2.
Duke could not for the life of him get Aira Dawson out of his mind. Her amber eyes were stunning, and she was like breathing in a fresh breath of air, but it worried him that she was so interested in the town's troubles. No one in Haven needed the extra attention, especially from an outsider. She had mentioned her mother had died because of her trouble, did that mean she was troubled too? Who are you, Aira Dawson? For a long shot, he typed in her name in the search engine of his laptop and was amazed when fitness images and stories popped up, as well as a USAF award ceremony photo, and clips from music videos she had been in. So he gathered pretty quickly that she was actually a well-known person on the west coast. A music video popped up for James Arthur and he decided to watch it. She danced beautifully and the love scenes were so steamy that he wished he was the one making the video with her. He felt like she was more than just her beauty and a small part of him wanted to get to know that person just from the small quip they had the night before.
He realized if the Guard tried to 'handle', this new person, they would find it hard since she was so famous already. He looked at the clock and wonder if she had already gone to meet with Nathan and Audrey. You have better things to do then think about a girl who tipped you very well last night. Duke grabbed his jacket and decided to head to the Haven Herald, to warn Vince not to have the Guard to overreact. He got in his jeep and drove down the familiar rode towards the brother's shop. By the time he got there he spotted a gray Mini that he had never seen before. Was there yet another new person in town or did someone get a new car and a nice one by the looks of it; only a year or two old. He parked his behemoth vehicle behind the small car. The dirt around the edges of the vehicle suggested that the car drove a long while before it got here in Maine. He looked down at the license plate and it read 'California' in red cursive. Her.
He walked into the Haven Herald with his nerves jittering and he didn't know why. She was the first thing he noticed. She was bent over, looking over Vince's shoulder. She wore a strapless pant romper that looked like it was painted onto her body. Her long legs lead down to a pair of white four-inch heels with black polka-dots. He watched her hair fall off her shoulder, and watched as she pushed it back over. That's when she noticed him. She stood up and smiled at him, revealing that the front of the outfit had her stomach showing in the front.
"Hi...Duke, wasn't it?" Aira said.
Vince swirled around in his chair. "Duke! Nice of you to drop by." Vince said. "You've met Miss Dawson?"
"Please, call me Aira, Vince." She smiled.
"So, what brings you here?" Vince asked Duke even though he was ogling Aira.
"Oh, I... you know it just slipped my mind." Duke smiled, lying. He was having a hard time tearing his eyes from Aira's light brown eyes, they were stunning. "What are you guys doing?"
"Oh, I was asking Vince here if he knew anything about the Stanford family they used to live up here. Nathan, that cop, told me if I wanted to know about a person or family I would have to go to the Haven Herald." Aira explained. Duke watched Vince's expression falter. He hadn't wanted her to tell him anything it seems.
"The Stanford's...they sound familiar. Oh! Wasn't that the family who were like crazy good with music. I remember that from school or something." Duke said. Aira giggled at his enthusiasm.
"Uh, yes, they were." Vince said. "They stopped performing, due to fanatics."
"Did they kill them." She asked firmly.
Duke's eyes widened as he looked from her to Vince. "Yes, but..."
"Did they do it according to the interpretation of the song lyrics?" Aira asked. Vince frowned. Aira's stayed neutral, still waiting for an answer. Duke never saw anyone stare down Vince before. "They were troubled, would you say. Is it genetic. Why do I have to be affected by this..." Aira cut her sentence, obviously saying more than she wanted to say.
Duke took a few steps forward. "You're affected? Your troubled?" The shock in his voice was relevant. "I'd think I'd remember a girl like you in our town growing up."
"The Stanford's left town, Duke." Dave walked into the room, straightening his glasses. "I found some pictures for you Miss Dawson."
Aira smiled and reached for the pictures. "I was born in California. I only found out through digging where my mother was from, maybe you knew her, Rian Stanford?"
Dave's eyes widened. "Rian Stanford is your mother? Stanford Publishing?"
"Yes."
"I am sorry to hear about your loss." Dave said, remembering the news.
"How did she pass, if you don't mind me asking." Duke asked, feeling out of the loop.
