"I know who you are because I have very observant staff who can find out information quickly when asked. My community is large and well connected, as I'm sure you are finding out. My interest in you may be more difficult to explain, but I assure you it is a good thing. I want nothing but the best for you and will work very hard to see you get it." He smiled at his last statement, continuing to move our fingers against each other.
I would have had more to say, but the server came back with our drinks to take our order. I quickly chose something and she quietly slipped away.
The rest of the meal was bizarrely relaxing. The man that apparently spent the night in my bedroom was perfectly happy to talk with me about the most mundane things. We discussed my small family and his large family.
Donald talked about his family with love and pride. He said he was the head of his family and it was his job to protect and nurture them. Having grown up with a distant alcoholic father, I was appreciative of his noticeable dedication. I couldn't hold back the comment that ran through my head though.
"You don't look old enough to be the head of your family," I told him bluntly.
"In my community, head of the family is a designation of skill and genealogy, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm old, Scarlett," he laughed at me.
Donald wanted to know about my family, my friends, and even my job. He seemed genuinely interested in what I did all day. I'd never told a stranger as much as I told him. His presence was comforting and I forgot to be nervous. I even found myself laughing at his jokes and swatting at his hand as he reached over to take a piece of artichoke off my salad.
"I've never tried it," he said, popping part of the artichoke heart in his mouth. He grimaced a little then smiled.
"I should have warned you it's not for novices. At least it adds to your vegetables today, you should have five. What was that steak you just ate, it looked like it was the whole cow," I marvelled.
Donald snorted and said, "There aren't many vegetarians in my family."
The driver from earlier was suddenly standing at our table and I started a little.
"The car is ready, sir, as you requested, please pardon the interruption." He then stood back looking expectantly at his boss.
I jumped out of the booth, "Oh no, am I late?" I fumbled through my pockets looking for my cell phone and cursed my inability to remember to wear a watch.
Donald seemed to find my sudden movements humorous and slid out beside me. "Not late, love. I wouldn't let you do that."
I rolled my eyes at the patronising tone he seemed to slide into so quickly. He was definitely used to being in charge.
As we walked toward the exit I pondered this recent and strange meeting. I felt more comfortable with Donald Smith than I had any reason to. By my count he had assaulted me in a bathroom, had me followed, broken into my house, and stalked me at work. Despite my gut instinct of really liking the guy, I felt a little nervous about what was happening to me.
As we rode back to the clinic he sat holding my hand, smiling slightly, and looking overall pleased.
"Worried about something?" he asked casually.
"Just wondering how you should endear anything other than fear," I blurted out.
Donald just laughed as did our riding companions.
"So, do you fear me?" he asked as he levelled serious eyes on me.
"No," I replied, looking right back at him.
"So you don't fear me, even though you think you should?" he asked. "Hopefully it will all be clear soon."
I shook my head and looked at him again. I couldn't really disagree. I felt at ease with him, like he belonged in my life. I certainly couldn't disagree. I felt attracted to him. As we pulled into the lot I was still working through the problems in my mind.
"Just drop me here, I'll walk in," I suggested absently as we ringed the building.
"Fat chance," came the surprise commentary from Nate. The front seat had been so quiet I'd forgotten we were not alone.
Oh, how I wished they had just left me in the back of the lot. Being dropped off was the height of embarrassing.
Not only did I get out of the SUV, Donald also got out to walk into my little clinic. He slipped his arm around my waist possessively and escorted me inside. The man seemed intent on showing me every room in the clinic and introducing him to every member of the staff. All in all, I felt he took extraordinarily too long examining my office before placing a chaste kiss on my forehead and leaving.
After he left, there was a riot to cram into my tiny office and get the dirt. It was uncomfortable to say the least. I stumbled around a little on how we met and who he was, being that I felt like I barely knew.
As the afternoon dragged on very little else was spoken of in the clinic. As it turned out, several of the front office staff were familiar with his name. Apparently his family owned large tracts of land around town. They also owned a large hotel, the restaurant I met him in, The Club, and a ship yard farther south.
The more I learned, the more comfortable I got with my experience with Donald Smith. By description his family was rich and eccentric. They tended to do things the most direct way and according to the gossip, legal was only an issue if they made it one.
Just before closing, as I walked through the mostly empty clinic, I was suddenly in the middle of a group of very concerned women. Isha, the lab tech, and by far the most vocal of the group stepped up.
"Dr. Onsen, we need to talk to you about your new boyfriend."
I still cringed a little at the word, I'd known the man all of a day.
"How much do you know about him?" she asked.
