Disclaimer: No money has been exchanged to make this effort possible.
Thanks as always to the ever tolerant betas: Bluz, Deb and Deb, Jaime, Katie, Luisa, Melody and Ruth. Still hoping this is in alpha order.
"Feeling turned on, Steph?" Brett asked with a wink. "Maybe I can help you with that?"
Nothing But Time On My Hands
Chapter 10
By Alfonsina
"Fat chance," I said.
"Saving it all for Woodrow here? If you tell me, it could be a secret just between the three of us," he continued.
"No. You don't get it and I don't to explain it to you," I said.
Brett was acting like a mini-Lester. However, if I told him that, he would take the Lester comparison as a compliment and try to disprove the mini part to me in a way I wasn't willing to think about.
"Ah, Steph," Woody said. "You kind of have to be nice to him. He's your 1:00 appointment."
"I don't have any appointments," I said. "You said a couple of the guys were going to drop in. You didn't say anything about me having appointments.
"Well actually you do. I just didn't want you to freak out about it before it happened."
Lovely.
He walked behind me and moved his hand up and down my back. Then he said, "Your energy is off now, damn it. I should've told you about Brett. Now I'm going to have to get you rebalanced."
I didn't think I was up for having my hands held or the whole forehead thing in front of Brett, it just felt weird to do it in front of someone. Woody walked me to a display of baskets full of loose rocks.
"We're going to balance you this way instead," he said answering the unasked question.
He stood very closely behind me and put his right hand over mine and placed his left hand on my hip. He said, "You've heard the old phrase 'seeing is believing'?"
I nodded.
"Well the rest of the phrase is 'but feeling is the truth'. Now I want you to run your hand a couple of inches above each of the baskets. When you feel something drawing you to it, let me know and we'll stop there."
I did as he said and my hand was literally magnetized to a basket full of tumbled purple stones. I looked up at him and he said, "Very good, Grasshopper. Now let's see which stone wants to belong to you."
We did the same thing again and my hand felt attracted to four of the loose stones.
"Now, which one 'feels' the best," he said.
"We ain't got all day here," Brett called out.
"Keep your shirt on. You disrupted her chi and I've got to get it back, asshole," Woody yelled back.
I picked one that was large, smooth, flat and a very dark purple.
"Do you want to see if you need any others?" Woody asked.
I nodded and we did repeated the procedure. This time it stopped over a pink stone. I selected three stones, but couldn't decide between two of them. Woody made the final determination for me.
"Any more?"
I ran my hand over all the baskets and felt nothing. I shook my head.
"OK, now you need to put them in your pockets unless you want to wear one of these," he said indicating the leather pouch that was around his neck.
"These pants have no pockets," I said to him. "So I guess I should buy one of those pouch thingies."
He spoke directly into my ear, "Are you wearing a bra right now?"
"What kind of a question is that?" I hissed.
"A realistic one. The best place to put these stones is near your heart chakra and they work better if they are placed directly on your skin. I didn't want to embarrass you in front of Brett. I'll turn around and keep Brett distracted while you stick the stones in your bra. Trust me, you'll feel better after you do."
"You sure about this?" I asked.
"Positive."
I turned around and installed the stones into the cups of my bra. I met Brett at the consultation table. Woody was far enough away that I did the reading pretty much on my own. He hung around in the background, kind of like training-wheels on a kid's bike. Things went pretty well until I got to his love line, it was a mess.
"Woody, I don't understand what this means. Can you explain it to me?" I asked.
Woody came over, looked at Brett's palm and said, "Man, you never change do you?"
Brett looked at him, blank face in place.
What?
"It looks like it always has, Steph, and I've read his palm several times over the last couple of years. See these hash marks and all these lines that cross here and here?" he asked pointing some things out to me.
"Yeah, what does it mean?"
"It means that our boy here can't keep his fly zipped and has at least three women in rotation at any given time," he said.
Brett nodded, smiling. When Brett smiled he looked very boy-next-door complete with deep dimples and amazing smile. He resembled a ripped version of Kurt Russell from the old movie 'Big Trouble in Little China' (/images/Movies/wpe65.jpg). No wonder he was able to talk so many women out of their panties and more. If I didn't know what Brett could be like, he could probably melt mine off, too. I'd become just another notch on his gun belt; good thing I knew him.
