Fanning The Fire Marshal's Flame

Distraction Date

Lita exited the building which housed Corry’s condominium and smiled warmly at the man waiting for her near the limousine.

“A limo? How fancy?” Usually, they drove to his place in an Escalade.

“Only the best for you,” Stavros said with a coy smile as he looked her up and down. “You look incredible.”

“Thank you. It’s new,” she smiled as she accepted his hand and let him kiss her cheeks.

“Did you go shopping for our date?”

“I did. I was with friends this afternoon and we engaged in a healthy dose of retail therapy.” She motioned behind her, “this is actually my friend’s place. It was easier to get ready here than to go back home.” She slid into the car, and he slid in beside her.

She took him in and enjoyed the view. He was broad chested and narrow waisted and if she had to guess his height just above six feet. His hair had flecks of grey at the temples and his eyes were blue and piercing. She had seen him shoot looks to his bouncers when he wanted someone removed from his sight and a less brave person would wither. She wasn’t afraid of him. She’d had enough training she could probably kill him right here in the car with nothing but the corkscrew near the bottle of wine.

The thought made her pause and she smiled, “did you bring wine for me?”

“Yes. It hasn’t been opened yet. While you have never given me specifics, I have a feeling you don’t like having a drink unless you know exactly where it came from.”

“I had a bad experience as a teenager, we can leave it there.” She waved off his concern, “but you are right. I do like to see my drinks be made or poured.”

“Someday I hope you trust me enough to share a bit more of yourself, my beautiful Lolita.” His tone told her he’d tried to search her file and had come up empty handed. Being a Bellona asset had its advantages.

“We will see,” she leaned back against the black leather seat and smiled playfully. “Where are we going?”

“Well considering the way your dress is slit almost to your hip, I admit, my wish is straight back to my condo.”

She giggled at the way he overtly ogled her.

“However, I will be a gentleman this evening and I will be taking you to dinner at a restaurant owned by my family. It will allow us privacy to talk and get to know each other better. Is this alright with you?”

“It is,” Lita smiled again. In Corry’s condo she had considered a hundred different ways to get out of this date and Corry had been backing her on every one of them. In Corry’s opinion, Diarmid was hotter than Stavros and younger and not a mafia boss. Yet, every time she mentioned the other man, Lita was back on board with her date with Stavros.

He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to her lips surprising her. “Sorry I could not resist.”

They sat with their fingers intertwined staring into each other’s eyes for several minutes and she admitted the s****l pull she felt with him was strong tonight. Maybe his cologne was pheromone based.

The car was moving at a snail’s pace through traffic and Stavros shook out his cuffs as if annoyed with the delay. He leaned forward and rapped on the glass partition.

The window separating the front of the car from the back rolled down, “Mr. Pappas there was an accident up ahead. Once I get up a bit further, I can take the detour around.”

“Fine, fine,” he said impatiently. No sooner had the window rolled back up but his cell phone rang. He checked the number and then gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry my dear. I must take this.”

He began speaking in Greek and for the next fifteen minutes, while traffic moved along an inch at a time, Stavros was speaking heatedly into the telephone, ignoring her.

She looked down at her dress and then back to the wine bottle he hadn’t even opened and considered jabbing the corkscrew into his neck. The way he had been chasing her for the last bit had made her think he was interested in her but as she had said to the girls earlier in the day, now he had her attention however, he was not paying her any mind. She casually stretched her arm along the window and then rolled it down. He frowned at her action and motioned for her to put the window back up and then went back to talking on the phone. She put it back up and sighed in boredom.

Five more minutes, two more inches moved and zero conversation with her date and she was ready to gouge his eyeballs out and light him on fire. Clearly, based on the conversation he didn’t think she understood, the man did not delegate well. He micromanaged everything and the desire to scream at him to just let his guys handle the snitch on their own was immense.

She picked up the corkscrew and considered using it for the bottle of wine, but he made a face at her to put it back down. He wanted to open the wine. He should have already then. She tossed it back down and at her brusque movement he raised an eyebrow but didn’t stop his conversation. His expression told her he was annoyed with her fidgeting. Well, she was annoyed with being bored from his lack of attention.

As the car paused again in traffic, she weighed her options and decided if she was going to be ignored, she would simply rather be alone. She could get a burger at the place on the corner near home, or any burger joint for the matter. Without warning she shoved the car door open and stepped into the traffic. She barely had time to slam the door shut as traffic started to move again and she laughed at the sounds of honking horns as she dodged and weaved through the cars excited to be finally moving. She put her hands on the hood of one vehicle which had almost struck her and the driver’s curse and scream she was a crazy lady had her cackling. It was exhilarating to feel the rush of panic from everyone around her as she made it to the sidewalk with a leap. She giggled at the expression on the face of an elderly couple who had stopped moving to watch her.

She heard her name being called but she ignored it the way he had ignored her in the car. “f**k that,” she thought miserably. She made her way down the stairs to the subway and used her pass to get through the gate, grateful she had kept her full purse and wallet with her.

She jumped onto the first car with open doors not caring which direction it was going, as she heard Stavros yelling at her from the other side of the turn style. She kept her back to the window not wanting to even see him. She was furious. Ignoring her for over twenty minutes when it was only the two of them in the car. He could have been asking her tons of questions about herself, not though she’d answer them, but he was officially the worst first date she’d ever been on.

Her phone rang and she looked at the display and then declined the call.

“Rough night?” an older woman seated across from her had been watching her. “I saw you were running as if to get away from the man.”

