Seth (6 page)

The Bad…

It’s Saturday night again and this time Marc and I are
going to have a real date. The last one began and ended on my couch so tonight
we’re really going to go out of my house. The plan is for him to pick me up at
8:30, but we’ll see how early he is going to be tonight.

As usual Marc arrives early…very early. While I can
understand his desire to make sure he’s not late, arriving nearly an hour early
puts a lot of stress on me even though he tries his best to stress that I
should feel no pressure and he is totally fine waiting in his car. I can’t do
that of course; I’m not a total heel. So now I have him sitting on my couch in
the living room sipping a club soda while I try my best to relax and get ready.

Before leaving my room I wisely leave my cell phone in my
dresser drawer. Since I haven’t figured out what to do with the video, it’s
still on my phone and that puts me in danger. Before leaving the safety of my room
I take a deep breath and rearrange my face into a pleasant smile. When I walk
into the living room he matches my smile and sets his drink on a coaster. We
great each other with a nice soft kiss and hand in hand we walk to his car. So
far so good.

Tonight we’re eating at the Macaroni Grill. It sounds
like a cheap pasta place but it actually has one of the best T-bone steaks in
town and for a great price. Together with garlic mashed potatoes and greens it
makes a fantastic meal. Points for remembering I love this place. He has always
been very thoughtful and detail oriented and I like that about him. I don’t
have to drop atomic bomb sized hints about stuff I like. He picks up on the
little stuff and it makes most of our time together stress free for the most
part.

We’re just pulling into the restaurant parking lot when I
notice there are old people everywhere
.
The lot is full of course and we
wait patiently as an elderly couple get into their car, get situated and slowly
back out. Marc backs up to give them plenty of space to maneuver and that’s
when trouble finds us. Before Marc can put the car into gear and move forward
this bright red Ferrari flies into the lot and steals our place right out from
underneath us. While that kind of behavior does piss me off, it’s not the end
of the world for me, but apparently for Marc tonight it is. He pulls his
Chevrolet Cruz right up and parks right behind the sports car and gets out.

“Marc,” I protest. “You can’t do that.”

“I just did.”

“Let me rephrase that.” I reply. “You can’t do that
without causing a scene. Just find somewhere else to park.” I plead with him.

Of course the driver of the other car has noticed us and
walks right up. “Listen to the pretty lady.” He says giving what I’m sure he
thinks is a threatening look.

Marc of course won’t be intimidated by one smartly
dressed guy with an attitude. He steps up to the guy, looks him straight in the
eyes and proceeds to give him a piece of his mind.

“Wow… you’ve got a lot of attitude for a skinny guy with
a pansy-assed cherry red car.” Marc replies.

“Yeah, well my pansy-colored red Ferrari kicks ass on
your little black pile of plastic and rubber so are you going to move it out of
the way on your own or do I get to do it for you?”

This time the man punctuates each word with a jab of his
forefinger on Marc’s chest. Even though the guy is about five inches taller
than Marc, he isn’t intimidated in the least. Instead Marc reaches into his
back pocket and brings out a pair of handcuffs.

“So are you going to put these on yourself or do I get to
do it for you?”

It’s comical how the man’s mouth drops open and his eyes
bug out. He immediately backs off.

“I’m so sorry officer; it’s been a rough day. Please
don’t arrest me. I’ll be happy to just move my car right away. I am so sorry
sir.”

I take Marc’s arm and move to pull him back to our car.
“Let him have the spot.” I advise. “There’s one over there. Let’s just park
there, I’m starving.”

He looks down at me. “You’re kidding right? He just
assaulted a Sheriff’s Deputy.”

“He poked you with his finger.” I reply.

“And that’s assault.” He protests.

“Really?” I ask. “Are you that insecure that you have to
arrest someone who pokes you?”

“It’s not about me at all.” He says. “His lack of respect
and assumption that he can just put his hands on an authority figure is very
disturbing. It draws into question just how far would he go in an argument with
your average citizen if he’s this willing to lay hands on the police.”

“I swear to god, I would never cause a fight.” The driver
of the Ferrari pleads. “Please sir, let me just take my date home and be done
with this evening.”

“Of course you can go.” I say as I pull Marc back towards
his Chevy. “No one needs to go to jail tonight, right Marc?”

For a minute it looks like he’s going to arrest the guy
anyway, but finally his face softens and he backs off his stance.

“You’re a lucky man.” He advises the Ferrari guy. “My
date’s hungry and I want to feed her, otherwise you’d be sitting on your ass
waiting for a patrol car to come take you to jail.”

“Thank you so much officer. I swear to god I would never
try to harm a police officer.”

“Well I’m not so sure about that. You should be thanking
my girl here and not me. She’s the reason you get to go home tonight.”

Then the man proceeds to thank me profusely to a point I
am now embarrassed. Without another word I walk around and get into Marc’s car.
I breathe a giant sigh of release when he finally gets in the car and heads
over to the empty spot just down the row.

When we get out and start walking to the front door I can
tell Marc is still upset so I pull on his arm.  He stops and I step up to him
and plant my lips on his. Instantly my heart begins to thump in my chest. His
masculine smell and his breath mixing in with mine is enough to get my motor
purring. At first he’s super stiff, then his body relaxes and he’s kissing
back. After a minute he retreats and smiles warmly.

