Blades

Chapter 3.

San Francisco looked absolutely beautiful during winter. It was early morning December 4th 2021. Heading into work all of the buildings were lit up like a Christmas tree. The white hue illuminating the city before the sun even rose. Stopping off at my new favorite coffee shop before work I ordered my usual vanilla breve. Velo Rouge Café was a small mom and pop coffee shop practically every hipster on Arguello boulevard got caught at during their 7am opening. And for a good reason too. I was waiting for my usual Leipheimer Breakfast Burrito to-go. The perfect burrito for a pregnant woman. Egg, black beans, home fries, cheese, salsa, avocado, sour cream, bacon and fresh chips with salsa. As I’m standing there waiting while starting to drink my breve I here a voice in my right ear that not only sends a chill down my spine but butterflies in the pit of my stomach swoon.

Blades deep voice rolls off his tongue inches away from my ear. Close enough I can feel his breath on me he says my name in greeting. “Rory…what a sight to see you here.” He brushes his hand across my back as he steps before me. Looking me up and down he plasters a boyish grin across his face. “You look stunning, getting your usual Leipheimer I presume?” He makes a quiet chuckle to himself as he steps closer to me. Pulling his opposite hand out of his long black Michael Kors coat he briskly brings it up to my mouth. Using his thumb he wipes away a dab of whip cream from my breve off of my bottom lip, raises a brow and quickly sticks it in his mouth sucking of its sweet sticky goodness.

Holy fuck that was hot. My Victoria secret maternity underwear just went from new, to feeling like my water broke soaked. I promised I wouldn’t have this kind of reaction like this to him though. Suddenly I was taken back though in thought. How on earth did he know my usual? I haven’t seen him in weeks. Nowhere in any business email have I ever mentioned this place or what I like to get from here. Does he have a camera in my office watching me eat or something? Feeling a surge of bravery I open my mouth to speak “Wow, I had no idea eating whip cream from an employee’s lip classified as professional. Are you stalking me? How on earth did you even know I would be here or what I like to eat?” That will put him in his place. I have every right to talk to him like that outside of work if he’s going to play this game with me. I have to remind myself that in fact, this man was my boss and I was married. And then there’s the whole stalker vibe coming off of him. What next, he’s going to grow out his mustache and start driving a white unlabeled van.

Looking unfazed he takes his hand and reaches into his coat for something. Pulling out his phone he starts to…txt something? How rude. Yes I know I just made it clear he should probably keep things professional between us but does that mean treating me like I’m not even here? After he’s done typing he turns the phone towards me so I can see his screen. And there it is. The big red flag of the day. More bold than anything he has done so far was in fact a live stream of my empty office desk where I sit to do my work. Freaking out I turn around and start walking out before my burrito was even ready. Not today Satan I’m getting the Hell out of here. But as soon as I turn and make the largest 3 steps of my life in the direction of the door I look up to see him somehow in front of me again with a look of concern.

“Rory look I’m not stalking you, or planning some intimate shibari scene in my basement with you like you think. I…well I care about you. I just want to make sure you are safe and well taken care of. And the camera is just a second set of eyes to make sure I can accomplish that. I have a few things I need to talk to you about. A lot of questions you might have now and worries I want to clear up and put at ease. Will you trust me?”

Looking up at him with my previous shock I suddenly feel at ease. I know it’s incredibly stupid to go somewhere alone with him after the little camera stunt he pulled. He could be capable of worse. But he’s right. I do I a lot of questions I have been avoiding to ask him. And somehow I just went from moist, to scared shitless, to feeling like I could trust him in like 30 seconds. “OK, but if you want to sit down and have this discussion we are doing it here. This place has a lot of eyes to prevent you from shoving me into your trunk and at the same time noisy enough Noone will here us talk. Deal?”

“I know your humanly instinct is going against this right now but I promise you some clarity after we sit and talk.” He gestures me to a table to my right and I sit down hesitantly. I hear my name called for my food and he gives me no time to respond. Instead he hustles over and grabs my food for me and asks her for a plate so I can eat it here. He comes back with my food and extra salsa for me as well as a warm lemon water. It’s like this guy can read my mind. I had just finished my coffee and was wanting something refreshing but warm. And the whole shibari in my basement thing? Biggest coincidence on earth because without a doubt, I did not say that out loud when we met on my first day.

I wolfed down my food and started on my lemon water without saying a single word. The type of questions I wanted to ask sounded crazy so I wasn’t sure if I should. And honestly this all just seemed so unreal. Taking in a deep breath I prepare myself. “Alright, to be honest I’m not even sure where I should start. I guess I’ll start off with a list.” Pausing, I take a moment to decide the order I want to ask him my questions. Will this even prove anything? It would be pretty easy for him to just lie. Fidgeting with the crumb of burrito left on my plate with a fork, I shakily ask him everything I’ve been wanting to know.

