The Missing Dragon

Special Clients

“Wow, I’m so sorry! I promise I won’t keep doing this!” Why was she stuttering, she wanted to hide under a rock. She’s rambling and he’s just cool as a cucumber. He stands there not moving or saying anything while she’s scrambling to stand. Once she finally stands she realizes she never scooted back and is so close that her chest is against his. Damn he feels so good and smells just like a campfire. Trying to get out of his space she ends up stumbling back and almost down again until he reaches out and grabs her arms.

“Are you always this way?” If gravel was a sound it would be this man’s voice. His light brown eyes were trained on her and she couldn’t find her next breathe. His hands on her arms felt so warm and strong but so gentle holding her upright. His face even serious was something she could stare at all night. All night?! What is wrong with her?! She doesn’t fantasize about men! She fantasizes about being on top of a job and kicking ass. She finally snapped out of it and put space between them.

“Sorry again, I’ll get out of your space. It won’t happen again.” She tried walking away but that voice stopped her, what was it with his voice.

“Are you always this hot?” Not what she expected to hear from him. So much so she started stumbling over her words again.

“I’m sorry, what? Am I always this hot?” She didn’t know how she ended up so close to him again but her body was almost pressed against him. Get it together girl!

“Are you a.. are you one of the special clients? I thought you worked here as an employee.” He had an eyebrow raised and now had his hands on her arms again. It was the first time she saw something besides indifferent or annoyed and it just made him that much more attractive. To have his full attention on her.. she wasn’t ready. It felt like he was looking for something in her eyes.

“I’m just an employee, I don’t work in the classified clinics.” I felt like we stared at each other for minutes but it was probably seconds. I enjoyed being in his space but I was at work. I backed up a little to put space between us.

“Speaking of work, I should get back to it. Have a good day, Allan.” This time he let me walk away but I felt him staring at me. I don’t know how I knew for sure but I did, he was watching me walk away. I felt warm where he looked at me. Warm and safe.

It was hard for me to focus the rest of the morning, my mind kept going back to those light brown eyes. Heather helped keep me on task though. She was exactly what I was hoping to find in a new town. We even had plans this weekend to walk around Old Town Sac. Not that I know what that is but from what Heather says it’s outdoor shopping with old time atmosphere.

“Did you hear?! I heard from Angela who heard from Sarah who spoke to Irene that Allan decided to stay in the area for a while. He’s looking for his.. umm well! He’s just looking for somebody. Isn’t that great!” Heather said while we were eating our turkey subs at lunch.

“I ran into him this morning, I’ve had the worse luck around him. Im going to just avoid him.”

Heather looked at me like I had two heads! “You two spoke?! No fair, I would love any attention that man decides to give. What’s wrong with you?!”

“He’s trouble, I don’t know why but I feel like he’s trouble Heather. I’m just going to keep my distance.”

“Fine, your loss. I’m just going to stare at him as much as I can.” Heather looked off dramatically which made us both giggle. Once back at the office the day ran smoothly without anymore distractions.

Once home I decided I should FaceTime Anne. I missed them so much!

“Hey sis! Did you just get out of school? Why are you so tired?” Sofia was laying on her blow up mattress in her apartment.

“Hey sis. I’m good, I just didn’t realize how much you did around the house. Did mom never cook? Like ever? At first it was funny but every night is so tiring. How did you do it?” Immediately filled with guilt Sofia wanted to pack up and head home.

“I’m sorry Anne, I should’ve prepared you more. I spoke to mom before I left and she said she would try more.” Spoke to was phrasing it nicely, she thought calling her mom out would make her do more. She was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, she was an amazing mom but she definitely needed to do more house work.

“I guess it’s not your fault. I’ve got to go get dinner on the table though, I love you!” With that she hung up and Sofia wanted to run back home. She hated that Anne had to take that on. She tried calling her mom to tell her to help Anne but she was not answering.

Sofia couldn’t shake off the emotions and decided she was going to take a walk while there was still some light outside. She heard of this great trail that even at night was lit up and not dangerous. She packed a bag with snacks and drove 4 minutes to the trail. Good thing she left when she did the sun was almost set. It was breath taking.

She set off on the trail which was way more spacious then she thought and paved making this an easy hike. She’s never hiked when it’s darker outside but Heather swore people did this all the time here. After a couple minutes she heard laughter, deep laughter from a group of guys. She started hearing voices a minute later “Dude, we almost got caught this time! No more night flights.”. Followed by a collective “agreed!”

She then came upon a group of well built men wearing shorts only, not even shoes., There was maybe 5 - 6 of them. They all look so similar even though ethnicity was all different. They were big strong men all around the same height and build. Even same head shape now that she was looking

“Oh, it’s the new girl! Hey! Im Chips, you’re Sofia right?” She was shocked that he not only recognized her but also knew her name.

“Yea, how did you know? I’ve never met you.” That made the group all react with such loud laughing that she looked around to see if it was disturbing anybody. She heard mumbling like “He thought he was smooth” and “ouch! That burns!”. Chips cheeks turned red.

“You’ve met so many people the last few days, sweetheart, I’m not hurt by that.” He recovered quickly she thought dryly.

“Not your sweetheart, you know my name. Use it. I hope you guys have a good hike. Bye.” Sofia started trying to storm off ignoring all the grumbling they were saying like “now you made her mad!” And “chips, dude, fix it!”. Ugh, men!

“Look, I’m sorry! It’s how I address everybody even my little niece. I come in peace!” Chips said that in what she assumed was an alien voice and could help but laugh.

“Are you coming in Saturday? There’s a party celebrating the group that just came in. I’m Casper by the way.” Casper?

“Sorry if this is rude but Chips and Casper? Are those real names?” She couldn’t keep in that question.

“They are call signs, like pilots have them but we also adopted them. You have to buy us a beer to hear the story just like the pilots.” Casper smiled so big that I immediately wanted to be a friend.

“There’s a party?” Sofia shouldn’t even think about it.