"Man, it doesn't look good for you in the long run. You know that?" Woody asked Brett.
"Yeah, but I'm having fun now. You don't see any kids in my future do you?" Brett asked holding out his left hand.
Woody had taught me that the right hand is as you are now, and the left is as you will be if you don't make any major changes.
"Actually, I don't know how to read the left palm. Woody's only letting me read the right one. Woody?"
Woody picked up the left palm, looked at it and said, "Do you want to know how many or when they're gonna be born?"
Brett said, "Shit."
"Exactly. You need to get a vasectomy. Either that or date women who've had their tubes tied, unless you want to pick one woman and get faithful. If you don't, you won't have any money to live on. Looking at this you're gonna be in the poor house supporting a bunch of kids and their mommas."
Wow.
"I've heard enough. Thanks for the reading Steph. See you at the office, Woody," Brett said walking out of the store like his pants had just been set on fire.
"Did you really see all that?" I asked.
"No. I looked to see that his pattern was going to remain the same. I've also known him for years and know he plays it fast and loose. He doesn't like condoms and won't use them unless the woman insists. If he doesn't get it together soon, that prediction will come true whether or not someone sees it in his palms, cards, or tealeaves. It's not ethical, but I wanted to shake him up. By the way, how are you feeling now?" he asked.
"A lot better. What were those stones for anyway?"
"Well the purple one you chose was amethyst. For some people, it helps them get in touch with their personal power. The pink was rose quartz, usually it is used for unconditional love."
"You want me to love Brett? Who's supposed to be the matchmaker here anyway?"
"Not love like romance and all that, more like love the humanity in him. Despite how it seems, there is almost always something you can find to love in everybody."
With some of my family members, I was going to do some serious looking to find something to love.
"Will I have to wear the stones all the time? They aren't gonna work with some of my distraction outfits."
"Maybe not, but we can work on that, too. Do you remember the earrings I had the guys give you to wear the other night?"
"I need to get those out of my purse for you, sorry about that," I said.
"They're yours. I just didn't want the guys to start getting the wrong idea," he said, "about me giving you presents. I think Ranger, for one, would have a definite problem with me giving you jewelry as a present."
"I can't accept them. I'm sure they cost way too much." I didn't want to be beholden to Woody; Ranger wasn't the only reason I wanted to return them, I hated feeling like I was in anyone's debt.
"Steph, you need to wear a certain amount of amber, especially on distractions. Just between us, you could consider them a gift that I forgot to get you for your last birthday."
"What's the big deal with amber?" I asked still trying to figure out how to give the earrings back without hurting his feelings.
"Amber is used by some people for protection. Not everybody uses it and not everyone needs it. I knew it was something you needed, there was something missing in your overall vibration," he said simply.
"How did you know I needed it?"
"Cells talk to cells. We've spent enough time together touching in one way or another that now I have a very strong connection to you. Because of that connection, I can pick things out that will work energetically for you. There are some people I've got a very strong connection with and I can literally feel them across long distances," he said. "I have that kind of a connection with you."
"Wow."
"If you choose to hone it, you've already got that same ability; it's written in your hands. No one has taught you how to use it or any of your other gifts," he said.
"So if you 'see' that I need something, you're just going to pick it out and give it to me?" I asked. "Some of this stuff is pretty expensive."
"Steph, I own the store with my dad. My expenses have been pretty low in the last several years, so I decided to invest in my dad and in me, our futures. This place is a kind of a joint venture. Since I don't draw a salary from the store, periodically I utilize some of the merchandise and so does he. If you need something that I can provide, I'm going to make sure you have it. Friends help friends, you know?"
"You own the store?"
"With my dad. I just said that. Problem?"
"Maybe you'll want it. Some artist dropped off a sample for the owner. I figured it should go to your dad," I said.
He gave me a blank look.
"She came in when you were working with Grandma Mazur and Mr. Berkowitz. She said she wanted to see the owner and had a sample for him."
I went to the register and handed him both the business card and the greeting card. He looked at the picture and quit breathing.
"What'd she look like?" he asked quietly.
"Normal. Female. What?"
"No, really what did she look like?" he asked again.
"I don't know. Dark hair pulled into a loose bun. Olive skin. Blue eyes. Probably in her twenties somewhere, kinda average. By the way she was dressed, I'd say she looked like she belonged more in the store than I do. Why?"
