Bobby meets His Match- Chapter 10
I wanted to get this posted before my Spring break was over.
Please leave reviews, as I live for them.
"Is there a problem?," Bobby asked, as he saw the fear flicker over her face in response to the phone call. Cathy's eyes darted from his to the phone, and her face had become very pale. Something was definitely wrong here. "Um, no, she said, just um, someone I don't want to talk to." She took a deep breath and set the phone aside, then walked closer to Bobby.
"So, have you, uh, talked to, anyone about your dreams? You know, like a professional? " she asked, choosing her words carefully, as if she knew this was a delicate topic. Fuck, thought Bobby. She meant a shrink. Fucking perfect. Now the woman he loved thought he was some kind of psycho, like he was going to go postal or something. No he hadn't talked about it to anyone, least of all a shrink. There were some things you just didn't talk about. Things that were better left in the past and never revisited. Hell, Lester was his best friend and he'd barely even mentioned the damn dreams to him.
'No, I haven't," he said in what he hoped was a quiet, "leave it alone and don't go there" voice. He didn't want to scare her away, but he definitely did NOT want to talk about his dreams.
Cathy opened her mouth to speak when the phone vibrated loudly again. She seemed startled by it, and when she looked down at it, she got pale again. Her obvious fear definitely set Bobby's danger instincts off, besides he was glad to have the attention diverted from his issues. THIS was where he felt comfortable, dealing with someone else's issues, taking care of someone else's problems, not his own.
"It sounds like someone really needs to talk to you," he said, nodding at the phone. He wanted to know what the hell was going on, and there was one way to find out. "Go ahead answer it, and I'll give you some privacy." He walked just outside the conference room and closed the door softly behind him.
Bobby stood just outside the conference room door, listening as Cathy answered the phone, her voice muffled. No, he didn't consider it eavesdropping. To him it was reconnaissance, or intelligence gathering. In order to deal with a problem, you had to have accurate information. "I told you not to call me anymore," he heard her say, her voice shaking. He looked through the slits between the open blinds and saw that she had sunk into one of the leather chairs, her head down in the palm of her hand. "Look, I told you, we are through. I have moved on. You need to . ' her voice was shaking and it sounded like she was trying hard not to cry. " Don't come near me, stay out of my life." She hung up the phone quickly. Bobby felt the testosterone rising and with it came an overwhelming feeling of anger. Someone was bothering her, someone she was afraid of. Bobby knew he was sometimes a bit too overprotective, at least that's what Steph always told him. He took care of people, that's what he did. He wouldn't allow the people he cared about to be hurt. He didn't know what the hell was going on with Cathy, who was bothering her, but he was going to find out.
He glanced through the blinds and saw that Cathy was fighting back tears, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, so he gave her a few more minutes alone to compose herself.
Steph knew she shouldn't get involved. It was none of her business, and the guys were so secretive they definitely wouldn't appreciate her interfering in their lives . But hell, they all interfered in hers. They would say that they were just protecting her, so that was different. She knew the guys might get mad at her for this, but she didn't care. She loved Ranger and she loved all the guys like brothers. She couldn't handle them suffering and not at least try to help. She'd tried to bring up the subject with Ranger twice now, and he had simply ignored it and moved on. She'd have to try a different approach.
She knew Lester was Bobby's best friend, so he was a good place to start. She had followed him down to the shooting range in the basement. Ram and Zip were just finishing up, so she waited for them to leave. Lester had just finished shooting his AR-17 rifle and was changing out the magazine when she wandered in. He was just getting ready to fire off another round when he caught sight of her in his peripheral vision. He hid the look of surprise. He lowered the rifle and greeted her, " Hey Steph. Be still my heart, don't tell me you are here for target practice." He grinned at her. Smartass.
"Yeah, right.," she said, returning his grin". You know I don't do that unless Ranger makes me. Actually, I came because I need some advice about something." Lester smiled again and put down the huge rifle. ""You seek some of my wisdom" he joked and sat down on the bench. Steph sat next to him, and there was a moment of awkward silence. She didn't know how to begin.
" I just met Bobby's girlfriend. She seems really sweet," Steph said. Lester nodded. "Yeah, she's hot and she's got him all messed up. Poor bastard," Lester teased. " She came here to talk to him. I guess they got in a fight or something." Lester's face had transformed from grinning to blank. He obviously didn't feel comfortable talking to her about his best friend. Guys were like that.
