“Those jerks!” I kept muttering to myself as I walked through the nippy air. Up until about 15 minutes ago I’d been having a wonderful time at the bars with my friends. I couldn’t but help sneer at the mention of the word “friends”. The air was cold and I hugged my arms tight over my chest as I walked along the path that followed the river, it would lead me pretty close to home and a hot shower on a late October night. My friends, once again the sneer, had left me at the bar as they wondered off to another, being too drunk to realize that perhaps the number in their party had in fact been shortened by one; myself.
I puffed out a sigh and watched the cold plume of air hang for a moment in the air before disappearing. My boots clicked on the walk way as I walked at a rather fast pace, trying to stay warm. Riding in a car was a lot warmer than walking in the middle of the night and I regretted not having a coat with me, being dressed in a black bell sleeved shirt and a knee length skirt of black with maroon lace overlay. I wore fishnet stockings with a garter belt just for fun tonight with the new knee high black boots that were currently clicking along the path.
My mind was still whirling with so many thoughts of what I’d do to get back at my friends that I didn’t notice the noise behind me at first. In fact I might have even shrugged it off due to the fact I was enjoying my evil thoughts. I stopped suddenly and scowled, blew out another sigh of frustration and then sadness wash over me. What if they hadn’t accidentally left me? What if they did it on purpose? The thoughts hit me like a ton of bricks and I sat down on the bench on the side of the trail. Again the sigh puffed out into the night.
“You really should have a coat on…you might catch your death in chill," the words came out of nowhere and startled me something fierce and causing me to jump something like three feet up. I looked up at the source of the words and saw nothing but a shadow with a glowing ember, the smell of clove teasing my nose.
Stupid stupid stupid, I thought to myself as I now found myself seated on a bench in the middle of the night, in the middle of no where with a smoking stranger about 4 feet away from me.
“I apologize, I did not realize that you were mute as well,” I could hear amusement in his voice as I saw the glow from the cigarette brighten as he took a drag, and slowly exhaled before stepping out of the shadows provided by the trees.
I caught my breath as I recognized the same guy from the bars earlier. He’d always been in the corner of my eye, seemingly always watching but never approaching, much to my secret disappointment. The sound of a throat clearing brought me back to my present predicament and I looked up into two piercing green eyes.
“I’m fine, really. It’s not that cold,” I finally said, suppressing a shiver at either the cold or my nervousness. His grin told me that he knew otherwise.
“Is this the part where I hand over my purse now?” I asked quietly, still captured by the gaze of the green eyes. The man had shoulder length black hair that was combed back neatly from his pale face. My eyes roamed over his body taking in the black boots and jeans and working up to the tucked-in navy blue t-shirt with a black over shirt, all under a semi long black leather coat. He watched me look him over while taking another drag from the cigarette, an amused look upon his face.
“Well I normally don’t make a habit of robbing lovely young women in the middle of the night, but if you really would like me to I could manage something I’m sure,” he replied with a smirk.
“Oh,” came my reply, feeling somewhat relieved but foolish at the same time, “Why are you here?”
“I happen to like walking the trail during the night, no joggers, no roller-bladers, just serenity and the stars,” he said drawing closer and dropping the cigarette butt to snuff out under his boot. I watched his fluid movements before it dawned on me that he was holding his arm out like a proper gentleman. I looked up into his face and saw a kind smile and decided against my better judgment.
I stood up and placed my hand tentatively on his leather-clad arm. His cool hand slid over mine and I couldn’t hide the shiver that slipped over my body, somehow I was certain that it wasn’t due to the cold. My escort mistook the cause of the shiver and paused to shed his jacket and held it behind me, waiting till I slid my arms into the coat. He then again took my arm gently and we continued to walk along the path. My thoughts wondered about the strange man and how I actually liked wearing his coat, it smelled like rich leather, cloves and aftershave.
“…your friends,” his words broke into my thoughts.
“Hmmm?” I asked looking up to him.
“I said they’re not very bright, your friends,” He replied as we continued to walk along.
“You saw us tonight?” It was more of a statement than a question. He nodded his reply with a slight glance down at me.
