Magical Tendencies (5 page)
His staring drove a strong desire into me to protect myself even more. I almost felt naked under his intense stare and that was something that I did not like—feeling out of control of a situation. My rigid body was giving him a signal that I was a strong woman that would be able to protect herself if need be. My hands fisted around the handle of the screwdriver, a perfectly appropriate reaction to a stranger that was coming dangerously close to me. My mind sent out an intense mental message seething with fire,
Don't even think about messing with me, man!
My teeth were clenched and my eyes stared him down.
As if he had heard my mental message his eyes popped open and he jumped as if he had been slapped. He immediately looked up and down the beach, turning back to me sharply as he continued to stare at me. What in the world was this guy doing?
I maintained my 'strong independent woman' stance as I refused to turn my gaze away from him. I was NOT going to turn my eyes away from him for fear of what he would do given the chance to go unobserved. Some people just should never be trusted and I was afraid that this total stranger should be treated with complete distrust and suspicion.
I sneered at him as he seemed to debate what to do with himself. He turned slightly in his original direction as if he wanted to continue on with what he was doing but then he glanced back at me as if he wanted to tell me something important. Yeah right, important. HA!
That's right, buddy, just keep on walking
. My mind reached out to him as I saw his body turn toward the beach to continue on his original line of thought. He picked up his pace as his long legs pointed in the direction away from my townhouse. I released the breath that I had been holding in a sustained release that sounded like an air leak from a tire.
I shook my head at myself as I walked into the living room, locking the sliding door behind me. I yanked on the curtains to close them behind me, hiding the room from the sun that was still high in the sky even though it was already 7:30 in the evening. It was beyond time that I began to head home—the day would become darker the further inland I got and I disliked driving at night because my vision tended to fuzz up at dusk.
Throwing my things into my overnight bag, I took a long glance around the room to make sure everything was in its place as well as to assess how much I really was going to miss the townhouse. My little apartment was not worth talking about and I disliked existing there during the week but it was worth it if I could escape one more weekend in my personal paradise right off of the shoreline.
Stepping outside the front door I made a quick scan of the parking area outside the townhouse. Seeing nothing threatening, I locked the door and stooped to pick up my overnight bag from the ground beside me. That was when I saw the boots just a step away from my line of sight.
What the heck?! Where did those feet come from?
My heart immediately sped up as I slowly began to straighten myself up, making sure not to make any sudden motions as I began to scan the body of the person in front of me.
From the dark black roper boots, worn denim jeans on long, muscular legs, I paused at the trim waist, taking a cleansing breath as I continued scanning up the fitted black button-down long sleeve shirt. From a trim waist, wide, strong and capable shoulders and arms, strong chin, smiling lips, sharp cheekbones and warm hazel eyes, short cropped brown hair and beautifully tanned skin, I tried to get a good idea of what was going on with this stranger before me.
Wait. Was he SMILING?
My eyes narrowed as I looked at him closely "What the hell are you doing?" I huffed as my hands turned into fists at my sides. I began to feel the adrenaline course through my body as I became painfully aware of just how close this stranger was now to my actual person. No longer was he just drifting down the beach, he was on my porch and in my personal space.
"I… I… " He stammered as he looked at my eyes. "I… "
"Are you stupid or something?" He shook his head.
"Have you had a concussion?" He shook his head.
"Are you lost?" I kept giving him options for an explanation but he just shook his head yet again.
"Well, what the hell are you stalking me for?" My voice came out an octave higher and a couple decibels louder than I meant it to. My body was beginning to shake with waves of stress and anger.
I was beginning to contemplate what I was going to do if this guy was a stalker. My mace was sitting in my purse in my truck
. Damn me for being well-prepared to leave for town
. I couldn't let him see me as weak—that was the kiss of death for any single woman that was in a dangerous situation.
