by Anita Claire
Wait…is he using me for my cat, or my cat for me?
“The lion is in Davis. It’s a two-hour drive each way.”
“Not if Ethan flies us.”
Chapter 14 – Brody – Meeting the Lion
“The lion is in Davis, can you fly us up?” I ask Ethan as we drive back to the office.
“I’m glad to help. That’s a cool thing you’re doing.”
Yeah, it’s cool. I check my phone on the way back to the office. There’s a thread from my family.
Elizabeth:Gabby says you’ve yet to call, here’s her number.
Tia Rosa:You need to call Elizabeth’s friend Gabby.
Abuela:Gabby is a beautiful girl from a good family.
Mom:Rosa tells me you’re asking out Elizabeth’s friend Gabby.
Instead of replying to my family, I text Ana instead.
Brody:When are we visiting our lion?
Ana:I can work my schedule around you. When do you want to go?
Brody:Tomorrow at 4.
***
Ethan runs through his preflight tests, I check my texts and e-mail, and keep one eye on the road leading to the parking lot.Where could Ana be? Why is she late?Finally, I see her truck I’m starting to like that thing. Plus she’s easy to spot in it. She parks and bounds up to us all excited.
“This is so cool,” she says. “Hey, Ethan, thanks so much for helping out again.”
Our flight to Davis is quick. As we land, I call for a car. Ana and I get out of the plane and she turns back to Ethan. “Aren’t you joining us?”
He follows us to the curb, just as our car pulls up.
“Not bad for timing,” Ana comments just as our car pulls up.
In the lobby of the building, Ana pulls out an ID.
“You work here?” I question.
“Not in the school of veterinary medicine. But I’m considered an adjunct professor in the School of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology. I sent our lion’s vet a text. Let me see if I can find her.”
Ana emerges about ten minutes later. “I found our cat.”
She signs us in and ushers us into a restricted area of the building. There are a number of wild animals in cages. In one of the larger cages is a big, tan cat with uneven, mangy-looking fur. It prowls around within its confines. When it spots us, it narrows its eyes, leans its head down and hisses.
“She doesn’t seem very happy,” I comment.
“She was friendly five minutes ago, it must be you. Do you always have this effect on women?” Ana teases.
“I think she’s all excited from smelling my testosterone.”
“Is that how you rationalize a female hissing at you?”
“Is that why you hiss when I come close?”
“I’m practiced at dealing with predators.”
I pull her into my arms. “Then I’m in luck,” I growl.
Ethan gives an uncomfortable cough. I’m about to glare at him when an attractive woman in her late forties enters. She’s dressed in jeans and a fleece vest withDr. Marcie Branch-Veterinarian embroidered on it.
“You must be F17’s veterinarian, I’m Brody.”
“Yes, I’m Marcie, I’ve been taking care of our girl. I wasn’t quite sure if she was going to make it.”
We all look at F17. She paces around the cage looking strong, fierce, and anything but fragile. Every time she gets near us, she opens her mouth wide to display her fangs, and hisses.
“She’s feisty,” Ana comments.
“She doesn’t like humans,” Dr. Branch responds.
“Which is a good thing,” I add.
“She’s all better?” Ethan questions.
“Not really,” Dr. Branch answers. “She got a big toxic load. But we stabilized her. We think it’s better for her to be back in her territory. As long as she doesn’t get more of what she ingested earlier, she should be fine. She’ll be happier in her territory than she will be here.”
We spend the next five minutes watching F17 pace and snarl. “I think we should leave. Our proximity is agitating her,” Ana comments.
“We don’t want her to start liking humans,” Dr. Branch acknowledges.
“I don’t think we have too much to fear in that department.”
“You can pick her up in a couple of days,” Dr. Branch reminds Ana.
“That’s it?” I question.
“Do you want a tour of my favorite Davis haunts?” Ana asks.
“Is this where you went to school?”
“Grad school, I did my undergrad at Berkeley.”
