CHAPTER 02 - BARRETT
I woke up the next morning with an unfamiliar ceiling staring back at me. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant, especially with the light from the morning coming through the window and casting a healthy glow around the room.
I blinked my eyes, taking stock of where I was without moving my arms and legs around too much. It became very clear that wherever this bed was, I wasn’t alone in it, and I slowly turned my head, seeing her lying next to me, peacefully sawing logs like it was a regular day.
But it wasn’t a regular day, was it?
Of course not.
Regular days didn’t begin with me waking up in women’s beds after meeting them at a club and taking them home for a wild night of hot sex.
Of course, when I put it that way, making that a regular occurrence didn’t sound half bad, I noted, chuckling to myself. I closed my mouth as I felt her stir against me, enjoying the look of serenity splashed across her sleeping face.
I settled back in, taking in the surroundings and letting the moment linger as long as I could. I didn’t get around to stuff like this very often, despite how often the opportunities presented themselves, so I intended to savor the experience.
As I watched Mallory sleep, though, I couldn’t help but whatever it was about this woman that had caused me to do all those things last night. There was just something about her, something I couldn’t put my finger on exactly, something that inspired me.
I hadn’t felt anything like that in a long time, not in many, many years. And now, watching her sleep, I could already tell that she was like a drug to me — now that I had gotten that first hit, and it had been so amazing, I couldn’t help but want more.
I didn’t want anything else. She was like a candle in the dark, a sanctuary from the memories of the things I had seen and done over the years.
But, of course, this was all moving too fast - I couldn’t unburden myself upon her like that, regardless of how much I wanted to, felt the need to. She didn’t deserve all of that — no one did, especially not someone I had just met the night before.
I could fit all the words we’d spoken to each other so far on less than a page, and yet, here I was in her bed, feeling more relaxed than I could remember feeling in a long time.
What did that say about me?
Was Tate right? Did I have what it took to live this life? I’d never been the type to question myself before, never had the opportunity nor the need, but as I looked into Mallory’s face as she sawed logs with no care in the world apparent, I found my head filled with questions.
Questions that I was not prepared in the slightest to even begin to answer.
What was I going to do?
I moved in a little closer, and my breath must have rustled her hair — a stray lock fell forward and lay over her nose. I held my breath and reached up with one finger, hooking it around the lock and pushing it back where it came from.
Mallory’s breath hitched and she pulled inward, and I was scared for a second that I had woken her, but soon she settled back into place and I thought I caught the beginning of a snore.
That seemed like the right time to leave, but I realized, to my surprise, that I didn’t want to go. It was Saturday, but for men in my line of work the distinction between weekday and weekend wasn’t really all that important. Protection was needed and violence needed applying any day of the week.
I wondered what Mallory did for a living. Maybe she was an artist, or a teacher. Maybe she was a journalist.
Whatever she was, I didn’t have the time to stick around and find out. I was scheduled to be in Meridian for a couple weeks, but that wasn’t enough time to both get my work done and spend as much time as I found myself wanting to spend with this girl.
And that wouldn’t have been fair to her — she didn’t seem like the type to get into short flings with random men. Who was I kidding? I had no idea what kind of person she was. I’d said thirty words to her the entire evening.
I knew what I had to do, and I turned slowly, till I was once again on my back and staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. As comfortable as her bed was, and as much as I wanted to surprise Mallory in bed with breakfast, just after waking her up with my lips and tongue all over her, I knew that I needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
I looked around the room till I found a clock on the wall and realized that I needed to go now if I wanted to make it back to the Norman offices by 10am. Tate Norman, as little as I thought of him, was not someone who smart people kept waiting, and these days I was trying to become a smarter person.
It took all my skills at being stealthy honed over many years and taught to me by many teachers, to get out of Mallory’s bed without disturbing her any further. As I slowly extricated myself from the bed, limb by limb, I stopped every few seconds to check her face to make sure she wasn’t watching me.
No dice. I was safe.
For now.
Once I was out of the bed it took only a couple minutes to locate all the clothing I had quickly tossed aside last night during our mutual striptease, but it would have taken even less time if visions of Mallory’s sexy body swaying in front of me on the bed didn’t keep making their way across my mind.
After I finished getting dressed, I looked down at her still asleep, tangled up in blankets and sheets, none the wiser. I sighed, knowing that if I didn’t have work to do, I’d get rid of these clothes just as quickly and wake her up with my fingers and lips.
No.
NO.
Sorry, Barrett, not this time. I knew that was a night unlike any other, but it was over now, and I had work to do.
I managed to pull out my phone while watching Mallory sleep and call a car to come pick me up.
As I glanced at the screen every minute or so watching the ETA tick down and seeing the car get closer to me on the map, I had to tear myself away from watching Mallory sleep.
I knew I was doing the right thing in leaving before she woke up. There was nothing I could offer her. Sure, the sex was wonderful and I wanted nothing more than to be around her more, learn who she was, and see what we were like together.
But that simply wasn’t compatible with the life I had chosen. I was more or less a mercenary, and in my line of work, being attached to anyone so strongly was little more than a liability.
Regardless of how amazing it felt just to be in the same room as her.
No, it had to be this way. My phone pinged; a notification that my car was waiting outside. I took one last look at Mallory on the bed before slipping out of the room, putting on my shoes, and walking outside the building to the waiting car.
I didn’t look back.
