Running Wild

‘57 Chevy

After another long, rather odd night, Lila finally made it home just before the sun rose. She locked her door, undressed on her way to the bedroom and collapsed in bed, wriggling out of her bra. Sighing heavily, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. ‘What the hell is going on on that farm...’. Resting her arm against her head and the other draped across her torso, her stomach grumbled. She moaned. She was already so comfy, but at least all she had to do was warm up her dinner.

She rolled off the bed, slipped on her slippers, a silken bathrobe and headed to the kitchen.

Upon opening the refrigerator, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Today had been one of the oddest days she had ever had, not to mention one of the longest. The farm, the animal damage... it just wasn’t adding up. She set dinner in the microwave and started taking the Bobby-pins out of her hair while it warmed up. Her hair fell freely, tumbling to her lower back and her mind drifted to Tobias again and his seemingly glimmering eyes. She really wanted to know if it was real or if it was her imagination. She grabbed her dinner and headed back to her room, putting her phone and taser on the chargers and settling down into her comfy bed. She ate quickly, set an alarm and laid down to get some rest. The alarm was ‘early’ for her, but would give her more than enough time to visit Tobias’ farm before she was needed at the precinct.

- - -

The continuous text chime awoke Lila just a few hours later. Groaning into her pillow, she reluctantly reached over and snatched up her phone.

Tobias Schmidt: Hello Detective.

She sat up swiftly and read the rest of his messages:

Tobias: I know we discussed you coming midday to investigate further.

Tobias: I’ll arrange a lunch for us.

Glancing at the time, 9:47am, she let out a low groan. The alarm was set for 11:00. “Oh well,” she said, kicking off the covers. “Plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead.” She went back to the texts.

Lila: Thank you, Tobias. But I’m not allowed to take meals or other items- it's considered a bribe.

The bubbles appear almost at once as he started his response.

Tobias: Nonsense. You’re coming off the clock, therefore: not a bribe.

Tobias: Come as a friend. Two friends having lunch that are enjoying the nature around them.

Lila raised a brow and started to respond, when...

Tobias: All arranged. See you at One.

She gave an exasperated stare at her ceiling. Her captain did say to bend the rules on this one... Maybe lunch wouldn’t be so bad. She stood and rubbed her eyes heading for the shower. Her phone went off and she didn’t even need to see who it was. “Hey Mil.”

“You’re up early!”

“Sure am, Mil. What’s up?”

“Why are you up so early?”

Lila set her phone on speaker and started getting ready for the day. Brushing out her long golden hair, she caught Millie up on the text conversation. And then explained how she called her when she is normally asleep...

“It seems he’s taken a liking to his little detective!” Millie teased.

“Oh, come on Mil...” Lila said as she slipped out of her underwear and hopped in the shower.

“Well, why shouldn't he? You’re young, hot, got an established career and smart as the dickens!”

“Mil. I have to go”

“Ugh, fiiiiine,” Millie exclaimed dramatically. “But you better call me after “lunch”.”

“Goodbye, Mil...” Lila could practically hear the air quotes around the word ‘lunch’.

“Much love, sis!” As she hung up, Lila rolled her eyes, closing the shower door behind her.

The hot water cascading over her head and down her back, felt amazing. It had been a few days since she had had a proper shower and she decided to take her time with this one. She washed and treated her wavy hair, shaved, and washed her face. After she shut off the water and stepped out, she dried off, styled her hair and put on her lotion. Next, she headed to the closet to get dressed.

‘I should probably try to look professional, even if he is labeling it as a social visit.’ She grabbed a peach colored, flowing blouse, white slacks, and some cream-colored flats. ‘Professional and cute.’ A sudden flush rose to her cheeks. ‘Why am I so nervous about this? Is it his status? Or just Mil getting in my head about this being something more?’ She grabbed her purse, keys, and uniform bag and headed towards the door. The phone chimed again. She looked down to see another text from Tobias.

Tobias: I had to take a meeting in town this morning. I’ll pick you up shortly.

“Okay... this is getting... weird? Wonderful? I’m not sure...” She locked up the door to her apartment and headed to the lobby via elevator. Doing some work on her phone, she barely looked up to wave to the janitor as she left the building. And bam! She ran right into someone. “f**k,” she grimaced as she inhaled sharply.

“My, my. Twice in twenty-four hours. If I didn’t know any better, I'd say you were doing it on purpose!” Tobias supplied a wink as he swooped down to pick up her purse and phone, that had clattered to the floor upon their impact.

“Um, yeah. I’m sorry. Thank you,” she apologized, embarrassed, taking her purse and phone from him. He arched a perfectly trimmed brow at her and stepped aside to gesture her towards the door.

“No worries. Shall we?” He opened the door. She stepped out into the warm spring day and see a classic blue Chevy truck waiting in the loading zone; she smiled brightly. “You like her? She’s--”

“1957 Chevrolet 3100 pick-up. She’s beautiful.” She ran a hand along the side of the vehicle, admiring the restoration work, before her hand hit the handle. Getting into the truck, she could see the look of shock on his face. She chuckled as he pulled away from the curb. “My father was a mechanic. I have an old classic Ford, 1947 in Candy Apple Red.”

“A cop and a car enthusiast! Your man is one lucky person!”

“Oh, I'm not dating anyone. I think most guys find my career and hobbies too masculine; as if it threatens their own.”

“Well, I'm not threatened. I like it when a woman can take care of herself,” he paused, unamused by his next thought. “Not exactly the type of woman I attract being someone in my position, I'm afraid.”

“I can, unfortunately, understand that.” She shifted in her seat and looked out the window as he pulled off the main highway and towards the woods. ‘Girls that are the complete opposite of me,’ she thought. The two of them shifted into a comfortable silence as she enjoyed the ride in the beautifully refurbished truck.

