Chapter 16: Kisses, caresses…

I waited until I heard the front door close before I believed it that Aurelia was really gone. Finally I could relax a little, I had already given much more away than I had intended too… Steph had that effect on me, she made me forget my surroundings… go figure. I looked down and found Steph's blue eyes studying me. They were large and blue and I could see several emotions in them. I just looked back, taking in her lovely face, deliciously shaped mouth and riot curls. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever known. We stayed like that for a while and suddenly she spoke up.

"Aren't you getting cold?"

Stephanie POV

I couldn't believe myself. Of all the things I could say, I say this? I loved to look at him, the man was perfection, and then I open my mouth and I say 'aren't you getting cold?' What is wrong with me?

"Babe." A hint of a smile was playing at the corners of his mouth. I was amusing him. Sigh.

"You heard Aurelia, you're still recovering from the flu too," I said in my defence. His eyes hardened at me mentioning her name, but after a split second that disappeared and he looked like he thought about smiling again.

"You worried about me, Babe?" Hell, only every day of the week, but who's keeping score.

"Maybe." His smile grew into the 200 watt smile.

"Cute."

"Cute?!" Excuse me? But Ranger just looked at me, eyes smiling but otherwise unreadable. Ugh, I really wanted to learn ESP one day.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll put my shirt back on," he said, while looking at me, waiting for me to answer. Shit, this was so unfair. I didn't want him to put his shirt back on, I wanted to look at his beautiful chest a bit longer and maybe feel a few of those muscles and that delicious mocha latte skin and… sigh… I think my eyes glazed over. But if I said I didn't want him to put his shirt back on, he would probably have some sexy remark ready, one that I didn't know how to respond to. I mean: Aurelia said he was in love with me, but it wasn't Aurelia's heart that was on the line. (Okay, maybe her life was at stake after the stunts she kept pulling, but that was her own choice!) And of course he would then probably insinuate I'd let him catch a cold because I wanted to look at his body…

"Babe," he said on a smile. Something told me he knew exactly what had been going on in my mind, and I was amusing him. I just glared at him, not much more I could do that wouldn't embarrass me any further.

"You flatter me, Babe," he said. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline. He chuckled, but did grab his t-shirt and pulled it back on again while I took one last wistful look at his body before it was covered in black again.

I was still mourning the loss of that smooth dark skin when Ranger bent forward and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. Mmmm, this was nice. He held my eyes with his own brown ones when he bend forward again, and our lips met in another soft and sensual kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I felt how his strong arms encircled me and when he deepened his kiss I felt myself melt inside. The kiss soon became more frantic and my whole mind was filled with naked Ranger thoughts when he suddenly pulled back and softly whispered in my ear.

"Let's get you to bed, you're still recovering from the flu."

Chapter 17: … and a cold shower

Ranger gently lifted me of the couch and I snuggled into his arms. Mmm, this was nice! And he was taking me to bed, this was good! But then he gently laid me on the bed, covered me up, clothed and all and turned away. What the….?! Why wasn't he taking his clothes off? Why wasn't he taking my clothes off? What was going on here? Where was he going? Suddenly I heard a chuckle and turned my head towards the sound. Ranger was standing at the door, looking at me, his lips turned up.

"Babe." I glared at him and then flopped back down on the bed. I could feel the blush creeping itself up to my face and sighed. Why was he always capable of reading my mind? Especially when it came to my private sexual thoughts. Life wasn't fair.

I heard some rustling of clothing and Ranger appeared in my line of vision again, standing beside the bed. He sank through his knees so that his face was level with mine on the pillow and looked at me, his eyes smiling.

"Babe, you're still recovering from the flu. You need to rest."

"Fine," I grunted.

"Don't be angry, please!" he said pleadingly, his eyes still smiling. I just looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. He bowed forward until his face was very close.

"Believe me, there is nothing that I'd like to do more than to get in bed next to you, but you are still not feeling too good." His breath was soft and warm against my cheek and I shivered.

"I feel fine," I said indignantly. Another chuckle.

"Sure, just like me." I remembered that Aurelia had said something about his temperature being elevated and I knew he was tired.

"If you feel so bad, then why aren't you in bed with me?" I said triumphantly. He seemed to consider my words for a moment.

