Authors: Fiona Knightingale
“April, I didn’t call you to listen to berate me and make me feel like a total idiot for taking this leap of faith in my career. I’ve always had a penchant for advertising and when the opportunity came around to join this prestigious firm, I had no choice, but to take it. I didn’t even think about what it would entail. I thought that the paycheck was going to be bigger, but apparently they were downsizing.” That was a nice way to say that they had let go of some of their more seasoned staff in order to bring in new blood with new ideas.
“If you really want to make this work, then you are going to have to do something that you’re probably not going to like. You’ve never been comfortable living with anyone and that includes boyfriends that seem to get underneath your skin. I understand that they can get on your nerves. It might be better for you to find a woman, but sometimes even they can be pains in the asses. I’m just glad that I’ve never gotten the need to go to the big city. I get everything I need right here in Maine. I have a nice practice and word of mouth has certainly brought me clients. It’s more than enough to pay for the mortgage on my house.”
I was standing in front of my bedroom mirror in nothing, but my bra and panties. I called my sister early in the morning. This was the only time that I had to spare and I had been foolish enough to tell her that I was feeling the pinch. I wasn’t much of a social butterfly and staying indoors and cooking for myself was my way of offsetting some of the expenses of the two bedroom apartment. I was already paying through the nose and I couldn’t afford to go out and have the luxury of sitting down to dinner at a fancy restaurant.
“I think you might be right, April. It looks like I’m going to have to find myself a roommate. I thought if I sacrificed certain things that I might be able to swing it, but it’s become painfully clear that I need help.” I did have one thing going for me and that was that I didn’t have a car or the expenses to go along with it. In New York, you pretty much walked or took the subway.
Today was one of those rare days that I had to go to the Hamptons to visit a client. Unfortunately, without a vehicle, I was either going to have to resort to taking the subway or the bus. Neither one sounded pleasant.
“It’s nice to see that you are finally getting your priorities straight. You never know, having a roommate might be the best thing for you. You need somebody to bring you out of your shell. That city is a wealth of things to do and you stay hold up in your apartment. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to come down there and hold your hand to get you through this new chapter of your life.” She was always very protective of me and I couldn’t help to wonder if it might be a good idea that she come to visit for a month or so. I just didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of admitting that I was in over my head.
“I don’t know how we got into you being the big sister, when I was the one that was born first. Anyway, I really do have to get going. I’ll shoot you a message by e-mail or text sometime today to tell you what I decided.” I hung up and put the phone down on the table by the door and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I could see that the stress of all of this was getting to me. I needed something to relax, maybe some kind of hobby, but who had the time.
I was glad that I was able to reach out to April. She put things into perspective and I didn’t have to make the mistake of calling my parents. They always told me that I was unprepared for the real world. This was my way of proving them wrong. I’d recently cut my hair and put a tinge of red into the black to give it a little something extra. I may have not been much more than 100 pounds, 5’3, but what I lacked in statue, I more than made up for in confidence. In behind the glass enclosure of the building that I work for, I was respected. It wasn’t, until I left the building that I felt the crushing weight of the world coming down on my shoulders.
I grabbed my new leather jacket from the hangar by the door. It was one of those splurges that I just had to have. It gave me that feeling of being a professional and styling at the same time. The one thing that I couldn’t do without today was a car. I convinced my neighbor across the street that my word was my bond. I even threw in an extra $50.00, which of course was the thing that sealed the deal. She was working at home and had no need for the car, but she was very cautious about giving out any of her things.
I walked across the street and she was right there at her doorstep. Becky was on her tablet and she looked like she was deep in thought. I was about to say something, but she raised the key and put it in my hand. She had no need to get into it and there was no point in trying to make idle chitchat.
I got into the blue Lexus and it felt like I was being bathed in luxury. The leather seats, the interior that lit up with a slight red glow and the dashboard that had all sorts of different gadgets, including a GPS and an I phone port was certainly something to experience. I didn’t need one of those and I had no interest in getting into the racket of having a cell phone on my person.
I made sure to gingerly pull it out of her driveway and driving down the street and eventually onto the highway leading to the Hamptons. At first, I was driving with two hands and then, as I began to relax a little bit more, I was now one handed with the other outside the window feeling the cool breeze hitting the skin of my arm.
“In the news, the police are still combing the area for the suspect that has been the cause of several carjackings. The police are warning you to keep your doors locked and to take all valuables out of your car. If you are car jacked, do not try to be a hero. Give up the keys and they’re not worth your life.” The music began to play. It was an old classic rock station that really got my blood pumping.
I was tapping on the steering wheel, enjoying a Bon Jovi old favorite that I grew up on. Slippery when wet was my favorite album. Come to think of it, it was exactly the way that I like to feel. I enjoyed a modicum of foreplay during sex. It’s those guys that tend to jump right into it that always ends up being a one night stand and nothing more.
Today, I was wearing a black leather skirt with a white and yellow blouse. I had on my sunglasses to ward off those beams from striking against my face and blinding me. I came to a stop sign and I could feel this ominous and foreboding sense around me. A shadow moved by my window, until the glass was shattering right beside my face. A pair of hands came out and they pulled me from the vehicle. I don’t know why, but I managed to pull the key out of the ignition and still have it grasped in my hands.
I looked up to see this man holding a gun in his shaky hands. He had blond hair and beard to match. He couldn’t be more than 150lbs with a green army jacket “I want the keys.” He was waving the gun around and what I should have done was hand him the keys, but I just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t because I was trying to be a hero. It was because I was shocked and completely stunned by this latest turn of events. “Are you deaf, lady? I want the keys. If you don’t give it to me, I’m going to put one between your eyes.” My mind was shut down. He pressed the barrel of the gun against my forehead and I could feel the cold steel and I knew that my life was flashing before my eyes.