Soon thereafter, they pull into the gravel driveway and parked the truck. Lila looked over and spotted a table alluringly set for two over-looking the pasture. She paused as her hand settled on the door handle, looking at Tobias. He smiled and slid out of the truck. “Lunch should be ready for us,” he said. “Come, milady.”

Lila slipped out of the cab and grabbed her bags from the bed of the truck. She looked around the property, taking it in fully in the light of day. It was truly a picturesque location for someone to live. Though, this was probably only one of his properties as most rich people had multiple homes. She walked up the wooden steps to the wrap-around porch and to the table on the back corner of the house. The view was perfect with the mountains just beyond the woods at the edge of his land; she could stare at it all day.

“Please, take a seat.” He pulled out a chair and gestured to her to sit down. She set her bags down under a bench along the wall of the house and sat in the chair, smiling at him.

“This is very unexpected, Tobias. You didn’t have to go through the trouble for me,” she murmured. He sat down and poured the wine.

“Nonsense. You’re working for me and I take care of those that work for me. Chardonnay?” he inquired.

“Well, I suppose it would be rude to refuse... yes please,” she grinned. She extended her glass to him and he filled it.

“Yes, it would be,” he commented, jokingly, raising his glass. “Pröst!” They tapped their glasses together and she took her first sip of perfectly chilled wine, crisp and fruity. She gently closed her eyes to enjoy the wine and heard lunch be set down in front of them: seared fish on a mushroom risotto. Her eyes lit up.

“Tobias... this is...”

“No problem,” he finished for her. She locked eyes with him, smiling gently and thanked him.

They both started to eat and stayed fairly quiet until the meal was finished. He leant back in his chair, swirling his third glass of wine. The waiter cleared the table for them and Lila bent over to grab her notepad out of her bag. Tobias gave her a perplexed expression.

“Work all ready? Am I boring you?”

“What? Oh! No! I just thought—sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I can appreciate some that’s that professional. However – I did say this lunch was for friends and I would like us to get to know each other.” She closed the notebook and pushed it aside. Mimicking his relaxed position, she grabbed her wine and leaned back.

“Well, all right. How about I go first?” she asked. He nodded. “How long have you owned this land? I could have sworn there was no listed properties out here.”

“Hmm, I suppose it’s been about a decade. My dad bought it after my mother passed. She had always wanted a ranch, but he had been too busy with work.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. I took it pretty hard, but I'd rather keep her memory alive by maintaining the ranch for her.” She smiled at him as he looked out over the pasture.

“That’s very sweet of you.”

“Thank you,” he remarked. “So, how about you? What’s your story?” He adverted his gaze back to her and she took a sip to stifle a slight gasp. His eyes were indeed amber! She was caught off guard, but quickly recovered.

“Oh, nothing exciting,” she started, setting down her wine. “Small town girl growing up as a single child. My dad was... well, it was clear that he wanted boys. I was taught to hunt and fix cars versus shop and gossip.” she grinned to herself. “I chose to become a police officer after my father became ill and the military was no longer a possibility for me. I wanted to be close to home to help him.” They both paused, letting the all-too-familiar sting of losing a father settle for a moment. She shifted uncomfortably and saw him starring at his wine glass. “What about you? What was family like for the Schmidt’s? Yano, before... everything.” He thought for a moment whilst taking a sip of wine.

“Family life was great up until my mother and sister’s deaths. Then... dad carted me off to boarding school and after that, university. I don’t think he could handle seeing her eyes.” Their eyes met and they smiled at each other. To Lila, he was so open and honest with her. Nothing like what she expected when she had first seen him in the woods.

“I’m sorry to hear your father didn’t handle it well. But your mother’s eyes were stunning.” Before she could stop herself, the compliment just came flooding out. A flush rose to her cheeks and Tobias smirked, leaning forward on the table, staring at her.

“They were, weren’t they?” His amber orbs glimmer before he winked at her. She glanced down at her wine and decided to finish the glass. “Anyways, I supposed you can ask me your work related questions now, if you want to.” Lila grabbed her pen, but hesitated. She really was having a wonderful time and he did go through all the trouble of getting a nice meal for her. She decided to set her pen back down and leaned back, seeing a confused stare on his face.

“I’d hate to interrupt your hospitality. I’m quite enjoying myself, to be honest. No one has ever done something this nice for me...” she admitted. He poured them both another glass of wine, raising his own again.

“Well then! To new friendships!” They clink their glasses and take a sip. “And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“That no man has ever treated you to something like this before.”

“Oh,” she paused. “I suppose you can take pride in being the first.” He flashed her a debonair smile and his eyes glimmered again.

“I shall!”

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly and quickly, as Tobias and Lila spent the time together getting to know more about each other, sharing stories, telling jokes and talking about cars. Lila had her chin resting on her hands, propped up on her elbows on the table. He spoke with such confidence and zeal when it came to different subjects, especially those he was passionate about. She always hoped to be that eloquent when it came to words, but most of the time, Drew would have to do the press conferences for her. A cool breeze blew and Lila closed her eyes enjoying the feeling of it against her skin.

“Hm,” she sighed. “I could sit here forever...”

“You’re welcome here anytime you need to escape,” Tobias said as he was presented with some papers to sign by his assistant. She opened her eyes and looked over at him. They nodded to him before dismissing themselves.

Lila gave her first genuine smile in a while; she was really happy here, and Tobias was such a gentleman. She laughed, “You do realize I’ll probably be here everyday, then?”

“And?” He asked, smiling gently back at her.

“We’ll see, depending on work any everything I suppose.”

“Don’t ever hesitate, Lila. It’s a genuine offer.”

She smiled, “I won’t.”