Watching You Sleep

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2Abby reclined in a bright red sumo bean bag with a plate of pizza in her lap and her k****e propped against her leg. She was reading The Gingerbread House, the second in Williams' sci-fi detective series with Brock Marsden. She loved sci-fi in books, comics, and movies. Hardly surprising that she ended up spending Saturday night in her comic book store watching a handsome stranger sleeping on her floor.

She had gone upstairs to the loft to fix the u-bake pizza, but she had come back down twice while it baked to check on Jasper Lee. He hadn't moved. It looked like he was all set to sleep through the night right there on her floor. The second time down she realized that she would never be able to sit upstairs and enjoy her pizza because she would be wondering about him the whole time. So she dragged the sumo bag down the aisle and got set up to watch her uninvited guest.

When the pizza was ready, she piled four slices on her plate, grabbed her stainless steel water bottle, and k****e, then went back downstairs. So far she'd managed three slices without him waking up.

Without warning, Jasper moved. He made a noise and lifted his arm. Abby flipped the cover of her k****e closed and watched him warily. He groaned and looked at the afghan she'd covered him with a wrinkled brow. She slowly reached down to her cell phone, which she had sitting beside her on the bean bag. If he gave her any problems, she was calling the police and letting them deal with him. She suddenly felt very stupid that she hadn't already called them, no matter what his bracelet said about being narcoleptic. That didn't mean he couldn't be drunk or drugged, or violent, or all three.

Jasper rolled up onto one elbow and flipped the afghan back. He glanced down at the pillow and then looked at her. Their eyes met, and he gave her a fantastic smile. "Hey there."

"Hey," she answered carefully.

He sat up and gestured to the pillow and afghan. "You did this?"

"Yes." He seemed calm and friendly. Abby sat aside her k****e. She held up the plate with the remaining slice. "Hungry?"

Jasper shook his head. "No thanks."

Grinning he got up. "I'm really sorry about falling asleep in your aisle like this."

Abby put down the plate and then was faced with the awkward necessity of getting up from the bean bag. She planted her feet and started to push herself up when Jasper walked over and held out his hand. She looked at his hand for a second and then reached up and took it. His grip was firm, warm. Nice hands. Jasper pulled her smoothly up onto her feet. He was a lot taller than her. Not that it was much of a surprise, at five one most people were taller than her including a lot of kids, but he had to be over six foot. He let go of her hand and stepped back.

"You've got a great store here," he said. He gestured back at the afghan and the pillow. "Talk about taking customer service the extra mile. No one's ever done that. I've woken up in ambulances, I've had water thrown in my face, and I've been dumped outside with the dumpsters."

Jasper reached back to his pocket. "You even left my wallet. Excellent."

Abby couldn't help smile. He had an infectious grin. "So you just do this? Fall asleep wherever you are?"

"Pretty much. Oh, and I should warn you, don't make me laugh."

"Really? Don't make you laugh? Why?"

Jasper shook his head. "You make me laugh, and I might collapse."

"Seriously?"

His face went perfectly blank, and he looked directly into her eyes. He had amazing eyes. They were brown but had flecks of gold and green.

"Do I look serious?" He intoned.

Abby covered her smile. "Yes." She coughed and tried for a straight face. "Absolutely serious."

"I am. You think I'm kidding, I can tell. But I've got narcolepsy and cataplexy. Things like laughter can trigger a cataplectic attack. I'm paralyzed when it happens but still aware."

He really was serious. The laughter that had been building in Abby’s chest withered away. "That's horrible."

Jasper looked at his watch. "Shit." He looked up at her. "Sorry about that."

She waved a hand. "Hell, I hear worse than that all the f*****g time."

He grinned and pointed at her. "I told you not to make me laugh. You've got a sadistic streak in you."

"A little bit. What's wrong? Late getting somewhere?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. Not important."

"Okay."

Jasper glanced at his watch again and then rubbed his jaw.

"What is it?"

He shook his head. "It isn't your problem. I've already kept you way past the store closing. You probably want to get home or something."

"I am home."

"You live here? In the store?"

Abby pointed up. "I've got a huge loft upstairs. Shortest commute ever."

"So you never leave work?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Pretty much always here anyway. I don't sleep much —"

"Unlike me."

"— So it works out well. I can come down here in the middle of the night if I want to work on something. Plus I don't have to keep up two buildings."

