by Anna Collins
“We really don’t have much time to debate on the issue. I just got a text message confirming the plane has been fueled and is ready to take off. It’s about a 3-hour plane trip, and you never know what will happen during that time. The idea of joining a certain club does come to mind. I might be overreaching. I don’t see you being the kind of girl to be initiated into the club. That’s not to say you wouldn’t have the courage, but you deserve so much more. Candlelight, romance and strolling hand in hand is the kind of seduction you’re looking for. I don’t know if I can live up to those expectations, but I’m willing to give it the college try,” he said as he scoffed down the eggs and bacon still dripping in fat. It might be bad for his health, but it was something we shared in common; I didn’t like my bacon crispy, so this was the way my father made it for me every Sunday morning while I was growing up.
“This is all happening so fast. I need to tell you last night was not like me at all. I did enjoy it, but going that far with a man I hardly know is something I reserve for hotel rooms. At this point in the relationship, I’m usually out the door with my panties in my purse. I don’t feel good about it, but it does leave me with a lasting memory which serves to feed the fire inside me for almost a month. I may have gotten a little out of line last night, but I don’t see either one of us complaining,” I said watching as he looked intensely below my waist. I followed his line of vision to see my red panties were visible over the waistband of my jeans. I made a quick move to hide them.
“Sometimes we have to do things we wouldn’t normally do. It makes us feel alive. This is what makes life interesting. A lot of people get complacent, boring and decide to fall into old habits which die hard. I’m guilty of that myself. Like I said, I don’t bring women here and the last time I did it was with Jessica. I think you have realized by now that we had something in the past. She took pity on me, and it was the only reason why she had slept with me. I thought she cared about me, but she had set me straight after the deed was done. We are still friends, but it does feel different when we’re in the same room together. I still don’t know if I have ruined a good friendship over what was a quickly disappearing moment we both can never forget,” he said as he grabbed his black Samsonite suitcase on wheels.
“I’m starting to see life can be unpredictable, and there are moments you have to grab on something before it slips through your fingers. What can I say? I lost my head, and I would probably do it again. I doubt a lot of girls know what they’re doing. I learned from taking it out of my head and into real life. It’s amazing to me how many differences there are. Every guy is unique, like a snowflake,” I followed him out, and there was a fresh powder of snow which made the scenery look as if it was a winter postcard.
“We’ll take the jeep. It has more traction and it will be easier to navigate through these icy streets. The airfield is about 5 minutes away. I had it built on the land of a farm owner. It didn’t take all that much convincing to do. The price I offered him for buying the land was more than fair. I could literally see the dollar signs rolling in his eyes as if he was some kind of jackpot machine,” Tristan said as he opened the passenger door and let me step inside while taking my luggage out of my hands.
It was a little girlie; a pink and purple suitcase, but it was the last thing my mother bought me for Christmas before she passed away. The years had not been kind, but at least this illness had a silver lining. My father was now speaking to me, and I didn’t have the constant worry I would never make things right before it was too late.
The Wrangler Jeep came to life. The chrome had been taken care of as if it was Tristan’s baby; there were no blemishes at all. This was not the kind of jeep used for taking off road or hunting. He had the suspension jacked up, and the wheels looked custom made; with knobby ends able to ride through anything in their path with very little effort.
“I was able to give you pleasure, but you didn’t have any way to give it back. I have to wonder if your bravado is all bluster or if you can back it up with actions. I think you should give it some thought and maybe come up with a way to settle the score. I’m sure you understand the underlying meaning behind my words. If I have to spell it out for you, then you’re not the man I thought you were. I hope there’s more to you than the pretty package I see,” I said as I gave him a sideways glance and was pleasantly surprised to see him licking his lips; he had taken the message.
“If I was awake for any of the brief images in my head then you can be assured I wouldn’t be the only one smiling right now. I don’t mean to come off as conceited, but I have had a lot of girls letting me know unequivocally the men they had been with didn’t have the same talent I had, not even in the slightest way. Jessica could tell you some stories, but I don’t think she would want me to have a swelled ego. Don’t worry, I plan to give as good as I got,” he said while twisting the wheel to avoid a particularly icy patch in the road
“I’m glad to hear that, but I haven’t decided if anything more is going to happen between the two of us. I’m sure I can be convinced otherwise. I just hope you’re a man who can go the extra mile. Seduce my mind first, and my body will follow. That’s the only hint I’m going to give you. A lot of girls are visual creatures; some may say they don’t care about appearances, but there are others like me who need the initial chemistry to get our motor running,” I said as I saw in the distance an expanse of field equipped with a landing strip.
