all.” I smile to myself,
pleased with my comeback.
One down, two more to go. I somewhat have the
hang of it, all the information I type in is the same, so I copy,
paste and repeat.
Then I hear whistling. Annoying whistling. His
whistling. It continues, high notes then low ones. The tone is
obnoxious and infuriating, and as it continues, I no longer have a
grasp on my concentration. I slam the lid to my laptop shut with
fierceness.
I turn towards him against my better judgment,
and his back is to mine.
“Would you mind? What I am doing requires
extreme meticulousness, so I would rather you go whistle your tune
somewhere else.”
Cruz rotates his head over one shoulder slowly
to me.
“Was that English? What the hell are you talking
about?”
This man infuriates me. So I stand, laptop
tucked under my arm and clutching my coffee cup in the other.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, big words scare you? Poor
guy. It’s okay, Officer, your lack of knowledge of the English
language is hard to comprehend. I mean you being a caveman and
all.” I pat the top of his head and he shoos my hand away.
“You always have to talk like that? Why don’t
you loosen up a little? This isn’t college anymore.”
He mumbles something else about being a tight
ass as he goes back to focusing on the water.
“I am loose. I like to have fun like the next
person. I just choose to use a large vocabulary while doing it. It
suits me. It proves my intelligence, unlike some people.”
He pulls the rod out of the water, stands and
throws it on the dock, and now I know I stirred something up inside
him. His body stalks over to me. His hat is now flung off his head
and lands on the dock. His hair a wild mess of brown waves, and if
I’m not mistaken, steam is coming from his ears.
“You wouldn’t know a good time if it sat on your
face and did the Macarena.”
Oh, no he did not just say that. I can feel the
anger pulse through my veins like a high-speed train, and I’m not
going to allow him to affect me with his useless words.
“Really? Well, maybe if you didn’t always have a
party sitting on your face, then maybe you wouldn’t have to settle
for being a rent-a-cop at the age of twenty four. You uneducated,
unintelligent simpleton.”
He curves his lips into an angry hard line,
shutting his eyes tightly.
Oh, Lord, I pissed him off.
“Listen here, you snot nose, rich brat. You
don’t have to use big words to make people think you’re smarter
than the average person. I was an Officer in the Marine Corps as a
Staff Sergeant, organizing a platoon of men in Afghanistan and
Iraq. I’ve seen and experienced things you have only read about in
books or have seen on the news. So do not stand there and insinuate
that I am not intelligent because I don’t always use an extensive
vocabulary to explain myself.”
I’m rendered speechless. I swallow hard, feeling
like a fool. He didn’t deserve that. Maybe these meds aren’t
working. I feel bad. I’m really not sure what to say next. I stand
there, bewildered. I place my mug and laptop down on the dock, then
stand and place my hands on my hips.
He crosses his arms, looking quite satisfied
that I have no words. He inches towards me, his nose to my
forehead. His breath streaming across my face. He’s biting his
lower lip, waiting for me to look up. He takes my chin, raises it
up with his finger to meet his gaze. I feel my breathing pick up
its pace. I swat his finger away, and I’m not sure why I’m still
standing here.
“Cat got your tongue, Turnip?” He licks the lip
he was just holding between his teeth. His blue eyes brazen as he
asks the question. My jaw agape, I want to say something, anything,
to disturb his thoughts. He holds a stare like he’s summoning me to
talk without actually telling me to.
“My, my Miss Hannum, for once that pretty little
mouth of yours has nothing coming out of it. What a welcomed
surprise.”
I hear it in my head, my subconscious is telling
me to speak
V.K. Sykes
Pablo Medina
Joseph Kanon
D. J. Butler
Kathi S. Barton
Elizabeth Rose
Christopher Sprigman Kal Raustiala
Scott J. Kramer
Alexei Sayle
Caroline Alexander