She’s a Runner

by B Amari

“Well, if I’m going to stick around, and you two meatheads insist on,” I made air quotes, “protecting me from the threat, you should at least be armed.”

  I held up the bag and gave it a very small jiggle, just enough to hear metal on metal. I lowered the bag to the floor as the boys sauntered over to see what I had in there.

  The zipper was louder than normal in this silence. Andreas surveyed my cache and nodded. “Good, you’re well armed. I personally have my own, but I’ll make sure to wear them from now on. Thanks though.” He winked at me again and palmed one of my throwing stars. “I don’t have any of these though!”

  The excitement on his face told me he would probably have his own rich man set by sun down. I reached up and took the star from his untrained hand. “You don’t get to touch these without practice, sorry not sorry.”

  I took out two identical Ruger SR9, that I was especially proud of. They were the newest addition to my orphanage of defence. They were lightweight, well balanced and easy to shoot.

  I took my shoulder holsters from the bag and fitted myself with Glory and Grace, as I’d named them.

  Next I pulled out my blade-holders for my ankle/lower calf, and the knives that went with them.

  Silas knelt down beside me and eyed up my horde. He palmed a large hunting knife, almost lovingly, he pulled it from its sheath.

  “My uncle used to have one like this he wore on his belt, when he’d take me hunting.” He placed the knife back in the bag. “From what I’ve heard so far though, these guys aren’t to be played with. A knife won’t do what I need.”

  I reached in and brought out a box. “This one has been with me the longest. She’s my baby, but if you promise to treat her right, I’ll let you borrow her.”

  I opened the lid on the dark wooden box to reveal a deep purple cushion, and sitting on top was Betty. Betty was my SIG Sauer. An acquaintance of mine up north had done me a solid and had done a killer hydro-dip job.

  Betty was beautiful in her galaxy inspired coating.

  I picked her up carefully, hesitant to relinquish her to anyone else. Still, I passed it to Silas.

  He smiled. There was laughter in his eyes. “I’ll take good care of her. Promise.”

  “Do you even know how to use one of those?” Andreas asked him. I was curious too, what was poor Betty in for?

  Silas raised the gun and aimed it just above Andreas’s left shoulder. He stared expertly down the end of his gun at his target. I would’ve been worried, except Silas’ finger never touched the trigger. Didn’t even twitch towards it.

  “One inch to the right, and poof you’re a pirate… if you survive.” Silas said confidently.

  I stared at Silas in shock. My gentlemanly friend had a bad side.

  “What?” Silas challenged me. “I didn’t always own that cafe, you know.”

  He lowered his gun, and tucked it in the waist of his pants. “Now what?”

  I looked around the room. “Now, my runaway routine begins. It’s like the Night's Watch, never ending.”

  Andreas looked at me quizzically. “The what’s what?”

  “The Night's Watch, you know: G O freaking T?” Seeing no recognition cross his face I shrugged it off and dismissed his ignorance. Poor sweet summer child he was.

  Silas tried to hold in his laughter beside us, and Andreas scowled at him, which sent me into a fit of laughter myself.

  With a straight face Silas looked to Andreas. “You know nothing, Andreas Drakos.” Silas nudged my side with his elbow and smiled. That did it, I was sent into a fit of giggles out of my control.

  Andreas walked closer to us and put his hands on his hips. “What is so fucking funny?”

  Silas broke then. His laughter rolled out of him like he was finally free, finally being himself. Which made me realize that I’d been so self absorbed before I hadn’t noticed what was right in front of me.

  Silas had haunted eyes, and he carried himself like the weight of the worlds problems were on his shoulders. I’d never seen him so carefree and light. The contrast sent shame through me for not seeing it before.

  “Well?” Andreas demanded.

  I took a couple deep breaths and centred myself. “It’s from a show. You’d have to watch it to get it.”

  “Was that an invitation, Ms Remes?”

  I snorted in a very unlady like way. “I doubt you’d like it, and even so… at the moment that’s more than two days, seventeen hours and thirty two minutes of binge.”