“I was not running away from him. I was leaving him. Big difference.”

“Is there?” the woman gave a smile.

“Yes. Running implies I was scared. Leaving means I was done with his bullshit and walked purposefully away from it.”

“Did he cheat?”

“No,” she chuckled as she leaned against the grab bar of the subway, “this was our first date. He spent twenty minutes on his phone ignoring me. I have better ways to spend my evening.”

“A first date and he was on his phone? In my day, we didn’t have phones attached to our hips all the time. I think too many people are addicted to them now. Don’t get me wrong,” she patted her handbag, “I have my phone and it’s great for playing games or doing a video chat with my grandkids, but it also helps people avoid the intimate discussions they should be having.”

“I agree,” she smiled at the woman.

“If you’re looking for a young man to date, find one who knows how to have a conversation. The ones who can talk and let you know what they are thinking are far better than the ones with those silly devices attached to their heads.”

“I think you might be right. The thing is, I wasn’t really looking. This fella chased me, and I was reluctant because I had a feeling, he liked the chase more than the girl.”

“Sounds like you made the right choice then.”

“You’re probably right but,” she made a face, “why do I feel disappointed?”

“Because nobody ever wants to feel rejected and ignoring you when he finally had his chance to have you with him feels very much like a rejection. You’ll find someone worthy. He’s out there and if he’s not, you’re great on your own too.”

“Are you a shrink?”

“I was a psychologist for thirty years. Retired five years ago.”

“Well, I appreciate your candor. Thank you for the conversation and the words of wisdom.” She motioned as the train slowed, “this is my stop. Have a good evening.”

The woman seemed surprised when she said this was her stop and as she exited, she realized she had jumped off at a more dangerous part of town. She wasn’t scared but opted to keep her guard up.

She made her way from the subway car and then out of the underground into the street. She looked around to get her bearings and then noted a burger joint on the corner. She made her way in, ignoring the curious glances. She was dressed to the nines, in a deep green evening gown and her hair swept off to one side in a half updo. It was odd enough to be dressed like this on a Monday night but to be ordering a quarter pound cheeseburger and a milkshake while dressed like she was supposed to be going to the Met was drawing a lot of attention.

She sat at a corner table and watched out the window as she ate her burger and drank her milkshake. She turned her phone back on and it instantly started ringing again and she declined the call from Stavros and instead called Corry.

“Why are you calling me?” Corry didn’t even say hello. “You cannot be serious right now.”

“I just thought I should tell you I’m having the best burger and milkshake ever,” she fought the tears which suddenly choked her.

“Where are you?”

“I don’t even know but somewhere in the south Bronx,” she grumbled. “Traffic was crawling, and he spent twenty minutes on a call because he has a snitch, and he needs to deal with it. Instead of letting his team deal with it, he was micromanaging the situation. Twenty minutes with me alone in the car and he spent all of it on the phone.”

“I’m sorry Lita,” she whispered. “Where are you and I’ll come get you.”

“No,” she shook her head. “I’m going to head back to my lab and burn shit.”

“How did you get where you are?” Corry asked gently.

“Dove out of the car while it was paused in the aforementioned traffic and then jumped on a subway car.”

“You jumped out of a moving car?” Corry giggled

“I mean it wasn’t as sexy as Arwen jumping off a balcony, but you know, I had to get out of there and traffic started flowing just as I made my dive. I pissed off at least ten cars and got honked at, but it was worth it.”

“I can’t believe you dodged traffic in Manhattan.”

“He made me feel insignificant and I deserve better.”

“You do. I don’t like you being alone though. You look really good tonight. You should at least go home and get ogled by the big guy. He would definitely appreciate the dress.”

“Ugh. Stop. He sees me as his old friend’s kid. He probably would be ill just thinking of me n***d. My father is probably home. He’d take one look at me in this dress and have a hundred questions.”

“Tell him it’s none of his business and if he has questions, I would be happy to answer them for him on your behalf, but I’m only doing it naked.”

Lita could almost see her friend’s eyebrows wiggling.

“I really would prefer you’re not alone.” Corry continued speaking, more gently now, “as one impulse control deviant to another, find an anchor and quick. I don’t want to wake up in the morning to find half of the city on fire.”

She chuckled, “you’re right. I should go home. I think even if my dad asks a hundred questions, it’s his shoulder I want to sulk on. Though sulk isn’t the right word. I’m furious. I’m so angry.” She said suddenly, “like I’m pissed off. Who the f**k did he think he was out on a date with? How dare he?”

“There she is!” Corry crowed with delight, “that’s my Lolita. Finish your burger and then go home and forget the schmuck.”

“You know what sucks the most?”

“What?”

“I’ll never be able to go back to the club. The DJ there is phenomenal.”

“We’ll find a new one. Addy hates Arwen going there anyway. We should do a Vegas night and you should come. Fight night.”

“I’ve never done a fight night.” She chuckled, “but I’m ready to try. Can I pretend it’s Stavros’ face I’m punching?”

“Yup. Better yet, pretend it’s his dick.”

She took a big bite of her burger and looked out the window and then groaned, “are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“He fricking found me. I don’t even know where I am, and he found me.”

“Well, he’s a New York crime boss. He has spies everywhere. He probably made one call and the entire city started looking for you.”

She watched as he met her gaze through the window of the restaurant and shook his head furiously, marching in her direction. She took another bite of her burger. “I have to go. I’ll call you when I get home.”