Chapter 2
Angel’s eyes fluttered as she became aware of a voice singing sweetly not far away from her. The song came from a male voice, deep and stirring, the sweet mournful sound made her want to comfort the singer, to take away the sadness in that voice. Opening her eyes, Angel looked up to see her neighbor was the singer, singing an old song about a man losing the love of his life and desperately wanting her back. She smiled at the man, but the smile turned into a flush as she realized she’d fainted and he’d caught her. Her cheeks flamed deeper as she remembered why she’d fainted. Shifting quickly, she pulled her legs under her, preparing to run out of the place at the first sign of danger.
Looking around she realized she must be in his home, dark masculine colors and dark leather furniture dominated the room, which was shaped exactly as her own was. Angel had decorated her side with pastel, light colors that inspired a coolness that was necessary in the heat out here. She liked his place though, but that didn’t stop her from being terrified of him. She met his eyes again, unasked questions obvious in her dark eyes.
“I’m not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m sorry I frightened you. I guess my attempt at being funny fell flat. Would you like a drink?” Oh he did have a beautiful voice, Angel thought.
“Um, no. I’m fine, what time is it? I was rushing out to meet the train, I need more art supplies. I guess I’ve missed it for the day now. I’ll just try tomorrow I guess, um, please excuse me; I’ll get out of your place now. Thank you very much.” Angel stood, preparing to leave when the man held his hand out, hoping to stop her.
“If you need to get somewhere maybe I can take you? I have a vehicle, it wouldn’t be a problem, and I’m not doing anything today. I’d be glad to get out actually.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to be a bother, I’ll just go tomorrow. It’s really no big deal.” Angel said, trying to walk away again, as her resolve began to dissolve. She steeled herself, however, he was male after all.
“Aw, it wouldn’t be no problem, ma’am, it’d be a break for me, really. Also, I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Felix Waters. As I said, I wouldn’t mind getting out of here for a little while and maybe you can show me around a little bit?”
Her knees practically melted as his southern accent somehow increased. She wanted to listen to him read books, newspapers, cereal boxes, anything just to keep him talking. Down girl, she told herself, you’ve been alone a long time but still, think of your safety. Although going to town in a car would take a lot less time than taking the train, going in, then coming back on the train.
“Well then, Felix, I’m Angel. Nice to meet you. If you’re sure it’s no problem?”
“Not a problem at all. Shall we head out now? Are you feeling better?” He asked with concern.
“Oh sure, I’m fine. Just got a little worked up I guess. I do apologize for that. You must think I’m an idiot!”
“Not at all,” Felix said as they walked towards his truck. “It was thoughtless of me and I do apologize again. My mother would beat me silly if she knew I’d done that.”
“Oh, I’m sure that smile of yours would get you out of it!” Angel said with a laugh, then blushed as she realized what she’d said. She looked away, rolling her eyes at herself. Sheesh Angel, dork much?
“It would if she hadn’t passed away recently. Her and my father are both gone now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Mine are both gone too. I miss them dearly.”
“We have something in common then. We’re both orphans.” Felix smiled at her reassuringly with sympathy.
“There is that.” Angel said back, looking away as she wondered if he really had turned into a bear or not. Surely she’d just dreamed it, or hallucinated, maybe Michael had damaged her brain? He didn’t seem to have any bear qualities, he didn’t even have hair on the back of his hands, or long teeth, or anything. Just a normal, if rather tall, man who also happened to be very fit.
Felix drove Angel to the shop for her art supplies, asking about her line of work, and she told him about her painting. She wasn’t really selling any of it right now but she hoped to one day. Felix told her about his information technology career, a job where he could pick up freelance work online and still travel as he chose. Angel went on to show him other shops he may be interested in and then they stopped at a café for some coffee and a light dinner.
Over the next few weeks, Angel didn’t learn anything about how old Felix was, but she guessed in his 30s, but she did learn that he was 6 foot 5 inches tall. Practically a foot and a half taller than she was! It made walking around awkward sometimes, people would stare at them, but she enjoyed his company. They spent their days by the pool, relaxing and talking about their work, and during the nights; one would cook or they’d go out together to one of the local eateries. Sometimes one of them would be working on something and they’d stay in their homes but the other one would always go in to check on the other.
