Seduction, Lies, and Multiple Housewives

Chapter Fourteen: Fast Friends

Blake had taken Hannah to an Italian Bistro. It was one of his favorite places to eat in town. Hannah definitely appreciated the sentiment. The two seemed to really hit it off. It was almost as if they had known each other forever. Not so much romantically, but more like brother and sister.

Although Hannah never had either. She felt that if she did, Blake would have been her ideal sibling.She imagined that this is what their comrades would look like growing up together had he been her brother.

They talked for over an hour about all sorts of things. Hannah learned that he had just gotten out of college, not too long ago. His brother gave him a job at the garage until he could find a job in the IT world, which is what he had gone to school for.

He primarily wanted to focus on home and computer security & surveillance. However, with only a degree under his belt and no actual hands-on experience, he found the job market tough.

Hannah told him that she needed to get back to the grind as well. She explained her Private Investigative past to Blake, which he found fascinating.

"Maybe we should go into business together one day," he joked! "With your skills and my technology, we'd be a sure fire success!"

"Hmmmmmm." Hannah contemplated that idea.

It wasn't a bad one. She practically ran the last agency for the owner in Texas! Right now, Hannah had so much to consider with all the other things going on in her life. Starting a business just seemed to overwhelm her.

As the conversation flowed freely, like two long-lost friends, Hannah contemplated whether she would mention or ask about Cole to Blake. Should she tell him about the time that they spent together, she wondered? Should she ask him about his family? Maybe he would be able to provide some insight as to why Cole never reached back out to her.

"So how old are you, Hannah?" Blake asked? "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me asking."

"I'm 32 years old," she answered honestly.

"Wow, you look great. I never would have guessed you were 32. You look more like my age," he complimented her!

"My brother, Cole, is turning 32 this year," Blake mentioned.

"Yeah, about Cole... I've been meaning to talk to you about him," Hannah said shyly.

She certainly didn't want to deceive her new friend. They had such a great connection, and she could see them remaining friends for a very long time. Hannah decided that it was best to be open and honest with him.

"What about my brother? Again, I'm sorry that he was such an ass today! He just hasn't been himself lately. Typically, he is very courteous to the customers," Blake explained to Hannah.

"Well, Cole and I do know each other," Hannah vulnerably admitted. "He was actually the one that put on my spare tire when I first got into town. He was also kind enough to take me to a realtor the next day and help me find my rental that I'm currently living in right now."

"Yeah, that about sounds like my brother. He is normally the typical nice guy. He would do anything for anyone," Blake talked him up, completely unaware of the true relationship between them.

"I feel like I should also be honest with you and let you know that your brother and I did go on a date together. We also talked for quite a while. Unfortunately, after our date, I never heard from him again," Hannah said visually upset.

"Oh wow, I'm so sorry," Blake took her hand to comfort her.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. I'm just a little emotional about it because I was beginning to have feelings for him. I thought the two of us really had something special. Apparently, I was wrong," Hannah added with a long face.

"Well, I have no idea why my brother wouldn't have reached back out to you. You seem like a really great girl. He would have to be a fool to let you go," he complimented her!

"Thank you, I really appreciate your kindness," she admitted.

"If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time that you two were in touch," Blake asked curiously?

"Well... It would have to be a few weeks ago," Hannah admitted. "Why?"

Blake responded, "I've just been thinking that it was about a few weeks ago that my brother really changed his demeanor. He's been practically insufferable since then. I asked him a few times what his problem was, but he would never answer me. I didn't know of anything major that had happened in his life around that time. All I knew was that one day, he was extremely happy, almost on cloud nine. Then the next day, he had completely shut down," Blake explained to Hannah.

"Do you think that it could really be because of me," Hannah asked honestly? I didn't turn him down, though. He was the one that was supposed to call me back," she expressed to Blake! "Maybe it's something else! I don't know what I could have done to him to upset him this badly. I wanted to be with him!"

Blake reached over and grabbed her hand for support.

She put her head down in silence. "I still want to be with him," she whispered to herself.

Blake reached over and lifted Hannah's chin. "Like I said, he's an absolute fool for letting you go! Would you like me to talk to him," Blake asked?

"No, thank you anyway! Please don't mention this to him. I would be super embarrassed. Besides, if it was meant to be, then it will be," she responded almost heartbroken.