"Nothing, just a dream. I've had someone in and out of my dreams lately who is kind of a free spirit and artsy, but she doesn't match your description."
Whatever. Evidently Woody as 'seer' needed to get glasses. I didn't bother to find out what the 'she' in his dreams was like. It was none of my business.
When it was finally closing time, Woody did pretty much everything he had done to open the store but in reverse. When he went to blow out the candle, he held my hand while he closed his eyes. After about thirty seconds, he squeezed my hand and released it. He got my doggie bag out of the back and we headed out to face what was left of the weekend.
"Did you have a good time?" he asked.
"Overall, yeah. A little too much information about my grandmother and the size of Tank's… well the size of Tank. I could've lived without that," I said.
xx
He escorted me to my apartment and ensured that the dust bunnies, which had been rapidly growing and multiplying, hadn't taken over the place.
"Thanks for coming and working with me today, Steph. We're gonna need to get you a few more practice palms this week to help get you ready for live clients," he said.
"Sounds like fun. I want to read your dad; he's already volunteered," I said.
"I'll call you when I get some more volunteers lined up. See you," he said as he walked out.
I didn't have the door closed to the apartment that I heard him say, "Hey Ranger."
I didn't bother to close the door, I stuck my head out and said, "Hey stranger, what's up?"
"Babe. Nice day?"
"Yeah, I learned a lot. I learned mostly that I've still got a lot to learn. Sure I can't do your palm? I'm still turned on and ready to go."
"You're telling me you're turned on? Is this an offer?" he asked with a smile as he backed me into the wall.
"Not that kind of turned on. Woody helped me to turn on my energy today and I'm still pretty much buzzing. He forgot to turn me off," I said.
"I like the idea of feeling you when you are all turned on," he said.
He felt me being turned on pretty much every time he kissed me. I couldn't help it. He melted my insides to the point it could be hours before I cooled off on my own. I really hoped I hadn't just said that out loud.
He took me in his arms and kissed me slowly and deeply. Ranger's hands were definitely moving and to some interesting places and he was moving them with an excruciating deliberateness. His fingers brushed over my breasts and he stopped cold.
"Is there something new in Cosmo I don't know about?" he asked smiling.
"Huh? What?" I was feeling drugged and my mind couldn't coordinate sounds that made words.
"What do you have in your bra other than the obvious Babe?"
"Oh, yeah. That," I said trying to form words.
"If you don't tell me, I'm more than willing to go on a search and destroy mission and find out for myself," he said smiling.
That was enough to get me out of my stupor.
"They're stones. I've got stones in my bra," I said.
"Why?"
"Cause these pants have no pockets and as long as I'm wearing a bra I've got pockets. You know, when I was in college if I didn't want to carry a purse to the bars, I'd put my money in my bra. I'd kind of forgotten about that until today." Rambling and babbling just felt right somehow. I wasn't sure what Ranger might be after, but a stalling technique seemed to be in order.
"No. What do you need the stones for?" he asked with a smile. "Is it so you can say you really don't have rocks in your head?"
Ass. It looked like we might have been building a mood of romance or something 'fun' but he had just about killed my libido with that comment.
"No. It was because Brett messed up all my energy and Woody didn't want to reground and balance me, so we felt for the right stones instead. Wasn't that nice of him?"
"So you and Woody are advancing beyond just palmistry to energy work?"
"No. I'm just doing palmistry. Woody's just being Woody. It made him happy and I felt better after I put the stones in. Easy."
"Did you pay him for them?"
"No. He gave them to me, and had me put them in my bra. Later he said they were a gift. Is that a problem?"
"No Babe, it's not a problem," he said loosening his grip on me just a little.
"Is this a social call, Ranger?" I asked. "You don't usually make those."
"Actually, it is a full moon tonight and I wanted to know if you'd like to go on a drive with me," he said. "There's a lake I'd like to take you to see."
"Sure."
"We can stop and get you something to eat if you're hungry," he said.
"I don't think I'll be hungry for a while. Woody fed me a couple of times already today," I said.
"If you change your mind," he said, "I'll even willingly buy you the grease of your choice. Let's grab you a sweatshirt and a jacket, it's chilly tonight."
