Miss Me

by Mel Spenser

  "I never imagined it could be like this." Andy seemed to be emotionally shaken.

  "Only with you, baby. Only with you."

  Toys forgotten for the night, they ended up spooning, Nick's body pressed up against Andy's back. He surrounded Andy with his arms and he held Andy close to his chest. Andy held on to Nick's arms. They twined their legs together and fell asleep.

  Chapter 12

  Lee sat in the library parking lot behind the wheel of his borrowed car. He hadn't seen Andy in days and it really bothered him because it seemed like Andy had disappeared. Lee hadn't seen Andy's car at work or at home, and he wondered vaguely if Andy might have gotten a new one. Maybe Andy had been transferred to another library. Or maybe Andy had quit and gotten another job. That gave him a moment of panic. He really needed to find out what was going on. He felt so keyed up lately and this not knowing was just making it worse.

  Lee badly wanted to go into the building and look around. If he could just see Andy, it would help calm him down. Then he had a flash of anger when he remembered that he had been officially banned from the library. Lee felt like he was being unfairly singled out. Wasn't everybody allowed in a library? Maybe he should complain to someone. But then he thought about the restraining order. The restraining order was also unfair. He had just been trying to get Andy to listen to him that night in Andy’s kitchen. He hadn't meant to hurt the man. It just happened. If only Andy had listened.

  The more Lee sat brooding and watching the building, the more disturbed he became. He finally couldn't take it anymore. He had to go in and look around. He'd known when he had pulled up that he'd eventually give in to the temptation.

  He put an Astros cap on over his bright red hair as he walked across the library parking lot. He went into the building and walked by the circulation desk, turning his face away from the staff working behind it. He glanced at the reference desk as he passed it. There were two older librarians sitting behind it, but no Andy. He recognized one of them as the really old bitch who had called the police on him one time. He ought to take care of her. She was so old it wouldn't be hard.

  He turned right and started to walk the perimeter of the inside of the large room. He first passed the bank of computers. All of them were being used, and he noticed that there wasn't any staff member helping anyone. Then he passed through the children's area. A mother and her little girl sat at one of the child-size tables, looking at a book. Two preschool kids were playing on a couple of large, stuffed dragons sitting on the floor. He stood watching them for a minute. Then he went through the teen area, but it was empty at that time of day.

  Lee walked along the back wall, looking down each aisle as he went. Other than people looking for stuff, the only staff person he spotted was someone shelving books. He headed toward the other end of the building that he knew was a large seating area that had magazines and more shelves.

  He scanned the faces of the people sitting at the tables. Most were using laptops. He was about to go look in the other shelving area when he noticed two library staff members walking toward him. Both were males and one was very large. They were both frowning at him.

  Lee turned around and retraced his steps along the back wall. About mid-way, he turned down an aisle that led straight up to the front of the building. He walked past the reference and circulation desks, then out the doors. He had meant to hang out in the restroom for a while and then check again later, but apparently the staff knew he was there. He didn't need the police showing up. Time to leave.

  Chapter 13

  "Everybody stick together." Andy had Libby's and Lydia's hands clutched in his. "I don't want to have to explain to your mother that I lost you in a foreign country."

  Andy and Libby got on the bus. Nick and Lydia followed. They were heading down to a huge souvenir shop that they'd passed earlier in the week. It was located on the main drag where most of the hotels were.

  The girls sat together on a seat. Andy and Nick had to stand in the aisle next to them because the bus was so crowded with locals and tourists. The bus didn't have air conditioning, so it was crowded and more than a little warm. Of course, the girls thought it was great. After the third stop, Andy and Nick were able to sit on a sideways seat in front of the girls.

  "Only a few more blocks," Andy said.

  Finally the bus came to their stop and they got out.

  "I'll stay with the girls if you want to go look around." Andy was already following them back to the toy area.

  "Okay. See you in a few." Nick headed off toward the t-shirts.

  "Oh look! Twins!" A lady, obviously a tourist, came over to Andy and the girls. "They look just like you."

  "They're my nieces."

  Lydia, the big mouth of the two said, "Andy is our uncle. His boyfriend, Nick, is over there." She pointed.

  The woman gave Lydia a confused look. Then she looked up at Andy. Her gaze dropped and she read his t-shirt that said Radical Militant Librarian. Then she looked back up at his face. He just offered her a half smile and gave a little tilt of his head. He watched her as realization dawned. Her face turned bright red.

  "Oh!" The woman backed up. "Oh, my!" The woman turned and practically ran to find the safety of her husband, who was looking at souvenir shot glasses. She said something to him and they both looked over at Andy. She pointed at Nick and they both looked. The husband shrugged his shoulders and went back to looking at shot glasses, obviously unconcerned.

  Andy said to Lydia, "Thank you, helpy helperton." He gave her ponytail a little tug. "Come on, squirt. Let's go do some serious shopping."

