Devil’s in the Details (13 page)

"Roger that Professor, you finished five minutes early, well done. I’ll call you in the morning to confirm your payment. Your flight leaves in an hour and half." Dani sounded relieved and tired. "Have a safe trip."

I tapped the ear bud, shutting off as I picked up my pace. Running off the rest of the adrenaline and clearing my senses over the last few blocks back to the company apartment.

Two hours later, I sat in front of the fireplace in my living room. A large fire was burning as I tossed the black garments into the flames. Standing in the middle of the room dressed in only a baggy old shirt and underwear, I held a half glass of bourbon. My skin was still prickling from the boiling hot shower I took to scrub the last remnants of Sergei from my body as I stared aimlessly at the orange and red flickers of light. The warmth of the fire soothed my mind and the bare areas of my skin that the oversized and faded USNA Lacrosse shirt didn't cover. I was tired, exhausted and a thousand other things I didn't want to analyze in this moment.

The one thing I did feel was lonely.

Lonely that I had no one to talk to as I left the apartment with my carry-on bag gripped tightly in my hand. No one to talk to as I drove to the airport and dumped the company car at the rental lot, then walked in to smile blankly and nod at the CATSA officers. Flashing my Navy Intelligence identification card that allowed me to bypass the usual security measures and searches.

It was almost seven in the morning. The slivers of late morning light coming through the wooden slats of the shades covering the windows around me, cast striped patterns on the hardwood floor to my right. I had to get ready for my morning class at nine as soon as all of the equipment and clothing I used was burned to my satisfaction.

Seven in the morning and I felt like I was the only person in the world who was awake and it dug under my skin more than I thought it should. More than I wanted it to.

Draining the rest of the bourbon, I threw the last piece of clothing into the fire and walked to my desk. I traded the empty glass for my cell phone and moved to go to my bedroom to pick out which suit I was going to wear for today's classes.

After selecting a plain grey pinstripe pair of pants and a light blue button down collared shirt, I laid them out on my bed. I then turned to grab my wallet from the bedside table and place it in my briefcase when I caught the off white edge of my business card poking out of the top.

At the sheer sight of the edge, I felt my heart ask something from me. To go and remove the card and call Alex.

I hesitated, the wallet in my fingers. I knew calling her would mean getting more involved, which would lead to getting further attached to the woman. Then that would develop into all the other relationships and friendships I’d ever had before in my life. Quickly wilting away as the duality of my life kept everyone at an arm's length no matter how much I cared for them.

What I should do is remove the card and throw it in the fire and move on. Settle for Dani, Dale and Mary being the only people in my life that I could almost call friends or companions.

Instead of following through on what I should do, I plucked the card from my wallet. Dropping the simple brown leather bi-fold to sit next to my clothes for the day, I grabbed my cellphone and dialed.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, perched nervously with my elbows resting on the tops of my bare thighs, I slowly began to talk myself out of making this phone call on the second ring. On the third ring I began hoping she wouldn't pick up, by the fourth ring I started to drop the phone away from my ear and leave this last second phone call as a moment of weakness, one to never return to.

Then I heard, "Hello Victoria."

I had been up since five. Old habits of working the late shift kicking in and I couldn't fall asleep if my life depended on it. I finally gave up and decided to unpack and alphabetize my movie collection before moving on to unpacking and hanging up my clothes in the closet.

Leaning against the front of my couch, I was stacking DVD's in piles. Ones I wanted to keep and ones I wanted to donate to the local library. It was all painfully boring and I was looking forward to nine o'clock to strike so I could drive over to my favorite coffee shop and get out of the apartment. Cabin fever was hitting me hard since Stacy and I got back from our road trip and now that I was feeling better and moving better, I wanted out. I wanted to go back to work, but had to wait at least another week before the head nurse would even think about letting me back in. More than anything, I wanted to return to being and feeling normal instead of this semi helpless woman who would receive stares, and hushed whispers, when people saw the bruises and cane. I was getting antsy and I hated it because I was alone and had nothing but occasional texts from Stacy about work gossip, a few calls from my mother to check in, and my Netflix queue I was quickly blowing through.

But more than that, I was getting antsy because every time I looked at my phone, I hoped I would see Victoria's number pop up on the screen. It had been almost three days and nothing, leaving me to believe that I had been a bit too crazy and forward and my plan back fired. Karma's way of telling me that some gut feelings were better left in the gut and not acted upon.

I shook my head as I glanced at my phone sitting next to me on the floor. I really needed to get over the blonde and look for something or someone else to consume my thoughts. Grabbing my coffee cup, I focused on sifting through my television show collections, debating which ones I wanted to keep.

