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Lisa (no login)
Posted Dec 9, 2005 4:40 PM
For Disclaimer and other details please see Chapter 1.
CHAPTER 11
Eyeing the young woman who sat opposite him over the diner menu Kevin resisted the urge to smile. He wasn’t sure exactly why. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything especially interesting or entertaining. Nope, she was just sitting there chugging back coffee as if it was going out of fashion. Hell she was already onto her second cup and he hadn’t even finished looking at the menu yet. Damn but it looked like his conversational skills were sadly lacking if she needed this much caffeine to stay awake just to eat with him. This time he really did smile confident that the menu would cover this new expression.
As soon as he was sure that it was gone he folded the printed cardboard and tossed it back down onto the table beside him. “So, tell me, why this line of work?” He asked as he finally picked up his own coffee cup and took a sip. He made a face. He must have been perusing the menu for longer than he thought. His coffee was definitely on the cold side.
“What?” Lenny asked as his voice jerked her out of her thoughts. Not that she had been thinking of anything particularly exciting. Just trying to work out the best and quickest way to get to the next place that they were playing. She blushed slightly at being caught out like that. She was usually much quicker off the draw and in this certain situation she really should be on a much better footing. She just kept waiting for him to drop some kind of bombshell into the conversation. The real reason that he had asked her to get something to eat. And she was absolutely certain that there was another reason. It wasn’t just about getting to know each other or about two friends going to get something to eat together. Nope, there was something else going on here and she was determined to find out what it was. “Sorry, was kind of away with the fairies right then.”
He smiled once more. What was it about her that had him smiling all the time? It couldn’t be because he found her charming because whenever they spoke to each other nine times out of ten it turned into some kind of slanging match or name-calling. “I see that.” He said quietly. “I repeat, why this line of work?” He asked once more and tilted his head to the side automatically in a practiced pose. If the women thought that you were listening to them it made everything else so much easier. Women liked a good listener and as long as she didn’t have any follow up questions then he would be the best god damned listener that he could pretend to be.
“Why not?” She asked with a light shrug. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been asked this question before. She had been … dozens of times it seemed. “It was just something that I had been thinking about for a long time. And it’s so much more fun than working in an office let me tell you.”
He nodded. “I would imagine that it is.” He said not sure what else to say in response to that considering that he had never worked in an office in his life so couldn’t really see both sides of the coin. “But why am I having so much trouble seeing you behind some desk? Just another nameless and faceless beaurocrat.”
“I have no idea Mr Nash.” She said honestly and then pulled a face. Placing her cup on the table she looked down and wiggled her fingers a little. “But I was ... stuck behind a desk in an office I mean. I’m a fairly good typist even if I do say so myself.”
He watched the movement of her hands and for some reason was finding it slightly hypnotic. Ok, he may just be starting to become pathetic if her moving her hands around like that was starting to do something for him. “Yeah you probably are, I can’t see you approaching anything half-assed. I do, however, have a real problem seeing you take orders from anyone.”
“And therein would lie the truth.” She told him and smiled. “I hated it. I hated being pointed to my work station every day and basically being told what to do.” Not able to help it she shrugged. “I quickly discovered that life behind a desk wasn’t for me. I have total respect for the people who do it every day. They are gods-is it just me or is it really hot in here?” She muttered then not waiting for an answer she proceeded to tug off her sweater and toss it down in the booth beside her. “So how about you?” She asked him sweetly and in that instant knew that she had the answer that she had been looking for from the moment that she had accepted his invitation.
Somewhere deep in his mind Kevin knew that Lenny was talking to him had just asked him a question in fact. But he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from her... “What?” He asked and then winced instantly. That had come out much too loudly. So much for him having a reputation with women. He might just be out of touch. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a waitress approaching their table and heaved a small sigh of relief. Someone and something else to think about for a minute or two. Yep, it was pretty obvious to him that he needed to get laid. And it was also becoming obvious that he couldn’t wait for however long it took to get Lenny to be the woman that was under him.
