ABBIE
I shouldn't take joy in watching someone suffer, but there was more than just a little a bit of satisfaction in watching Jack pull himself up off the pavement and crawl back into the office, his eye swelling shut, his nose and lip bleeding from where King had repeatedly punched him.
“I'm assuming I still have my job?” I asked, a smug smile tugging at my lips.
Jack nodded, not really paying attention to me. He wouldn't even look at me.
“Thanks, but if you don't mind, all of this has done a number on me,” I said, hands on my hips. “I think I might take the rest of the day off.”
Jack nodded again and still remained silent. I smiled as I watched him catch his reflection in the mirror of a nearby parked car. I had to suppress my laughter as his eyes grew wide and his lips trembled. I thought he might actually break down and cry again right there in front of me. There was some small part of me that felt a little bit bad that he'd taken a beating like that. The amount of blood on his face made things look really bad. But I snuffed that out quickly. After what he'd tried to pull on me, I was not even close to being concerned about him.
With my purse in hand, I climbed into my car and watched Jack slink back into the office building. I cocked my head and wondered what he'd tell the others. Maybe he'd tell them that he'd been mugged. Or maybe that he was attacked by a madman in the parking lot. Whatever. I shrugged and smiled again. It was his problem, not mine.
I drove over to my best friend's house, feeling the need to rehash all the glorious details to someone. Michelle worked from home – the lucky broad – which usually meant she was sitting on her couch, her laptop sitting on her lap, with some cheese curls in a bowl by her side as she watched some horrifically bad daytime TV while she responded to e-mails and put together spreadsheets.
And when I showed up, it was all just like I figured it would be. And, she was still in her pajamas. Lucky, lucky girl.
“Hey,” she said, wiping her orange-stained fingers off on her pants. So predictable. “I wasn't expecting you to come by this time of day. Everything okay? You didn't get fired, did you?”
“Yeah, everything's fine. And no, I didn't get fired,” I laughed. “I just have to tell you about my day.”
We sat on her couch and I told her everything that had happened. I gave her a blow by blow of the confrontation in the parking lot and then we laughed about what happened to Jack.
“What a scumbag,” she said with a chuckle. “Got what he deserved if you ask me. I never liked that asshat. It's just too bad the guy didn't permanently disable that asshole. Or just kill that creepy little shit outright.”
“Such a way with words, Michelle,” I said, feeling much better about everything.
“But there's one thing you didn't mention.”
“Oh yeah? What's that?”
Nibbling my lip, I looked at her and suddenly wondered about the wisdom of baring my soul like that. I had an idea what about where she was going in her thinking and I wasn't sure I wanted to go there just then. I hadn't exactly told her about King yet. The subject just never came up.
“Who was your knight in shining armor?”
I rolled my eyes, grinned, and tried to play it off. “Just some guy.”
“Just some guy who beats the shit out of your pervy boss for you? Come on now, I wasn't born yesterday.”
I sighed, knowing she was going to keep badgering me until I spilled it all – I just hoped I could leave some things out of the story and not have her notice my omissions.
“Remember those obnoxious bikers who kept me up all night?” I asked.
“Of course I do. Go on.” Michelle said, her eyes wide and eager.
“Well, I might have gone out with their leader. Just once, though.”
Her eyes were wide and there was a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “You did what? You went out with one of those guys? Seriously?”
“Well – twice, if you count me meeting him for lunch earlier today. But that was only so I could tell him it wasn't going to work and that we'd never see each other again – ”
“Wait, you went out with him once and then broke it off with him?”
“There was nothing to break off, Michelle. We went out once and I stopped it before anything started?”
“Why? Did he have bad breath or something? Smell like grease?”
“He's a biker, Michelle,” I said, shaking my head. “He's into that whole scene – drugs, crime, who knows what the hell else those animals do.”
“I'm sure we could find out more from Google...”
“No,” I said, laughing as I closed her laptop screen. “No, just – no, okay? I can't see him again. I'm never going to see him again. It's too dangerous.”
“Too dangerous?” she arched her eyebrow at me. “Too dangerous because you're afraid he might break your heart?”
Maybe? Not that I'd ever admit it or say it out loud, but I could totally see myself falling for King. But I knew, despite what he'd said, he wasn't the type to settle down and stay with one woman. He was a biker. He lived that outlaw lifestyle. King was the type of guy who was going to sleep around, drink a lot, break the law. And none of that was what I wanted out of my life or what I wanted out of my partner in this life. But Michelle was giving me a look. The look, actually. It was a look I knew well and one that was the non-verbal and non-physical equivalent of her slapping me upside the head and asking “what in the hell is wrong with you?”
“Well, there's that, I suppose,” I said, gritting my teeth, not meaning to have said that out loud, “And then there's the possibility of, you know, getting caught up in something illegal. And that's not really my thing, Michelle. I lead a quiet life and I like it that way. Getting arrested and locked up in prison doesn't sound like my idea of a good time.”
“Please,” Michelle said, opening her laptop back up. “You watch too much TV. I'm sure there's nothing illegal going on there. He probably just rides a motorcycle and donates to charity like some of the other clubs.”
“You've never met him,” I laughed. “I highly doubt he's donating to Toys for Tots or Habitat For Humanity, Michelle. He doesn't seem like that kind of guy to me.”
“And how would you know unless you Google him, hmmm?”
She had a point. Not that King seemed like the charitable, goody-two-shoes she was trying to paint him to be, but maybe things weren't as bad as they seem. Maybe he wasn't as bad as he seemed. But then I remembered that oh yeah, there were the drugs – the ones he slipped into my bag without telling me. Which seemed to be just the sort of thing a bad guy would do. I opened my mouth and started to tell Michelle all about that when she stopped me.
“Said his name was King, right? Well, the only thing I'm finding here is some minor traffic violations, disturbances, and looks like a marijuana bust – ”
“See?” I said, feeling deflated. “He's a criminal. A bad guy.”
“Seriously, Abbie?” she raised her eyebrows at me. “It's just pot and in case you don't keep up with the news, it's now legal in many states.”
I cringed and flashed her a grin. She had a point.
“Do you like this guy?” she asked me.
I shrugged. “I don't know.”
“Well, at least you can say thank you. You should at least say thank you for what he did,” she said. “After all, he did get Jack to back off. That scumbag little weasel is probably never going to bother you again. Hell, he's probably never even going to look at you again. Forget him ever trying to put his hands on your ass. You at least owe this King for that – if not letting him take you out on a date.”
I shook my head at her, but couldn't suppress the smile that crept across my face. “You're a bad influence, you know that?”
“Eh, I dunno. I think you need somebody like me in your life to lead you down the dark and twisty paths in life. I think sometimes you think too much. You need to have some fun and loosen up, Abbie,” she said. “After all, life is about more than apartment associations and public relations.”
She had a point. Again. I was starting to notice a pattern.
I reached inside my purse for my phone, feeling the urge to find something to distract me temporarily. But as I stared down at it, I groaned. There would apparently be no distracting myself from King after all, because there was a message from him.
I won't bother you ever again, but tell me if he ever touches you again and I'll handle it. You have my word.
Truth be told, I'd rather King be the one touching me. But in the back of my mind, there was still that fear. My brain was telling me to step away, to keep my distance. But of course, my heart sided with Michelle and said to go for it.
It was a conundrum and I had no idea how to solve it.