Randle's Princess (8 page)

“Please, Please,” she kept on as they faced off over the top of the vehicle from opposite sides.

Randle shook his head as if couldn’t believe his own decision then flung the keys in the air and over the roof of the car.

Lia jumped and caught them.  “Yes!”

She wasted no time climbing behind the wheel and Randle cautiously climbed in next to her. 

“Please don’t kill us,” he pleaded jokingly now.

“Oh come on,” she declared.  “I’m not the one we need to be worried about here.”

They made their way to the shooting range but Lia’s stomach was churning at the thought.  Never had she so much as held a gun in her hand before much less fired one.  And why all of sudden does Randle feel it to be so necessary?

Once inside Randle met with the manager and picked up a pair of protective headgear to muzzle out the sounds.  They were then escorted to their long narrow booth with the targets hanging at the rear.  Randle placed the headgear over her ears and his as well then pulled the revolver from his pocket and removed it from its case.

The gun was already loaded and ready to fire.  She could barely hear Randle’s voice through the ear muffs but paid full attention.

“This is the safety button Princess,” he went on explaining as he pointed and went over all the pertinent features about the small revolver.  Then he took stance in the small alley holding the gun with both hands as he brought it up and aimed at the target.

She heard a pop and saw his arms jerk just slightly when he pulled the trigger.  “Now that’s all there is to it.  Try it,” he stated as he now handed the pistol to her.

Lia was more curious now than afraid and took the gun without hesitation.  Immediately upon its feel she liked it.  It almost felt as if Randle had handed over some his power to her.  She then felt his hand on her right shoulder from behind as he pulled her into position centering her in front of the target.

He stood directly behind her now and she could feel his body pressed against her back as he wrapped his long strong arms around hers with his hands against the side of her own as she held the gun.  She could then feel him pulling her arms up to aim at the target, her finger already positioned on the trigger.

“All you have to do is look down the top of the barrel and line it up to your target,” he then instructed with his mouth just outside of her muzzled ear.

Surprisingly to herself she wasn’t the slightest bit nervous.  This was intriguing to her now and she wanted to learn.  It felt so good and seemed to come natural for her.  And for some reason the need to make Randle proud of her made her try that much harder.

She squeezed the trigger without him having to tell her too.  The feeling of power increased drastically.

“Nice job Princess,” she heard from behind.

She turned to face him.  “Did I do it right?”

“Yes you did,” he replied beaming with pride.

“Now do it again,” he then commanded.

She turned and on her own raised the weapon and without hesitation she aimed quickly and fired. 

“How was that?”

“Well let’s see,” Randle replied as he reached up for the cord to retrieve the target.

As he looked it over, “Pretty damn good.  You’re a natural.  But then I knew you would be,” he responded.

Lia smiled proudly.  “So am I ready?”

“I do believe,” he answered quickly.  “All I have to do now is make sure you know how to load and unload it.  Now take a few more practice shots.”

She practiced for a couple of hours more while Randle went over everything with her.  She loaded and unloaded the gun.  She put the safety on and off.  The more he taught her about the gun the more confident she became with it.  Finally when they were done with her lessons she placed the gun in its small case and didn’t hesitate to slip it into her purse.

“C’mon my evil little Princess, let’s get some lunch,” he then stated as he took her hand and they left the range.

Lia again took the driver seat.  “Where too?” she asked as they made their way back onto the main road.

 “Oh I don’t really care.  You pick the place.”

“Sonic?”

“No.”

“McDonalds?”

“No.”

Lia laughed at him knowing Randle Malcolm wasn’t eating anything but fine cuisine. 

“Why did you even tell me to pick?”

“I have no idea.”  He only shook his head and smiled knowing she was teasing with him the entire time.

She pulled into a steakhouse just a few miles up the road and finally he was content.

Lia crawled into bed that night feeling like a stronger person.  She actually liked that fact that Randle had taught her how to shoot the gun.  It gave her a sense of safety and freedom that she had never felt before.  But she still couldn’t believe he had done this and couldn’t figure out what his motivation behind it was.  Then again she doubted anyone would ever be able to figure out what Randle Malcolm would do next.

She placed her purse on the bottom shelf of the nightstand next to her bed.  At least now if someone breaks in during the night or something I can actually defend myself she thought. 

The next morning Lia left her bedroom just in time to catch Randle fixing to leave for work.  He stopped and looked up to her and she hurried down the stairs to catch him.

“Randle can I go into town with you today?” she asked hoping to have a day out of the house.

“Not this morning Princess.  I’m gonna be too busy.”

“Please?” she pleaded again.

“Oh hell, come on.  I should know better than to argue with you by now.”