The Gulfstream was gleaming white with its call signs on the hull plainly visible to the naked eye. The captain was standing in a white parka with his captain’s hat perched on the top of his head. He gave a wave to Tristan. I kept staring at him, and it wasn’t because I wanted to see him without his clothes again. That was part of it, but it was also something more that had me squinting my eyes. It was as if I was trying to remember something.
Chapter 8
The plane took off seamlessly. The weather was a bright sunshine with no clouds in the sky. The captain was cordial, but he huddled with Tristan out of earshot. I didn’t like being left out of the loop, but I don’t think they did it on purpose to get my goat.
Tristan came over with his hair short and the 5:00 shadow actually making him a man amongst men. He had this rugged look, but there was also sophistication in his manicured nails and the way his teeth were capped. He gave the impression of someone who could take care of himself, but underneath there were the makings of a playboy. He said he didn’t come from money, but something told me he was underplaying his family and the fact they were in no need of anything.
He was a self-made man; that could only come from his desperate need to break free from the shackles of his family name. He didn’t say as much, but somehow I could read him very easily. He wanted his father’s approval, but he wanted to do things his way and not be beholden to the name. He was trying to live up to lofty goals. This was all guesswork, but I had the feeling that if I was to ask, I would find out my assumptions were absolutely correct.
The plane crew included a young buxom who had her eyes squarely on the man who had taken me by surprise. It was evident there were some unrequited feelings from the way she was staring at Tristan. Of course, he was oblivious to her obvious flirtation. She would bend over with the first couple of buttons undone to show the buoyancy of her chest. She whispered into his ear with her hot breath hoping to ignite something more than a passing glance. It was kind of silly for me to be jealous, but I had a great need to make the fur fly.
I wanted to tell him what this woman was up to, but to shed light on it would only make it possible for him to pursue this matter in a timely fashion. I didn’t want him to be with any other woman rather than myself. I didn’t know why it meant so much to me, but something prevented me from allowing anybody to get their hooks into him.
“I told you before I don’t want to get your hopes up. I do have an injection which might help. I don’t know how you feel about needles, but this will hopefully dispel any symptoms that might come over you. It’
s an experimental drug and has not been FDA approved. I know the reason why as big pharmaceutical companies don’t want me to let the cat out of the bag. This one injection is a suppressant, but it’s not a cure for anything. The key to unlocking your cure is possibly in the hands of the man who we are about to meet. I don’t know his name. He has been very careful about keeping things private. I don’t think he would have even reached out, but his curiosity made it impossible for him to turn a blind eye,” Tristan said as I gave him the once-over. It was as if I stared long, enough something would emerge out of the shadow of my memories.
“Deep down, I know I’m screwed six ways till Sunday, but I still remain a little hopeful. I will not lose my faith. It might sound strange from somebody who did that to you. I believe in religion and God, but not in collection plates and church. Everybody has their own way to worship and mine is a more private one, without everybody knowing my business. I talk to him, but not as often as I would like. This illness has reaffirmed my faith. I know time is not a commodity we have much of. I also know people are taken from their loved ones way too soon and it’s not my place to question why. God works in mysterious ways, and this is something all of us have to accept,” I said thinking about how we two had met and what I had done.
“I believe in God, but there are times I look at the way the world suffers, and I wonder why he does nothing at all. I want to scream, but there is that little voice in the back of my head saying everything is the way it’s supposed to be. I don’t want to accept that, and I rage against the suffering of others. This is the reason I do what I do. It’s not like I haven’t had other lucrative offers,” he said.
“I would say somebody likes playing with their chemistry set. Whoever is doing this is trying to play God. It’s also possible they are trying to be judge, jury, and executioner for a crime I don’t even know I have committed. He may think ignorance is not a defense. I have tried to come up with any enemy who might want to do me harm, but I have come up with absolutely nothing. For the most part, I am the girl you ask for advice about your love life and someone you call in the middle of the night to give you a boost because your battery died,” I said knowing I was not a saint and my sins could not be washed away with any kind of confession.
“Let’s not worry about the why. It’s more important to find out how to fix this before it gets worse. I have noticed in the past that poisons start off with small symptoms which turn into the kind of pain able to make anybody confess. I do not like this. I wouldn’t want this to happen to you. I would rather remember you the way you are right now. I don’t want to think of you as someone who is dying. It would be so much easier if I didn’t have feelings for you,” Tristan said as he showed me various compounds and medical jargon which really didn’t make much sense to me. He tried to lay it out in layman’s terms, but I was still a little fuzzy around the edges.