Aira looked at her hands, fiddling her fingers. "She was shot by three different people while she sang Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra." Aira grimaced. "My mother could never sing, she always said she wished she could. She was visiting Long Beach, to see me, to tell me she wanted me to sing for her opening. I declined to sing but I wanted to still be there. She got angry with me, then she looked about to faint. She told me was fine then left. The day of the opening for the new office, my mother sang the most beautiful I have ever seen her. Then she was shot. I held her in my arms as she died, and she said she should have believed the stories growing up. Why our family didn't make music anymore. She said go to Haven before I was troubled too. I blanked out after she died, they said I fainted." Aira let a tear fall. "How do I stop this."
"I'm afraid, we are still figuring that out." Vince said.
"You know, you guys are sure being all informative right now. Usually have to pull teeth to get ANY straight answer from them." Duke scoffed, but it was nice to see her finally smile again.
"This is a lot to process." She said as she went to hand the photos back. Dave smiled as he pushed her hands back.
"You keep them." Dave said. Aira smiled at him and he beamed at her.
Aira went to say something but her phone went off. She pulled out a large phone and answered. Her face lost its smile and turned to a frown. "Mia..." She looked around. "Excuse me, I have to take care of this call." She clutched her small purse and headed outside, already whispering angrily.
Duke couldn't help but watch her leave. Her perfume wafted in his direction and he practically drooled. When the door shut he looked back at Dave and Vince, who were still trying to see her through the window. "What's up with you two?" Duke said, snapping them out of their daze.
"If I was twenty years younger..." Dave said drifting off.
"You'd still be too old." Duke laughed. "I came here to tell you she's famous on the west coast and for you, Vince, to handle the guard."
"Aira is perfectly safe. She is one of us." Vince said seriously. "Since we are too old, maybe you could have a shot then."
"Why...is she attractive?" Duke lied terribly.
"Duke, we all know you aren't blind. Go show her the town, maybe she'll like it." Vince laughed.
Duke couldn't hide his smirk. He turned to walk out the door, leaving two smirking men behind him. Aira was tapping a heel on the ground impatiently. He could hear the sounds of sobbing on the other line. He felt awkward just sitting there listening to an obviously bad phone call. Sounds like a break-up. He thought trying to look at anything except her.
"Mia, I don't have time for this, I'm not at home, I'm in Maine. Please, don't call me again." The girl on the phone screeched her name right before she hung up. Aira jammed her phone into her purse as she turned toward Duke. "Oh, I, sorry about that."
"No worries." He smiled. "Break-up?"
"Yeah. Bad one, six months ago. She calls me every day. Accidentally picked this one up." She gave a sad smile.
"Well, if you would like to take your mind off of it, I know a nice little bistro that sells the most amazing croissants." He smiled, even though he wanted to ask her point blank if she was a lesbian.
She seemed in deep thought before she let a perfect smile slip out. A dimple on her right cheek peered out. "I'd love a croissant."
Duke smiled back at her and led her to the shop. It was in walking distance so he knew it wouldn't be like he was kidnapping an out of towner, but something told him she could take care of herself. As he walked them over, he suddenly felt like he didn't know what to say to her. How many women had a smoothed talked over the years and now he was short for words. He led her toward the line before he decided to make small talk again. "So, what do you think over our small town?"
"It's gorgeous actually. I have been meaning to go by the marina. I saw some nice speed boats out there."
"You go boating?"
"Since I was a little girl." She smiled. "My dad got me a boat for a homecoming gift from the Air Force a year ago. I used her a total of two times." She laughed.
"Should have brought her here then." Duke said. "Does she have a name?"
"Aeris." She said. "I was supposed to be a twin, but we shared a placenta and I dominated over her. Her name was Aeris, twin A, completely identical." Aira said, moving forward when the line moved. Aira went to open her mouth to speak when a loud shriek filled the café. Duke and Aira turned their heads to see a woman wearing bright pink underwear and a brown bralette rushing toward the door. "Um...do people normally do that here?" Aira asked as she watched the woman frantically open her car.
Duke gave a chuckle. "Nope. That would be the first." Duke was just as confused as everyone in the store. The line moved once again and they were now in front. The cashier smiled listlessly. "Hey, can we get two butter croissants, and two lemon scones." He turned towards Aira. "Did you want a drink?"
"Chocolate mint Frappuccino?"
"That for the lady, and a coffee for me." Duke smiled at the petit brunette behind the counter.