Instead of checking out her grad school hang-outs, we return to the plane and fly back. When we land in Palo Alto, I check the time. The whole excursion took less than two hours, not bad. I leave Ethan to finish up with the plane and walk Ana to her truck.
“Can you join me for dinner?” I ask right before I lean down and kiss her.
There’s this simmering energy around Ana that I find enticing. Since there isn’t anyone around, I pull her to me. Our long kiss grows feral, which is even better than I’d hoped for.
“Why don’t you leave your truck here? The two of us can drive to the restaurant together,” I rumble when my lips release hers.
Ana smiles and nods. A slight blush warms her cheeks. I take hold of her hand and march us over to my car.
***
“This was rather fancy for mid-week, but I’m not complaining. The food was excellent, thank you.” Ana says as we wait for the check.
“You only eat at restaurants with tablecloths on the weekend?”
“You were with me two weekends ago. I didn’t think any nice restaurant would seat us.”
“They don’t care as long as you pay.”
“They care about their clientele and about ambiance. You might be comfortable showing up in jeans anywhere in Silicon Valley, but dirty cargo pants...? Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“This weekend we should try it.”
“If we showed up at the Ritz-Carlton, I think they would politely ask us to get a room and take a shower.”
“Maybe that’s what we should do.”
“Ha. Funny. Don’t the rooms start at over $500 a night? That’s way above my pay scale.”
“But it would be fun, to stay at a hotel on the ocean.” The thought of it entices me.
“Hotel? Only in the city. When I’m near the ocean, I like to kayak down the coast to a deserted beach; one that’s far away from groomed trails and boat slips. Pitch a tent and have the sunrise all to myself.”
“There’s nothing like breakfast over a campfire,” I add.
“Or the smell of dew as the sun comes up.”
“I like the peace and quiet.”
“You’ve never camped near crickets and frogs.”
“That’s in the early evening. When you hiked the high sierra trail, did you backpack and camp?”
“Is there any other way to do it?”
It feels like I’ve met the perfect woman.Take it down a notch, Brody, you’ve only known Ana for a couple of weeks. Everyone seems much better when you fill in the empty spaces with your fantasy.
“Brody?!?”
I look up to a woman glaring at me.
“Who’s this?” the woman demands as she points to Ana.
It takes me a couple seconds to realize it’s my cousin’s friend, Gabby, standing over our table.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” Ana questions.
“This is my cousin’s friend, Gabby.”
“I was a lot more than that last weekend when you had your tongue down my throat. You know damn well we had a connection. Is she the reason you haven’t called or texted me this week?”
“Wait, is she the reason why you didn’t return any ofmytexts last week?” Ana questions.
Gabby overtly checks Ana out. “Your mother and grandmother approve of me,” she snubs.
Ana’s eyes ping-pong between Gabby and me.
“I don’t know what to say,” I comment to Ana.<
br />
“This was a lovely dinner. Thank you,” Ana politely responds as she stands up. “Good luck,” she says to Gabby. Ana grabs her purse.
“Wait! Ana, wait!”
She lifts her hand and shakes her head. “Let’s leave it on a nice note, Brody.”
“Wait,” I exclaim.
“Are you going to choose her over me?” Gabby questions.
“There was never a you and me,” I tell Gabby. “Ana, wait, don’t leave. Sit down, let’s talk this out.”
“No, this isn’t what I’m about.” She turns on her heel and heads to the door.
I throw down my credit card and leave Gabby standing at the table.
“How will you get home?” I say to Ana once I catch up to her.
“It’s the twenty-first century, I’ll call a car.” Ana pulls out her phone.
“Last weekend there was a party for my grandmother’s ninetieth birthday. She’s a friend of my cousin’s. The family tried to match us up. She’s not who I want to be with. You’re who I like.”
“Yeah, sure, you like me so much you didn’t contact me once last week. You didn’t reply to any of my texts either. You make out with me on one weekend and that woman the next. That in my book is a guy who’s still playing the field. I’m not interested in playing this game.”
