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Chapter 3

Step Three: Forget all about your problems for a while

At approximately ten that night, Mary Lou and I stepped – fully dressed and ready for anything – out of the lobby of our hotel and into the cool night of Canyelles. As agreed we were greeted by two Spanish males who themselves had taken quite the effort in looking appropriate.

Both Raúl and Martouf brushed their lips across our cheeks – Raúl's lingering on mine for a tad bit longer than customary – before leading us to a shiny black Mercedes.

Mary Lou and I took the backseats whilst Raúl the passenger and Martouf the driver's seat.

I sighed contentedly as I sank into the soft velvety seat and felt a wave of nostalgia hit me as it immediately reminded me of Ranger.

As the car smoothly climbed up the hill to the highway, I casually remarked, "I guess you earn good money with selling coconuts, huh?"

Martouf and Raúl only laughed.

A quarter of an hour later Martouf parked the vehicle in one of the side-roads of Lloret de Mar, a few hundred metres away from the boardwalk.

Chattering friendly with each other we strolled along the streets until we finally reached the boardwalk. Streams of people crossed our path and it was funny to see how many tourists from different countries obviously spent their holidays here.

Lanterns and cafés and restaurants on the one side, the view of the beach and the moon illuminating the ocean on the other one.

It was really incredible.

Though, I admit, I had been to clubs and things like that a lot in the past years; it had mostly been with a not so joyful purpose: like catching the eye of lunatics or trying to drink my sorrow away.

But this time, this night, did only belong to me. With no one out there to ruin it. I would shut my mind down from all my problems back in the Burg and just savour a night out with my best friend.

This was our night.

Mary Lou gave me a quizzical look as to why I was smiling like a moron, but I only shook my head and addressed our two personal hot packages, as Grandma Mazur would put it.

"So, where do we go first?"

Raúl exchanged a rather mischievous grin with Martouf before gallantly offering me his arm. "I'll lead the way, guapa," he said and winked at me.

Rolling my eyes I let a laugh escape my lips at his antics.

This boy was really far too young for me.

As we continued our way along the beach, soft music floated over to our ears from the different establishments we passed. Teenage boys offered us little cards which advertised discos that were close-by.

The atmosphere was on the one hand strangely calm and filled with contentment, and on the other hand excited and full of pure joy. I felt myself relax more and more as the night wore on and simply enjoyed the company of my best friend and two very nice but also very flirtatious males.

True to their word, Martouf and Raúl brought us to their favourite discos and showed us their definition of a "fun time".

Apart from amusing Mary Lou and me with their non-stop and – as we quickly learned – playful flirting, they made us laugh with their stupid stunts and the boyish grins on their faces.

It was really a wonder that nobody kicked us out of the clubs because of our crazy escorts.

They were really something else.

From coaxing foreign people into stupid contests with them over transforming the dancing crowd into their fan club to making elder looking waitresses with evil expressions on their chubby faces blush.

It was awesome. These two men certainly knew how to make a night unforgettable. And I was so very grateful that they shared this experience with us. I felt happier that one night than I had in a long while and one look at Mary Lou's beaming face told me that she felt the same.

I mean I never went out with either Morelli or Ranger on a simple, boring, ordinary date. It was always job-related or had something to do with our families, but there had never been a real date with just a guy and I and a night away from home. At least there had not been a date like that since my divorce.

So it was a nice change.

Mary Lou and I soon loosened up as well and joined in on all their craziness.

At the end of the night my stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing so much and my whole face was stretched into a broad smile that just wouldn't go away.

Physically spent, the four of us lay down at the beach, two bottles of Sangria sticking out of the sand between us.

"So, ladies, had fun tonight?" Martof eventually asked, the only one of us who was sober.

"It was awesome," I honestly replied.

"Oh yeah," Mary Lou agreed, raking a hand through the still warm sand underneath her.

Raúl smirked self-satisfactorily. "Great. So, how about you forget the two morons at home and become better acquainted with me." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing me to chuckle. And to feel a little bit flattered.

"Oh, by the way, Steph, what did you do about the card and the stun gun?" Mary Lou interjected.

Martouf looked up with a puzzled expression on his face. "Stun gun?"

I waved my hand which unfortunately wavered a little bit. "Nah, only one of the two morons back home that felt it was necessary to remind me of the fact that I can't protect myself from all the weirdoes out there, waiting to catch me," I slurred, though the bitterness in my voice was unmistakable, generating different kinds of reaction from my companions.

Martouf winced dramatically, Mary Lou choked on the Sangria she was just drinking and Raúl laughed heartily.