  Andy followed them around while they looked at absolutely everything. He was just as bad as they were, picking up every toy and playing with it. It wasn't long before they had accumulated an impressive collection that included stuffed sea turtles, gigantic pencils, tiny sombreros and an assortment of things with colorful feathers on them. Andy was playing with a plastic claw thing that had a shark mouth at one end when Nick found them. He had Libby's ponytail clasped in the shark's teeth.

  "I think I'll get this." He held it up to show Nick. "Sandy will hate it."

  Nick had an assortment of T-shirts in his hands. He held one up in front of Andy, checking the size. Satisfied, he added it to his pile.

  "We've been ratted out," Andy said.

  Nick looked at him and raised his eyebrows. Andy pointed his chin in the direction of the lady and her husband. Nick looked over. The woman still seemed fascinated by them, like they were a rare breed of animal. Her husband, on the other hand, had moved on to the stone Aztec calendars.

  "What happened?"

  Andy gestured toward Lydia and rolled his eyes.

  Nick gave him an evil smile. "Maybe we should give her a show. Give her a story to tell her tight ass friends when she gets home."

  "As much as I'd like to, we should probably behave ourselves since the kiddies are with us."

  "Good point."

  "Let's go look at shells, Uncle Andy."

  "I'll go with them this time. You look around." Nick and the girls headed off toward the shells, and Andy wandered in the direction of the hats.

  When they met up a while later, the girls each had a bag of shells. Nick was now carrying the stuffed sea turtles, colorful feathered things and his collection of T-shirts. Andy had a couple of caps in his hand. He stuck one on Nick's head to try it on for size and then took it back. The girls had walked around on the other side of the sunglasses rounder, trying on every pair within their reach.

  Nick looked at Andy with a devilish grin on his face. He jerked his head to the side. From two aisles over, the woman snuck looks at them. Nick glanced around to make sure the girls were out of sight. Then Nick put one hand behind Andy's head, pulled him close and kissed him thoroughly on the lips. He added some tongue for emphasis. When they heard a gasp, they both turned their heads to look at the woman. Nick winked at her. Andy licked his lips and smiled. She bolted.

  "Satisfied now?"

  "Yes
, as a matter of fact." Nick smirked.

  Andy walked around the sunglass rounder to where the girls were. "You guys about done?"

  "I think we've done enough damage here." Nick was juggling an armload of stuff.

  "Well, let's check out and head back. Maybe we can go play in the pool before dinner. I can't wait to show Sandy my claw."

  ***

  When they got back to the hotel from shopping, they took the girls up to their own room where Eric was waiting for them.

  Nick and Andy followed the girls into the room. Andy glanced into the bathroom as he walked by it. He looked out at the balcony.

  "Uh…where's Sandy?" he asked a little too casually.

  "She's down by the pool." Eric was watching the girls dump their loot out onto one of the beds.

  "Perfect. I think I'll go look her up." He took off his glasses and handed them to Nick. "Hang on to these for me." Andy headed out of the room at a fast clip.

  Nick looked down at the glasses in his hand and then up at Eric.

  "Oh, no. It's going to get ugly." Nick set his shopping bag down. "Can I get this later?"

  "Sure. What's going on?" Eric stopped, and his eyes went wide. "Oh, God. What's he going to do?"

  ***

  Andy spotted his victim the instant he stepped outside. Sandy was lying on a chaise under an umbrella. He scooted quickly around the pool the long way so he could approach her without being seen. She was asleep, so he managed to get close and stand right behind her head.

  He poised the shark claw over her. He opened the jaws, lowered it and hooked a small amount of her hair on one tooth. Her hand came up and flapped at the nuisance. Andy backed off. Once she settled down, he eased forward with the claw and bit her lightly on the shoulder with it. She shrugged. He stepped back and dangled the claw over her, obviously trying to decide what to grab next.

  Nick made it down to the pool in time to see Andy, with a maniacal grin, lower the claw over her face.

  "Oh, shit."

  Nick could only watch helplessly as the shark claw lowered and latched on to Sandy's nose. All Hell broke loose.

  "What the…?"

  Sandy batted the toy so hard it flew out of Andy's hand and landed in some nearby bushes. She sat bolt upright on the chaise, looking around wildly. When she spotted Andy, her eyes narrowed into slits.

  "You little turd!"

  Sandy launched off the chair toward him. Andy gave a manly shriek and headed in the opposite direction. Nick watched them disappear down the steps leading to the beach. He went to the edge of the pool area and looked down.

  Somehow, they had already made it about waist-deep in the surf. They were wrestling around. Sandy was getting in a few good pinches, and Andy was trying to fend her off. Finally, he reached down, pulled her leg out of the water by her ankle and pushed her back. She went down swinging until she hit the water and went under. Andy put both arms up in a victory stance. When she came up sputtering, he turned and took off back toward the shore. He wasn't fast enough. She managed to grab him around the neck from behind and pulled him backwards off his feet. She tried to wade around him to get back to shore. He tackled her from the side and they both went under.