“I don’t know what to say. I didn’t realize I was supposed to answer all your texts.”
“Come on, you can’t be that socially inept. Good, my car’s almost here.”
“Don’t take the car, let me drive you.”
“Brody, I’m not trying to be overly dramatic. I just don’t want this kind of drama in my life. I want to be with a man who wants to be with me. You’re a man who is still playing the field. Can I just say ‘thank you for dinner’ and we leave it at that.”
“Ana, please....”
The car pulls up. She waves to the driver and starts toward the car.
“I’m not playing the field. I want you!” I follow her off the curb. “Don’t leave like this. I’m not interested in Gabby! At least let me drive you back to your truck.”
Ana rounds back on me. “Really? If I’m who you want, then why were you with her last weekend?”
“I hadn’t yet made my decision.”
“What? Kissing her last weekend brought you sudden clarity?”
“In a way, yes, it did. Sometimes when you’re with the wrong person you realize who the right person is.”
“Did you sleep with her?”
“No, we were at my folks, there were more than fifty people around. Ana, I guarantee there’s nothing going on between me and Gabby.”
I pull Ana close and softly kiss her.
“Are you taking the ride?” the driver questions from the open window.
“No, I’m taking her home.” I reach in my pocket and pull out a twenty. “For the inconvenience.”
“Cool, dude, good luck with your woman.”
A server runs out to the curb. “Sir, you need to sign your check.”
I sign the check and look at Ana. She has a small smile—disaster averted.
Back at the airport, I pull in next to Ana’s truck, put my car in park, and reach for her. She releases her seat belt. I pull her onto my lap and as I move the seat back, our lips find each other. My hands roll up the length of her legs to reach her ass. Our kiss grows feverish. I lose track of time.
Using every bit of self-control, I finally release her from our kiss. Our breathing is hard. I kiss her cheek, then kiss her ear, and move down her neck. She giggles and moans, which reverberates right down to my dick. She smells warm and sweet, like springtime. If I were still a kid, I would blow off my conference call with India and take her here. Sometimes I hate being an adult.
Chapter 15 – Ana – Release
I wrangle my intern, Jack, to drive with me up to Davis to retrieve our lion. Of course, my luck, when I enter the back room, California Fish and Wildlife has sent Christian Powel. Christian and I were both postdocs together at Davis. After Dale and I broke up, Christian and I had a wild fling, which lasted about three frantic weeks.
Christian still looks good, too good. He’s a big man with shoulder-length blond hair that he wears in a very masculine ponytail. He has a scruffy blond beard and piercing blue eyes. Put everything together, and he’s a very desirable package. I have no interest in a repeat so I wonder, why I can’t ever be cool around him?
“Did you read that biosecurity officials in Australia have destroyed rare botanical specimens after a paperwork mix-up?” I ask in a rush.
“No Ana, I missed that random tidbit of information,” he responds.
I wince and look back at the door. I don’t think I’m up for this encounter.
“Hey Ana, are we going to do this?” His question makes me jump.
“Do you need to drive down for the release or can you trust Jack and I to do it?”
“If I join you, we could have dinner after,” he says, talking to my chest.
“I thought you had a girlfriend.”
“Keeping track of me, Ana?”
“What? No…sorry…actually I’m seeing someone.”
“You’re dating 007? I didn’t think a guy like that would be your type.”
“007?”
Of course, Brody. Everyone in the vet school knew we flew up for a five-minute view of the lion. Brody looked all Silicon-Valley-successful-businessman in his pressed shirt, Army haircut, and mirrored glasses. Not a look that any of us biologists rock. Christian’s jaw throbs a couple of times.
“What’s wrong?” I demand.
“What?”
“You’re all tense…Jack and I can do this.”
Christian’s only answer is to check me out. The air between us becomes incredibly brittle.
“You know a lion will kill a deer every ten to fourteen days,” I blather on to fill the air.