"Twenty-six dollars and forty-eight cents please." She said, bored. Duke handed her a twenty and a ten. She handed him change then went to grab the food for them while another tech made their drinks. The woman handed him the food and they went to move to the end to wait for their drinks. Duke chuckled under his breath, surprised how dull that girl was.
"She needs a new job, huh." Aira giggled.
"I know..." He didn't get to finish his sentence because a tall skinny man with large wide glasses shot in front of him. "Hey!"
"Are you Aira Lynne Dawson?" He asked loudly, spraying spit on Aira's face. Duke stepped around, shocked this strange man completely ignored him.
Aira discreetly wiped her face. "Y-yes?" She said
"I'm a huge fan of your YouTube channel, Artsy Aira! I haven't seen any posts in a while. Can I have your autograph?" He handed her a pen and began pulling an image out of his wallet. It was a rather risqué shot of her in the James Arthur video she shot in England.
Aira reached out and signed out her full name, complete with the heart she added in cursive at the end of her surname. "What's your name?" She asked.
"Frank Miller." He said, voice getting higher as he spoke.
"Dude, you can't just squeeze in between people you don't even know." Duke said. Frank looked over at him then back toward Aira. Aira handed back the pen and picture. "Thank you so much Miss Dawson."
"Please call me Aira." Aira laughed nervously.
"Chocolate mint frap, black coffee?" A man asked. Duke raised his hand as he went to grab the drinks. He handed Aira her drink. "If you excuse us Frank." Duke frowned. When they got further away Aira gave a relieved chuckle. They sat down at the furthest table. She sipped her drink as she sat.
"I never know how to get out of those situations. Thank you, Duke." She said.
Duke grinned. "Your welcome milady." He saw something peculiar at that moment. Her outfit seemed to be pulled tight. "Uh...Aira?"
"Yeah..." Aira started before she looked down at her chest. Her white bra was now beginning to show through the stretch fabric she wore. "What the fuck? What's happening?"
Duke scanned around the area. It was easy to spot a trouble from a mile away when you lived in Haven your whole life. "Stay calm, stay calm. It's just a trouble."
"That just rips people's clothes?" She whispered loudly. A rip appeared on her chest, then in a quick succession, it tore, exposing her white lacey half bra. "Fuck!" She said loudly.
Duke scanned the crowd quickly before landing on Frank. He was practically drooling as he bit his thin bottom lip. In Frank's left hand was the picture of Aira and he was rubbing the picture over his chest. Another ripping sound happened and it caused him to look back at Aira. She wore nothing but heels and her white lacy boy shorts and bra. "Oh..."He couldn't find a place to rest his eyes on first. Her large breasts, her hips, or her devilishly long legs, or perhaps her chocolate brown skin covered in beautiful tattoos. "Are-are you okay?"
"My bras getting tighter!" She said to him, now looking frantic.
Duke ripped his eyes from Aira and forced his feet to run toward Frank. Frank realized to late he was spotted and ended up being tackled. He was knocked out immediately. He dug his phone out of his jacket. He punched in Nathan's number and waited. Nathan answered, about to curse him out. "We have an issue at Haven Café. It's a trouble." Duke said.
"We are on our way." Nathan said before he hung up.
Duke leaned back and sat down on the ground. A pair or legs appeared next him. He slowly followed the legs up to Aira's face. "This the guy...with the thing?" She asked, holding her clutch.
"Yep." Duke said as he decided to get up. "You alright?"
"Just pissed he tore my outfit, I spent a week sewing it. I had just got it perfect." Aira said. "Now I am a bit chilly."
He was surprised at how calm she was by being in her underwear. "Here, wear my coat." He took his coat and handed it to her.
"Oh, thank you." Aira hugged the coat around her shoulders. A siren wailed in the background. "Would that be Detective Wuornos?"
"Should be." Duke said as he turned to see the vehicle park in front of the store. Frank began to stir at this point. Duke put his foot on the guys chest keeping him from trying to stand up. He saw Audrey first, her long blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail. Next was Nathan's serious face, like he was always pissed off. He waved at them. "He is sort of waking up!" He hurried them. They picked up their pace.
"What happened here..." Audrey asked as she spotted Aira wearing nothing but Duke's coat.
