bitchiest persona and the guy still can’t keep his eyes off you. He
gets you alone for god knows what all to come back and say he
needed to leave and to watch out for you… I’ll say that’s one heck
of an impression on a guy like him.”
Watch out
for me? As in beware or keep watch? What the hell.

“Guy like him? Oh really, what, a guy aware
of his looks, amazingly fit body and a smile that could drop
panties? That kind of guy? Sorry if those, doesn’t affect me.”

So can you really go to
hell for lying? Because it is a flat out lie that I haven’t
memorized every muscle that wasn’t covered by clothing and even
some that were, or the way his mouth curls to one side when he
smiles or the fact that I have wondered what that V thing he MUST
have going on looks like….yep going to hell for lying.

“Wow Reece, you really don’t know do you?
You don’t know who Zane is?”

If a mirror were in front of me I can only
imagine the look on my face is one of pure and utter confusion.
“What do you mean who Zane is? Am I supposed to know?”

He lets out a loud laugh that made a few
people turn around. Composing himself he looks around to see if
anyone was listening to our conversation.

“Well I would have guessed you would know
who he was just from his name, most people do. But I am guessing
since he told you his full name, and it didn’t faze you, you really
don’t know. Huh, never experienced this before, interesting.”

By now my expression has gone from confused
to, what the fuck are you talking about? I’m normally pretty good
with names and faces.

“I can honestly say, I have no idea who Zane
Bauer is except for a guy whom I met tonight who irritated the fuck
out of me for too many hours with his games.”

“Hmm, well Ms. Reece, I think he needs to be
the one to tell you more about him. Little piece of advice, drop
the attitude with him, he’s not like the other men you meet. His
story is well, different and he, yeah that guy, he’s someone you
want on your side and for some reason Reece, that guy has something
for you.” His head tilted down as he fumbled through his wallet for
cash. Reaching out to me he pauses. “I get the
hard girl
routine, but take my advice, learn when
it’s needed and when it’s not. This world is full of whatever it is
you have experienced that has you so closed off, but keep closed
and a good thing will walk right past you and you won’t even know
it. I get it, maybe not your story, but I do get it…” as he handed
me three 100 dollar bills. “That’s for you and the girls, you guys
did a great job keeping all my people happy and I appreciate
it.”

My mouth at this point is somewhat ajar. I’m
both annoyed and grateful. Annoyed for the fact that he thinks he
knows anything about me,
hard girl
routine
and grateful for the big fat tip that will make
for a great tip out tonight.

“Are you in a habit of telling people how
they should or shouldn’t act when you don’t really know them…”
Glancing at the name on his credit card as I hand it back. “Blake
Ryan?”

“No Reece, I wouldn’t say it’s a habit, but
I will say that in my line of work being upfront and calling things
as they are is what I do. That’s why my clients love me.”

“Your line of work? So Blake Ryan, what is
it that you do?”

“People Management,” he said with a sly
smile.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. “So
is Zane one of the people that you manage?”

Squinting with his mouth pursed and shifted
to one side, he doesn’t say a word but turns and is walking toward
the front door. He pauses and turns just enough for me to see his
words are meant for me “Remember Reece, they are not all alike.”
And he continues out the door.

I glance at the clock as I lock up the office. 3:50
am.
Well class today should be
interesting
. Tank, one of the bouncers is standing at
the door waiting to walk me out. The name Tank lends to the size of
the guy, which gives me a little sense of security, but only a
little.

He’s holding the door open for me as I step
out. The night air is humid but stale and the sound of the nearby
train echoes through the empty streets. Keys in hand and purse
slung over my shoulder I nod a thank you to Tank and head toward my
car. He stands by the door and watches me as he always does.

Fiddling with my keys keeps me alert but my
attention is drawn to the black BMW parked down the street with its
parking lights on. This time of night you don’t see many cars and
you certainly don’t see expensive ones. As I open the car door, the
lights for the BMW turn on and the engine starts.

My heart begins to race and my palms are
sweaty. I can’t seem to get the door open fast enough. I turn
quickly to see if Tank is still at the door and he isn’t.
SHIT SHIT SHIT
. Swinging back around
I have my eye on the BMW and finally get the door open and jump in
quickly. It’s at this moment that I realize I should have bought
the remote start when I bought the car. Keys in hand I’m able to
jab the key in and turn the car on and throw the gear in reverse.
Hearing my doors lock automatically gives me a little sense of calm
but that damn BMW is still sitting there.

Pulling out of the parking lot I glance up
in my rear view mirror to see the BMW pull out behind me.
Ok that can’t be good
. My initial
instinct is to punch the gas and take off, but to where? The BMW
doesn’t speed up to catch me as I am driving down the road but
seems to be keeping a distance. I realize I am only about three
blocks from the police station, so I turn left and head there.

As I pull into the parking lot the BMW
continues past and I see the plates read “BSTRNG” as the car turns
to the left on the next street. Coming to a stop in a parking spot
in view of the front doors, my hands and head come to rest on the
steering wheel feeling the rapid rise of my chest from fear. Eyes
closed I take a deep breath in then slowly let it out. It’s been
six years since I have felt that fear. A fear that rises up from
the depths inside and begins to paralyze me.

Tap Tap… Tap Tap

Startled, I jerk my head up and look to the
left through the window. Outside holding a flashlight is an
officer. Motioning to roll down my window, I hesitate for a minute
and comply, but only enough to where he can hear me, never can be
too careful.

“You okay young lady?” He asks, clicking his
flashlight on and pointing it into the car.

The light glides over my face causing me to
shield my eyes and purse my face up.
Geez was
that really necessary?
“Yes officer, I am fine, thought
someone was following me so I turned into the station parking
lot.”

“Following you huh, happen to get a license
plate or anything specific on the car? Why don’t you come into the
station for a minute? You look like you saw a ghost.”

My dad always told me to listen to
authorities, especially if I don’t have access to bail money, so I
roll up the window, turn off the car and grab my purse as I get out
of my car.

Standing closer to the officer, I could see
he was much older than I thought, maybe 50’s but his clean shaven
face helped to add a bit of a younger look to him. His bright eyes
showed age with the crow’s feet at the corners. It seems lately
everyone is starting to look familiar to me, and the officer was no
different.

“I’m Officer Watts and your name young
lady?”

He turns to walk toward the front door and I
fall in line behind him and follow. “Reece Miller.” He stopped
walking and turns to look at me. The expression on his face was
uncertainty, like he knew the name but didn’t know the name should
belong to me. His body is facing me with his hands resting on his
gun belt. He isn’t saying anything just looking closely at me and
it’s giving me the willies.

“Something wrong Officer?” I question hoping
his answer is no.

He opens his mouth to say something but
stops himself. His gaze turns soft with recognition, he steps a bit
closer leaning down. “You don’t remember me do you?”

Nope sure
don’t
. “No sir, I don’t think I do.” Shaking my head
slightly I back up just a bit.

He twists his pursed lips from side to side
thinking about what I just said then backs up and turns around and
continues toward the front door of the station.

I stand there for a split second thinking
where I would know him from but nothing came to mind. Officer Watts
is standing at the front of the station with the door held open and
motioning for me, so I set off and follow him in.