Sorry for the long wait, I'm a cow. If all goes well, updates should be coming every other week. Feel free to yell at me otherwise.
Cuffed 02
"Kicking it isn't going to fix our problem, Adam," Ophelia gently reminds her boyfriend as he finishes up his temper tantrum. The old Ford Taurus had puttered out on them on their way to Tempi's, a nicer restaurant in town. Adam had not been in the state of Missouri for more than 5 hours and he had already threatened to sue the airport as well as the car rental company. Sure, Ophelia would admit that both places tended to be more on the ignorant side of the quality of business spectrum, but she wouldn't have gone as far as suing them. He hadn't even lost one of his luggage bags.
"When a rental company signs over a vehicle to a customer, they are stating that it would be able to drive
at least
10 miles into town." Adam pulls at his hair in frustration as Ophelia rubs her forehead in annoyance. "This is in violation of their contract! I won't let them get away with this!" He kicks the car again, cursing when he scuffs his leather dress shoes on the tire. "They will not get away with this!"
With a sigh, Ophelia pulls her cell phone from her clutch, her heels crunching in the gravel of the road as she puts distance between her and her apparently ten year-old boyfriend. Her dress twirls around her legs as a warm breeze cools her hot skin. Thankfully the sun was slowly descending behind rows of corn, meaning that the stagnate summer air would be getting cooler.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" A pleasant older voice asks her after she entered the number of Sandy Hollow's only auto repair place.
"Hey, Robbie. It's Ophelia Sarker," she begins brightly, remembering the middle aged man that had let her host car washes at his garage for several years while she was in high school for charity. "I seem to be having some rental car trouble, sounds like the transmission. I was wondering if you could have someone out to look at it and possibly tow it back to the rental place?"
"Ophelia, what a pleasant surprise to hear you're back in town! Most of my boys have clocked out, but I'll have someone down in a jiffy." Ophelia's smile is genuine at the jovial tone of the older man as she thanks him greatly. Hanging up the phone, her smile slides from her face as she notices Adam had moved from shaming the car to shouting at some poor person on his phone about something she honestly had no interest in.
Rolling her eyes, she leaves behind her fuming boyfriend to walk through the field of wildflowers beside them while waiting for a mechanic to save her from the less then mediocre experience.
<_>
Julian was surprised when he had gotten a call from his old boss and long time friend, Robbie. The friendly old mechanic gave him a vague description of the car and were it was located, and seemed to leave out a big chunk of information, telling the deputy that he would manage the whole ordeal just fine.
Whatever that meant.
He could hear the angry squabble of the man standing by the old broken down Ford about a mile down the road. By the time Julian had his patrol car parked behind the rental, the beginnings of a headache were threatening to blossom due to the loud sneers the scrunched up faced man was verbally vomiting into his phone.
"Excuse me, sir, Robbie had called me to give you a ride into town. He said that possibly your tranny went, which I won't be able to get up and running tonight." Julian did his best to try to sound polite even as the man seemed to completely ignore him, not even pausing his verbal assault to the person over the phone to spare Julian a glance. Folding his arms over his chest, Julian did his best to hold his temper in check. "Sir, I-" he tried again, only to have the snapping of a cell phone closing breaking through his words.
"I heard you the first time," the man says quickly as he shoves his device into the pocket of his slacks. Julian raises his brow at him. "It took you guys long enough. Now my fiancée has wondered off to only god knows where," he complains, grabbing his possessions out of the broken down Ford. For a guy that was a good four inches or so shorter and about half as wide as Julian, he sure was giving him quite the attitude.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but we're not used to folks being helpless when a car breaks down around here. Usually, our town's people are pretty handy with their vehicles." Julian flashes the man a dangerous smile. The man pauses from gathering his things as he processes the deputy's words, hearing the challenge within them. "I'm Deputy Moreno, by the way. We'd probably meet eventually anyway. Sandy Hollow isn't too big, and word tends to travel fast. Though, I don't remember hearing anyone mention anyone new moving in." Julian uses the man's silence to interrogate him, his police background itching to figure out just who this guy is, not that he was going to last long around here.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't even think of staying here for very long," the man responds stiffly, straightening himself in an attempt to make himself look bigger. Julian only smirks at his attempt. "I only came here to collect something." His nose turns up as he brushes past Julian, heading over to the cop car with his things. Opening the door to the passenger's side, the man's eyes look out over the hay fields surrounding them. "Speaking of that something..."
Julian follows his gaze to where the sun was setting, a form shining through the radiant beams of light like an act of God. He knew who it was even before he could see her face. Suddenly, Robbie's suspicious behavior makes sense. The old man knew of his unhealthy obsession with the passionate woman, and seemed to always try and push Julian in her direction when given the chance. The mechanic had no idea what little good that did for both of them.
"Ophelia. Ophelia! Hurry up, we're going to miss our reservations. You know how I don't like to be late." Julian couldn't even pull his gaze away from the mesmerizing woman approaching them to shoot a disappointed frown towards the annoying man. She was too beautiful, with her dark chocolate locks pinned on top of her head like a bouquet of flowers, and her dress swirling around her shapely curves teasingly. His heart thuds loudly in his chest, pumping enough blood through his veins to make him feel like his entire body is flushed.
"Deputy Moreno, to the rescue again?" Ophelia's smile is coy as she comes to a stop in front of the two men. Those golden orbs look up at him through her lashes.
Julian opens his mouth to reply, but is cut off by a voice he had forgotten was there.
"Oh, good. You two know each other. Ophelia, do you mind-" the annoying man says in a rush, nodding his head towards Julian as he begins to walk away, his cell phone once again pressed against his ear. "I've got to finish this call. Wait in the car for me." Ophelia frowns as he walks out of hearing range.
"So, are you trying to make it a habit of needing rescuing, Ms. Sarker?" Julian drawls, stuffing his hands into his pockets before they reach out and do something stupid, like touch her. The light breeze teases him, bringing the scent of coconut and vanilla swirling around him tantalizingly. His eyes and body follow her like a magnet as she obediently goes to the patrol car, a slight smile on her face as Julian holds the door open for her.
"It sure seems like it, doesn't it?" Her eyes meet his intense gaze as she seats herself in the backseat. It is only seconds before the power of his stare has her looking down with a light blush, her teeth tugging at her bottom lip in an attempt to hide her growing grin. Julian closes the car door before he can allow himself to get lost within her expression.
"So your fiancé is kind of..." Julian pauses to think of the right word as he takes his seat behind the wheel. "A douchebag," he finishes simply, meeting her shocked gaze in the rearview mirror, challenging her to disagree with him.