Chapter two
“I… I… I” I couldn’t even form sentences. He looked like he was getting agitated and his finger on the trigger was trembling. He was definitely on something, or maybe he was coming down from something. Whatever it was, it was causing him to act erratically and become a menace to society.
He grabbed my hand and I could feel him trying to dislodge my fingers away from the keys. I looked at him strangely, like he wasn’t even there and stared at my hand, which was now being forcefully pulled away one finger at a time.
I heard the sound of something roaring in my ears and I thought for sure that he had fired the gun and ended my life too soon. I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head and then his gun hand slumped to his side and then he fell to his knees on the pavement. Standing behind him with a crowbar in his hand was a black leather clad motorcyclist. The black helmet was open at the visor and I could see the rough and rugged good looks of my savior.
“That is no way to treat a lady. You should be ashamed of yourself.” I don’t think the guy could hear him, considering that he was unconscious and would probably have a huge bump on the back of his head. “I don’t care if you do have a gun. This is no way to act in public. The only place that you should be is in jail.” As if in answer to his query, a siren was now very much prevalent in the distance. He reached out with his hand and I put mine in his with the keys now firmly in the palm of his hand.
“Thank…you. I don’t know what I can do…to repay you for your…kindness.” I was still having problems trying to compose myself, but his disarming smile was more than enough to make me look at him with a smile on my face.
“If you’re serious, I would really like to have a place to stay in the city. I don’t even know if you come from there, but the plates on your car seem to indicate that you do.” I certainly wasn’t expecting him to ask for lodging, but I wasn’t sure if I was in a position to say no. “I just need to find someplace, just as long as it takes to finish up a contract in the next couple of months. I promise that I won’t be any trouble.” He took off his helmet and his wavy dark hair certainly made him appear to be trustworthy.
“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with a stranger being in my house.” I was hoping that that would be the end of it, but apparently he wasn’t going to let it slide by that easily.
“I know that it might sound impulsive, but I think that us meeting was fortuitous. If you’re worried that were strangers, then let me be the first to introduce myself. My name is Daniel Baxter. I’m very well known in the motorcycle racing circuits. I’m in town to look at a new investment. I need to go over all the particulars and it’s going to take about a month or two to dot the I’s and cross the T’s. If it was just the matter of signing on the dotted line, I could do that and be back on a plane. I want to see this come to reality and the only way to do that is to stay on top of it. Let’s just say that my mind would be at ease if I were able to keep an eye on my investment.” I think that he was actually thinking that I was considering his proposal of living with me.
“I was looking for a roommate, but maybe I don’t have to anymore.” I couldn’t believe that I was actually saying these words and meaning them. It was bad enough that I was accosted by someone that wanted to do me harm, but now my rescuer was asking for a favor in return. It seemed like a reasonable request, considering that he did stop this man from killing me here on the street like a dog.
“Just give me your address and I’ll be more than happy to stop by later tonight. I don’t know what time I’ll be getting in, but I doubt that it will be, until after midnight.” I found myself writing my address on the palm of his hand. He didn’t grimace with the tip of the pen digging into his skin. I felt like he was trying to undress me by only using the power of his mine to make me feel more vulnerable than I had ever had before.
Before I left, I watched Daniel go back to his motorcycle, where a police officer was there to take his statement. They took mine, as well and they carted the man to jail. They were reasonably sure that I wasn’t going to have to testify, which was a good thing in my opinion. I had no interest in standing in a courtroom and raising my hand and promising that my words were that of the truth and not anything to indicate otherwise. I couldn’t help, but to admire the way Daniel’s tight leather pants hugged his glutes.
Come to think of it, they weren’t leather pants. They were leather chaps and what I was seeing underneath was a nice tight pair of jeans that really did accentuate the positives.
I had to stop by a local shop to get my window repaired. It wasn’t my window, but since the car was loaned to me, I thought it was my responsibility to have it repaired. I really didn’t want to mention it to Becky. She would not take kindly to the fact that her window was busted. She would blame me, but we all knew that I was probably a victim of circumstance and nothing more.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel and the fact that he was going to be living underneath my roof. I felt a little claustrophobic and I had to stop on the side of the road to collect my thoughts and get my breathing back to normal. It hit me that that man could have killed me.
I don’t know how I managed to keep a straight face the entire time that I was going over the advertisement. By the time I left the clients, I was given a rave review and told that they were going to become one of our permanent clients. They did request that I do all the writing for their ads and I was the one that was to come up with the concepts. I wasn’t sure if my bosses would go along with that, but my bosses would hopefully see the bigger picture. This was a contract that was worth millions in the long run. They would want to bend over backwards to please them and if that meant that I had to take the reins, then they would reluctantly allow me to do so.
“We’re very happy with how easily you have gotten inside our heads, Nina. Rest assured, just as long as you are part of the company, we’ll be more than happy to continue working alongside you.” Evan was the owner, but he had three others that were in attendance to hear every single word that was being spoken. He had even taken the precaution of having all of it recorded, so that he could go over it in a more detailed form later on during the day. “I can honestly say that there has been no body that has come out to see us. That’s a good way to make us decide on your firm or using another one. We like the more personal touch. We don’t like being just a number.” I had told that to my boss August, but it took a lot of time to convince her to allow me to run with this.