  Silas looked at me, surprise on his face. “You know exactly how many hours of footage there is? Why?” He cocked his head curiously.

  “Life is lonely on the run. The internet is all I’ve got. But that’s not all there is, that just how much I’ve seen.”

  Andreas sauntered to the bed and grabbed one of my luggage style bags. “ Well once we get all of this…” he fanned his hand around the room. “... sorted you will have to introduce me to this G O freaking T that makes you laugh so musically.”

  I felt the blush rise on my cheeks. He hard heard just how long it would take, and he had probably picked up on the nerd vibe, and he still wanted to do it.

  I quickly nodded my agreement and pointed to the closet. “The clean stuff goes in that bag, they’re all in the closet.”

  I watched as his body moved towards the far wall. It was weird but I couldn’t stop staring at his back, and the way the muscle shirt showed his toned skin bulging over his muscular physique. When did backs become something sexy to me?

  Silas broke me out of my trance and I whipped my head in his direction, hoping beyond faith I didn’t have drool dribbling out of the corner of my mouth. “Sorry, what did you say?” I asked.

  “I said: what can I do?”

  Oh. Duh. We were supposed to be packing. I crossed over to the bed and picked up my backpack. “I have a lot of odds and ends around the place. I really should stay more organized. But if you could check the bathroom and dinette/lounge, and bedroom for random little things it would be really helpful.” I stopped as a thought banged against my head.

  Oh right. “One sec,” I said as I moved to the desk. Leaning over the top and grabbing the hotel stationary, I made a list of all my bits and pieces, that I may have left laying about.

  Rushing over to Silas I passed him the pack and the list. “These are the things that I’m usually looking for last minute, especially the little black book, that’s important, but always hiding.” I was rambling. I had to stop. “Anyways, thank you for this, and for letting me stay at your spare place.”

  Before he could respond, I moved on and started by taking the map down and placing it back in the container with the rest of my documents, real and false.

  I went into the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush, shampoo, and my make up bag. I came back out and took my findings to the bed. I needed my other backpack which was still in the closet, I think.

  Walking slowly to the closet, I stopped short of interrupting Andreas. He was on his knees, neatly folding my outfits and depositing them into the luggage, all organized and shit.

  I always just threw my things in and sat on it until I could get it zippered. I coughed into my hand, reluctantly breaking his calm.

  “Sorry, I just gotta grab something.”

  Andreas smiled. I noticed a barely there dimple on his right side I hadn’t noticed before. “Of course.” He pushed off the floor and stood.

  I was momentarily drawn to his torso, and forgot to move out of his way. His chest rubbed against mine as he passed through the door frame. Looking to the floor, I rushed into the closet and bent down to dig for my other backpack.

  The warm feeling of his eyes - the one that I’d felt earlier - came back in a rush, all over my bottom. Feeling the blush return, I tried to fight it down and started digging more ferociously though the shoes and things on the floor.

  Aha! Gotcha. I snagged the bag and exited the closet without looking at Andreas. I had to get a grip. Rule #4: No personal relationships.

 
If I were being honest with myself, I’d already allowed more than acquaintances with these guys.

  Logical, mature me vowed to not let it go any further. Devilish, spontaneous me snickered.

  Great, now I was gaining personalities.

  I retreated to the bed and started packing my toiletries.

  It wouldn’t take long between the three to get everything packed away. That was, if I could tame my hormones after realizing that men doing housework was a major turn on too.

  Chapter 8

  “Alright then! That’s the last of it.” Andreas preened triumphantly as he sat down my suitcase in my new abode. “Drinks! To celebrate, on me,” he offered, while nodding his head.

  I threw myself on to the sofa. “Just gimmie a sec okay? I’m crashing from my caffeine high. Give me five and some of the secret sauce downstairs to wake me up again and I’ll be good to go, I could definitely celebrate.”

  Silas sighed and shook his head but didn’t refuse. As he made his way to the door he looked over his shoulder and I took a mental snapshot (he looked like Zoolander, but hot as hell).