-o0o-
Tossing some money down on the table to cover her share of the check Lenny shot Kevin an assessing look. This had definitely not been as heavy as she had thought that it would be. After that little distracting move that she had made before the waitress arrived their conversation had continued to be more of the same. Just getting to know each other ... and not in a sleazy way. He showed no further interest in her than any other one of her male friends. Maybe she had just over reacted to this whole thing. She hoped that she had because she had a feeling that it would be nice to have more friends on the roster. Just people that she could hang out with when things got a little too lonely or hectic. “We should probably think about getting back on the road.” She said while looking at her watch. She was surprised to find that she was feeling a little disappointed by that fact. Still time was marching on and she had a lot of ground to cover.
“Not just yet.” Kevin stalled as he sipped at his coffee slowly. “We still have plenty of time.”
She just shot him a look. “Well maybe you do but I’m not a great fan of driving at night.” She said honestly. “Usually I never stop for food till I’m practically at my destination.”
“If you don’t like driving at night then maybe you should think about hooking up with someone and sharing road and driving duties.” He said and knew that he was right. Suddenly he had just been hit by the fact that he wasn’t that keen on her driving on her own at night either. Not with the distances that they had to cover. “It’s safer and it usually makes that journey go much faster. Of course it all depends on who you decide to share your car with.”
Not able to stop it the smirk worked its way over her face slowly. “Yeah I guess you could be right there Kevin.” She said as if she were seriously considering it. “Can you think of anyone on the roster who wouldn’t mind doing that?”
“Well, really there are a few people that would probably be interested in buddying up when it comes to driving.” He said and knew exactly what she was doing. She was waiting for him to say that he would be willing to share anything with her. But she would have a long wait. It was almost as if she wanted him to trip himself up. As if she wanted something that she could pick up and wave around in the air as an obvious attempt by him to get her into a horizontal position. He resisted the urge to just laugh out loud considering that was exactly what he was trying to do. But he couldn’t do it in an obvious way. If he was going to get what he wanted something told him that he would have to play this pretty cagey. “Maybe you should think about asking one of the other women. I know that they aren’t exactly big fans of the whole driving thing either so they would probably understand your whole predicament more than anyone else.”
She blinked slightly at his answer. True it hadn’t been the one that she had expected but she couldn’t fault his logic at all. “Good idea.” She muttered. “Very good idea.”
“What do your parents think of what you do for a living?” He asked suddenly as he leaned forwards on the table slightly. Yeah he knew what his parents thought of his job, hell they had been particularly vocal about it at the beginning of it all but he also knew that it had to be different for a woman entering this business. He wasn’t being sexist; it was just a fact of life. Plus, even though she wasn’t a wrestler she took her fair share of hard knocks as was evidenced by the stitches that she still had in her head. “I can’t exactly see them being thrilled that their little girl chose to referee wrestling matches.”
She tilted her head to the side slightly as she thought of what he had said. “She wasn’t.” She stated flatly and saw him arch a brow. “My mother I mean. She wasn’t thrilled with it at first and I’m pretty sure that she still isn’t now but the difference is that now she is just so much better at hiding it than she was then. I think that she thought that I would move onto some new fad the moment that I got bored but now she’s starting to accept that this is what I want to do.”
“I should hope so considering that now you’re on TV nearly every week.” He said with a small smile. As he watched her talk his eyes were drawn repeatedly to her lips and he found himself wondering what she would do if he were to just lean a little closer and kiss her right here and now.
She grinned. “Yeah I guess. Oh and my brother absolutely hates it! He hates what I do for a living passionately ... so that’s another bonus.” She finished and was sure that she saw confusion on his face. “My brother’s a jackass.” She stated by way of explanation. “Perfect job, perfect house, perfect wife and the requisite perfect two point four children in place to go with everything else. It’s like his life was created for him by Mattel.” She added.
