Or how I met my beautiful and amazing wife,
and our adventures that made her the darling of the world.
Many of the characters in this story are from the Commander Murphy series by the same author.
I saw her across a crowded room. She was absolutely gorgeous. She was dancing with a very big and handsome man. He was a huge man with wide shoulders, and he danced with the smooth movements of an athlete. She wore a sleeveless black dress, just above the knee length, with a v-neck, dark stockings and black high heels. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail that reached nearly to her waist. She looked small next to him. I noticed that she did not seem at all happy about what the man was saying and she was cringing from his grip, so I moved steadily towards them. I was within twenty feet of them when I saw him grasp her arm, she winced in pain and I moved closer. As I neared them I heard her hiss, "Let go of me you bastard, before I scream."
I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "May I cut in, sir." I looked at her and said, "I believe you promised me a dance!"
She smiled, "Yes, I believe I did. I would love to dance with you." I quickly swung her into the crowd and over to the other side of the room. I saw her twist to look for him.
"Husband or boyfriend?" I asked.
She smiled, "Neither, ex-friend, thank you for rescuing me. I was starting to get worried."
"I noticed he seemed to be getting a little rough. I hope I was right in cutting in."
"Look out, here he comes."
I looked where she was looking, I saw him pushing his way through the dancers. I turned to her. "Do you want to get out of here?"
"Hell yes, but watch him, he likes to hurt people. Let me grab my purse."
"Right, let's go this way." I took her hand and pushed her in front of me heading for the door.
I felt him grab my arm. I twisted away and spun around, then jumped in his path. He stopped and sneered, "Get out of my way pip squeak before you get hurt." I stepped close to him and his eyes flew wide open.
I said. "That sharp pain in your belly is a razor sharp knife, if you don't want to be picking up your intestines off of the floor, you had better back off." The fear was in his eyes. "You keep away from us, I will not play with you anymore, UNDERSTAND?" I quickly yanked my hand from his belly and shoved it under my jacket. I turned and took the girl's hand and led her out the door into the cool night air. I looked at her, "Do you have a car?"
"Yes, this way." She hurried down the sidewalk. I followed behind her, watching the door behind us. She opened the door to a large sedan and said, "Here, get in." The engine was running before I was around the car and in, she pulled off before the door was completely closed. When we had gone a couple of blocks I said, "You can drop me off somewhere I can catch a cab."
She looked over at me, "What! And let my hero go un-thanked, no way! I need a drink, how about you?"
"Yeah! I think I could force something down. I am not familiar with this area. Is there somewhere nearby I can buy you a drink?"
"Yes, there is a lovely little neighborhood bar just down the road."
I saw the small sign ahead, "Cloud #9". She pulled in a parking lot and drove to the back and around behind the building. She pulled into a reserved space and I got out and hurried to open her door for her. She handed me a little black jacket. I held it for her while she slipped into it. She smiled at me, "It wasn't this cool when I got out earlier, I think I need it now." She reached back and with both hands lifted the mass of golden hair from under the jacket and let it cascade down her back.
I offered my arm and she held it tightly and steered me towards a door. There was a dim light above the door. The door had a keypad beside it and she punched in some numbers and told me to try the doorknob. I twisted it and it swung open. She grinned up at me, "Come on in. Over this way."
She led me down a hall and into a dimly lit room. Soft music surrounded us. I saw a small dance floor with several couples swaying to the rhythm. She pulled me to a booth and we slipped in. I looked down at her and realized she really was a small girl. She looked at me, "What would you like?"
"Can I have you?"
She giggled, "It's too early to tell. It might be possible though! I meant, 'What would you like to drink?'."
I smiled and said, "Lemonade."
She lifted her hand and a waitress was there almost instantly. She looked at the waitress and said, "Two of my regulars please!"
The woman smiled, "Two?"
"That's right, two." She said as she looked at me with bright blue eyes set in a beautiful face. "How did you get us away from that monster?"
"Shoved the point of a mechanical pencil into his belly and told him it was a knife and that if he didn't leave us alone I would spill his guts on the floor. Does he know about this place?"
"You bluffed Bradley Barker? No, Brad doesn't know about this place".
"Yeah, if Brad was the guy back at the Turf Club."
"Yes! Do you know who he is?"
"No, but he doesn't know who I am either. I would like to know your name."
She glanced up at the waitress who placed tall drinks in front of us. When the girl was gone she said, "My name is Catherine, Catherine Marie Easton. Yours is?"
"Scott Patrick Murphy."
"Good, I like Irish guys, I think they all kissed the Blarney Stone."
I laughed, "I plead not guilty, Ma'am, I have too much southern redneck in my blood."