I followed him down the stairs and through the parking lot to the Cayenne. After we got to the freeway, I began to doze. Something about leather seats, soft music and low lighting makes me do that. It'd been a long day, so I deserved a little rest.
A couple hours later, I opened my eyes. Ranger had his hand on my face and was stroking my cheek.
"Babe, we're here," he said.
"Where's here?"
"French Creek State Park."
"We aren't in Jersey anymore are we?"
"Pennsylvania."
He unbuckled my seat belt and we both got out. He pulled two blankets out of the back and draped them over his shoulder.
We walked in the semi-dark for what felt like forever, but was probably only five minutes. It wouldn't have seemed so long, but I don't have the cat-like night vision Ranger seems to have. I stumbled a couple of times and swore. I really wished he'd brought a flashlight with him.
Ranger was walking ahead of me but grabbed my hand to make sure I kept up.
"Not too much further," he said.
I could hardly wait to get to level ground. The next thing I was aware of was that we were at the shore. The moon's reflection rode in the surface of the lake.
"She's gorgeous tonight, isn't she?" he asked.
"It really is a pretty night," I said.
We found a clear space and sat next to each other on the folded blankets.
"Do you know the constellations?" he asked.
"Not many. Usually I'm lucky if I can find the big dipper or the little dipper," I said.
"Trenton's too polluted to see much," he said evidently agreeing with me.
We sat quietly for a while just watching reflection of the moon on the gently rippling water.
"So," I said.
"So?"
"Yeah, so do you come up here much? You seemed to know where you were going despite the dark," I said.
"Could be," he said.
"Smart ass. What does that mean?"
"I try to come here to watch the moon when she is full. It grounds me; makes me feel whole," he said quietly.
"What about when you're in the wind?" I asked.
"I still spend time gazing at the moon, thinking, mediating."
"About?"
"Life. Change of season. Work. You. Lots of things," he said.
"Me? You think about me when you look at the moon? Either you're a romantic or you're nuts," I said.
"I know that wherever I am and wherever you are, when the moon is full we both have a chance to see her at the same time. It gives me a way to be close to you while respecting your space," he said very quietly.
Wow. What do you say to that? I couldn't come up with anything that felt right so I just said, "Thanks."
"You've never noticed, have you?" he asked.
"What?"
"The nights I've broken into your apartment; it's been a full moon," he said.
Oh boy.
He got up and gave me a hand. He took one of the blankets, opened it and spread it on the ground.
"Will you let me hold you here for a while?" he asked. "Stephanie, this isn't a sexual experience; think of it as a religious one."
That wasn't something I could argue with, and I liked being held by him whether I was awake or not.
We kneeled on the blanket and faced each other. Ranger, as usual, was the first to move, he kissed me slowly, almost reverently and then he lay on his back. He indicated he wanted me to put my head on his chest, so I did. He covered us both with the remaining blanket. There was no talking and after he kissed my forehead there was no more kissing, just him playing with my hair and me rubbing my hand over his heart.
Somehow, this felt far more intimate than sex ever could. It spoke of trust, intimacy and something, I don't know, almost sacred.
I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep until my eyes opened to dawn breaking. My back felt tight and I was feeling a definite chill. Ranger looked like he was still asleep.
"Morning, Babe," he said in a gruff voice.
"I didn't think you were awake," I said.
"I was awake most of the night," he said. "It was one of the nicest moons I can remember in a long time. Thank you for sharing her with me."
I had no idea what to say, so I said nothing except the perfunctory, "You're welcome."
We got the blankets folded and headed back to the Cayenne.
We were almost back to Trenton when he finally said something, "Hungry?"
"I could eat," I said.
We pulled into a little diner outside the city limits and had breakfast. He had an egg white and some kind of veggie omelet and I had the high fat breakfast special.
"That stuff'll kill you," he said when it arrived.
"Yeah, but I'll die happy with my taste buds intact," I said.
He attempted to roll his eyes at me, but clearly he didn't have enough practice.
He dropped me off at my apartment, making certain that Rex was still on the job and that there had been no interlopers.
If I didn't know better I'd have said that Ranger actually looked relaxed and happy when he left.
A/N: See it's not so bad to be turned on by a Merry Man. I've heard French Creek State Park is pretty, if you're in the area, take a look.
Coming soon: dating adventures with Woody
en./wiki/FrenchCreekStatePark