by Lauren Wood
“I told you I wasn’t leaving this spot and I meant it.” I had spent most of the day on the beach, trying to get every moment firmly planted into my brain so that I would always remember this time. I was going to need it for the next fifty weeks until I got another vacation. That was a long time away and I didn’t want to waste a moment of it doing something that I could do back at home. There were no beaches like this in New York, certainly not in the city.
“Well you missed an awesome day. Me and Rico had the best time.”
I looked around for the handsome man that my friend had become attached to the hip to over the course of the last week. It was nothing new. Carol always found someone to love when we were out and about. It didn’t matter where we went or what we were doing, men flocked to Carol like she was honey. It used to bother me, but it was now just the way things were. She had that free spirit that people were attracted to. We were friends because she was so open and nice. I met her one of my first days of college as a freshman. She had shown me around and we had been friends ever since.
Carol’s hair was long and blonde. She had that California girl look down to a science and her skin glowed a pretty bronze color that made her light blue eyes pop. Carol was everything that I wasn’t and though I loved her to death, I felt instantly frumpy standing next to her. This moment was no different.
“He is going to miss you when we leave tomorrow. I don’t think you two have separated since we got here.”
“I am going to miss him. I am starting to wonder if maybe I should stay a little longer. I mean, it’s not like I have a job waiting for me like you do. I could stay here and just see what happens with Rico.”
I just shook my head and closed my eyes. She was always finding male friends to keep her company, but Carol also thought that she fell in love with half of them. I must have spent a majority of my time, trying to convince her that she wasn’t in love. She didn’t love Rico. I think my friend just liked the idea of love and it came so easy for her.
She saw my eye roll and got defensive. We had this conversation many times before. “What? You don’t think I should stay?”
“No.”
Carol pouted and told me that I was no fun. I could go with that, if I had to, but it was better to be safe than stranded alone in a whole other continent on the other side of the world. There was no way that I was going to be able to leave without her. I was just going to have to convince her that she was making a mistake.
“Come on Meri. You haven’t even really met him or talked to him more than a few minutes. Come out with us tonight, one last hoorah before you go home and then you will see what I see. Then you will feel better about me staying. I know how you worry.”
I didn’t want to, but I knew she would hound me until I agreed, so I just saved us both some drama. “Fine, but only under the agreement that tomorrow morning we hit the beach before our flight, sans Rico?”
“What if I stay?”
“You aren’t going to stay. You are going to come home with me and we are going to pack up the house and go from there. If after a couple of weeks you still feel the same way about this guy, the flight isn’t very much. Just give it some time to see how you feel. Take care of stuff back home and if you still can’t live without him, what is a couple of weeks. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz.”
I knew that a little time would have her seeing things my way or at least the right way. She didn’t even know the guy and though she said he was great in bed, it hardly seemed a reason to move across the world for someone. It just didn’t make sense to me, considering that her whole life was going to be back in the United States. I never would understand what made people do such crazy things for love or in Carol’s case, lust.
She agreed and we got dressed to go out. I had bought a few fun little dresses while I was here. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to wear them when I got back home, I would never have the guts. I wanted to have some courage here to wear it at least once out.
The soft fabric swished around my legs and hugged my larger tits. I was well endowed compared to the most of the women I had seen here and it was no clearer than when I was wearing their clothes. I checked myself out in the mirror and almost turned around to change, but Carol liked it and I guess it was good enough.
“You look hot Meri. You should wear stuff like that more often. You are always wearing dark colors. All of these bright colors look good on you.”
“Yeah well don’t get used to it. I get back home and I am going to be an accountant. I don’t think there are going to be many occasions where I will be able to wear this.”
She waved me off and told me that there was always a place to wear something like that. I didn’t want to really think about it, but I knew that she was right. If I wanted to wear it, I would find a reason. I kept telling myself I was going to get out there more, now that I had done what I set out to do, but my mind was still trained in the past.
“I would get out more if you would come with me. If you don’t have an internship or a job offer when we get back, why don’t you come to New York with me?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anyone there.”
“Me either, but at we would know each other. There will be a thousand Ricos in New York. You can have your pick of them.”
“You make me sound so bad.”
I shrugged my shoulders. There really wasn’t much to say. “Whatever it sounds like, I am just saying you should think about it. Now let’s go out.”
“I forgot to tell you one thing.”
I stopped at the archway to the outside and looked back at my friend. I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like the one thing she was about to tell me.
“What?”
“Rico said that he was going to bring a friend. I am not saying that you have to go out with this person tonight, but at least have dinner with us and be nice.”
“I’m nice.”
“Yeah, well seriously, just be nice. You know I am not going to stay here most likely, it was a whim and I know you are right. So this will be the last night. Don’t do what you do.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. Whatever it is that you do when you are around guys. You put this wall up and get a little snobby.”