Angel felt like she was really building a friendship with Felix, one built on mutual respect, caring, and kindness. Felix had never tried to kiss her or take their relationship in another direction, and she was grateful for that but at the same time, she was starting to have feelings for him. She had nobody but him to talk to; she’d lost contact with all of her friends over the years because of Michael, and any family she might have left was lost to the winds.
After her life with Michael, Angel wasn’t sure how to approach Felix, or if she even should. Michael had made her feel useless, as though she’d been a terrible housewife, an even worse person, and unworthy of love. So many times Michael wouldn’t be able to perform in the bedroom and he’d tell her it was her fault, she wasn’t exciting enough or sexy enough but if she tried to dress in a provocative way he just called her a whore. Michael also hit her more when he couldn’t perform and that combined with how perfunctory he was at it, giving her no pleasure at all, it made Angel cringe at the idea of changing her relationship with Felix.
She now knew most of the problem had actually been with Michael, not anything she’d ever done wrong, but still, there were little niggling doubts that she couldn’t get rid of. Angel wished she could because Felix was a wonderful man; generous, sweet, funny, and he was just generally a really great guy. He helped clean up and never complained about anything, he’d even stopped to help a family stuck on the side of the road when their car broke down, ferrying them all into town in his truck with them. She was just too frightened to open up that much again.
Michael had been sweet and funny when they first got together and he’d learned that she came from a family with money. He’d take her out, buy her things, and ply her with wine and roses. He completely changed on their wedding night and it had just grown worse over time, until she was completely isolated and alone. Angel didn’t think she could get through that again. At the same time, she was starting to see that not all men were like Michael. Not all relationships were the same, so maybe in time she could thaw out a little and take a chance. For now she was happy having a friend.
Angel had even opened up a little bit to Felix about Michael, not going into detail about it but she let him know it hadn’t been a happy marriage and that it was part of the reason she was in Mexico now. Felix told her he’d never been married, too consumed in his work to even date most of the time. He’d miss dates, special events, and women just didn’t like that. He’d come to Mexico to have some time to himself, he’d made enough money to live comfortably off of now, after selling some kind of software and he just wanted to work on projects that needed help such as nonprofits that were building webpages and such. Peace and quiet, they decided, was what they were both after, even though they were rarely quiet when together. That lack of quiet suited them just fine though as the days passed and their friendship grew.
Angel smiled as she saw Felix heading to her place with the post as she looked up from the dishes she was doing, to look out of the window. Her smile slipped as he stared at one of the envelopes. For some reason Felix looked upset, and she wondered if he’d received some bad news. She hoped not, and dried her hands as she left the dishes in the sink.
She heard him calling for her as he came in her front door, not even bothering to knock anymore, which brought the smile back, but it quickly disappeared again as he found her in the hallway walking into the living room. Concern etched lines into her face as she walked up to him, a question forming on her lips.
“What’s wrong Felix? Have you had bad news?” She asked.
“No, it seems you have. I debated giving this to you but I can’t keep it from you. It’s your business,” he said after taking a deep breath.
Angel’s heart rate increased as he spoke, wondering, almost knowing who the letter was from before she saw it. Taking the envelope with trembling hands, Angel looked up at Felix, her fear evident. She didn’t want to take the envelope from him. She could almost feel the evil it contained and she didn’t have to look long to know it was from Michael. Felix said it all with his expression; with his words. Her slice of heaven had been discovered.
Angel finally dragged her eyes down, looking at the return address. She stumbled back; actually falling but Felix was there to catch her. He pulled her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom, sitting her down, and disappeared for a moment as he went for a glass of water. He knelt in front of her once she took the glass and spoke to her gently.
“Angel, whatever it says, whatever that jackass has to say to you, I am here for you and I will protect you. Do you understand me? This changes nothing. You’re still my little buddy and Michael will never hurt you again. I know I don’t know exactly what happened with him but I saw the pain when you spoke about him, I noticed the unspoken words, and the way your voice shook when you talked about him, and he will never, ever hurt you again, do you hear me? I swear that to you!”
Angel could only look at Felix. She didn’t want to open the envelope but knowing she had a friend that cared, that promised to be there with her gave her courage. She tore the seal, pulled out the one piece of paper inside of it, and let the letter flutter open onto her bed. As soon as Felix saw the words he snatched the paper off of the bed and crumpled it up, but Angel had already seen what it said.
In large block letters Michael had typed the words: “I know where you are. Payback time.”