Michelle: I miss you too.
I thought that was it for now but a few seconds later the phone buzzed again.
Michelle: Get home safe, so I can hurt you myself.
Now that was the Michelle I knew and loved. Wait? WTF? Loved? When the fuck did that happen? Maybe I’ve had enough scotch for one night. Time to get back to the hotel and sleep this shit off. The more I thought about it though, the more I realized it was true. I was totally in love with her. The thought of losing her was like a kick in the balls. Did she feel the same about me? Or was this going to be another “Ashley” deal. Michelle didn’t seem like that at all, but she did meet me after we’d made it. Maybe she was just a different type of groupie? Fuck. Maybe I needed another bottle instead of sleep.
Chapter Three
Michelle…
There’s nothing like Central Park on a spring day. Except if you’re hung over, and then it’s not so great. We’d finished both bottles of wine while watchingThe Avengersand then opened a third. Neither of us ate enough sushi to sop up all the alcohol and now we were sweating it out in the sunshine. Not hung over would definitely have been better. Still, lying on a blanket, on the soft spring grass, with a gentle breeze blowing through the newly grown leaves, and the sounds of kids running around was a wonderful after being cooped up inside most of the winter. It even improved my mood a little.
I was flipping through the books on my Kindle trying to figure out what to read, when a shadow slid across the tablet screen. Even with sunglasses on and squinting into the sunlight, it was too bright to figure out who was standing over me.
“Hi, Michelle…Michelle DeAngelo, right?”
Okay, so he knew who I was, the voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I still didn’t know who it was. I got what I call a case of the weaslies—goose bumps and the little hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. Rolling to a sitting position to get a better look at him, I still couldn’t make out his face.
“Your voice sounds familiar, but with the sun in my eyes I can’t place it. Sorry.”
“No problem. Bob Williams. I teach first grade at Crane Park. In fact my classroom is just down the hall from yours.”
“Oh yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you but the sun. Bob, how are you?” I still had no idea who the hell he was, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to play along.
“Great, enjoying the nice weather.”
Able to make out more of him as the sun moved behind some clouds, I still didn’t remember him, then some memory triggered of him standing outside his class every morning and waving hi to me as I got to mine. I’d never heard him speak that I could remember. He was one of the people who you didn’t notice, they seem to blend into their surroundings. Not trying to be mean, but you know damn well what I’m talking about. We all know at least one person who is a “blender”. There is absolutely nothing about them that stands out. Medium brown hair, medium build, medium height, dressed in khaki pants with a beige polo shirt, and medium brown shoes. Really? He didn’t look like he was out to relax in the park, and once again my Spidey senses tingled.
“I know right? It’s wonderful to get out of the house for a change.” My patience with small talk was at an end. Now how did I get him to move along?
“Hi, I’m Bob,” he said, obviously addressing Teresa.
She elbowed me in the side and turned over to say hi. I shrugged. Hell if I knew what he was up to.
“Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Teresa,” she answered and flashed her shiny diamond in his face. Way to go, Teresa. At least she had an asshole protector to flash. Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. He might be a great guy, but I was hung over and pissed off at Flame afterthe whole thing last night. Definitely not in the mood to make nice with a guy.
“Wow quite a rock you’ve got there. Lucky guy.” He had a strange expression on his face, disapproval? Maybe for the way we were dressed? Both of us wanted a little color after being so pale all winter and were wearing bikini tops and shorts. Nothing too revealing. Or maybe he always looked like he sucked on a lemon?
“You’re right he is,” Teresa said with a grin. “Actually Michelle is dating his friend. You might have heard of them, they’re in a band—Raining Chaos.”
“Ahh, no, I can’t say I have. But I listen to mostly country music. They don’t sound like a country band.”
Now he really looked like he was sucking on a lemon and I couldn’t hold back my giggle. I knew what Teresa was doing, and it wasn’t working but I gave her an “A” for effort. “Yeah, they’re definitely not a country music band.”
“How come he’s not here with you?”
“They’ve been on tour. But they’re headed back today,” Teresa answered forme. I wanted to kick her but couldn’t without Bob seeing. I didn’t like to share personal info with people I didn’t know, and even if we did teach at the same school, and I still didn’t know that for sure, but either way I didn’t ‘know’ Bob.
“They should be careful leaving you beautiful ladies on your own.” He glanced at his wrist, and then at me. “I guess I should be going. I still have some errands to run. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
“Thanks, you too.”
Watching his back fade into the crowd near the ice cream stand, I breathed a sigh of relief and some of the heaviness weighing me down lifted. Reaching for the cooler, I pulled out a bottle of water and handed one to Teresa.
“What the fuck was that? Do you know him?”
“I don’t think so, but apparently he knows me, huh?”