 He opened the door and she bounced out ahead of him.  It had been quite some time since she had been to his downtown office and she missed it greatly.  Joseph used to take her to work with him all the time and she knew the girls that worked there, Jessica a lady near her sixties now who was with Joseph for most of his career and a new girl Randle had hired a couple of years ago Misty who was probably about her early thirties she was guessing.  At least this was a chance for her to have a conversation with someone other than Randle or Jeffery for a change.

Randle drove this morning Lia not even bothering to ask.  She had already gotten her way once and wasn’t about to overstep her boundary.

“Jessica still there?” she asked hopefully.

“Yes, she’s not about to retire anytime soon.”

“Misty still there?” she asked again.

“Yes,” he replied with a smile and quick glimpse in her direction.  “Please don’t start questioning me again.  I’m gonna have a headache before we even get there.”

“Okay, okay,” she answered knowing full well he wasn’t angry. 

Randle pulled the car into the parking garage at the bottom of the huge skyscraper that housed his office.  They pulled around a couple of times to the private area for employees only and he parked the car.

Together they walked to the elevator and waited for it to open.  Randle seemed a bit tense all of a sudden but Lia really wasn’t concerned about it.  He probably was focusing on his work now and she was going to do the best she could to stay out of his way.

Finally the doors opened and they entered.  He pushed the button and it started up, all the way to the twenty-first floor.  Lia loved being up that high.  The view from every single window in the building was breath taking.

The elevator doors opened again into the beautifully decorated waiting area of Malcolm and Associates Law Firm.  A huge round secretary’s desk was just straight ahead and Lia could see Jessica and Misty already busy at work answering the phones and typing away behind it.  A huge fish aquarium lined one wall and a row of comfy leather chairs along the other for his clients to sit comfortably while they waited.

“Good morning Mr. Malcolm,” Jessica and Misty both blurted upon his sight.

“Oh and Miss Lia, how nice to see you again,” then came from Misty as the woman now realized Lia was standing just behind Randle.  An almost puzzled look was about her face.

Lia picked up on her sudden animosity immediately but blew it off.  “Thank you Misty.  It’s nice to see you again too.”

Jessica rose to hug her.  “It’s always a pleasure to see you dear.”

“Thank you.  I have really missed you too Jessica.”

She then continued to follow Randle around the desk and through the huge wooden doorway into his oversized office.  He shut the door behind them and quickly took his seat behind his desk.  His phone was already buzzing.

“Mr. Malcolm,” she heard from Jessica’s voice through the speaker.  “Mr. Whitman is on the phone for you.”

“Thank you Jessica, I’ll take it.”

He turned to Lia.  “I told you it was gonna be a busy morning so try and keep quiet please,” he told her.  “But don’t you dare leave this floor.”

“Okay, I won’t,” she promised then made herself comfy on the sofa next to his desk and picked up a magazine from the coffee table in front of it and began to fumble through the pages.

Randle answered his call and she unconsciously tried to listen to all his business as he took one phone call after the other and she tried to read her book all at the same time.

Finally after a couple of hours she made her way out of his office and spent almost the rest of the entire afternoon behind the receptionist desk chatting with Jessica and being nosy as she found herself going through Randle’s appointment book to see who was coming in next. 

Sitting in his office listening to all his clients come and go just to discuss their wills and estate planning, real estate purchases and wanting to know what their chances were to sue someone because they slipped and fell in a puddle of water had gotten old and hard to bare.

No wonder Randle would rather be home frolicking in the pool with me instead she thought at last.  This stuff can get real absurd quick.

Finally it neared 5 o’clock.  She returned to his office after his last client had gone and perched herself comfortably up on the side of his desk.  Misty made her way into the room now.

She stood a little shyly in front of his desk.  “Are you finished with me today Mr. Malcolm?” she asked acting a little fidgety.

Lia didn’t like the way she was acting but sat quietly and watched and listened.

“Yes you can go.  And thank you,” he replied without ever looking up at her.

“See you tomorrow then,” she responded almost seeming embarrassed about something, a slight tone of redness appearing on her cheeks.  She glanced quickly in Lia’s direction then hurried from the room as if she couldn’t get out fast enough.

Lia had sat there and looked from one to the other as they spoke and thought that both their behavior was rather peculiar and then watched as Misty made her way out the door and closed it behind her.  Then she had a sudden surprised look about her face as if an idea had suddenly hit her and her body did a little jerk as she turned to face Randle.

He glanced up to meet her gaze after the sudden change of expression.

“What?” he asked.

“Randle are you banging that girl?” she asked with utmost sincerity.

Randle quickly snapped his brief case closed and spun the locks then he yanked it from the desk as he stood up.  “What the hell’s wrong with you talking like that?”