Thirty minutes later, I arrived in front of the Norman Corporation HQ. I pulled my jacket a little tighter around me as I waved to the driver and got out of the car into the chilly air of the overcast morning. There were few cars on the road — most people stayed away from their offices on the weekends.
The stores I could see were just starting to open, and already the grocery store down the block looked to be doing brisk business, people pushing empty carts in and full carts out.
It occurred to me as I stood in front of the giant Norman Tower and watched the people around me slowly get into their weekends, that there were a huge number of people, the majority of them, actually, who lived normal lives that included things like grocery shopping on a Saturday morning.
I had caught a glimpse of that life this morning when I woke up with Mallory next to me. What would it be like for me to try and live a normal life? Could I do it?
I shook my head trying to get all these questions that suddenly propped themselves up in my mind to go away - I was only mildly successful.
Looking around again to get my bearings, I turned toward Norman Tower, slowly rolling my eyes ever upward till I got to the tips of the building, slightly obscured by low hanging clouds. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to go to work each day in a building like this.
It wasn’t the life for me - I couldn’t even remember the last time I had gone grocery shopping. Probably when I was on a mission, tailing someone around while they went through their normal routine.
I walked into the building and stopped at the security station. The weekend guard on duty recognized me from the last time I spent some time in Meridian, and he waved me through after running me through the detector.
I checked my watch, noting that I had a few minutes to get to Tate’s office, and I stopped to admire the art collection that hung all around the Norman Tower’s lobby. Tate’s father had been an ardent and prolific art historian and collector in his meager spare time, and had amassed a huge collection, leaving it all to the city of Meridian, with the caveat that it always had to be on display at the Norman Tower, and that the public would always have access to it.
Tate hadn’t been pleased at that last part — he couldn’t have cared less about art, but he did make this one concession to his late father’s wishes.
After a few minutes more of admiring the brushwork and color choices on some of the more recent acquisitions, I keyed the elevator up to Tate’s office’s floor. The ride was quick — another quirk of Tate’s father’s leadership that Tate had kept was keeping his office in the middle of the tower, rather than on the highest floor. Neither Norman had cared much for the trappings of showing off power in public, but the elder Norman, and especially Tate, loved the idea of wielding it from behind the scenes.
Having an office on the 8th floor instead of the 60th made sense, from that perspective.
The doors opened and I got out, noting that Tate’s secretary was not behind her desk. I grunted as I passed by, noting that clearly this was an off-the-books meeting.
With Tate Norman, most of them were.
I knocked before opening the door to Tate’s office, and when I looked inside, I saw Tate sitting at his desk, a sheaf of papers in hand, looking up at me with a sneer.
“Barrett!” he shouted across the office as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, hearing it seal shut at the end. “Come in. Right on time as always.” I walked toward the desk and sat down in the left of the two chairs in front of it.
Tate and I stared at each other across the desk. Finally, Tate broke the silence. “I can tell you had a good night last night.”
I didn’t reply.
Tate set down the papers and put his elbows on the desk, resting his head in his hands. “I watched you, you know. I saw you leave with that girl.” He sat back, his chair leaning backward to accommodate his shifting mass. “Very nice, Barrett.” He winked. “I knew you had it in you.”
I waved my hand away. “Let’s change the subject, Tate. What’re we here for?” I wanted to get down to business as soon as I could, mainly to get out this office as quickly as possible. Tate Norman was not someone I liked to be alone with.
Tate looked stricken, then his features softened back into that trademark Tate Norman half-smile, half-devil. “You wound me, Barrett. We’re buddies, right?”
Again, I didn’t reply.
“And buddies tell each other about their conquests!” Tate stood up and leaned against the mahogany table behind him, almost bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Carrie and Jamie asked me to say hi, by the way. They were sad you left our table so early.”
“I’m sure you helped them get over their grief.”
Tate chuckled. “I did. They went home this morning. That club,” he shook his head, still smiling, “they certainly know how to take care of VIPs.”
“Was there something you wanted to see me about, Tate?”
“Of course there is, Barrett. Lots for us to do, very exciting times for the Norman Corporation.” Tate sat back down and leaved over his desk again. “But we have time for all that. Tell me about this girl from last night. I want to know everything.”
The truth was that I didn’t know everything about Mallory - I barely knew anything about her.
But I wasn’t going to tell Tate Norman that. “I had a good night, Tate, and that’s the end of the story. Here I am, ready to get down to it. If you’ve got other plans, I can come back some other time.”
Tate’s smile disappeared, and that made me more happy than it should have. “Fine, Barrett, have it your way.” He shook his head, this time no more mirth in it. “Always ready for business, with you.” He picked at the papers on his desk. “You’re lucky you’re so efficient or I might be inclined to hire someone a little more, close to me in personality.”
I stared at Tate blankly. “There’s no luck in my efficiency, Tate. I’m good at what I do because I train hard and I look at all the angles dispassionately.”
“You’re right. Quite the robot you are.” Finally, Tate selected a folder from his desk. “OK, then, down to business.”
Tate Norman kept on talking for a while after that, but I wasn’t really listening too hard, beyond what was needed to stay in the conversation and respond accordingly at the right time.
My mind was back in Mallory’s apartment, in bed with her, planning how to spend the day learning about each other.
Both physically and otherwise.
Tate droned on as I shook my head, trying again to get these thoughts to go away, and being just as successful.
I would never see Mallory again, I finally decided.
And that was probably for the best.
Now, why didn’t I really believe that?