He shook his head. "I have nightmares about living at work."

"And where do you work?"

"I'm a writer, I tend to work at home."

Abby laughed. Jasper laughed too and then said, "Oops."

He wobbled and dropped. His legs just gave out beneath him. Abby caught his arm and helped control his fall to the floor. He gripped her arm and gave her a weak smile. "I told you not to make me laugh."

"Sorry."

Jasper put his arms down and braced himself up in a sitting position. "It's only a partial attack. I can't move my legs."

Abby crouched in front of him and put a hand on his arm. "Do you need anything? How long does this last?"

"It varies. Might only be a few seconds this time. I think I just wiggled my toe."

It was his expression that did it. Abby looked away and took a deep breath to stop herself from laughing again. When she felt like she had more control, she turned back to him. "You're terrible."

"Sorry. I'm usually better than this."

She saw him glance at his watch again.

"What's up with the time?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. I just missed the last bus."

"Bus?"

"Yeah, you know, public transportation? The way some people get around the city."

"Right, that. I've heard about it. So you took the bus here?"

"It isn't safe for me to drive. I could fall asleep at the wheel or have a cataplectic attack. Or both. At least on the bus, the worst that happens is that I miss a stop."

"We could call a cab," Abby suggested.

Jasper grimaced. "Yeah, I couldn't afford to buy a comic book right now. I'll just walk. Once my legs are working again."

"You'll walk? At night, in the dark? How far is it?"

"Not far. I've walked here before."

"Here? I don't recognize you."

Jasper put a hand on his chest. "Oh, that hurts. You could have said you'd have noticed me before."

"I do get a lot of people in the store, but I would have noticed if you were sleeping in the aisles."

"That's the first time I've done that. It happens more when I'm stressed, and right now I've got this deadline on a book, and I don't get paid again until I deliver the manuscript. That's why I can't afford a comic book right now."

"You're working on a book?"

"A novel, not a comic book. It's the second book on my contract."

"Sounds like you'd better get busy and work on it."

He smiled. "I guess I just needed to find my muse." Jasper’s leg moved. "Hey, look at that? Maybe I should get out of your hair now and start home."

Abby stood up and stepped back as he got up. He picked himself up off the floor slowly, as if he didn't trust his legs, but they held. He held out his hand. "I'm Jasper Lee, by the way. Just in case you ever decide to check out my book from the library or something. I don't think you can find it anywhere else right now. I'm lucky they're going ahead with my next book at this point."

"Abby Kirkland. I saw your name on your bracelet, that's what convinced me to let you sleep."

Jasper glanced at the band. "Uh, first time anyone has paid attention to that. I guess it was worthwhile. Well, Abby, thanks again. I'll get out of your way now."

He let go and stepped past her only to be blocked by the sumo bag. He pointed at it. "I should get me one of those. I could carry it around on my back like a turtle, and then if I needed to sleep, I'd just roll over."

Abby tried hard not to laugh and actually managed it. "You're just trying to have another attack, so you don't have to leave."

"True." Jasper lifted a hand. "I'll see you, Abby."

He detoured around to the next aisle and then headed toward the front doors. Abby watched him go and crossed her arms. She glanced over at the windows. By the orange light from the parking lot lights, she could see the fine rain falling. It was a miserably wet, dark night to be walking, no matter how far it was.

"Jasper?"

He stopped right before the doors and looked back.

"Wait," she called. "I'll give you a ride."

Jasper shook his head. "You've already done too much. Thanks anyway. I'll be fine."

"You're not even wearing a jacket!"

He shrugged. "I like the rain."

Jasper pushed open the door and walked out into the night with the electronic doorbell laughing maniacally behind him as the door swung shut and locked automatically.

Damn it. Abby ran around the aisle and ran up to the front of the store. She saw Jasper, hands in his pockets and head down, walking North across the front lot. The guy had his problems, no doubt about that, but she couldn't just sit by and let him walk home in these conditions. She ran back to the office and grabbed her purse and keys off the desk. She went back through to the storeroom and out the back door.

She had an old green and white VW van, carefully restored, parked out back. She got in quickly. It was cold, but the van started on her first try. She turned on the defroster, wipers and backed out of her space. She drove quickly around the store, but Jasper wasn't in the parking lot anymore. She saw him down the street walking beneath a street light. Abby turned on her turn signal and pulled out onto the highway.