After they ate, Blake brought Hannah back to the garage to get her car. He opened the car door for her, gave her a big hug, and I told her to stay in touch.

Hannah definitely planned to do so. Before she drove off, she looked in the window of the Grease Monkey Garage where Cole was behind the counter.

"He looked so hot," she thought.

The two of them locked eyes for a quick moment, and then she looked back in her rear view mirror and backed out of the parking lot.

In the car, Hannah's blue tooth kicked on, and 5 text messages came up on the screen. Hannah hadn't checked her phone in hours, she realized. She had hoped that at least one message was from Cole, but no such luck. All 5 were from Victor.

"Where are you, Angel," Victor wrote several hours ago?

30 minutes later..."I'm worried about you!"

20 minutes later..."I know you're still in Tuscon. Why aren't you answering me?

1 hour later..."Talk to me, Angel. If I've done something to upset you, I'm sorry!"

15 minutes ago, "Hannah, please, this is killing me," Victor finally wrote!

"What a psychotic f*****g bastard," she thought.

However, she knew that she had to still play along for the next 3 weeks until she could move into her new condo. How the heck was she going to be able to play nice with him for that long and keep him at bay at the same time, she wondered?

Hannah finally decided to call him back on her way home.

"Hi there," she said to him. "Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I'm just heading back home now!"

Victor treaded lightly. He knew that Hannah was in Tucson the whole time, but he didn't know why. He also knew that the tracking device had come off of her car, but he had to figure out a way to mention it to her without tipping her off at he knew.

"That's okay, Angel! Did you have an eventful day," he asked?

"Yes, very. I was able to look for some jobs, although I didn't find anything that I loved," Hannah lied. "I was also able to do some shopping. I definitely needed some retail therapy! I also made arrangements to get set up with a local primary care physician at the hospital, which I desperately needed."

"That's great, and it sounded very eventful! Why, though, might I ask, didn't you look for work or a doctor in Green Valley? It is so much closer to home, and the crime is also a lot less. I just want my Angel to be safe," Victor expressed.

"You can't take the city fully out of a city girl," she tried to play it up!

Victor knew at that point that he had to drop it for now. He didn't want to upset her.

"You were gone such an awful long time, Angel, you worried me," he laid it on extra thick!

"Well, I actually had a small dilemma with my car. I hit a pothole and ruined something underneath. I had to have my car taken into a garage and fixed, but without a prior appointment, it took several hours," she explained, trying to make excuses that he would buy.

"Oh Hannah, I wish you would have called me. I would have come right out to be with you," Victor stated.

"I didn't want to trouble you. Plus, it's fine now," she tried to play off his advance!

"Where did you get your car fixed," he asked cooley?

Oh s**t, he probably had tracked her to the garage, she thought.

"Grease Monkey, it was the closest, and I was familiar to that area," she told Victor.

"I see! Did you happen to see your owner friend, Cole," he asked sharply this time?

Hannah tried to play it off.

"No...well, I saw he was there, but we didn't speak," she proclaimed.

"Good girl, Angel! I don't want that grease monkey pawing all over you like he did in the past," Victor warned.

"No worries of that," she said sadly.

........

Back at the garage, Blake returned just to find Cole waiting to talk to him.

"Where'd you go," Cole asked demandingly?

"I brought that customer to a restaurant. She wasn't feeling well and kept getting lightheaded because she hadn't eaten today," he explained. "I'm sorry about leaving you hanging, but I didn't want her to drive in her condition!"

"I see," Cole said a little easier. "Do you know her," Cole baited his brother?

Blake had promised Hannah that he wouldn't discuss the fact that he knew about the two of them. So he just played it off.

"I just met her today. She seemed nice enough, though," Cole added.

"Did you two hit it off? Do you think you'll see her again," Cole asked more inquisitively?

"Who knows. She's someone that I could see becoming a good friend," Blake admitted.

"Just a friend?...because it looked to me like you had a thing for her!... She's too old for you, you know that right," Cole went on the defense!

"Yes, brother, just a friend," he got a little defensive back. Then he decided to give him a little bit of a taste of his own medicine. "But if I decide that I want to be more than friends with this girl, it would be none of your business!...Plus, you know I do always go for older, more mature woman," he added.

"Also, for the record, I gave her an appointment to get a new tire put on in a couple of weeks, so I'll definitely see her then, just in case you want to probe me with more questions at that time!" Blake said coldly and walked away.