  “I’ll be right downstairs with that perk-me-up,” he said addressing me. “Just follow your nose.”

  The light in his eyes dimmed as his attention turned to Andreas. He stared pointedly at him but stayed silent.

  “What!?” Andreas asked defensively, as if Silas were staring into his soul, and he was unsure how the verdict would come back.

  “Think you could unglue yourself long enough to give the lady some privacy? I think she deserves at least that much.” Silas explained.

  My pulse quickened as I saw Andreas’ face turn from anger to embarrassment, and a flush started working it’s way out of the neckline of his muscle shirt.

  He looked over to me, and I tried to hide my smile so I didn’t embarrass him further, but it was no use. The insecurity in his eyes didn’t belong there, it looked wrong.

  “Go on, I’ll just be right here vegetating in the silence. It will do me good to get used to my new surroundings.”

  Saying it like that made it sound so normal, but honestly it was something I was going to need to do, and I was going to need to do it alone.

  There were times, especially early on in my days of running, where I would wake up completely unaware of where I was, what city, what town, or time zone. I would wake up screaming, or develop a terrible chill, and shake until I exhausted myself back into slumber.

  It didn’t take me very long to start orienting myself before ever sleeping in a room for the first time. I would familiarize myself, and pick out three to five items I could see from the bed. If I woke up and the panic started to come, I would name and find those items.

  By the time I was done the panic had usually passed.

  I didn’t want to do this part of my ritual in front of the guys… they didn’t need to know about that particular vulnerability.

  “Well, do your thing.” Andreas answered and followed Silas.

  When the door closed, I started to examine the room. A fluffy queen bed was over in the corner close to the dormer window but not against the wall. A small bedside table sat beside it holding a small vase with a single stemmed flower with three offshoots holding up the bloom. They were a light pink with a deep burgundy where the petal met the center, which was a vibrant perky yellow. Beautiful.

  I made a note to ask Silas what they were and added the vase to my list of items. The walls of the room were done in pastel butter yellow, and the furnishings seemed homey. Like a grandmother had decorated.

  I wondered if Silas’ Ya-ya had decorated this room before moving back to Greece. Probably.

  A painting of a woman was directly across from the bed. She stood tall and lithe in a temple of some sort, in a simple white robe-dress thing. Her long black hair spilled the whole way down to her butt. It had an otherworldly quality to the strands, odd, but mesmerizing. On either side of her was another person - a man on one side and a woman on the other- pulling her by the arms, her hair tangled between their limbs. Her face would’ve been beautiful if she weren’t in so much pain. Who were these assholes pulling her in two? Fucking twats.

  I added the suffering lady to my list and scanned for something else. To the left of the bed, hanging in the window was a dream catcher. Intertwined in the webbing were bits of sea glass, a feather, bits of what looked like mirror, and the outside was wrapped in what looked like snake skin. Creepy but whatever, if it kept the nightmares out.

  Creepy snake dream catcher #3 spot, here ya go! My internal game show host was apparently up to bat on my path of discovering my new personalities, I thought to myself sarcastically.

  Okay, there has to be two more things I can see from the bed, I mused. I walked to the bed and flopped down, trying to get some perspective.

  I pulled a small throwing dagger out of my boot lacings and hid it beneath the pillow. I’d count that as number four. Now just one more item and my panic attack protection should be in place.

  There was a lamp on a desk on the other side of the room, but if I turned it on and pointed it down at night, it shouldn’t hinder me getting to sleep. I’d see the light from the bed easily.

  There, done.

  I skipped over to my bags and salvaged an outfit for the club from the clean clothes. I threw it on quickly, did a check in the mirror, and ignored my cosmetics. I threw on a lengthy silver wig, and a pair of flats to match.

  Now time for some java-goodness. I rose from the bed and made my way downstairs. Just as Silas suggested I followed my nose. He’d been brewing up something new and the cinnamon in the air mixed with something else that smelled divine.

