Quicksilver Dreams(187)
I tried calling Reggie, but he didn’t pick up. Quickly I left a brief message regarding the change of plans.
Knowing that Ryder was going to protest and try to make me wait for him to arrive and accompany me or something silly like that, I sent a quick text telling him what was happening and where I was going to be. His response was almost immediate.
Wait for me! I’ll go with you.
Rolling my eyes, I responded by texting him that there was no time and that I needed to head out. I had let him know what restaurant I was going to be at, though, which I figured was a good compromise. I didn’t mind if he joined us there. My phone buzzed again with his response, but I ignored it. I just wanted to get this done, and I was not about to engage in a texting argument with my...what? Boyfriend? Lover?
I smiled as I thought about what to call him, feeling okay with the designations for the first time ever. Life really was looking up.
Typing in names and dates, I printed out one of our standard contracts and created a client folder to be added to the file cabinet. It was only as I stepped outside of my office building that I realized I hadn’t asked Paul what kind of car he was driving. Scanning the street, I figured it wouldn’t be hard to spot him, especially since he was watching for me and supposedly already there. But no one honked. And I saw no one who resembled Paul: tall, dark blond, lean, sort of scruffy clothes. I walked back toward my office building and leaned against one of the stone pillars in the shade, trying to stay out of the direct heat of the summer sun, and contemplated my predicament.
Now what? Nothing. That was what. Did I need to go back up and call him? Maybe I had him on my smartphone calendar app with his phone number. That would be just like me. I could be seriously organized when I wanted to be. But what was up with this sudden trip?
The longer I stood there, the longer I had time to entertain some misgivings. How was it that I nearly got snagged off the street, Reggie turned up missing and Paul needed to get out of town immediately? I didn’t think such things were coincidental, and we all had the same terrorist as our lowest common denominator. Was I truly being foolish? If this was a movie, would people be screaming at me from the audience to get back in the building? I was starting to freak myself out. Life was seriously getting too spooky for Casper.
Just when I was getting ready to head back in, a large hand grabbed my arm in a strong grip and yanked me behind the pillar.
I yelped my surprise.
“It’s just me.” Paul gave me a half smile that seemed altogether forced. He looked past me and scanned the street as though looking for someone.
“Everything okay?” I offered the question hesitantly.
“Dandy.” But his smile had become a grimace. “I’m parked around the corner.”
Around the corner was a euphemism for nearly half a mile away. I could feel my feet chafing in my heels, as these were not shoes made for long distances covered quickly. I was on the verge of complaining, feeling where a few blisters were going to bleed soon, when he said, “I’m right there.”
A black luxury SUV was parked midblock.
Sitting felt wonderful, though the silence that followed as we drove through the streets felt awkward. Keeping my shield in place, I opened my mind fully to Paul, trying to get a sense of what was happening here. Waves of fear and anxiety rushed through him and crashed over me, engulfing me, almost like heavy weights on my shoulders. He was on the run. Flight. But he didn’t want to give up completely on the dream he’d finally found for himself. Writing. He wanted to somehow preserve that, keep that foot in the door. His thoughts were scattered and rushing without sequence, making it impossible to follow what was happening with him.