She decided to jump right in. " I told her what a great guy Bobby is, but I think she's scared because he had one of his dreams." Lester's face didn't change, but she could feel him tense when she said the word "dreams." " I guess I didn't realize Bobby had bad dreams and how much they affected him." Lester could have been a statue, as rigid and expressionless as he sat. Steph just forged on. "Anyway, I hadn't realized how much he was affected by the dreams until he told me, and I wondered if there were others who had them."
Lester finally looked at her, his face completely blank. She wondered if that was something they taught the guys in the military. All the guys at Rangeman could do that annoying "blankface." Maybe it was a job requirement. " Look, Steph, most of the guys here at Rangeman are veterans. Ranger deliberately hires ex-military. Sometimes when you come back, there are some issues. Its not a big deal."
" I think it's a big deal for Bobby. He told me he was afraid to spend the night at her place because he might have one, and apparently he did." Lester seemed surprised to find that Bobby had talked to her about the dreams. " Look, I don't know what Bobby told you, but its not that big a deal. Leave it alone." Lester's voice was firm, but not harsh.
"Well, the problem is, I don't think Bobby is the only one around here who gets dreams. I bet Ranger does, although he won't talk to me about it. " She looked hard at Lester, who was looking in her direction, but with his focus distant. " I bet you get them, too." Lester didn't move, not a muscle. She couldn't even tell if he was breathing.
She touched his arm and he jerked, but didn't pull away. " You know how much I love Ranger, and I care about all you guys. I can't stand the thought that you are still suffering from these dreams, that they might still be affecting your lives so much. I want to see what I can do to get Bobby, and Ranger, and you, to get some help." She paused. "Professional help."
Her hand was still on Lester's arm, he looked down at it, then finally made eye contact with her , though he still had on blankface. The weird thing is he can do "blank eyes" too. You can not tell what he is thinking or feeling from his eyes. "IS this what you wanted advice about?," he asked. Steph nodded. " I want to know what is the best way to help, encourage, -whatever -the guys to get help. " He sighed, and there was at least 60 entire seconds of dead silence. Then he took her hand and squeezed it gently. " Look, Steph, I appreciate your concern. I am sure the other guys would, too. But this is something you should just leave alone."
That wasn't a good answer for Steph, and she pushed. "But Lester, you don't have to be bothered by dreams. None of you guys do. If Bobby's dreams are bad enough that he scared the hell out of Cathy, I imagine the rest of have the same." For a second his blankface slipped, and she could tell that she was right- he had some terrible dreams too. "You guys shouldn't have to keep suffering from your service to your country. Talking to someone can help you come to terms with whatever terrible things happened over there."
Lester's face became insistent. He sighed loudly. " Look, Steph. Here's the deal. For me, for anyone who was over there, well, you can't even imagine some of the things we've seen, some of the things we've had to do. Hell, I can't even believe some of it, and I was there. Bobby, Ranger, the other guys and me, we were lucky, we made it home, physically, and for the most part mentally, intact. But part of us will always be in the war, at least in our subconscious. It affects Bobby, and yes, me, sometimes, in dreams. That is bad enough. Talking to someone about it, that would mean acknowledging it, reliving it. We'd be bringing it from our subconscious to our waking moments, reliving it again, having to survive it again. That's something we can't afford to do. For our sanity, it has to stay where it is."
Steph listened, amazed that Lester told her so much. In fact, he had just said more consecutive sentences to her than he ever had in all the time she's known him. She still had hold of his hand and she squeezed it. But there was more. " Look, the guys know if they want to see a shrink, they can go to a VA hospital, or better yet, see one through Rangeman insurance. If they want to go, they'll go. But I highly doubt any of them will. "
Steph didn't like that answer, but it told her a lot about the guys' point of view. It also made her sad that they had suffered through so many terrible things and couldn't even talk about them for fear of reliving them again. She met Lester's eyes, her own filmed in unshed tears. " I guess I understand that", she said. But she couldn't let it go at that.
" I obviously am not a shrink, but I am your friend and I love you. Bobby, too. If you decide you want to tell someone about any of it, I am here and I want to listen. " Lester gave her one of his gorgeous smiles.
"Ranger is a lucky guy to have you, sweetie. I love you too and I appreciate the offer. I'll keep it in mind." He stood up and hugged her tightly for a moment. Then the smartass Lester was back. "Enough of this Kumbayah shit, how about if I show you how to shoot this really badass rifle."
Bobby came back to the conference room door, holding a Coke and a Diet Coke that he bought at the 7-11 next door. Women always wanted the Diet stuff. Bobby looked through the blinds, and saw that Cathy had composed herself, so he went back in.