It wasn’t the first time that I had heard that before, but I still didn’t like to hear it. I had been called frigid, cold, prudish, everything because I wasn’t a girl that went with the rest of the pack. I saw it as a good thing, but there were many others that didn’t feel the same way. Carol knew that I hated it and she tried to take it back, but it had me thinking. Maybe I was a little too uptight. I was going to try my best to have a good night and to not worry about everything so much. I was going to try not to do what I do.
I went to the club and dinner with that in mind. The guy had a name that I didn’t remember as soon as he said it, heck, I tried unsuccessfully several times to pronounce it and I don’t think I ever got it right, not even once. I did everything that was expected of me and I had a pretty good time.
But then again, I woke up the next morning with a headache I couldn’t ignore and Carol nowhere in sight. The sun and the brightness that I had loved so much were now a problem that squinting seemed to solve.
Calling out Carol’s name, I waited for her to answer. When she didn’t, I tried my best to get up, but my head was swimming. I knew that something was off. I hadn’t drunk that much the night before, I mean, I don’t think I had anyways. I hadn’t drunk enough to feel this bad and not remember anything.
Standing up, I went to the doorway and looked outside. It was then that I saw the lights and the men in uniforms walking towards me. My head was still hurting, but I blinked my eyes several times, sure that what I was seeing wasn’t real. I heard my name being called by one of the men, my name sounding strange with their accent.
“You are under arrest Miss. Clemons.”
“For what?”
I was never
given an answer as I was carted off towards one of the small cars with flashing lights on the top. I was still trying to piece it all together. What happened last night?
Chapter 2
Sam
“What do you think of the color?”
“It is good Sir. You have an eye for this sort of thing.”
It was not the best complement, but what I wore said something to the world about who I was. I had a huge court date set for next week and there was going to be press. I didn’t want to think of myself as vain, but there was a part of me that knew I was. I wanted the pictures to go well and everyone always said I looked good in blue. My vanity was part of the reason that I was able to do what I do. I had to look the part, long before I was actually living it.
“I will need three by Friday.”
Charles was the same man that had been dressing me for years and never once had he missed a deadline. He was the best in the city, but never once as he even an hour late for a pick up. That was part of the reason that I went exclusively to him for all of my dressing needs. “Get up on the stand. It looks like you have filled out a bit, working out again?”
“Just a little. I didn’t have to work out as much before, but with age comes more time in the gym.”
I got on the stand, taking the jacket off I was wearing and letting him do some measurements so that they could be taken down a little and added to in the shoulders. I had a big week next week and all I could think about was how it was all going to go. If I won, it would be huge for my career, but if I lost, then I would lose in front of a lot of people. I didn’t like to lose, rarely did, but I knew that it was my healthy dose of fear that kept me in line. Complacency was the devil.
I got off the podium when Charles was done with his measurements and I picked out a few more things to have resized for me. When I left I was five figures lighter, but it was worth the weight lifted off of my shoulders to know that it was finally done and with Charles doing it, it would be done well.
When I left out of there, I could feel my phone vibrating in my inside chest pocket and I checked to see who it was. I didn’t recognize the number at first, but then I remembered that it was Ashlyn’s new number. I made a note to myself to put her name in the phone after I got off with her. I almost didn’t answer and she was one call that I would have regretted missing.
“Hey Ashlyn, how are you?”
“Good Sam. Are you busy?”
“Not too much. I just left the tailor and I was about to go grab some lunch. Are you downtown? We could meet for some lunch if you wanted to. I haven’t seen you in quite some time.”
“No, I am not downtown right now. I was actually calling to see if you could do me a huge favor Sam. A friend of mine is in a jam and needs a good lawyer to help her out of it.”
“You know that I don’t really do criminal cases Ashlyn. I don’t know how effective I would be.”
“Please Sam. Can you just come down here and hear me out at least?”
I owed her for some life changing introductions, but Ashlyn was never the type of person to bring something like that up. She never asked me for anything, so I figured that this had to be serious. It was going to be a hell of a week for me next week, but I did have now. I could do what I could or at least point her in the right direction of someone that would be better suited to help her.
Agreeing to meet with her, I took the car down to the address that she gave me. I didn’t know the area all that well. It was an up and coming neighborhood, but one that was way below my price range. It would have been the kind of neighborhood that I would have moved into when I first came here, before I made my fortune.
Getting out, I told the driver to keep the car running. I didn’t imagine that I would be there that long. Ashlyn sounded upset and I was willing to help her, but I was sure that it would be something that was easy to fix. All I had to know was the problem and I would help her find a way to solve it. That as what I did after all. It was my job to fix problems for everyone else.