It was a quarter to eight in the morning. I would give myself another twenty minutes with the DVD's before I changed out of my pajamas and headed out on the town. Maybe I would go to a bookstore, or be a tourist down at the Mall and stroll around the Smithsonian.

I was lost in reading the back of one DVD of an old movie I hadn't watched in years, when my phone started to vibrate next to me. I reached for it and turned to look at the screen, half expecting it to be another text from Stacy about the midnight orderly getting caught having sex with the afternoon intern in the MRI room again.

When I saw the ten numbers I had memorized, flash in white on the screen, I couldn't hold back the grin as I tapped the green call button, "Hello Victoria."

"Alex, hi. I hope I didn't wake you."

Victoria's voice was soft, warm, smooth and sounded tired, but none the less, it made me blush to hear her say my name. "You didn't. I've been up for a few hours working on unpacking and cleaning." I pushed myself up to actually sit on the couch as a heavy pause filled the line. I bit my bottom lip, about to start a conversation with a silly polite opening of how are you? How's work?

"I’m sorry for calling so early, but I’m going to be down in D.C. tomorrow for a quick trip for work and I was wondering if you would like to grab lunch or coffee?" Victoria paused, it was evident she was not very good at idle talk that didn't have a clear purpose or directive. Her stumbling made me grin wider as she continued, "I want to apologize for being standoffish and rude the other day in my office. And I think that I could use another friend." Her words ended abruptly.

I chuckled at how adorable it was to listen to this strong and fiercely put together woman bumble like a teenager asking out their very first prom date. "I’m totally free tomorrow, Victoria. There is a really great sandwich place down on Jackson Avenue on the north side of Arlington Cemetery. We can meet there at like one?" I tried hard to keep the excitement out of my voice, since I had no idea why I was getting as excited as I was. I had no idea who this woman was, she could be a killer or a freak for all I knew, and yet, I found myself drawn to her like a bug to the bright blue light of a bug zapper.

"I think I know of the place you are talking about, Monument Meats?" I could hear the smile in her voice, making me laugh hearing her say the ridiculous name.

"That's the place. They have the best roast beef I have ever had." I leaned against the thin cushions of the couch, feeling the tension ease between the blonde and I.

"How about we meet at Lee's house in the cemetery and walk over. I know the parking over on Jackson is nonexistent." Victoria now sounded more confident, like I had experienced in her office.

I nodded to no one, "Sounds like a plan."

"Okay." Another awkward heavy paused fell before, "Well, I need to get ready for class. I’ll see you tomorrow Alex."

"Yes you will, Victoria."

We both issued goodbyes and when I hit the red end call button, I sighed. Still grinning like an idiot without knowing exactly why. It wasn't a date. It wasn't anything more than two people meeting up for lunch in hopes that a new friendship could be created. That was it, just two people looking to be friends.

But as I set my phone down on the arm of the couch, I felt deep down in the pit of my stomach, the hope that there was something more between Victoria and I than a possible friendship. Something more that I didn't know I really wanted. Until I heard her voice on the phone saying my name, as if she was the only person in the world who knew how to say it in just the right way.

I groaned, rolling my eyes at myself. I was getting out of hand with the way I thought this woman made me feel. Any psychologist would tell me that I was still harboring a deep form of hero worship for the woman.

That in time after my injuries healed and my bruises faded away, I could be left looking at a dirty penny hiding under the shiny gold coin image I had placed on Victoria since that night. She could easily be a dirty penny, but she would be the most gorgeous dirty penny I had ever met.

I shook my head, pushing up from the couch to make a fresh cup of coffee, muttering to myself, "Maybe you really are crazy."

Dumping out the col coffee, I decided to work on alphabetizing my pantry to stop the daydreams of how lunch would go tomorrow.

Chapter 5

The cemetery was busy even for a Saturday. There were tons of tourists milling in and around the old historical house, snapping pictures as they ooh'd and awed over the expansive view from the front porch. It all made me want to second guess arranging this lunch get together and having Alex to meet me at Lee's house. I didn’t think about the fact that it would be filled with so many people on a sunny, warm weekend day in spring.

I didn't like to be in crowds, there are too many things to watch out for and too many things that would catch my overly detailed oriented mind. Analyzing every movement everyone made as they smiled politely, stepping around me to enter the house.

I moved to sit on the far corner of the porch, well away from the entrance and people. Far enough away that the tour guides voices fell to muted murmurs of rehearsed dialogue. Rehearsed speeches intended to educate the groups of tourists on who Robert E. Lee was and his impact on the world and how he shaped the city below them. Some of the speeches were so painfully inaccurate, I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my tongue in my mouth. Opting to keep my head down and focusing on reading the battered copy of Casino Royale I had put in my bag last month.