"No, I'm not stalking you." The man's voice was soft and deep. His eyes drifted to the floor near his boots and he shuffled his foot over to kick a stray branch that had found its way to my porch steps. I didn't believe him but his body language definitely said that he didn't intend me any harm. Actually, it said enough that I was sure he was afraid of me or my reaction at least.
I waited for him to say or do something, anything, but the longer I waited the more eerie the silence between us became. I finally sighed and ducked down to grab my overnight bag. This guy was NOT going to scare me.
Giving him a glare of contempt, I began to descend the steps to my old red truck. I realized I was holding my breath when I unlocked the door and threw my bag onto the bench seat, threw myself into the driver's seat and closed the door with a solid slam behind me. I locked the door quickly as I threw the key into my ignition and looked up quickly to see him still standing on my porch. Of course he was.
Staring at him through the protective wall of my windshield, I finally noticed him, really seeing him for what he was. I wanted to remember what he looked like for future reference. If I saw this guy again I was going to turn him into the cops and this may be the only chance that I got to take good stock of what he looked like.
He stood at least six feet two inches tall, with broad shoulders (very broad shoulders) and a slender waist. His hair was short and brown, eyes hazel, skin tanned, as I noticed earlier. He wore his jeans like an expert and his boots were just worn enough, which made him look like a kicker.
Oh my god, I have such a weakness for cowboys.
I sighed at the thought that this gorgeous man was clearly missing a few screws. Too bad I couldn't fix him like I did my porch chair.
Shaking my head I closed my eyes and turned the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life as I let it warm-up. "What a waste," I spoke out loud to no one in particular.
Celeste.
I heard my name called out in my head.
I immediately looked to the left of my cab and then to the right, seeing nothing. My body began to shake as I realized I had actually heard it in my head. "What the heck?"
Celeste
.
Where have you BEEN?
The voice sounded exhausted with strain.
I looked straight ahead at the man standing on my porch. It was his voice speaking in my head. I didn't know what else to think. I was going mad, imagining voices in my head. Geesh, was I messed up!
Celeste. Get out of the truck
.
That was when I threw the truck into reverse, made it grind to a sudden halt and threw it into drive. I was definitely getting out of here NOW and as far away from that creepy guy as possible.
It took an hour and a half to get back to my apartment. By that time the sun was well behind the trees surrounding my complex and I was free of the concern about the stranger on my stairs.
Pulling into my parking spot directly in front of my door I turned the engine off and sat inside the safety of the cab of my truck. I loved my truck, it gave me a sense of safety and power just getting into the cab and I loved the feel of the bench seat against my back. There was nothing like the feel of driving my truck down the road especially when the stress of the day was just too much to take. My truck was my favorite place to be besides on the beach, listening to the ocean whisper sweet nothings to me.
With a deep sigh I swung the door open and swept my legs around and jumped out of the truck. Grabbing my overnight bag, I slammed the door closed and threw the bag over my shoulder.
I ascended the three flights of stairs to my door and unlocked it without delay. Tossing my bag onto my bed I finally found myself on the couch, grabbing the phone to dial my best friend Tisha. I listened to the ring on the line as I tried to slow my breathing down. I was still pretty worked up.
"Hey, Cella, what's up?" her voice rang over the line. She was always in a good mood.
"Tish, something crazy happened today at the townhouse." I shook my head as I began to recall the gorgeous man on my steps.
"Yeah? What happened?"
I took a deep breath and tried to sum it up as quickly as possible. "There was a suspicious guy on the beach just staring at me. And then when I was leaving the townhouse he was standing outside like he had been waiting for me. I was really freaking out when I found him there."
Yeah, that sounded weird alright
.
"Really?!" She definitely sounded interested, "Was he creepy looking? Was he scary, Cella? What did you do?" She really had a thing for stringing questions together. Her mind just kept spewing question after question and she didn't seem to be able to wait to hear an answer to one before she popped out another.
"Um, no, he wasn't scary, yes I was creeped out but he wasn't creepy looking."
What was her other question?
"I just got into my truck and drove away."
