"Im going away. I have a government assignment them Im going to Miami. Tank is in charge," she stared at him, a knowing doubt in her blue eyes, "Im going to stay in Miami."
She had known it was coming, so she stared at him, gave him a small kiss on the cheek, tucked a stray curl of her hair behind her hair as she turned and walked away, she said, "Bye Ranger."
"Babe…" She didn't hear the rest, or even if there was more because she had walked out of earshot. She had known it was coming from the weeks she would go without seeing him, from the lack of presence whenever he was there, and without the personal touch; she could sense it. He was backing away, and from that knowledge she couldn't even find the effort to cry. She knew it was coming, and it surprisingly hurt less because she had time to prepare and be ready to live her life. Without Ricardo Carlos Mañoso, as he had first introduced himself as. Four years ago.
Wow, she thought, that's a lot of time wasted. She was climbing into the given car of the month as the last one she had had blown up; Ranger had given the black Porsche to her, as he had given multiple other cars to her only to have her blow them up… or to have a truck smush it with its weight. Whatever one suits you.
Well, guess Ill be getting to know the other guys better, she thought in a desperate attempt of grim humour.
She turned the car over and sped out of her car park that was in front of her apartment. She turned the music on and listened as she waited for the news to sink in, but it didn't. Nothing hit her full blast, all speed ahead. She was simply clear headed. Knowing where she was going, and what she was doing for one of the first times in her life.
The lights for the Seven Eleven was seen ahead as she sped up, going over the speed limit, hoping that time would hurry up. She wanted the two men she could always count on: Ben and Jerry's ice cream; two of the best men ever. They never disappointed her, or were disappointed in her, they were always there for her when she was down, and comforted her when she needed it, gave her food and drink at once. And best of all, she understood them.
She had never understood the man in black, the untouchable Batman. He had always had secrets and hid them well, only telling her small things that wouldn't divulge the real him, only giving her bread crumbs of what he really was. The only thing she knew he cared about was his daughter, Julie, and thought he had cared for her. And he had, Stephanie corrected, he gave me help when I asked, supported me through my thoroughly stupid plans, and picked up the pieces of myself at the end of the day. So what if he didn't want my friendship anymore, no more skin off my nose, I still knew what small part of him. That's all I need.
But, yet again, she was forgetting, or trying to deny the fact that he was more then just a friend. He was her lover for one spectacular, disastrous night, and she would never forget the feel of him in her hands. And she would never forget the look of his ass as he walked quickly out the door the next morning. You need to fix things with Morelli, jackass, she thought and a small smile came at the thought of calling Ranger a jackass. Morelli has a new girlfriend that doesn't blow things up regularly and has a stable job. She loved him, sure, but she didn't love him. Nor did she love Ranger either, she realised in time when she looked up to see her mother standing out front of her house.
Her parents house, her haven. To her surprise her father, Frank, was standing to the left of her mother and to the right of him Grandmother, Grandma Mazur, stood. They all had sympathy written on their faces as she walked up to them, and went straight towards her father who reached out and surrounded her in a comforting hug, effectively shutting everything out.
How does he always know what I need? That's it, I don't need any other men in my life besides him. She pulled away with a smile that she flashed at her family. They looked relieved, they weren't good with emotions, and ushered her inside, where her father proceeded to flop on the couch in front of the TV and flicked on the TV, "Love you, Pumpkin." He had said. He knew exactly what to say.
Her mother gave her a plate and waved her into the kitchen, bringing chicken out of the fridge as well as some rice and cream sauce. Stephanie handed the plate to her mother and she piled on a substantial amount of food as Stephanie dumped her Ben and Jerry's ice cream in the freezer. When she turned back around she saw the plate in the microwave and her mother was fussing over a baking product, "It'll only take a second Steph, go take a seat." Her mother gave her a smile, which had Steph immediately worried. What happened, her family was acting strange, her father hugged her, her mother hasn't asked her to change jobs and Grandma Mazur was quiet. This is right, Steph thought as she took a seat at the table.