"You're right." And with these words he kicked off his shoes, climbed over me and crawled under the blankets with me. I had expected him to cuddle me close, but he didn't and I felt very disappointed. What was going on here? First he kisses me like there is no tomorrow and now he doesn't want to touch me? I turned on my side and looked at him. He was laying on his back with his eyes closed, but he wasn't fooling me, he wasn't asleep. The corners of his mouth were turned up again. He was playing with me, the bastard! Humpf! I was about to turn away from him again, when an idea popped into my head. I shouldn't let him push my buttons so easily! According to Aurelia he really loved me, but I wasn't convinced yet. I wanted to hear him say it and prove it to me, and playing with me didn't do it for me. He might like it, but I sure as hell didn't!

So I slid my hand under the blanket and let it travel towards his stomach. When I touched his side Ranger stilled and I slowly moved my hand up until it was laying in the middle of his stomach. He still had his t-shirt on, but I could feel his muscles through the thin material. My hand started to feel around, slowly sliding up over his broad chest, moving across it and then down again on the other side. I went all the way down, over the top of his pants and felt the muscles of his thigh. Then my hand moved across, and I felt him hard underneath my hand. The smile had left his face, but he still had his eyes closed.

"Do you find me attractive, Ranger?" I asked, my hand still resting on the bulge in his pants. He didn't move and didn't answer me. Suddenly anger bubbled up in me. He was playing with me all day long if he wanted to, but when I called his bluff he didn't like it. Well, that wasn't going to fly today. I felt pissed off because I had looked forward to some serious Ranger cuddling and kissing earlier on, and he had just dumped me in the bed, saying I still had to recover from the flu when it became too heated for his liking. Well, maybe a bit of cuddling and kissing would have helped me!

"Do you, Ranger?" I squeezed him through his pants and his eyes opened and looked at me, black and dilated.

"Babe." Warning tone. Well, newsflash, I wasn't afraid of him today. Don't ask me why, I'll probably regret it tomorrow, but right now I wasn't impressed at all.

"Ranger," I said calmly.

Suddenly there was a blur of movement and I was pinned beneath him, my hands held above my head in his and his face centimeters away from mine. I met his eyes and hoped they showed the calm determination that I felt to get an honest answer to my question.

"Just answer my question," I said while looking at him. His eyes were unreadable, blank mask in place. Jeez, this guy had a hard time sharing anything! What was he thinking that I was asking him? It wasn't like I was asking him to marry me, or to even confess to any degree of loving me. I asked him if he though if I was an attractive woman, and frankly I thought I already knew the answer. I mean: he had been kissing me and dropping hints on a regular basis for a few years now. I just liked to hear him say it straight to me for once, but I didn't feel like that was going to happen.

It made me wonder if he was capable of any kind of relationship. If you can't even tell a woman you think she is attractive while she has her hands on your desire, is in your bed and lives in your house, well what can you share then? Having a relationship is more than thinking about how much you love someone, or how good looking they are or how much you admire their character. It is about sharing, saying it and hearing it. A sad feeling settled in me. Maybe Aurelia was right in her assessment that Ranger loved me, but I didn't get the impression that he was ready for any kind of relationship. Maybe he shouldn't have said that his lifestyle didn't lend itself to relationships, maybe he should have said HE didn't lend HIMSELF to relationships. I decided to give it one last try before drawing any conclusions.

"Are you going to answer me?" I asked, looking at his dark and blank eyes. He kept on looking for a while.

"Yes or no, Ranger. Are you going to answer my question?" I said in a slightly more impatient tone while looking at him. Suddenly his lips crashed down on mine and he was kissing me feverishly. Hot desire washed through me until a voice in the back of my mind said: he STILL didn't answer your question. I turned my head away from him and spoke up again.

"This isn't going to help you. Just answer the friggin' question!" I felt incredulous and was getting really angry now, and very confused. Usually he made it no secret that he found me attractive, that he wanted to sleep with me, that he liked me and even loved me in his own way. But when I asked him to say it to me, he behaved like I was asking him to tell me his deepest, darkest secrets. What was going on here?

He suddenly rolled off me and sat on the edge of the bed with his back to me. I could see the tension in his spine.

"I don't have to justify myself towards you, Stephanie." What?! What was he talking about? That was his answer? Unfortunately his phone rang at that precise moment and he was of course more than happy to answer it. He walked out of the room and seconds later I heard the door of the apartment close.