“And let me guess.” Kevin sighed softly as he leaned back in his chair before he could give in to temptation and just attempt to kiss the breath out of her body. “He never misses a chance to rub that in your face?”
She nodded but she wasn’t angry. It was just something that she had accepted about her family a long time ago. “Pretty much.” She said simply. “He’s the little prince. I wasn’t exactly a planned child.” She grinned again. “I think that I’ve spent most of my life trying to make up for that and get everyone’s attention somehow.” Then she blushed. “And I am talking just way too much.”
“Nope, I think that you’re talking just enough Lenny.” He said and smiled. Ok so she was learning to loosen up around him. That could only be of the good ... right? “Though I have to admit that I would love to be a fly on the wall at your next family reunion.”
Laughing at his words she began to pull her sweater back on. Yeah it might be hot in here but she was willing to bet that she would feel the coolness as soon as she got outside. “I’ll be sure to let you know the next time we play my home town. Maybe I can introduce you to my version of dysfunctional family values then.”
“Speaking about family.” He began as he shoved his hand into his bag and rooted around for a moment or two. Then he found what he was looking for, pulled it out and handed it over to her. “You dropped this earlier when we were talking. I meant to give it back to you before now but it just slipped my mind.”
Taking the picture out of his grasp she looked at it and blushed slightly. Yeah she was glad that Brian had sent her a picture of them together but did it have to be this one. She looked ... well she didn’t want to go into how she looked but it was safe to say that she was never wearing that outfit again. She would never learn. She just looked ridiculous when she wore a skirt. It was something that she would never be ... a skirt girl. Give her a t-shirt and jeans any day. “Thanks. I hadn’t even noticed that it was gone ... but I would have been upset once I did.” She gave it another cursory glance before opening her own bag and placing it inside. “And Brian would have killed me when I told him that I lost it.”
So the opposition had a name. Brian. Kevin thought about the guy in the picture with her. He really didn’t look like a Brian to him at all. “So ... this Brian ... is he your guy ... your boyfriend?” He asked and as soon as the words were out of his mouth he wondered if he should have asked them. Maybe that was pushing a little too hard. “Its just that you never talk about him much ... or at all.” He pointed out. Yeah no one was ever that full of tales from back home but you usually knew when someone had a significant other.
Opening her mouth to answer in the negative Lenny found something else completely spilling out of her mouth. “Well, in a way ... I guess.” She said evasively. Well it was true, she tried to justify to herself. Brian was a boy and he was her friend and ok now she was pathetic. Why couldn’t she just be honest with him about this? He was an attractive man and she was pretty sure that he wasn’t interested in her. If she told him that she wasn’t attached then she was fairly certain that it wouldn’t lead to him trying to take her on the diner table. “Nope, just ignore that bullshit. Brian isn’t my boyfriend. He’s my friend ... my best friend.” She clarified then smiled and shrugged.
“Why did you try to tell me that he was something more?” Kevin asked sliding out of the booth as he grabbed his bag.
She shook her head not really sure of how to answer his question. “I just thought that it might be easier to do my job and not let myself get distracted if people thought that I was attached.” She told him honestly as she followed him to the door and stepped out into the night air.
“Little tip for you Lenny.” Kevin said as he turned to face her and pulled her towards him slightly. “If someone in here decides that they’ve taken a fancy to you then there isn’t a hell of a lot that will put them off.” He said and at the same time wondered what the hell he was doing. She was getting an awful lot of honesty out of him. “They’ll pursue you no matter what ... attachments or no attachments.” He tapped her on the end of the nose then took a step back. “Well I guess that I’ll see you later.” He added airily. “I’ll just make sure that you get to your car safely.” He finished as he gestured towards her rental car.
She blinked. That was it? No suggestions that she travel with him or fumbled attempts to make a pass? Although she knew that she should be relieved there was something else entirely going on inside her head. “Yeah ... ok.” She muttered as she pulled out her keys and headed over there. |
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