Authors: Natalie Frost
“Is this even safe?” Claire wondered.
“Hey, it was your idea wasn’t it?” Rodney joked.
“But seriously, you don’t need to be afraid; I’ll catch you if the reinforced fiberglass happens to break somehow.”
Claire rolled her eyes. She chose a table with candlelight. The pair moved towards the table and took their seats as the colorful schools of fish darted about so close to their faces that they could be touched, if not for the glass. It wasn’t like Claire had never seen an aquarium before but this was an altogether different experience…like she was literally with them.
She picked up her menu and began studying it. Claire was thankful that it wasn’t only filled with elaborate or extravagant meals but it also had simple salads too.
“What are you picking?” Claire asked.
“Uh, I think I’ll have bourbon chicken and the creamy butter casserole.”
Claire nodded her approval.
“That sounds delicious. I think I’m going to settle for oven-roasted Greek potatoes and lean pork chops.”
A waiter hurried towards their table.
“What would you like?” They told him their choices.
“Anything you would like to drink in the meantime? We’ve got Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon, a favorite amongst couples, or the Petrus.” The waiter boasted.
Claire stared blankly at him. The waiter looked offended.
“We’ve got many other choices of wine if these ones aren’t good enough for you.”
Rodney chuckled at the misunderstanding.
“We’ll have the Petrus, thank you.”
The waiter nodded, and disappeared briefly. He returned with the bottle and set it on the table.
“Would that be all?”
Rodney looked at Claire, to let her speak up if she did, in fact, want anything else. When she said nothing, he answered.
“We’re fine, thank you.”
With those words, the waiter took a slight bow and left them once again.
“So, I’m guessing that you usually don’t drink wine that costs thousands of dollars?” Rodney chided.
“Of course not, I’d hate to waste so much money! That’s why I didn’t know the wines. The most expensive for me is Scotch.”
They both had a good laugh at that. Thirty minutes later, though, their dinner still had not arrived.
“First, we drive here for twenty minutes, then another thirty minutes before the food arrives. By the time my fork reaches my mouth, I’ll have passed out from hunger.”
Rodney chuckled. Twenty minutes later, their orders were on the table.
“We hope you enjoy your meal,” the waiter advised.
“Way ahead of you,” Rodney said with his cheeks ballooning with food.
“You’re like a hamster!” Claire giggled. “So cute.”
Rodney blushed.
“That’s usually not how my opponents see me, though if they did, the fights would be a lot easier.”
Claire smiled at the joke. She was beginning to warm up to his easygoing and sarcastic personality, and this was only their first date.
“That reminds me of why we’re here” said Rodney. “I don’t know what to do with the rest of my career. I’ve got enough savings to last me the rest of my life but I enjoy the fights. And I don’t want to be training in the gym all day for no reason. But keep in mind; I’m no fan of the possibly dangerous outcomes. I also don’t mind being an inspiration to my buddy, Jon, if I stay in the game. I’d love to hear your opinion on what I should do.”
Rodney was clearly torn between his public image, his love for the fights and his friend’s wishes. Claire didn’t feel any pity for him, though because she felt cheated.
“You went on a date with me just to talk about yourself and your own personal problems! That’s pretty self-centered, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Rodney appeared taken aback and literally leaned away.
“What do you expect as my personal manager? And hold up,” Rodney held out his large meaty hands.
“You thought that this was a date?”
Claire’s eyes began watering.
“So now this isn’t even a date, it’s just a business meeting.” The tears started flowing freely down her face and Claire made no move to wipe them.
Rodney was at a loss for words,
“I didn’t realize that you were taking all that flirting so seriously. I’m so sorry.” Rodney moved a hand to cover hers but she pulled away.
Immediately Rodney’s expression became pained. Claire was glad, though, and thought he deserved not only that but worse.
“And here I was wondering what could make me so special to have you asking me out, now I know. You were using me,” she seethed.
Rodney narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean I was using you? This is your job, isn’t it? You help people with their problems but, suddenly when it comes to me, I’m being selfish when I talk to you about them. I don’t understand. It’s not fair to me if you’re going to treat me like this.”
Claire stood up abruptly.
“That’s it, I can’t take this anymore. I’m out of here.”
Rodney stood up to follow her.
“Don’t follow me. I want to be alone right now. And I’m getting home by myself, thank you very much.”
Claire walked outside and called a taxi. It was getting quite chilly and she regretted not even bringing a sweater. She looked back into the restaurant through the window and saw Rodney just standing there stupidly and staring at her.
The taxi came and Claire didn’t look back as she got inside of it. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have come down so hard on Rodney without really hearing him out and actually listening to what he said. The last thing she saw was the restaurant exit door swinging open, as Rodney quickly shuffled out. For some reason, he was inconspicuously trying to keep his head low. Was he following her?
Claire shook her head. Why would he do that after everything she’d just said to him? Claire was starting to feel guilty over her momentary outburst of anger. She would probably be fired, the next morning or maybe as soon as Rodney reached his mansion. And she’d just lost out on a potential romantic relationship. Claire placed her head in her hands; she’d really messed up this time.
The taxi doors suddenly locked and when Claire tried to roll down her window she couldn’t…it was locked too. So Claire just peered out the window and with a start she could see that the vehicle she was in was not heading down the same route she had been through earlier.
“It’s 34 Ashwood Avenue, sir,” she said.