That was it. The little incident earlier when I had tried to give him a massage flashed through my mind and I knew I could only come up with one conclusion. He might love me, but he didn't want a relationship. Or maybe he wanted one, but he wasn't capable of a relationship. So with a deep sigh and a very sad feeling inside of me I started to gather my stuff. There was no reason for me to stay here after tonight. I was feeling much better and Ranger had just made his position very clear. I felt two big tears roll down my cheeks and sighed deeply. Shit, shit, shit. I couldn't get the tears to stop falling, so I just mechanically walked through the apartment to collect all my stuff, tears dripping from my chin. With one last look at the apartment I closed the door behind me and pushed the button for the elevator. I stepped in and realized I was on camera. Well, nothing I could do about that now and frankly I didn't care. Actually, I hoped he was watching, seeing the tears. Maybe for once he'd realize that this might all be a game to him, but it wasn't to me. Maybe he'd feel guilty, maybe he'd feel… Oh, I don't know.

I guessed that Ranger would have had my car brought to Haywood and when the elevator doors opened in the garage, I saw I had been right. I got in and slowly drove out of the garage. I didn't know if I was disappointed that he hadn't tried to stop me or that it just confirmed my believes. Mostly I just felt empty.

When I was laying in my bed that night the evening kept replaying in my head. How had such a simple question turned into such a disaster?

Chapter 18: Considerations

When I came back to the apartment I knew that Steph had left. I had watched her leave on the monitors in the control room, under the watchful eye of Tank. The tears were clearly visible on her face and I felt like a prick. What had happened just now?

"Aren't you going to stop her?" Tank had asked, studying me.

"No."

"She's crying."

"I can see that."

"She crying because of you?" His tone said it better not be that way.

"How do I know, women cry all the time." I was feeling defensive, and Tank picked up on that straight away.

"What did you do, Ranger?" I just gave him a look that made it clear that this conversation was over and walked away towards my office. When I was at the door leaving the control room I thought I heard a coughed 'coward' but I chose to believe that that was my imagination because I didn't feel like taking on Tank tonight. The call hadn't been that important, but it had given me a way out of the conversation with Stephanie. I worked in my office for another hour until I couldn't find any other excuse to keep me busy and went back up.

As soon as I opened the door the emptiness hit me. Steph was gone, the spirit of my Babe had left. She had taken all her stuff with her and it made the apartment look empty. No sweater over the back of the couch, no shoes in the hall, no t-shirt on the bed. 'Isn't that what you wanted?' a little voice said in the back of my mind, 'You felt pressured by her, you don't need that from anybody, so it's good that she left'. Then why did I feel bad in stead of good. I was frustrated with myself. How could I be so indecisive? What was the matter with me? I stood in the middle of the living room and looked around. She had left the apartment spotless, everything was back in its place… and I hated it.

I laced my hands behind my head and just stood there. Why hadn't I answered her? Why couldn't I just say to her: 'yes, I think you're a very attractive woman?' It's not world news, I've been kissing and craving her for ages. But when she asks me straight up I deflect. Why? 'Because you're scared shitless' the little voice in my mind said. 'Because you don't want her to start asking questions, you want to keep her at arms length because you're afraid of loosing control', my brain observed. Jeez, had I really turned into such a control freak? I always thought of myself as a very flexible person. Clients could call me day or night, I had no regular hours, I was always available, also to Stephanie. 'Yeah, but you're still in control then, aren't you?' my brain went on. 'That is all work related, nothing personal or emotionally difficult. But look at how you freaked out when you're daughter was kidnapped. You needed to know Steph's whereabouts 24/7 because you were afraid something would happen to her. That had nothing to do with work, that had to do with you, with how you felt about her. You know that a relationship means sharing, answering questions, explaining yourself, and surprises, especially with Stephanie. And you don't like surprises, you like things organized and predictable.'

Okay, so maybe I did. But that didn't explain my current deflated feeling. I rubbed my face with both hands and sighed deeply. If I was really, brutally honest with myself I knew what this was about. I already loved her, I already wanted her with me, regardless of the price, I even had already admitted that to myself. The reason I kept doing and saying these stupid and hurtful things to her was that I was trying to sabotage the relationship. And I was trying to sabotage the relationship so I could tell myself there were plenty of reasons that this didn't work out, that it was my lifestyle, my life, that it was impossible to be with a woman, that it was… fuck… anything really so I wouldn't have to admit the one thing that I didn't want to admit…

That I had no idea about how to build a relationship.

This was one area in life in which I had NO experience or expertise AT ALL, despite popular believe. Hell, I had no CONFIDENCE at all when it came to relationships. No CLUE about any of it, really. Sex, sure, no problem. I've done anything and everything. But love…

Well, how nice of my brain to explain my predicament to me.