“Don’t worry, your female was just fed,” Dr. Branch says as she enters the room.
“Yeah, no need for me to drive down. Send me some pictures and the coordinates of your release,” Christian says as he leans against the wall and continues to watch me.
Relieved to get away from Christian, we load the cage containing F17 into the back of my truck. Jack and I drive to a section of F17’s territory ina remote section in the hills. After parking, I instruct Jack to pull out his phone and start filming. F17 growls from the back of my truck.
“That’s one pissed-off cat. Do you think she’ll attack us?” Jack questions as he backs up.
“She wants to run as far away from us as she can get. Dr. Branch says she ate. If she takes a swipe, it’s out of anger, not hunger.”
Jack pales at that as I stifle a chuckle.
“Even so, we should be in the cab,” I instruct as I attach a cord to the door of the cage. To be safe, I pull out my tranquilizer gun. Jack and I get back in the cab and look through the rear-cab window.
“Are you ready?” I ask.
He nods and I pull on the rope. The latch comes up and the door opens. We watch as F17 slowly checks out the open door. With my phone, I start snapping pictures. F17 crouches low, and in one movement, she leaps out of the crate and lands on the dirt in a crouch. She sniffs and looks around. Ignoring us, she darts into the underbrush.
“One big leap for cat, one small step for mankind,” I quip.
“Where have I heard that before?”
“Jack, really?” I snicker.
“What?”
“Neil Armstrong? On the moon?”
“Oh, yeah!”
Am I that old?
Before Jack and I take off, I look through my pictures and post the best shots on Instagram. I send a picture to Brody with the caption:Our girl is back in her territory.
Brody:Cool, company for our hike this weekend.
Ana:She had a big sniff of you and we know how that went.
Brody:Females love me.
Ana:You’re a scary judge of female behavior if you think narrowed eyes and
hissing is love.
Brody:My sisters said that was a sure sign of interest.
Ana:I think your sisters were punk’n you.
Ten minutes later and he still hasn’t responded. I guess flirty-time is over. For a guy who’s always on his phone, he sure doesn’t spend any of his time texting socially.
***
Some of the tox screens came in. As I plot my results on the topo map, I’ve yet to see a pattern. But I’ve learned to give it time. I notice one of my quadrants has results that look suspicious. Flipping through the different views of my recorded tracks and mapped points, I try to see if any of the visual anomalies that Brody and I identified from the air are in this quadrant. If so, it would be the quadrant we explore this weekend. They were.
Ana:Visual anomalies and scat anomalies in the same quadrant.
Brody:Looks like we have a hiking plan for this weekend, can we camp or do we need to clear out?
I read the message twice. It’s been a few years since I’ve been with anyone. I head to the kitchen to see what food I can scrounge. And to think. On my way back to the lab, I make a decision.
Ana:Yes, camping. I’ll get approval from the proper authorities.
Brody:I get back late Friday. 6:30 a.m. on Saturday?
Ana:Where are you?
Brody:London.
Ana:London, England? Best hummus I’ve ever had was in the northwest part of London.
Brody:I’ll try the hummus after my meeting with the queen.
We had dinner last night and he flew to London in the last twenty-four hours? He’ll be back tomorrow night? That’s an amazing commute for a meeting. He probably doesn’t have time to go out for hummus or meet the queen.
***
From the front door of my dad’s home, I can smell the spices and herbs of my childhood. Dad never could cook this well. Jazz was right. During the past few weeks he found himself a Persian girlfriend. How did he do that?
“Hello, anyone home?” I call.
“Ana-jan,” Dad’s voice rings out.
“YesBâbâ, it’s me.” I head toward the kitchen where I meet Dad. He’s followed by an attractive, middle-aged Persian woman.
“Azizam, my oldest daughter, Ana.”
Internally, I gasp. I told him to take some nice woman out to dinner, but he just called this womanAzizam, the Farsi for sweetheart. With a warm smile, she extends her hand,