Claire remembered telling the driver already when she first entered the car. The driver turned around and Claire got a good look at his face. The gruesome, ugly face, fit with cold blue eyes on a misshapen narrow head. When she saw who her driver was, she tried screaming for help and banging on her window. The man at the wheel was a business tycoon from India who wasn’t doing too well these days. So much so, that recently, Amish had turned to criminal means to make ends meet. Amish had been arrested for his crimes but had emergency money sent out to a friend who’d released him from jail later. And now Amish had turned into a burglar, robber, and worst of all for Claire: a rapist.
“Don’t bother, the windows are completely soundproof and the rear windows are tinted. And by the way, I did hear where you live but I have my own destination for you,” Amish grinned at her, revealing uneven dark yellow teeth.
How stupid Claire had been, all she needed to do was take a good look at the taxi driver to have avoided this situation. She went mad and began flailing her arms at the man’s head. The road they were traveling was near a rural area and as a result was completely empty except for the rare car cruising by. Claire kept hitting and scratching at his face.
Amish slammed the brakes and she went flying forward. Her head came very close to Amish’s face. Claire tried to get away but she was too slow. He grabbed her hair to ensure that Claire wouldn’t be getting away.
She yelped in pain and tears of frustration sprung to her eyes. Claire couldn’t see what was in Amish’s hands but she presumed it would either be a knife or a gun to threaten her. Instead, when Amish raised his hand and brought it toward her neck, Claire saw a tranquilizer dart in between his fingers….and then nothing except for total blackness.
CHAPTER SIX
Rodney stood in the restaurant and watched as his manager walked away from him. He didn’t know whether to be mad at all the expectations laid out in front of him and how Claire had acted like he should know that she wanted to be something more than a manager to him. A taxi pulled up and Claire got inside. The taxi had gotten here far faster than usual. This taxi was also from the city, which was how Rodney knew that there was something wrong. He pushed through the door and walked outside. He looked into the driver’s seat of the taxi right away and the person he saw confirmed his suspicions. Amish, a known criminal was sitting in the driver’s seat, grinning creepily to himself over the innocent woman he’d been able to deceive. Rodney didn’t dare meet the man’s gaze, as he walked across the parking lot to his own car.
That man could only have one desire for her at this time. Rodney waited for thirty seconds, before starting his Bugatti and following the taxi from a safe distance away. He wasn’t exactly in a car that would go unnoticed but it was all he had right now. The taxi was driving further into farmland and toward roadways. Winding road after winding road, Rodney couldn’t stop himself from worrying about Claire’s safety. Surely, she wouldn’t be hurt too much unless if she put up a fight with the creep.
Rodney wasn’t too sure if this was good or not but Claire didn’t seem like the type of woman to go down without a fight. He considered calling the police and leaving the job to the real professionals in case his efforts somehow backfired on him. It wouldn’t be cowardice on his part either. In fact, it was something a person who was thinking rationally would do. Rodney was most definitely not James Bond but he did feel quite protective over the vulnerable women.
The taxi took two more left turns and then another right. On both sides of Rodney were farms and the occasional factory. Besides, Rodney continued in his thoughts of Claire, what kind of description of the area would he give?
“I’m on Teresa Road, oh, we just turned onto another street, let me read the sign and get back to you in a moment.” He knew that wouldn’t work very well so he quietly continued to follow the taxi.
Another turn was taken and the yellow taxi headed towards a dead end, though an abandoned company building was to its right. Amish put his foot on the brakes and the vehicle rolled to a stop. About a couple blocks away, Rodney stopped his car as a ridiculous plan was taking form in his head already. It was obvious that Amish had seen Rodney quite a while back. Especially since oftentimes Rodney’s Bugatti was the lone car on the roads, besides Amish’s taxi.
Rodney opened his car door and quickly shut it. He went underneath the car and waited.
Amish didn’t disappoint. Rodney shortly heard footsteps clopping towards the car. They paused right at the driver’s door. Rodney imagined the criminal’s eyes scaling the building, contemplating on whether Rodney had gone to hide in the building and the sense of that decision.
“It looks like lover boy has run off like a coward. He was following the good guy cliché, very well until he wimped out!” Amish cackled and a hideous noise erupted from his mouth.
Rodney acted right away. Amish’s ankles were the only part of his legs that could be seen in his current position but that was fine by him. He grabbed Amish’s ankles and pulled backwards. The man screamed and came slamming to the ground. Rodney slid out of the car, just in time to see Amish staring around dazedly, as he came to his feet. Rodney still had the element of surprise and used it when Amish stared at him for the first time.
“You couldn’t just fight me like a man, could you?”
Rodney reared his fist and launched an uppercut straight at Amish’s jaw.
“How’s that for fighting like a man?” he said as Amish fell to the ground in an unconscious lump.
Surveying his surroundings, Rodney quickly took out his cell phone, and dialed 911. Rodney told the receiver that he would require the police and he hung up. Rodney hurried over to the taxi and yanked on a backseat door. It was locked. Rodney gritted his teeth, annoyed. He shrugged his shoulders and took a step backwards. Rodney did a roundhouse kick on the window three times before it shattered. Glass flew all over the seat. Rodney hoped that wasn’t the spot where Claire was sitting; otherwise, he owed her an explanation as to why the man trying to rescue her had done more damage than the one ready to harm her.