Oh, Andrew, are you volunteering?
“Maybe,” I playfully replied. Without a doubt, I’d love to get Andrew on his knees and tease the hell out of him until he lost control and blew his load on my pants. After we shared a laugh, he brought up the last time I had seen him.
“I wanted to apologize for last weekend and having to leave so abruptly.”
“You don’t need to apologize. You’ve been through the wringer and weren’t feeling well. I understood.”
“I knew you would, and I appreciate it. It’s just, I really enjoy your company and would have loved to have talked to you longer.”
I smiled at his words. Andrew was a sweet, sexy man. He would be the type of guy who someone could settle down with.
“I enjoy your company as well. How are you feeling?”
“I’m doing better, thank you. The cracked ribs need to heal on their own. All the doctors can give me for it is stuff to manage the pain until they’ve healed. It’s getting better, though.” Andrew ran his hand through his hair.I could do that.
“You look worn out,” I observed.
“I am.” He laughed lightly as he rubbed one of his eyes.
At the risk of being told it wasn’t any of my business, I decided to ask him how other things had been going.
“How are things going?”
“It’s been a rough week.” He looked at me for a moment and then nonchalantly glanced over his shoulder to see who might be within earshot. When he felt comfortable, he proceeded. “My dad and I have been busting our asses getting ready for the new coffee house location. So that’s kept me really busy. And to make things more stressful, I found out a few days ago that Elise changed her plea. Which, all it seems to do is drag things out.”
This is the most candid Andrew has been with me about things going on in his personal life. I felt as though he must trust me to divulge this part of his life with me. His trust in people has been damaged, so I didn’t think he was randomly or blindly trusting me. Andrew trusted James with his life, so if James had advised Andrew that he could confide in me, I’d like to believe Andrew would.
“She changed her plea?”
“Yes. During her arraignment she had pled not guilty by reason of insanity.”
“Thus, bypassing the trial of guilt or innocence,” I added.
“Yeah. I felt like that was her way of acknowledging what she had done, and in a weird way, maybe it was an apology. My attorney thought it was their way of saying that they knew there was substantial evidence against her and were moving ahead to see if the insanity portion would stick. Then, a few days ago, she changed it to the double plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.”
“The insanity plea would reduce her incarceration time. The double plea will bring on a trial to determine if she’s guilty first. Then the insanity trial will follow. What are her charges? If you don’t mind my asking.”
Andrew leaned closer and mumbled, “Assault and battery with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.”
“Those are serious charges, Andrew.”
“I know. It’s been stressful.” He reached for his side as he took a deep breath. “Oxygen is the only place where I can escape from the stress for a while. Even though James and a few other people know, this is still a welcoming, stress-free place for me.”
“Oxygen is a wonderful atmosphere. You have many friends here who support you, Andrew.”
“Oxygen is comfortable to me. I feel more at home here than I do at home. Which is really Josh’s house. He’s moved in with Sam and Ali but didn’t want to sell the house. So that’s where I’m living.”
He paused again to take a sip from the bottle of water Albert had placed in front of him. He sat up straighter and tried to stretch some from his seat.
“Would you like to walk around?” I offered.
“Yeah, I think moving helps. I don’t seem to slouch while walking.” He laughed.
As Andrew and I strolled through the main room, I noticed the three people who had been waiting, possibly for me, had already left. Good. I was glad they were each able to find someone to meet their needs for the night.
Andrew paused by the first occupied room where a couple were engaged in a flogging session. He intensely watched with the hint of a grin. Each time the falls from the flogger touched the bottom’s skin, she moaned in pleasure.
“Someone’s having a good time,” Andrew murmured.