"This isn't helping me shit!" I told my brain out loud and then I almost rolled my eyes because I was talking to myself. Yikes, I was loosing it fast. I walked towards the couch and dropped down, shaking my head to clear it and turned on the tv, hoping to find something… ANYTHING… to distract me from this internal debate. If this went on any longer I would have no self confidence left!

Tank POV

When Ranger walked out I knew that something had happened and that Ranger was responsible for the tears on Stephs' face. When was he ever going to learn how to treat that woman? It really wasn't that hard, but he made it look like rocket science. Even worse, he wasn't man enough to admit it and to ask for advice. There are plenty of guys at Rangeman with long-lasting relationships and successful marriages, me included. And we would be happy to explain a few things to him, without thinking he was weak, stupid or anything like that. Did he really think we just one day woke up and suddenly knew how to build a serious relationship? If I think back to the early days with my woman, Jenny, I still cringe. The reason she is still with me is more despite of me than because of me. And because she was blinded by love she said, so she was pretty forgiving in the beginning. And I learned, bit by bit. It took us a long time to build a solid foundation, but now that we had, it was wonderful. And I truly hoped that Steph would get to experience that with Ranger … probably more despite Ranger than because of Ranger considering the way he was acting now… Because he was just being plain arrogant and a big bastard. And for the first time I decided to go against Ranger. His glance at me before he left had made it clear that this was not to be mentioned again, but I couldn't let this go on. So I grabbed my phone and called his sister. I knew I was gonna pay big time, but I just hoped it would be worth it and that he would thank me in the end.

Chapter 19: The next plan

Oh dear God! That stupid, stupid brother of mine! I couldn't believe my ears when Tank rang me to tell me that Stephanie had just left. He was saying something about me being her doctor and the flu and so on, but I wasn't fooled. He wanted me to know that something had happened between Ricardo and Steph and that Steph had left upset because of that. So Tank and I had a nice little chat about Ricardo's stupidity and how to fix their relationship. He promised he would work on things from his end while I would do my bit. I have to say, I admired Tank for his guts, because I can tell you that prying into Ricardo's personal life might get me a few angry conversations, but Tank was looking at a whole different problem. More like physical damage and so on…

I went to the bookstore that same evening, and found just what I needed!

Ranger POV

Monday morning, 8 am

I eyed the package on my desk with distrust. It had been there when I came in this morning and there was no sender on it. The crew hadn't received any delivery overnight, so someone from my team must have put it there. It didn't look suspicious, so in the end I gave in to my curiosity and opened it.

What the…?!

It was a book. Now, I like to read, but not THIS! This was a self help book… about RELATIONSHIPS… And it was called: Relationships for dummies. I grabbed my phone to call the one person that could be responsible for this.

"How dare you!" No need to be polite to family.

"Ricardo. Good morning. How are you, did you sleep well?"

"Answer my question, Aurelia," I gritted out.

"Question about what exactly, Ricardo?" she said softly, while I could hear the smile in her voice. That little…&(&8

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!," I was shouting.

"Do tell me…," she said teasingly. I could feel my teeth grind. She was fearless and she was once again pushing my buttons. And she had me cornered once again. Damn it, I was making myself look like an amateur here. I got riled up over a book my sister send me!

"The book, Aurelia! You send it."

"Yeah, that's right. Do you like it?" I was momentarily stunned that she so easily admitted to sending the book until her question registered. DID I LIKE IT?

"I don't need it. Stay out of my life, Aurelia!" I shouted.

"Oh Ricardo, I think you need all the help you can get," she said softly but seriously this time and then hung up. I looked at the phone in stunned disbelief and anger before slamming it down on my desk.

I heard a snicker and I looked up to see Tank standing in the doorway of my office.

"Everything okay, Ranger?" he asked, while walking into my office.

"Everything's fine, Tank," I said, while glaring at him.

"Interesting book, that," Tank said grinning, while pointing at the book on my desk. Shit! I was never going to live this down if word ever got out about this book. I grabbed the book and shoved it into a drawer.

"You so much as hint at that book again…" I growled. I left the rest hanging in the air, the threat was clear anyway. Tank looked at me long and hard and his eyes spoke volumes about how much he thought I needed that book. In the end I actually averted my eyes and looked down to some papers in front of me.

"Did you came here with a specific purpose?" I asked while pretending to be busy reading paperwork.

"Nope," he said, smiling again.

"Then get your ass back to work," I said.