“It’s not you who is suffering from this, so you really don’t have anything to say. Walk a few miles in my shoes and then come back to me and tell me you wouldn’t fight with every single breath of yours. I wanted what everybody wanted. I wanted a career, a man, children and even the white picket fence. I had been known to run and hide from life. I couldn’t get out of my own way and then when my mother died, my eyes were finally opened. I almost broke out in hives when I told my father I was going to open my own business. He tried to dissuade me and tell me I was going to fail on my own, but I think he only did this because he didn’t want me to leave from his side. It did feel like he was trying to carve my heart out from my chest though. I recently learned he felt the same way. It was better we got things out in the open. There’s no point being mad. Having your life flash before your eyes really does make you see things differently. Trust me, I wouldn’t have done any of what I did last night without the necessary incentive of my life passing me by,” I said not as a defense, but as an explanation, for my stupidity and pleasure all rolled into one.
“I’m sorry, were you saying something? When I get into that zone, there’s very little anybody can do to break me free of it. I don’t mean to be oblivious to your feelings, but some things take priority over the need to pat you on the back or give you a shoulder to lean on. I’m trying to find a way to save your life. This man we are going to meet sounded to me like some kind of crackpot with too much money and time on his hands. Normally, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of meeting somebody without knowing their name or their background,” he said while touching my hand, giving me the strength to hold on for another day.
“You say you are doing this for me. Don’t kid yourself. You may want me to live, but I still feel you want this thing trying to kill me to live as well. I get the feeling you’re going to make every effort to extract a sample of the illness for more research purposes. I don’t like the idea of CDC holding a disease which could cripple mankind. I know they are working to find antidotes, but having them there is like an open invitation for those terrorists who actually want to do the maximum amount of damage. We can only hope their security is above board,” I said putting him on the spot, making him reassess the reason why he had taken on this assignment.
“I can’t say that what I’m doing is on humanitarian grounds. I have this intriguing quality which makes it impossible for me to turn away from something I love. I want to know more about the illness you have. The injection I gave you is derived from a plant found in the wild nature. I came upon it one day after having no water and nothing to eat. I thought I was going to die, but this tribe showed up and nursed me back to health. I’m pretty good at learning languages, and it wasn’t long before I was conversing and making a profitable trade for the both of us. I brought back the plant, and I cultivated it in a greenhouse until I was able to make it into something very potent to fight just about any illness. It’s not a cure, but it does help those who won’t see another day feel more comfortable and not suffer,” Tristan said.
“Just when I think I have you figured out, you make comments like this, and I doubt the validity of the reason why you came here. Do you know something like this can be weaponized? This thing I have could easily be turned into chemical warfare. Is your ego so big you would risk having this fall into the wrong hands? I don’t really want you to answer this. I can already see your work is more important to you than anything. I thought you were just misunderstood, but maybe you really do have your head up your ass,” I said hoping he would finally see the truth staring him in the face the entire time.
“I’m not going to sit here and defend what I do. Everybody makes decisions, and we all have to live with them regardless of personal sacrifice or not. I’m not comfortable about meeting a man with no name. How am I supposed to address him if I don’t even know his name?” He said while I was listening to my conscience, knowing I would not allow this man to use me as some kind of experiment or Guinea pig.
“Are you sure he can…ahhh…help us?” I asked with my head pounding.
“The headaches you have been suffering from should be having you screaming for somebody to put you out of your misery. If you think about it, you can still feel an inkling of what I’m talking about. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I hate to admit it, but I like having you here even though we have vastly different opinions. I think fighting is a good way to make your body believe in miracles,” he said.
“Cupid goes around shooting his arrows and hoping to make a match, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. I don’t see what we have is forever. We enjoy each other’s company, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. If people could get out of their head and realize monogamy is a crime, then we would all be better off. Being with the same woman time and time again for the rest of my life does not instill the kind of joy coming from variety,” Tristan said letting me know in no uncertain terms marriage was not something he was even contemplating. It was still too early in the relationship to discuss matters of the heart.
“I can see you have very strong opinion on this subject. Could it
be you have a reason to dislike the constitution of marriage? If I were to hazard a guess, I would say your parents weren’t exactly normal,” I said fishing for more details and waiting for him to open up like a newly bloomed rose.
“I never thought about it like this before, but you certainly do raise a few good arguments. My parents stayed together because of me. They would have been a whole lot happier had they gone their own separate ways. I was selfish, and I could feel the tension in the air in the way they didn’t want to talk to each other. There was mostly silence, and I regret to inform you I was a man who took advantage of this. I would pit them against each other and make them try to cancel each other out. It was my way to keep them thinking about their situation instead of worrying about me stepping out at all hours of the night. I didn’t like where I lived or how the staff seemed to walk around on eggshells around my parents,” Tristan said revealing small pieces about his childhood which would make me see how it had affected him as an adult.
