10
They sat down at a small pub about a half a mile from the incident. "The Lennox?" She said trying to make up for the lull between them. "Seems quaint."
"Yes." He said with his eyes fixed on the bartender who was making their drinks.
"What was that out there Cal?" She was hesitant. "There was a third man, next to the flour mill. he was watching me. Did you see him?"
"Yes, Beth, I did--"
"Two Martinis, very cold!" The bartender winked as she turned away to help another customer.
Beth shifted her eyes slowly from the bartender back to Cal. She stared at him.
Cal finally spoke. "He's a scared man."
"He scared me." She said looking into her glass.
"I was there."
"But you can't always be. You aren't. Please teach me Cal. I only know so much."
"You are asking for a lot from me Beth. And as I recall, you didn't help me when I asked you for your... talent." He took quite a gulp from his drink and she could tell he enjoyed it.
Beth is a spiritual woman. Definitely not religious. And she knows a great deal about different practices. She is known for her techniques in visualization and concentration. In other words, she can send energies to another, or take theirs. Everything to do with energies, from emotion, to objects in the mind, she can give and receive. She can make two minds, or more, become one together.
"It's complicated." She said feeling horrible. "I didn't want to, uh..." She felt stupid now. "I didn't want to open up a link between us, that I might not have been able to close." She looked down and took quite a gulp herself. "And, I don't know what you were looking for, there was no explanation." She swallowed yet another gulp, and twinged from the levity of their night.
He only looked at her with half a smile. Like he was trying to read her mind. Or he really was in her mind.
"You didn't tell me why you wanted... what you were--" She sighed feeling an agony talking about it.
"Cal, please, who was that man? Does he know what we did to Bill?" She kept her eyes on his better now.
"What Bill did to you, you mean?" He had to fix what she said. He continued. "He is a man. A cruel man and a smart man. One you wont have to worry about." He stared at her intently.
"But... you do." She wanted to tell him that she cared, that she didn't like to worry about him. That she didn't like him worrying. But it came with their territory, it came with the two of them. There was always worry.
"I don't worry. I dispose of my worries properly."
"Or improperly! You act like you are talking about your dinner leftovers." She knew what his reaction would be.
"Maybe I am. And maybe we should talk about making an agreement." He watched a younger couple in a booth nearby start to make out.
She could agree to anything he said.
She sighed and looked at him genuinely, starting to feel helpless. She hoped it didn't show. "What kind of agreement, dear Cal?" She gave a little smile, then drank almost to the bottom of her drink. She felt the burning in her stomach and it opened her up.
Cal was more than an artist and a fighter; he was a best kept secret. One you wouldn't want to share with anyone.
He flicked water off his fingers from his sweating glass. "I'll teach you all you want to know about fighting. But you have to promise to never use it. Only, and I mean only, use it if you have no other way..." He finished his drink and kept the cup close to him so the bartender wouldn't interrupt. "...I also want you to share with me your talent. Give me your best. And not just one time. But, really show me."
He knew she wouldn't question him. He knew she would accept.
She knew he was letting his guard down. She knew he trusted her.
That was enough to make her agree. Though she was scared to say yes yet, for she didn't know if she could control the fight in her. She didn't know if she could promise him that.
She looked deep into his eyes, feeling an energy in her already want to travel into his body. So she looked away. She had to say yes.
"I see a piano over there. I wonder if it's as good as the one Larry bought me?" She stood up and stretched, then tilted her head and touched his knee. "Want to check it out with me?" She pulled her hand up and felt a magnetism.
The look on his face was inexplicable. She always wished she could ask him what he was feeling. But she knew his control would never let her know. And that was okay with her. It always was.
He stood up and they headed toward the upright deep cherry piano. It was a Sterling. The last real one was made in 1926. Real ones were made in Connecticut. Copied ones were from New York. This one, was a real one.
"Okay Cal, it's a deal." She looked at the keys and sat on the bench, letting her fingers graze them lightly.
"I'm glad." He said while watching her.
She started playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, with her own little twist.
He stood behind her, in a protective way, and just listened.
1 comment:
I love Cal. His mystery is simply sexy. This is the first time I have read all of these in the order listed. I'm impressed.
Though I know you always feared your writing skills, I know first hand the things you have produced, and published! Remember "Crossroads" Heather?
You have talent.
Don't let yourself get carried away in all of the technicalities. But maybe that is why you are looking into forensics?I know you'd never leave your art behind, so this is just a reminder to keep on pulling it out when you can.
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