Remembering Mary Lou's question, I added, "I threw the stun gun into my suitcase. You know, if you think about it Ranger is a weirdo too with all of his Batman behaviour and such. Maybe I should consider his demand and test the stun gun on him the next time I see him."

"Maybe we should head back to the hotel. Steph does seem to be a bit drunk," Mary Lou worriedly suggested.

Clumsily, I turned my head to the side in order to have a better look at her.

"No," I protested, shaking my head vehemently which I stopped shortly after a diabolic headache made my mind spin. "I feel good. In fact, I feel better than good. I feel great." I closed my eyes drowsily. "I just miss Rex." Well, and maybe Morelli and Ranger too. But there was no need to mention that out loud.

While Mary Lou squeezed my hand comfortingly, the two males with us remained clueless.

"Rex?" Raúl curiously inquired. "The other one of 'the morons from back home'?"

Grinning, I shook my head. "Nope. Rex is my hamster."

"Where is he now?" Mary Lou asked, holding the side of her head with one hand.

"At Mrs Bestler's."

She narrowed her eyes at me, clearly confused. "Huh?"

I shrugged with one shoulder. "Well, she's taking care of him and in return I'll tell her every juicy detail of the hot men in Spain."

Raúl puffed out his chest in a proud manner and Mary Lou giggled girlishly.

"Okay, kids, time to go home," Martouf announced and coaxed us back to the car.

The drive back to the hotel was filled with stupid jokes and laughter – a quite pleasant ending for the night.

When we arrived in front of our hotel a short while later, Martouf voluntarily helped Mary Lou and me out onto the street where we proceeded to perform our parting ceremony.

Mary Lou dutifully thanked them for the wonderful night and other pleasantries were exchanged – though most of them were rather not so serious pleasantries considering the drunken state of three quarter of our group.

All of a sudden, however, Mary Lou narrowed her eyes into small slits and stared hard into the distance.

"Mmh, looks like one of the Merry Men," she murmured thoughtfully.

Hearing her low spoken words nonetheless, I turned my head sharply in the direction she was looking at and my gaze fell on a single figure dressed in black, standing over the road next to an equally dark car.

"That's because he is one of the Merry Men," I said, completely astonished due to the unexpected revelation.

I was just about to walk over to the man and confront him as he suddenly winked at me and drove away in his black BMW.

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Flashback

"I hate it when you put some frigging tracking device on me!" she screamed, not caring that the whole staff of RangeMan surrounded them. "Without my consent!"

Ranger's dark eyes glittered with stubborn determination as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I want to know where you are at all times," he said.

"You're so frigging self-righteous that it makes me sick!" she hollered and in her anger clenched her hands into tight fists.

He only raised an eyebrow and didn't bother with a reply. He threw one look around the room at all the spectators and shortly after the room was vacant save for the two of them.

His gaze returned to her once again and the hard lines around his eyes and jaw relaxed a little.

"You know, if you trust so little in my abilities, then I don't understand why you're so adamant about me doing some jobs for you." Her entire form was shaking from silent fury and disappointment.

He let an uncharacteristic sigh escape his lips before he stepped forward and enveloped her into a tight hug.

"Babe, every car of my employees is being tracked." He stroked her hair affectionately before pressing a small kiss to her forehead. "It's about making sure you're all right, not about trust."

She sniffled a little and suddenly felt ashamed of herself. She knew she was being unreasonable and unfair. But ever since she found out that she was in love with both Morelli and Ranger she felt inexplicably on edge. Her emotions ran wild and her mind overanalysed the smallest of things. It was driving her insane and she neither knew what the cause of all of this was nor how to stop this madness.

She was at the turning point, that much she realised, but she wasn't ready. She wasn't ready to face the main problem in her life and make a decision that would not only affect her life but also the ones of the two most important men in her life.

Maybe she wasn't ready to handle all the pressure she put on herself.

She only knew that she needed to keep her distance from Morelli and Ranger and everything related to them for a while. Otherwise she would just… burst.

Pushing away from his arms and his comforting embrace, she turned her head to the side, not wanting to look into his face. "I don't want you constantly tracking me and I don't want your men following me around. Start treating me like the part-employee that I am!"

The silence that followed her words was heavy and filled with unvoiced emotions and desires. She half-wished he would deny her the stupid wish she had just uttered and cradle her in his arms and call her Babe.

She closed her eyes. It was all too much, but she couldn't even run away. She couldn't even avoid this situation.

She just wanted some time for herself, to think about what she really wanted. Who she wanted.

He didn't even say another word before he left her alone in her cubicle and softly shut the door behind him.

End Flashback