Duke looked from Aira back to Audrey. "Not what it looks like. Dude, here was ripping women's clothes off with his mind or something." He whispered to her. "Her clothes like just ripped off of her."
"It's true. I don't normally walk around in my underwear and heels." Aira smiled.
"Normally?" Duke asked.
"Normally." Aira laughed. "I mean it's no different than the bathing suits I wear."
Duke couldn't conceal his grin at her words. Her eyes flickered away playfully. "So, what I am gathering from this guy is that he can remove women's clothes."
"Real Einstein folks." Frank said as Nathan handcuffed him. "I have to really want to see them undressed," his eyes scanned over Aira. "and I wanted to see her undressed, a lot, but they have to be wearing clothes that are theirs." He spat.
"So, Dukes jacket is in the way of you being a total perv?" Aira practically snarled.
"Come on." Nathan said as he hauled Frank up and out the door.
"Are you alright, Aira?"Audrey asked.
"Yeah, just a little weirded out by how random these...troubles are. I don't know why they aren't all similar, like a sort of basis to it all."
"I was a bit overwhelmed in the beginning myself. I can't imagine having it sprung up on me like it was for you, and in a place where there wasn't more like you."
Aira gave a meek smile. She turned her attention back to Duke. "Could you like, follow me back to my hotel? I'm kinda paranoid."
"No problem." Duke felt like a dog going on a ride in a car. Duke followed behind Aira and watched her walk to her car. Nathan walked next to him.
"Seems you're drooling, Crocker." Nathan whispered to Duke as he tapped his arm and chuckled.
Duke couldn't lie, watching her walk away was a nice sight, especially with her long legs leading to those dangerously high high-heels. He watched her get into her car, making sure another weirdo was not going to come rip off the remainder of her clothes. "I would never drool Nathan." He smiled.
Duke got into his vehicle and followed Aira to wherever she was staying. She seemed to be travelling towards the Marriott, and at a very quick pace. She took turns like a NASCAR driver and drifted around all the corners. He nodded his head in approval. Impressive. The Marriott appeared before them and he knew he was right. She backed into a spot without even questioning if her turn was accurate enough to get into the diagonal spot. He parked some ways from her and jumped out of his jeep. The wind had picked up and was bending the small trees planted in the area. Aira was just getting out of her car as he got closer. He went to wave and felt his heart slam in his chest as the wind blew open his coat revealing her dark tatted skin clad next to the bright of the lacey white undergarments. She had a perfect hourglass shape with long legs he would love to feel. She walked toward him, not even caring the jacket was blown wide open.
"Look at the wind pickup!" She smiled. Duke could have leaned in to kiss her, just for that second, just because of that smile. A peek of a dimple on her right cheek appeared, showing a shy side. He knew it wasn't because of her body either. "Got nothing on the Santa Ana winds, I tell ya."
"That was some Rockstar driving you did back there." Duke said.
"That was nothing, just daily driving. You should see me on an open road." She said as she walked passed him and towards the entrance to the hotel. He spun on his heel to go in her direction. "Do you see any weirdos?" Aira asked.
"None that I can see."
"Can you spot a troubled person or is all secret?" She asked. "Could you tell I was troubled?
"It's all random sadly." Duke said. "Is it just singing...?"
"At first it was just singing,"Aira said as she pushed open the hotel doors. Only the person at the counter and a bellboy. They stopped their conversation to watch Aira walk in. She wasn't aware of the sudden attention. "I would post my covers, and luckily they were mild love songs, or opera covers."
"Opera?"
"I have classical training, my mother insisted." Aira did a sad laugh. "All I ever did was complain..."
"If you don't wanna talk about it..."
"No, it's fine." Aira pushed the elevator buttons. Duke looked behind him to see that the counter was leaned over the counter, trying to see Aira. They stepped into eh elevator and he watched her hit the top button and slide her card to confirm she was on that floor. "After these songs, I would get people out in front of my house, creepy marriage proposals, packages with no name filled with pre-opened alcohol. I own several weapons, and have security on my house so it was easy to protect myself, but I still had people breaking in my windows and I would come home to police."
"Jesus." Duke whispered loudly.