"Not much," I answered truthfully. "We only just met."
"How much do you know about werewolves?" she asked, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Having seen the recent barrage of movies on the subject I nodded understanding.
The group of women she was with herded me quietly into a room at the back of the clinic.
"What's the relation?" I asked.
"The Smith family are all lycans, werewolves," said Isha. "My grandmother's been cooking spells for them for years. She doesn't think I know, but I saw her talking to one of them one day, all right. He was in her living room and then changed into a giant wolf. She cut some of his hair and used it in a spell."
To be fair, this conversation is well within the ordinary for the clinic. It's ethnically diverse. I'd heard my fair share of hoo-doo stories. More than once someone had come in that wouldn't get well and staff would insist it was due to a curse. It was also well known that Isha's grandmother was a 'good' witch. I wondered if my patients often ended up under her care whether I liked it or not.
I tried to keep a straight face and it was really hard. I'd become accustomed to the talk of witches and magic, but only as it pertained to people I didn't know that well. This was different. Now I had three women staring daggers into me and telling me my new 'boyfriend' wasn't human.
"Wow," I said. "You saw him change in front of you."
"Well, not really in front of me. I was watching around the corner, you know. I saw his shadow on the wall change. It was real."
A mumble of appreciation passed through the group.
"My grandmother won't even walk on their land," said Bea in her lilting accent. She was from Haiti and was usually very level headed. "We've never been to their restaurants. Grandmother thinks they use their businesses to lure in people. They kidnap the ones they want to keep."
"Mostly beautiful women," agreed Sheneka, nodding.
The group continued to look at me solemnly as though expecting me to say something.
"That's really weird," I started slowly. "I'll have to pay attention."
"No," Isha interrupted. "He is a wolf. You need to run, okay. You need to get out of here before something terrible happens to you. Or has it already?"
The group took a collective step backwards and eyed me.
"Nothing has happened," I started putting my hands up. "I can't just run away," I told them, "I owe a lot in student loans and I have a contract here, I can't just disappear. Frankly if he's planning to hurt me I can't imagine what his motivation would have been for coming in here and meeting everyone. He's really put himself in a position where he'd be implicated if something happened to me." I continued to plead silently with my eyes. Hoping the rest of this weird conversation would be quick.
"He's a wolf," Isha repeated. "He came here today to make his presence known. He was here to mark his territory, you."
I shifted closer to the door and escaped.
"Listen I appreciate the warning and if anything weird happens I'll come to you all, but seriously everything is really okay."
As I made my way back to my office I was glad to be leaving. The craziness of today had worn me down, I needed to get home and relax. I groaned inwardly when I looked up at my tack board; tonight was that drug rep dinner I swore I'd go to a week ago. My phone buzzing in my pocket broke me out of my reverie.
The display said Donald; I assumed I knew which Donald it was on the other end.
"Hey again," I said as I hit the send button. 'What exactly do you say to your stalker?' I wondered.
"I would love to have you come to dinner with me tonight, are you available?" Donald asked.
"I have to go to a drug rep sponsored dinner; I promised I would go a week ago. I'll have to catch up with you tomorrow," I held my breath as I finished my statement. I wondered if he would wait until tomorrow. He didn't seem to have any issues about invading my life whenever he wanted to.
"Of course, love. Enjoy your dinner, I'll see you later," he said.
Quickly gathering my things I used a brush from the back of my desk to smooth out my hair and made sure I had my lip gloss in my purse. I couldn't help but think I was doing it in case Donald showed up after my dinner.
Past the usual junkies and loungers outside the clinic everything looked normal enough. No dark tinted SUV's were hovering around and I didn't see anyone out of the ordinary.
I walked to my truck and got in, cranking the tunes up to full blast. Smiling, I thought maybe I'd call him after the dinner. It had been way too long since a guy was this interested in me.
The drug rep dinner was boring as usual. The same speech I've heard a dozen times on a dozen different drugs.
I drifted off into thinking about Donald midway though the meal. I was lost thinking about running my hands through his silky smooth hair. I imagined how his naked chest would feel under my fingers. I wished just once I'd taken hold of that impressive tool below his belt. I blushed at the image I conjured in my mind of Donald, even clothed the man was an Adonis, naked would be even better.
Clapping shifted me quickly back to reality. Now that is a great way to lose 30 minutes, I thought to myself. Before I could make a hasty exit I was stopped by the drug representative in charge of the whole thing. Kristen was dying to know what I thought of her friend John. Pulling on every creative bone in my body I described a lovely romantic date I had to bail on unexpectedly.