Knocking briskly, I pulled the jacket tighter around me. I had forgotten how cold it was outside because of the heat in the car. Now I was reminded that it was the middle of winter and miserable in New York. It was the type of weather that made me want to pack up and go somewhere warm for a time.
Ashlyn answered after a second row of knocks. When she answered the door, her eye makeup was runny and I could tell that she had been crying. Her face was a little puffy and her eyes themselves were red with grief. I didn’t know what happened, but it was not as small of a deal as I had imagined. She had been so blasé about it on the phone, yet now I could see that it was something weighing heavily on her.
“Hey, what is going on?”
I moved to touch her face and assure her that everything was going to be okay. I didn’t know that of course, had no idea and certainly no right to make such promises, but I hated to see a woman cry. It was my downfall and I cared deeply for Ashlyn. She had helped me in many ways, showing me the whose-who of the city.
“I need your help Sam. I don’t know who else to go to. You are the best lawyer that I know and I need you to help someone very special to me.”
“What happened?”
She was very upset, which was understandable, but if I was going to find out what was going on, I was going to have to somehow get her to relax enough so that I could understand her. Right now she was two seconds from balling and finally I just hugged her to my chest and let her cry it out. It took several minutes for it to ease, but when she finally pulled away, there was a bit of relief in her eyes. “It is going to be okay. Let’s get some coffee, or wine, hell it is after five and see what we can do to fix this.”
“What would I do without you Sam?”
“You never have to find out.”
She smiled at me, making the comment about wishing she was more my type. I waved her off, telling her that she was, though we both knew that we lacked a chemistry which was pretty important in a relationship.
“Good because Stone is always out of town when I need him.”
“Stone?”?
She laughed and waved me off. “I don’t want to hear it. That’s his name.”
There were so many things I could say about it and I did let a few slip while I poured us some wine. “Are you done?”
“Yes, now what has you all in a frazzle that you called me in to save the day?”
“Humble as ever I see.”
“You caught me passed noon, what can I say.”
She giggled at my crummy joke and that let me know that she was feeling a little bit better. I don’t know what was going on, but seeing a smile on her face was worth the trip.
“So are you with me enough for some legal help?”
I nodded that I was and decided to hold off on the wine because I may actually need my wits about me for a little bit longer. This could be serious.
“So I have this friend from back when I first moved to the city…”
“Ah, do you know how many great stories that I have heard starting out that exact same way?”
“Stop interrupting or I will forget. This is serious Sam.”
I took that sip anyways and waited for more.
“So she went to Thailand for a small vacation. Just graduated with her Masters and this was like her gift to herself.”
I nodded my head and understood perfectly. I had always put built in incentives into my goals so that when I reached one, I would look forward to whatever the prize was.
“And?”
“Well, I don’t really know all of the details about what or how it happened, all l know is that Meri is now in jail down there and she can’t talk to anyone on the phone and only her lawyer can see her there in person.”
I could see where this was going and already I was trying to figure out my schedule in my mind. It was more fluid than anything else and I knew that I could move a few things around and I would be able to commit. As I said before, I owed Ashlyn and if she wanted me to go ta
lk to the authorities in Thailand on behalf of her friend, I would be more than willing to.
“Okay, so I see where this is going. I will go get your friend out. Do you know what she is in there for? It would help me to prepare before I get there. The laws there are very different than they are here.”
“I don’t know exactly, but there is something about a missing person and they are trying to say that Meri had something to do with it.”
“Could she?”
Ashlyn looked offended that I had even made the wrong idea of thinking that. It was to me, one of the most obviously conclusions to come to, so I didn’t feel so wrong about it, not at all.
“No, she is not like that at all. There is no way that she had anything to with it. Carol was her friend. They went there together. Had one last little party before they were supposed to board the plane to come home. I don’t know why they think she had anything to do with the disappearance, but she is stuck there and I need her home.”
“That is a lot.”
“I know Sam and I wouldn’t be asking you if I could do something more. You are the only one that I trust with something like this. Will you help me?”
I had already decided that I would help her, long before I even knew what it was that she needed, but I was afraid she was asking for an impossible request. I don’t know how I would fix it or if I could, but I was going to try nonetheless.
“I will see what I can do Ashlyn.” I didn’t mention how busy I was, but I did warn her that I may not be able to help. If her friend got into too big of a mess, there may be repercussions. But I was going to go to Thailand and figure out what I could do. If there was something to be done, I would bring the girl home.
She launched into my arms and thanked me with a hug. I didn’t feel the way I usually did with a woman pressed against me like this. Ashlyn was different. She always had been. She was a beautiful woman, but she was more like one of the guys than some of my girlfriends. She saw things differently and I had never seen her so emotional. I had to know what was so special about this girl.