  As I came around the wall separating the shop from the stairs, I gave a little wave and hauled myself up to the coffee bar, suddenly kinda nervous. “Whatcha making?”

  Silas didn’t look up from what he was doing. “Dunno yet.” I had seen him do this before. He gets in the zone perfecting something new, and by weeks end he has a new hit on the menu that the patrons eat right up.

  “Oh well, even without a name it smells heavenly.” Silas grabbed the shaved chocolate and sprinkled it on top of the foam. He slid the one he was working on my way. I didn’t hold back my smile.

  “Thanks!” I cupped my hands around the drink of the gods and blew the steam coming from the rim. I knew it didn’t really help but it was habit.

  Then out of nowhere I remembered the flower. “What’s the name of those flowers upstairs by the bed?”

  This got Silas’ attention and his hands faltered their assault on the next creation he had in front of him. “They’re called rock roses. They’ve always been kept up there, even before I took over. I can get them out of there if you want?”

  “No, no, they’re fine. I’ve just never seen them before.” I explained.

  “The Cafe has a long standing order from a small mom and pop flower shop downtown. They order them in special.” Silas said as if it were nothing that his family had such deep seeded roots in this community.

  I sipped my coffee and let out a moan. “So good…” I whispered over the rim. A grunt sounded beside me and I finally noticed Andreas was just a few stools down.

  Changing up whatever his face was showing and composing himself, Andreas tried to cover up the undignified sound he had made. “All dressed up, almost ready to go?”

  “Mmhmm,” I nodded and drained the rest of my drink. The liquid burned going down but it would give me a good jolt, all hitting me at once. Andreas’ cell buzzed on the bar top. He picked it up, quickly looked at the notification, then stuffed it back in his pants pocket.

  Silas looked at me in horror, shook his head at my antics, and started taking off his cute apron. “Sasha! I’m leaving, lock up behind yourself. I’ll do count tonight, so don’t touch the office!”

  He came out from behind the counter as the young barista came from the back. She nodded and went back to her task before taking over the bar.

  “Let’s go then.” Silas sidled up
to me and gave me his elbow. I felt all fancy and stuff. I took his arm and looked over my shoulder at Andreas. “Ya comin?”

  He strode up to my other side and before he could offer I grabbed his elbow as well. “Off to the races, boys!” I pulled them along. It was time to dance.

  Chapter 9

  I was six shots in and feeling great. All the stress over the last few days melted away as the beat pulsed through my body.

  The lights twirled, bubbles cascaded from the ceiling, and bodies moved all around me. Two particularly well built specimens specifically moved around me, if you could call it that. On me, over me, practically in me.

  Something inside me had decided to enjoy the familiarity and the personal interaction while I could. Only god knew when I would get this chance again. It wasn’t every day that I ran into a man I could look in the eyes, let alone grind on.

  I threw my head back and laughed. A carefree laugh that forced itself out of me. I wasn’t sure if it was insanity or the pure bliss of not caring for just one moment; forgetting the danger of my life and just being.

  Andreas’ hands fell to my hips and dragged them closer. He was radiating heat and his eyes lowered to my chest, heat of another kind alighted in his gaze.

  I grew brazen then, soaking in his lustful stare. “I like the way you move,” I purred close to his ear before I slid in his arms to face Silas.

  Andreas’ hands fell back to my hips. I felt his fingers dig into me when I swayed my ass across his growing erection.

  I put my arms out and beckoned Silas closer. His movement was less fluid. He scanned the crowd once before he stalked towards me.

  For once I saw the animal Silas hid behind his outside shell. I had once thought him kind, gentle, and caring - and I suppose he was still all those things - but right now the dangerous vibes bled from his every pore. He looked at me like a predator would its prey. He hid a dragon behind his eyes.

  His hand came up to cup my cheek as he started to dance against my body. Pinned, I was pinned, and I was loving every second of it. I was drowning in it. I may well have died in that embrace if a flash of black hadn’t streaked across my vision.