"Yes, boss," he said, mock saluting me and still smiling. He had called my bluff. He was a good friend and even though I am the owner and manager of Rangeman, I didn't usually boss him around. I saw him as my equal and valued his advice in any matter. The only reason why I was behaving this way was because I felt vulnerable and I hated that. So I wanted to draw a line that he couldn't cross as an employee. Tank, of course, didn't buy it. He knew that as one of my best friends, he could say these things and get away with it. Because that was what friends do. I watched Tanks retreating back when he suddenly turned around, door already in his hand.

"You know, Jenny gave me that book 3 months into our relationship. I think it is a great help for clueless, commitment fearing, headstrong men who have no idea about how to build a relationship." He flashed me another smile and then quickly closed the door so the pencil that I threw at him didn't hit him. He opened the door once more, smiling widely.

"Tank," I growled my warning. He was pushing me, and I don't like to be pushed.

"I'm serious, Ranger. Read it, you might learn something." I made a move to get up to go after him and he quickly closed the door behind him and I could hear him walking away this time.

I sat down again and put my head in my hands, rubbing my face in frustration. After a while my right hand moved itself to the drawer and opened it, and I sat looking at the book for a long time. This was supposed to come naturally to me! I was Cuban, for crying out loud. Okay, I actually was a natural lover… 'but admit it,' that little annoying voice in my mind said, 'you're relationship skills suck'. I sighed deeply and once again rubbed my face, kicking the drawer close with my foot.

What was becoming of the world when Cuban men started to need relationship advice?

Chapter 20: Bedtime stories

Monday 8 p.m.

My doorbell rang, so I knew it couldn't be Ranger. Ranger never rang the doorbell, he just entered to scare the shit out of me. Still, I did check the peephole to make sure. It was a boy from a courier service. Hhmmmm. Curiously I opened the door.

"Ms. Stephanie Plum?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

"I've got a package for you. Please sign here." He held out his pad to me and I scribbled my name down. He took the pad back and gave me the package.

"Have a nice day," he said and he was gone. I closed the door and looked at the package. It was a small, rectangular package. I flopped down on the couch and looked at it a little longer. Okay, I was just too curious to think about this any more, so I started to tear open the paper and saw that the package was a book.

'Why men are pigs' it said on the cover. Ha, that describes Ranger! There was a funny picture on it of a large pink pig that looked helplessly into the camera and I couldn't help but laugh when I thought about Ranger and seeing this large pink pig. Then I read the subtitle: 'how to transform a pig into a loving man'. Oookaaaay… Then I saw the small card that was included in the package. It was a handwritten card with a picture of two pink pigs on the front that were laying closely together. On the back it said: go get the pig! I didn't recognize the handwriting, but that didn't mean much. I had a suspicion about who it might have been. The name Aurelia immediately popped into my head… That would mean that she knew about what happened between Ranger and me and still thought that we would be perfect together. Well, I didn't buy that. I actually really thought that flirting was all that Ranger was really capable off. Every time things got a bit more serious he would end it in some way. But the book did intrigue me, and although I'm not much of a reader, I did read the back of it to see what it was about.

Hmm, turns out the author was a big scaredy cat when his girlfriend asked him to move in with her, and started behaving like a pig to get her away from him. But in the end he realised he would loose more than he wanted, and faced his fears. And was now married to mentioned girlfriend with a baby on the way. Right. And then he decided to write a book to explain to women how to recognize 'pig behaviour' in men and why men actually behaved like that. And most importantly: 'to help him overcome his fears to create a loving boyfriend in stead of a scared screaming piglet'. Hmmmm… Riiiggghhtt… Oookkkaaayyy… What to think of this?

I opened the book and saw that the chapters were all related to a stage in a pigs life, starting with 'the little pink worm', followed by 'the screaming piglet' all the way through to 'father pig and his piglets'. Oh, why not read it. If it was boring I could put it away and never look at it again. So I started reading 'the little pink worm' and was quickly fascinated by it. It was written in a direct and funny style and the guy who wrote it was brutally honest about his own behaviour. He came from a traditional family and had been spoiled rotten when he was a kid because he was the oldest son. This had made him think that he could get away with anything. Then, when he had hit puberty he had learned the hard way that not all families were traditional anymore. That a lot of the girls had their own ideas about the future, and that a career was included in that. And that they expected certain things from him, like participation in the housework. He had been shocked! And so he had started to equate relationships and marriage with giving up your life, basically. When he was 18 he had vowed to himself to never marry or get into a serious relationship, so he would always keep his freedom. That had worked fine for him until he was 23 and met Suzy…

That was where the first chapter ended. Summarizing it in the last paragraph, the writer, named John, stated that many men still thought that they would have to give up a lot for a relationship and that they felt they would tie themselves down in a way they didn't want too. Most of that came from observing their situation at home. 'A lot of children grow up in a situation where they don't have a good role model for what a relationship should be like, nor how to achieve it. How many of us are from a broken family these days, with ugly divorce proceedings and arguments about money and children? This can make a big impression on a young boy and might have everlasting effects.'