He put the soda down in front of her. " I figured you might need something to drink after all that talking." She didn't say anything. Fuck. Bobby needed to know what the hell was going on. He sat in the chair next to her and took her hand. "Cathy, honey, I think you know how much I care about you and I want to help you. " She started to speak but he didn't give her time. " I was outside and I heard part of your conversation through the door. Enough to know that someone is bothering you. Someone youa re afraid of. " Bobby stopped to consider the irony that Cathy was probably scared of him now, as well.
"I'm sorry I scared you with the dream. Next time you can come to my place. " She had been looking down at the carpet, but he gently took her chin and tilted her head up to look in his eyes. They were such a soft, chocolate brown, and warm. "But I hope you know that I would never hurt you. I won't let anyone else hurt you either."
Cathy's eyes were riveted on his, pulled in by the warmth in them. " He hasn't hurt me," she said. And Bobby could tell there was an unspoken 'yet." She corrected herself, "Well, I should say he hasn't hurt me again." Bobby's eyes went molten at the implication that someone had hurt her in the past. He felt rage rushing through him , and he worked to keep his voice and body calm.
"Who hurt you?" he asked, in a quiet voice that seethed with barely controlled anger. Cathy knew how protective Bobby was. She knew that he wasn't going to stop until she had told him what he wanted to know. " My ex-boyfriend, Scott. He hit me, and then I broke up with him. " Bobby's voice wavered, the control slipping a bit and some of the anger getting through. " Where did he hit you?, he asked. " Not that it matters. Fucker shouldn't have touched you at all."
Cathy took a deep breath. " We had an argument and he punched me in the face. Hard enough to leave a pretty bad bruise. I left him immediately. That was almost a year ago."
"And that was him on the phone?" Bobby asked. " What did he say to make you so upset?" Bobby's hands held hers gently, but Cathy could feel the barely controlled tenseness of his muscles. " he started calling me about a week ago. I haven't answered but he's left about 12 voicemails. " Her control slipped and tears once again escaped her eyes. " He say he wants me back and he's going to get me back and he'll come for me… Each message ws a little angrier than the rest. I actually answered one and told him never to call me ever again and to leave me alone, but he hasn't stopped. I am getting kind of scared."
By now she was crying and it broke Bobby's heart. At least this was something he could, and would fix for her. He wiped some of the tears from her face with his thumb, but when they came too fast for that, he got up and brought her tissues. He put his arm around her and held her to his chest for a few minutes until she stopped crying. " Honey, I am not going to let anyone hurt you." Including myself, he thought.
" How about if I take you down to the courthouse and get a restraining order against him, so he can be arrested if he comes anywhere near you." Cathy sniffed and dried her eyes. "They don't always work. People don't obey them., " she said. Bobby was well aware of that, but this Scott fucker would be too scare to come anywhere near Cathy when Bobby got done with him. "Yeah, but lets get one anyway. Honey, am not going to let anyone scare you or hurt you. Do you understand?" Cathy just sniffed, still getting over her tears. " Say, yes, Bobby, I understand that I don't have to be scared of Scott or anyone else because you won't let anyone hurt me," he prompted her. She started to repeat it, but started to laugh halfway through.
Bobby stood, pulling her up next to him. He was pleased that he had found out about her problem, and taken the heat away from his.,He was in love with Cathy, and he knew it, and he didn't want to do anything to mess it up with this wonderful woman. But he also didn't want to deal with those dreams unless he absolutely had to. Maybe not even then. He linked his fingers with hers as he led her out of the conference room.
He stopped when the hand holding hers came up short. And let Cathy pull him back toward the conference table. She was too smart to let the subject of his dreams drop. It was why she had risked coming here. "Thanks Bobby, I care about you too and I trust you to protect me. I know you don't think you need it, but I want to protect you too. From yourself. " Bobby was starting to turn away, knowing where this was going. She pulled his chin back toward her and he let her. "Bobby, I know you are dead set against seeing a professional about your dreams, but would you please at least consider it? " She upped the ante. "For me?"
She looked Bobby straight in the eyes and he knew he was totally screwed. He would do anything for her, but how could he do this? Her head was tilted upwards, and he lowered his head to gently take her mouth. He deepened it to a gentle kiss, wrapping his arms around her. He never wanted to stop kissing her, but he knew the guys were probably watching through the gaps between the blinds.
Reluctantly, he broke off the kiss, but he didn't want to let go of her, so he kept his arm around her.
" I will consider it.", he choked out. She gave him a look. " I promise I will CONSIDER it." He said, putting emphasis on the "consider." That was enough for Cathy right now. She kissed him hard and then they walked out of the conference room hand in hand.