Anchor Line (6 page)

             
“Well, Staff Sergeant Renner, I’m sorry, but i’m going to have to re-schedule. I have an appointment.” She took a deep breath waiting for him to move.

             
“What kind of appointment?”

             
“That is absolutely none of your business.” She responded.

             
“Marshall, which apartment complex are you hitting...oh.” Talia asked as she rounded the corner to her cubicle and came to an abrupt halt. “Oh, sorry girl. Didn’t think you had a customer.”

              “Sergeant Renner was just leaving.” Addie said annoyed.

             
“Oh, so you are re-scheduling me for an apartment complex.” Conrad crossed his arms over his broad chest.

             
“Miss Marshall?” Mr. Claymore said from the walkway outside of Addie’s cubicle. “Did you just say that you have to re-schedule an appointment to go look at an appointment? You told me your schedule was clear.”

             
“I thought Sergeant Renner here was a duplicate appointment.” Addie explained.

             
“Actually,” Conrad turned around, “I scheduled the appointment so that I could take Miss Marshall to the apartment complex...myself. Sorry about any confusion.”

             
Conrad extended his hand to Claymore who took it and shook Conrad’s hand. Then Conrad moved aside practically pushing Claymore out of the way and motioned for Addie to exit the cubicle and proceed him down the small walkway. He nodded to Talia as he followed Addie out into the waiting room, where he put his hand on the small of Addie’s back, until he slid his beret on and walked her out of the building.

             
Addie was walking straight to her car with Conrad beside her when suddenly he took her arm by a firm hand and led her toward his truck. She tried to tug her arm away and realized that he wasn’t going to let go. She looked up at him, but he didn’t look back at her.

             
Fine, she thought, he wants to drive me like a chauffeur, less gas I have to use.

             
When they came to his truck, he hit the key fob to unlock it and let her go so that she could get in. He got in on his side as Addie went to the passenger side and again, waited until Conrad smirked at her as he leaned over and pulled on the handle and pushed the door open.

             
“So chivalrous.” She mumbled as she got into the truck.

             
“I am chivalrous. But this isn’t a date.” He lifted the corner of his seductive mouth, then started the truck.

             
“To which apartment complex are we going?” He asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

             
Addie told him which one to drive to and mumbled a thanks. They made their way in relative silence as Conrad drove.

             
Pulling into the complex, Addie took in the newer buildings and the nicer cars that were in the parking spots as they made their way to the offices. Addie jumped out and quickly made her way into the spacious Welcome Center where the offices were. She tried to ignore Conrad as he made his way beside her. Greeted by a bubbly blonde, Addie huffed a breath that didn’t escape Conrad’s notice as he stood next to her and chuckled as he slid his hand to the small of her back again.

             
“Hi. I’m Candy.” The blonde with rather large breasts and a very thin waist greeted them in a very southern accented voice. “How can I help ya’ll?”

             
“I called about the two bedroom apartment available this morning. I’m Addie.”

             
The blonde looked at Conrad for a moment, taking him in and then looked at Addie as she pointed to Conrad’s name tape and smile. “I think you spoke to Brooke, Mrs. Renner, come on back.”

             
“Oh I’m not...” Addie started, but didn’t finish, as Candy had turned around and walked into the office area.

             
“She’s got a sense of humor. I like it.” Conrad chimed in with a shit eating grin on his face.

             
“You are here as a taxi service only. Not to get dates and bring them to your dungeon.” Addie shot Conrad a look of pure evil.

             
He leaned down to Addie’s ear and whispered, “How did you know I had a dungeon?”

             
“Typical.” Addie mumbled, pushing Conrad away with a hand to his chest and took off after the bubbly Candy with Conrad in tow.

             
As Addie sat down in front of Brooke’s desk, waiting for her to get off the phone, Conrad engaged Candy in conversation. Turning around in her chair, Addie couldn’t hear anything they were saying, but Candy had leaned against her desk, her hands animated, waving around as she spoke to Conrad. Conrad, on the other hand, was leaned against her doorway with his arms crossed against his chest, a huge grin on his face.

             
Addie rolled her eyes.

             
After wrapping up her call, Brooke and Addie spoke a little about the apartment, after having already emailed earlier and spoke earlier, she was ready to see it and move in right away. Addie followed Brook out of the office and glanced at Conrad and Candy as they made their way out of the building. Conrad turned to follow when Addie stopped him with a hand on his chest.

             
“No.” Addie said shaking her head. “You should stay here and keep Candy’s blouse from popping open. Who knows, maybe you’ll get her phone number.”

             
“She thinks we’re married.” Conrad leaned down to whisper in her face.

             
“Just think...this is your chance to tell her that we aren’t.” Addie gave a huge smile and pointed to Candy who was watching the short tete-a-tete with interest, and then she pointed to Conrad. Then she turned on her heel and walked swiftly out to meet Brooke who was waiting for her in a golf cart.

             
“Sorry.” She mumbled.

             
“Your husband not coming?” Brooke asked.

             
“Not my husband. Just a friend.” Addie answered. “He’s preoccupied anyway.” Addie shrugged.