“Thank you for that.” He says to me. “I really needed
it.”

Relieved, I smile and walk into the restaurant. I guess
this is going to be a nice night after all. Over the next forty-five minutes we
enjoy each other’s company immensely. At first I didn’t get his sense of humor.
In fact when we first began going out I wondered if he even had one. But
eventually I figured him out. He just has this really dry, understated sense of
humor and if you’re not paying attention you completely miss it.

It’s just about ten when my night begins to unravel. He
reaches into his jacket looking for something; probably his cell phone. After a
minute of searching he comes up empty handed. He feigns frustration.

“I really need to call the office.  Could I use your
phone for a second?” He asks me. “It seems I have left mine at home.”

“Sure,” I reply, as I make a big show of looking for it,
then coming up empty handed as well. “Hey I’m sure the wait staff would be
happy to let a Sheriff use their phone.”

Before he can protest I flag down a waiter. “I’m sorry to
bother you.” I begin. “My date here is with the Sheriff’s Office and needs to
contact them but both of us have left our cell phones at home.”

Rather than lead Marc over to the bar where there’s a
phone he pulls his personal phone from his apron pocket and hands it over to
the surprised Sheriff. Marc accepts the offered phone and excuses himself. I
watch as he walks out the door and makes his call. He’s only gone for maybe two
minutes before he returns and hands over the phone.

“Is everything alright?” I ask.

“Oh sure. I just needed to make sure I don’t have an
early court appearance tomorrow.”

“Do you?”

“First one is at 11:40 so we’re golden.”

Ten minutes later Marc excuses himself to use the
bathroom and our waiter approaches our table.

“Excuse me miss, I couldn’t help but notice, your…friend
has his phone on him.”

“Really?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Damn, that means that Marc really is trying to get my
phone
and
the video on it.

Suddenly I get a brainstorm and I quickly tell our waiter
to wait two minutes then dial Marc’s number then I thank him and he excuses
himself just before Marc returns from the restroom. He sits back down and takes
a bite of food. He’s in the middle of chewing when surprise surprise, his own
phone starts ringing. At first he is so shocked it’s comical. Then his look of
surprise turns into embarrassment, then anger and I get the idea that he knows
I just set him up. Instead of getting mad though he just swallows his anger and
calls over our waiter for the desert menu. At first I think he’s just using
this opportunity to grill the waiter but he behaves himself and just asks for
the menu.

“I can’t believe I didn’t find my phone when I searched
for it.” He finally mutters while he chooses his desert.

“It’s alright.” I reply. “I’ve done the same thing.”

The rest of the evening is pretty quiet with occasional
attempts at conversation. He knows I know he’s up to something but he just
can’t bring himself to voice his thoughts. I have an idea that before the night
is over he’s going to figure out a way to look at my phone and find the video.
I have to be on my A-game when he drops me off at my house. That’s when he’ll
come up with a way to get his hands on my phone. I just better not invite him
in.

It’s nearing midnight when we finally reach my house. We
spend a few minutes kissing and even though it’s nice, my heart’s not in it and
I don’t think his is either. He walks me to my door because I can’t think of a
reason to deny him. Once at the door he makes his move; and it’s not for my bra
strap either.

“Hey Kim, I hate to ask, but can I use your bathroom? My
bladder’s so full I’m seeing yellow.”

And he strikes! No way can I refuse this without coming
across as a dick.

“Of course.” I reply with an award winning smile.

The question here is…how is he going to get his hands on
my phone? Will he be sneaky and try to get it without my knowledge or will he
figure out a way to ask to use it? I can’t think of a single reason he would
have to ask to see my phone so I have to guess he’s going to search for it when
he’s supposed to be using my bathroom. This is all very confusing for me. I
like him because he’s a cop and I have tremendous respect for what he does and
the risks he takes daily but I hate it when he plays cop with me. It really
does piss me off.

He walks down my hall to the end where the guest bath is.
On the way he has to pass my bedroom which is out of sight from the living
room. So I sit here nervously waiting for him to finish playing cop and
wondering if the end of this evening will end up with me in metal bracelets.
When he does come back I try to read his face but he’s got his cop’s poker face
on right now so I have no idea how this is going to play out.

“Would you like to stay and have a drink?” I ask even
though that’s about the last thing I want right now.

“I really wish I could but I have an early court date
tomorrow and I really need to prepare.”

Oh my god, he just lied to me. He told me in the
restaurant that he didn’t have court until eleven and now suddenly after using
my bathroom he has an early day in court? We kiss at the door but my heart is
just not in it. I have this pervasive feeling that our little relationship is
fizzling out and I don’t know what to do about it. Communication has never been
a strong suit and that’s probably why I’m 28 and do not have a serious
relationship. What Marc and I have is about the most serious relationship I
have been in since I was in high school and even though I haven’t been with him
very long I feel like our best days are already behind us. He may not know it
yet but his days with me are sadly numbered. With this whole phone thing he
seriously crossed the line with me and I don’t know how to tell him that
without just getting crazy on his ass.

After he drives off I go into my bedroom and check to see
if my phone is still where I left it, and it is. Looks like he didn’t even
touch it, but I can’t be sure. Oh well, I can’t do anything about it now so I
may as well just crash.