"Tell me about it." The doors finally opened and she lead him to her room. "I stopped singing and got back into giving some pole fitness routine tutorials, and choreo, but then I noticed the more emotion I put into my dancing, the more it affected people." She stopped at her room. She slid the card in and the light turned green. "I can't even play my cello anymore, and that's what kills me. You don't know what you have until you can't do it anymore. My YouTube channel is dead now, and now I get angry messages, they won't leave me alone." She slid off his jacket and handed it to him. "Thank you, for all your help. Would you like a drink...a beer? You look like a beer guy."
"Bit early but after what happened I can make an excuse." He smiled, forcing himself not to let his eyes wonder. He made himself look at the size of the room. "Nice digs."
"Yup, pretty neat." She walked to the refrigerator to grab him a Bud Light. Duke bit his lip, finally noticing that the boy shorts accented her perfectly round bottom. She popped the top to thebottle and handed him the bottle. "I'm gonna get dressed again." She laughed.
Duke sat down on a love seat that faced a TV. The whole hotel room was bigger than his room. He took a big sip from the bottle, enjoying the cold brew. Aira appeared again, wearing black spandex shorts and an off the shoulder white sweater. She also held what was obviously a bong. He smirked. "You just travel with that?" He laughed.
"Always." She beamed. "It's silicone, best travel bong ever." She sat down. "Oh...do you have an issue with weed?"
"Oh no I was just wasn't expecting it from you."
"Well, after I got out of the service," she set the bong on the table then got up to get a torch that was sitting on the small kitchen counter. "I got myself a green card. I fell off a forklift and just destroyed my back and the pain meds they wanted to give me gave me bad allergic reactions. They told me I wouldn't walk again it was so bad. I told myself id become a stoner when I got out, and I did. This is the only way I pain manage."
"Yikes. Seems you beat the odds?"
"Most definitely." She pulled out a small container of sticky yellow substance. "Would you want a hit?"
"Sure, why not." He said before actually thinking. He hadn't had a smoke of weed in years. "I have never seen that before."
"It's a concentrate. Hits you faster, but you will cough. This is high in CBD, pain reliever essentially, and a good THC level. I'll give you a small hit." She got a small tool and scooped a tiny bit of the sticky substance. She clicked her torch to life and heated the nail on the bong. Duke felt like a kid again, the anticipation of it all was exciting. She then turned the torch off and got up to help him. She sat close to him, and he wished he was wearing shorts just to feel how soft her skin was. "Now, start to inhale a bit then I'll place it for you and put the cap on." He did as he was told and inhaled. The smoke was there instantaneously. She placed a cap on the end. "Oh, honey, exhale before you..." He began coughing before she could finish her sentence.
"Oh my God!" He coughed. He felt the nice fog cover over him right after that. He grabbed his beer and gulped it. "My throat is so dry." He gasped.
"It tends to dry the mouth out." She smiled. She went back to the floor and began preparing for herself. "It's nice to dab with someone other than myself." She hopped up quickly and rushed to grab a water bottle on the counter.
"Been driving long time to get here right?"
"Yup, took like six days! My cousin, Story, tried to come with me but I told her to stay in Washington. She teaches pole fitness and has a fiancé and I wasn't gonna drag her down here to chase fairy tales." She lit the nail on the bong and went to smoke. The glob she took was way larger than his and he expected her to cough even harder. She coughed once then gulped her ice water. "Little big, whoo."
"Amazing. I feel like a wuss." He laughed.
"You just have virgin lungs." She sipped her water.
"Do you have any plans while you are here?"
"Well beside the marina, I have no plans I guess, besides trying to find answers, which I now realize will be harder than I thought." Aira sighed.
"Well how bout I show you around sometime? Show you where everything is while you stay here, unless you are leaving soon?"
"No, I am here for about a month, in this room. I would love to be shown around." She made eye contact with him, and he felt himself melt into her gaze.
"How's this Thursday, I can take you to lunch as well." Duke said, wondering if he was being to forward with her.
"As long as I get to pay." She smirked.
"We might have to fight on that." Duke laughed.
Duke stayed for an hour before he felt like he could drive. He didn't want to leave but it would be weird for him to hang out with a woman he barely knew and he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable around him, especially since he seemed to be liking her more every second, but at least he got a date for Thursday. He had the nagging feeling she would cancel at the last second, like Audrey had one time. Chasing Audrey was a fool's errand and he was glad he was over it finally.