  Nick watched the spectacle go on for another ten minutes. Finally, they both staggered toward the shore. Sandy continued to take swings at Andy. He dodged them by leaping to the side, taunting her all the way to the shore.

  Nick turned his head to look at Eric, who had come up beside him to watch the show. Eric didn't look phased in the least.

  "Classic Sandy and Andy," Eric said. "It's not pretty, but at least you got to see it before it's too late. Save yourself while you can." Eric held out a towel for Sandy as she came up the steps.

  "Thanks, sweetie." She took the towel from him and gave him a kiss.

  They all looked over at Andy, who was searching the bushes for his claw. Sandy narrowed her eyes at him.

  "He better hope that he doesn't find it. I'll shove it up his ass."

  Andy suddenly stood straight and held up the claw, waving it high over his head. He was beaming at them.

  "Idiot," Sandy muttered as she and Eric headed back into the hotel.

  Nick stood there and watched Andy walk toward him. He was covered in sand and had a huge, satisfied smile on his face. He went over to the outdoor shower to rinse off.

  Nick watched him. "I'm speechless."

  Andy looked at him, grinning. He shrugged his shoulders.

  "It's just the natural order of things. Nothing more." He pulled the chain, and water rinsed the sand out of his hair and off his body.

  "Ask her about the chunk of hair she cut off my head."

  "When you were kids?"

  "Last Christmas. She's a menace to society." He finished rinsing off his feet.

  Nick just shook his head.

  "Well, I need to go up to their room. I left our shopping bag there. Then I was going to take it to our room. You coming?"

  "Uh, don't think I'll be going to their room right now, if you know what I mean. Not a good idea. I'll just stay out here for a little while and dry off. I'll be up in a bit."

  "You're not going to cause any more scenes, are you?"

  "Oh, no. That particular mission is complete. The ball is now in her court." Andy shook his head, flinging water from his hair.

  "Okay…" Nick looked at him doubtfully. "Well, stay out of the sun."

  ***

  Fortunately, Sandy was in the shower when Nick went to their room to get the shopping bag.

  "Hi, Nick!" The girls were sitting on one of the beds, sorting through their purchases.

  "Hi, girls." He looked at Eric. "So how is she?"

  "Oh. She's fine. I'm telling you, this is normal for them."

  Eric tossed some stuffed toys out of the way, clearing off a couple of chairs. He motioned for Nick to sit down. He got them both a beer from the fridge, then he sat in the other one.

  "They have an unspoken truce, for now. The ball's in her court, so she's probably trying to come up with something to retaliate."

  "Are they always this way?" Nick asked.

  "Always. You'd think it would have scared me off from the start."

  "You said that she's plotting her next move?"

  "Most definitely," Eric nodded. "But it could be weeks before she attacks. We should be safe for the rest of the trip."

  "Man. I didn't know what to do. It all happened so fast. I didn't know if I should have tried to stop them…"

  "Nooo…" Eric shook his head. "The best thing is to just stand back and let them have at it. They never really hurt each other anyway. It's a game of one-upmanship." Eric reached down and picked up a stuffed dog. "So, did they succeed in scaring you off? Sure you want to get involved with such a screwy family?"

  "In a twisted way, it was entertaining." Nick smiled.

  Eric gave a snort. "They're not dull, that's for sure."

  Chapter 14

  When Nick got back to the room, Andy wasn't there yet. He set Andy's glasses and their shopping bag on the table, then walked out onto the balcony. He looked down at the pool area and saw Andy laying on a lounge chair in the shade.

  Nick felt a rush of recognition and appreciation for the man he had come to know. Along with that was a sense of desire and the need to keep close. Not to possess or control, but to care for and support.

  He shook his head and wondered how he had become so emotionally connected to another person in such a short amount of time. He, who had always made it a rule not to venture past a one-night stand. He smiled to himself at the irony and realized that he had it bad.

  A few minutes later, he was still standing on the balcony, mesmerized, watching Andy basically do nothing but lay there. Nick never got tired of looking at him. He was thinking about how pathetic he was when a movement to the left caught Nick's attention. A guy with red hair was coming up the steps leading from the beach. Nick tensed. What was that Lee fucker doing in Cancun?

  Once the guy got to
the top of the stairs, he stopped and looked around. It was obvious to Nick when the guy spotted Andy. He walked a little closer to Andy, then stopped and leaned against a retaining wall. He looked at Andy and then he looked around the general area. But his gaze kept coming back to Andy. Nick’s hands gripped the balcony rail and he fought the urge to yell out a warning.

  The guy moved again and sat in a chair facing Andy, about twenty feet away. Again the guy just sat there and stared at him. Finally, the guy got up, walked over to where Andy lay and stood directly next to his lounge chair, looking down at him. Damn, Andy doesn't even notice the son of a bitch.