Her mother came out of the kitchen with the plate of food and dumped it in front of Steph, her mother then took herself over to the ironing board, where she continued ironing the bed sheets… That's more like it, Steph thought to herself, more like the mother I know.
"So, Stephanie, I heard you blew up another car. What one was it this time? Ooh, was somebody in it at the time?" Her grandma fired questions out of her paper thin lips before she could even blink. This is the grandma I know too.
Stephanie answered each question in turn, talked her mother out of tippling, finished her dinner, and kissed her dad on the cheek on the way out.
She stumbled her way back to her apartment at two o'clock the next morning after eating her worries away at the track field… then did the unthinkable and ran a few laps… then collapsed.
She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Steph put on her dark sunglasses as she headed out to work the next morning… or afternoon as it seems the world had kept turning with her being asleep and it was now eleven o'clock. She had forced herself out of bed at ten, had down the beauty thing and stuffed herself into her jeans and blue tank, snapped on her work equipment. Cuffs? Check. Pepper spray? Check. Marbles? Nope, I've seemed to have lost a few.
She grinned, but the stopped as she saw the black Porsche, her insides twisted together in a painful knot and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. A sharp needle ran through her chest and it constricted around it. Steph tried to fight off the reaction towards the black car, but didn't manage with quite as much grace as she would have liked when she heard herself hiccough. Pull it together, Plum, and get used to it.
She headed straight to the car and hauled open the door after unlocking it and inhaled the delicious but now horrible aroma. Rangers aroma; Bvgari. She fought off the tears and jumped into the leather seat, set the car running, and sped out the car park straight towards the office. She wanted out of the car now.
She hit speed dial 9 and waited until it rang two, when it was picked up, "Tank."
Steph put on her most innocent voice and coated it in sugar, "Hi Tank, its Steph. I was wondering if you had any different cars?"
"What did you do this time, Bombshell?" Although she should be upset by his reaction it was normally true, she let a small smile grace her face with its presence.
"Nothing," at a disbelieving snort from the other end Steph said straight out, "I want away from Ranger's smell." Although she thought he would have laughed, or even chuckled, he didn't. He'd heaved a sigh of resignation.
"Sure, Steph. I'll drop it by the office in half an hour. Bye." And Steph said goodbye to a dial tone. Well at least he said goodbye, unlike Ranger.
Steph spotted a black, shiny, expensive looking car out front of the bonds office and immediately got scared. Was he there? Was he waiting for her, to hurt her more? Would Ranger be that cruel? No. Not him.
With her answer she knew it wasn't him. He wouldn't do that to her… plus it wasn't one of his personal cars and whenever it wasn't one of his cars he was riding with one of the Merry Men, and she didn't see any of them inside waiting.
She marched up to the office, opened the door and flopped onto the couch in relief… So maybe not so confident.
Connie and Lula shared a look, then stared at Steph, then turned back to look at the all amazing blank door to Vinnie's office. Guess one of the Merry Men was inside, but Steph was surprised they weren't quizzing her on what had happened. She knew she had black bags prominently that hung under her eyes, slightly paler then usual, and she didn't know if they could tell but she had one of the worst headaches. She stared at them, then at the door, then back to them. Then decided fresh air was needed, so she walked back the way she came in.
She heard Lula say under her breath, "Damn." And Connie gave a small gasp. Steph turned her head towards them quizzically, turning backwards slightly to see them. They had flushed faces and we're staring at something behind her. She turned slowly, like in horror movies when something bad is behind them. And this was bad.
He stood at six feet tall; had black hair that was flung over the front of his shoulder and still came down over his chest silkily; blazing dark green emerald eyes that stared right at her and he allowed a lazy grin grace his adorably kissable lips. He wasn't Ranger, but he was possibly more handsome then him.
"Derek Damille." He had stated, but all Steph heard was a sexy purr from his mouth.
Oh boy, is it me or did the temperature turn up a few million degrees?
His grin turned predatory, like the snake must have smiled at Eve, and said, "Just you."