'And especially younger men like to keep their sexual options open because in this society for some mysterious reason it is still often considered 'cool' when a man has had many different partners. That in reality there is nothing fun or cool about waking up beside a woman you don't really remember the name of, is something that most men will never admit, let alone think about the health hazards of this behaviour.'

'What I'm trying to say, dear ladies, is that the pig behaviour your boyfriend is portraying today, might well be, to some extend, related to how he perceived relationships when he was still a piglet.'

Mmm, John might be on to something here… I actually wondered what Rangers' childhood had been like… Maybe it was time to give Aurelia a call… But first it was time for bed. It was already past 11, I had been so fascinated by the book that I had read the whole evening. I would read chapter 2 tomorrow and see what kind of information I could get from Aurelia about Ranger when he was still a 'piglet'. I couldn't help but laugh out loud again. I felt much better now. I had been really depressed the last couple of days because of what had happened between Ranger and me. But thinking about him in terms of pig and piglet made me smile.

Meanwhile in 'the Batcave'

I dumped my stuff on the desk and kicked my shoes off. It had been a long day and I was glad to be home. I hadn't been home that often lately and I had missed my privacy. I would have to work for a few hours later tonight, but first I went into the kitchen to make something to eat. Or to heat up the meal that I bought on the way home. It was healthy and fresh, and it only needed 8 minutes in the microwave, so perfect for me.

While the microwave did its work, I looked around my house. It was a very modern, open plan bungalow with glass walls on 3 sides, stainless steel and wood. I had designed it myself together with a friend who was an architect. Basically it was one large space, not one internal wall. I had used screens and furniture to divide the space, but there were no separate rooms. The whole house had a modern, light coloured wooden floor, with large rugs in the sitting area, sleeping area and bathroom area. The main colours were cream, deep red and black and I felt at home. All my personal things were here. Pictures from my family and close friends, memorabilia from my time in the army, books, DVD's, music.

I had always wanted to live in a penthouse in a busy city, but that was impossible to keep secure, so I had basically created my own ground floor penthouse, but still with breathtaking views of the city. It had taken some time to find the right location, but this was perfect. The back of the house was built into a hill, so my house was invisible from the road and I was overlooking some forest and beyond that I could see all the way to the city down below. I loved to watch the lights in the night sky, they made me feel calm and relaxed. I had built a large deck all around 3 sides of the house, and there was a pool including a hot tub. The only thing that was build separately from the house was the gym, which was in a small building to the left, build in the same style as the bungalow with lots of glass. It still had the views, so the home trainer and treadmill faced the city side, the weight bench faced the garden and the punch bag hung in the middle. It also had a shower and sauna, with the sauna looking over the forest. I had made sure that nobody could see into my house by using a special plastic coating on each panel of glass that made it impossible to look in, while I could still look out. And I had bought much more land around the house than that I was currently using, to make sure nobody could build close to me. High, spiked fences, camera's and motion detectors kept my place secure.

The microwave beeped and I went to retrieve my meal. I had just finished eating when the book on top of the stack of folders on my desk caught my eye. For once, Aurelia had been right in her choice. I was a 'dummy' when it came to relationships. But my pride had kept me so far from doing something about it. But the book was tempting. Nobody would know, since nobody came here. And if I didn't like it, I could throw it away. And Tank had mentioned that the book had helped him. If Tank was man enough to admit to needing help, maybe I should too…

I got up and read the cover. 'The complete guide for everybody who doesn't have a clue about relationships, but would like one'. Mmmm, that would be me… I checked the titles of the chapters and saw some subjects that I definitely would like to know more about. Like 'Do's and don'ts' and 'Sharing yourself'. I found out that Aurelia had gotten me the 'male version' of the book. I decided to finish work first, but put it on my nightstand to read before I went to sleep.

Maybe for once I should be thanking Aurelia for her interference…

Mmm, better not thank her out loud...