"He just let you drive away?" She sounded doubtful, "That doesn't sound very creepy. It doesn't sound like a threat at all Cella. Maybe you were imagining things."
I huffed a sigh. My body was beginning to release the tension that had obviously been holding me up. "Do you really think so?"
"Did you even take the time to talk to him?"
"Yeah," I blew a stray strand of hair out of my eyes, " I asked him if he was stupid."
Tisha just burst out laughing. "You really are a card, Cella. That poor guy was probably going to ask you out on a date and now he's questioning himself about the whole thing because you are just so damned rude." She laughed again and then stopped abruptly, "Was he gross? Was he covered in pus and dripping with ooze?"
"No! Geesh, Tish, are you on a gory film kick again?!" I smiled to myself as I thought about how ridiculous this conversation was, beginning to recall just how handsome the stranger had been. "He was actually very handsome." I avoided getting too in-depth with the details because Tisha had a very active imagination.
"REALLY?" She dragged the word out and then I knew I was in trouble, "Was he H-O-T, HOT?" She spelled it out like a cheerleader under the Friday night lights. I couldn't help but giggle at her silly imitation of a boy-crazed teenager.
"Uh, I wouldn't know because I didn't take time to drool over him. I guess I was just concerned that he was a nutjob that wanted to rape me, or even worse… kill me!" I huffed on my statement. I really hated thinking that this strange guy could have been anything but a creep.
"Hmmmm, did he act like a rapist or a killer?"
I thought about it for a second. Had he actually acted
dangerous?
He just stood there staring at me. He was staring at me and… smiling. He was smiling.
What
was
that all about?
"Ummm, noooo, he didn't act like a rapist or a killer… "
"What did he do?" Her curious nature was actually comforting to me. It felt like all of my concerns were melting away with each insecure feeling that she knocked down.
"He stared at me. And then he smiled." I spoke quietly.
"He
smiled
at you?" Her voice began to sound incredulous.
"Yeah." I really was beginning to feel like an idiot.
"Then he DEFINITELY has something wrong with HIM, girl! What a creep!" She laughed through her sarcasm. She was acting like I was overreacting. Was it true?
"Do you think I'm overreacting?" I sighed. I guess it was in my nature to overreact when it came to uncomfortable situations.
"Of course, what did you think I was going to say?" Tish laughed as I sighed openly, releasing the stale air in my lungs. It felt like a very heavy weight had just left my shoulders.
"I'm so glad you're my friend, Tish. You completely understand me." I smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. All that and a bag of chips too." She laughed on the line.
We sat there for a moment to let the warmth of our wonderful friendship swell over us. We didn't have to say a word about how comfortable we were. We just knew.
I took another breath and counted to ten before I dove into the next crazy question. "Hey, Tish, have you ever heard anyone, you know, in your head? Or have you THOUGHT you have heard someone in your head?"
She paused for what seemed like a very long time and then her question came slowly, suspiciously, "Have
you
heard someone in your head, Cella?" Her question sounded like a therapist questioning the lunatic in the asylum. I actually gulped because of the tone in her voice—it made me nervous.
"It just sounded like a man's voice in my head." I took a breath and shook my head, "I could have just been imagining it from the stress I was under."
"Oh, the stress from the extremely hot guy accosting you on your porch?" She giggled and then got suddenly quiet. "This is a big deal, Cella. Do you think you were hearing voices?"
"No, not
voices
but a
voice
. A man's voice." I couldn't shake it—I knew what I believed.
Tisha was uncharacteristically quiet. There was a very long pause.
"Tish, are you still there?" I whispered.
"Cella, where are you?" Tisha seemed concerned all of sudden for my location.
"I'm home, Tish. Why?" I leaned back into the couch. The question was just so off-topic.
Tisha covered the phone like she was talking to someone and then chimed right back in, "Look Cella, I'm coming right over. I'll be there in a few."
"Okay… .," I didn't know where this was coming from. "Is everything okay, Tish?"