             
“They all get that way honey.” Brooke smiled, mashing on the golf cart’s pedal and they took off.

             
Addie was in love with her new apartment. As she and Brooke made their way inside, Addie didn’t notice that Conrad and Candy were still in the same places that they were when she’d left. She swept passed them and sat down and signed her new lease. She was on cloud nine. She had a two bedroom apartment and her own assigned parking space. She was on the top floor of her two story building. She was all the way in the back. It faced another, fancier apartment complex that was about twenty yards away, but she didn’t care. The only thing that separated the two complexes was a row of small box hedges. After she’d gotten her key, she gave Brooke a big hug with a smile on her face and turned to walk away with her new lease and keys in hand.

              “Let’s go lover boy.” Addie said as she walked by him on her way out the door.

             
“Later Candy.” Conrad said as he jogged out to meet Addie at the main doors, not bothering with his beret.

             
After climbing back into the truck, Addie had a smile that even Conrad couldn’t erase. She slid her new key on her key ring and pulled out a piece of paper from the envelope that had her lease in it. Looking at the utilities she had to switch over to her name, she knew what she’d be doing late that afternoon. She didn’t have but two appointments, so it was easy peasy.

             
“You signed already?” Conrad asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

             
“Yes, but I won’t be able to move in until Saturday.”

             
“Why?”

             
“Because I have to pack and get help to move.”

             
“I can help if you want.”

             
Addie looked up from the paper in her hands and regarded him for a moment, then spoke. “No thanks.”

             
“Why the fuck not?” Conrad asked as he looked over, brows crossed.

             
“Don’t you have a date with ‘Big Tits Magee’ Saturday?” Addie looked at Conrad with a quizzical brow now.

             
Conrad shook his head. “Which one?” He smiled now with a shit eating grin on his face.

             
“You got Candy’s number didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question. “I was referring to the other ‘Big Tits Magee.’”

             
“Ah. She can wait.” Conrad shrugged. “Hungry?”

             
Conrad pulled into the sandwich place that he’d taken Addie to the day before for lunch. They stood in line, ordered and sat down. Conversation was light, talking about her move and switching her utilities before Saturday. They climbed back into the truck and made their way back to Addie’s building in no time. Addie had already un-buckled her seat belt as soon as Conrad hit the front of the building.

             
“Hey, thanks for the ride and for covering up for me with Claymore. I really appreciate it.” She said as she was climbing out of the truck as Conrad was reaching over to pull on her shirt to stay her.

             
Conrad’s phone pinged for a message and he snatched it up from the console and smiled down at it.

             
“You better answer that. Candy doesn’t seem like the girl that likes to wait.” Then tossed a twenty dollar bill on the seat, “For gas.” She turned around with the door in one hand. “Bye.” And she closed the door.

             
Conrad couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but gave her a confused look, his mouth open to say something, but closed it saying nothing. She’d taken advantage of the text he had indeed received from Candy, but he wasn’t going to affirm that with Addie.

             
“Mother fucker.” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he watched Addie walk into the building.

             
Later that night, Conrad sat in his recliner watching the Penguins play against the Blackhawks on TV in his Pens hockey jersey and a pair of athletic shorts. He felt restless. For the rest of the afternoon in his platoon’s office, he couldn’t get Addie and the way she’d rushed off, out of his head. He tried to distract himself with the few emails that he had to address and he knew he had to get ready to go out to the field for a few weeks starting Monday. He always kept his ruck packed, so he didn’t have much to get together, save for the usual uniforms and an extra pair of boots.

             
Maybe he shouldn’t have admitted that he’d gotten Candy’s number. And yes, maybe he should have just ignored the text that came with impeccable timing as Addie was getting out of the truck. Even if it was a picture of Candy’s breasts in her lacy bra, her pink nipples showing a little through the fabric. He didn’t get a hard-on from it. Picking up his phone again, he looked at the picture, then down at his dick.

             
Nothing.

             
Nada.

             
Zilch.

             
He thought for a moment about deleting the text and her number, but she was his ticket to find out which apartment Addie was moving into. So he stood up and walked to the sliding glass door and looked at the apartment complex that Addie was going to move into across from him. He didn't tell her that he lived in the one on the other side of the box hedges. He somehow didn’t want her to change her mind and not move in. He liked that she was going to be close. The building that faced his across from the hedges was new. He wondered if she was going to move into that one or one of the others that had been newly remodeled. His phone dinged and he made his way over to the table by the recliner.

            
 
Susan: Watcha doin?

             
And then there was Susan. Although attractive, she was needy in the world’s worst way. Conrad wasn’t sure he was in the right frame of mind to deal with Susan. Not when he wanted someone else, so he ignored it, picked up his beer and finished it off. Sitting back in his recliner, he decided to put all thoughts of women out of his head and finished watching the game. An hour and a half later, Conrad made sure his apartment door was locked, turned off all the lights, plugged his phone into the charger  by his bedside table and headed for the shower.

             
Cranking the water on, he threw his towel over the curtain rod and stripped. Once under the hot spray, he put his hands up against the wall and let the water rush from his head down his shoulders and his back. Holy fuck it felt good. He felt all of the tension leave his body like the water was washing it away.