1. “OK, so I clearly remember you as being a medical personnel that helped me when I had a pregnancy loss. Was it actually you? Or am I making up shit in my head"

2. “Were you stalking me until I started working here a month ago?”

3. “What’s the real reason you have a camera at my desk?”

4. “How do you know what I’ve been ordering from here and what time I come?”

5. “And lastly…do you like me? Not just as an employee? You’ve been quite the flirt whenever I see you. And if you do like me, why did you decide to put space between us after our lunch together then come in here basically licking food off my lip?”

Blades takes the grin off of his face for the first time since hiring me. Seeing the waiter pass close by he waves her down. Faking a grin and changing his tone more business like he says “Hi, I was just hoping if you wouldn’t mind grabbing my friend here another cup of warm lemon water please? I’ll also take a London fog, easy on the vanilla. Thanks.” As the waiter walks off to prepare the drinks, he adjusts himself in his seat and straightens his posture. “Rory, those questions are just the beginning. I’m going to tell you as much as I can, but you have to understand I can’t tell you everything. At least not yet.” Just as he pauses the waitress sets down our drinks and scuries away. He grins again and looks slightly more relaxed while taking a drink of his London fog. “Now I know you’re curious about me and the night of your ectopic pregnancy. To answer your questions yes, I was there. But it wasn’t in the way you might think. I was watching you for some time. Your soul entrances me though. I wanted more time with you, and if you died that night like you were supposed to, your soul would have moved on. I made a deal with my boss that night to keep you here to spend more time with me. In return I had to serve him an additional 100 years. So yes I saved your life but no I wasn’t your surgeon. Now I know you have more questions now but I promise, if you wait till after I answer the other ones, you will understand .”

This is all so confusing. I nod my head in agreement because I’m to eager to interrupt him. I need to know it all. And who the hell is his boss? Like the owner of the hospital? Was the dude wanting me for an illegal organ trade or something?

He looks suddenly so serious again. He reaches his hand out and traces my wedding ring along with his index finger. Looking up he doesn’t draw his hand back. “Rory I’m going to answer the rest of your questions but I need you to keep an open mind. I know for a fact that every time I touch you, you question yourself. You like it. You like me. You feel a connection with me deep in your soul and you’re trying to fight it. And yes I feel it too. I told you I had been following you before your ectopic rupture and yes I continued even after. I couldn’t bring myself to leave you. I had to make sure you were ok.”

Just as he tells me all about his little stalking habbit he’s had, I pull my hand away from his touch. Suddenly brought back to the present. I realize how dangerous this situation could potentially be. This man is infatuated with the idea of me so much that he has be following me for over a year now. I am relieved looking around for a moment that we are in an extremely public location right now.

Clearing his throat he brings my attention back to him. “Rory, I know you are starting to feel a little frightened but just let me finish ok? I promise I’m not a crazy psycho stalker like you are thinking. Yes I had been watching you but I want you to realize I always gave you personal privacy. Never was I watching any of your more intimate moments or watching you in the shower or anything. I kept an eye on you and then one day I overheard you telling Jackson that you were wanting to go back to work. So of course I felt it was nothing but fate that I had an open position in a job that you are in fact perfect at doing. So I had my recruiter send you the application to your jobs.com profile and before I knew it she had interviewed you and agreed to hire you per my request. As for the camera as I previously told you all I want is to make sure you are ok. Remembering that you are married though has put some things into perspective that I just wasn’t thinking about previously.” Taking a deep breath and looks suddenly expressionless, unreadable. “You have been disconnected from Jackson for some time now and it’s because your soul has connected to me. You no longer feel the benevolence you once had with him. It has turned into a vapid relationship. You don’t ever have to fake anything with me though Rory. I know everything you are thinking and truly accept and care about you. I will protect you.”

I feel strange as I hear him speak. All these red flags and I still feel so safe. Like somehow I know he’s telling me the truth. He will protect me and I know it was him who saved me when I almost died. But somehow I have more questions than my original list. I take a swig of my now cold lemon water putting it into perspective how long he’s been talking. All this talk about my soul though. And then the whole stalking but in a gentlemen way thing. I’m missing something. And how the hell does he know everything I’m thinking? “So how exactly did you save me? And what’s all this talk about ‘my soul’? Like how on earth did you even know what kind of person I was when picked me up in that ambulance?”

He gleams at me with an ear to ear grin again, takes the last sip of his London fog and is a little taken aback I’m assuming because it’s probably cold now. “I still have a lot I need to say but it looks like I lost track of time. I am still going to explain everything to you but first there are some errands I need to attend to. How about I meet you after work? Another lunch at the Fiorella Sunset. What I’m going to tell you next requires a little more privacy.”