"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strongly. I'm just not… used to being that guy. Normally women just kind of… do the work for me." Gabe said.
"It's ok. It's me. It's my own fucked up issue. Not your fault." Billie said. "Want a beer?" She asked.
"No thanks. It's late. I just came here to make sure you were ok. And to tell you that I am sorry." Gabe said.
"I'm the sorry one." Billie said.
"I, I care about you. You are someone that I really enjoy being around." Gabe said. "I don't want to damage that."
"It's ok. You didn't." Billie said. "I just need a little extra care. And time." She said.
Gabe walked over and stood in front of Billie. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "All the time you need, pretty lady." He said. He smiled and turned and walked out. Billie sighed. She wondered to herself if she would ever be normal again.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"She's in Arizona." Sean said to Detective Allison.
"Ok." Allison said, looking up from his desk.
"You knew that already, didn't you?" Sean asked.
"Why does it matter where she is? She left and wanted to leave. Nothing else to discuss really." The detective said. "What makes you think she's there?"
"This." Sean said, holding up a cell phone log.
"And?" Allison asked.
"This is the last place her cell phone was tracked as working. There are three bus stops after. Two of them are in Arizona. One in Phoenix and one in Cave Creek. My guess is she is at one of the last two." He said.
"Sean. Listen to me. Let it go. You have no reason to find her. And if you seek her out, and she doesn't want you around, this could be stalking. I don't want to have to file a report, Sean. I've known you a long time, kid. Let it go. Move on. She definitely wants that." Detective Allison said.
"I can't let her go without at least talking to her. That's fair, right?" Sean asked.
Detective Allison didn't say anything. Sean sighed and walked out of the office. He picked up the phone.
"Hey Tom. It's Detective Bill Allison from South Bend, Indiana. Yeah I'm good. Hope all is well down there in Phoenix. Anyway, I have a potential issue brewing and I wanted to give you a heads up… "
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ezra left the board meeting with a confident smile on his face. How dare they challenge him? He had laid it all out and told them he was going to remain in charge of not only his shares of the company, but also the CEO position his father had held and had wanted passed down to him.
"If you think I'm going to stand by and let the dream of a poor, starving Italian immigrant fall into the greedy little hands of the soulless clowns sitting at this table, you are sadly mistaken." He told them. They looked at him in shock. Yes, he was a recluse. No, he wasn't a pushover. He was strong. And bright, very bright. He had tested and sat for Mensa. His IQ was scored at 170 at the time. He was a genius and he was strong. Very strong.
"So, now that we know how this is going to go, don't fuck with me in the future or I will have all your asses out the door so fast, you won't be able to keep your filthy money in your hands." He said as he walked out. He wasn't going to be your typical 9-5 working office man, but he was going to run the show and they had better learn to like it or get fucked.
He walked out into sunshine and smiled. He was happy that it went like it did. He knew when to be intimidating. His true self was never something he showed to the world and he was happy to be feared. When he was feared, no one would try to get too close. He took out his phone and checked his messages as he walked to the limo.
His mind went to her. He hadn't called her at all and didn't know if he should or would. It was an odd situation and something he wasn't familiar with. She wasn't knowledgeable of his circles or his lifestyle. And if she knew he wasn't who he seemed to be, would she want him anyway? She was under the impression he had nothing, like her. "We need to stick together." She had said. But she wasn't being completely truthful either? Her father had to have left her some money from his royalties. He looked at the saved number and started to type a text. "You are on my mind today. I hope you are well." No. He thought, erasing it. That made it sound like he only thought of her that day. It had been a couple of weeks. "Hello, wanted to check in." No! Ugh. He was terrible at this. He decided his own words were lame and wouldn't work so he thought of someone else's. His favorite poet.
"Your wide eyes are the only light I know from extinguished constellations.
- Pablo Neruda" he typed. Then "thinking of you. -E."
He pressed send and felt a pang of anxiety shoot through him. Was that too much? Too cheesy?
Almost immediately, his phone dinged back.
"That was lovely. I think of you often and fondly." She wrote back. He sighed and smiled. He would see her again soon, he had to.