Strange Days Ch 61 65

Sorry about the delay in getting this submitted, but that's my life. Not that I'm complaining. Just have a lot going on right now. Thank you so much for fulfilling my request. I got a lot of really great feedback about the story, what you like and don't like, what interests you the most, etc. I got some first-time feedback from readers too, and it was really uplifting to read.

Hope you enjoy this latest segment.

-redskyes

Chapter 61

Around noon the next day, I buzzed my visitor into the lobby, and when the elevator door opened, I knew instantly that I was going to really enjoy this shoot. Lucas was even more beautiful in person. His smile was wide and bright, lips full and soft. His features were chiseled, eyes bright, and his eyebrows and long silken hair were raven-black, almost blue when the light hit it just right. He was wearing a high-end navy blue silk tee shirt, untucked over dark jeans, and black boots. The shirt hugged his lean upper body nicely, leaving little to the imagination. His skin tone was a little lighter than in his photos, but he wasn't unhealthily pale.

"Hi, Lucas," I smiled and shook his hand, bringing him into my apartment. "It's nice to meet you."

"Wow, he wasn't kidding," he smiled, looking me over in my shorts and tank top. "You're cute as a button."

I laughed and blushed. "Um, thanks."

"So, where do you want me?" he asked, looking around, adjusting his grip on the small duffel bag he had with him.

"The stage is back there," I waved over my shoulder, then gestured towards the bathroom. "Do you need to change first?"

"Not sure," he said, looking down at himself, then up at me. "Do you think this is okay to start with?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Very trendy."

"Okay," he smiled and headed off for the stage in the corner of the apartment.

Following him, I couldn't help but notice his incredibly tight little butt and his cute swagger. I figured he was about the same age as me, maybe a year or two older. He really was gorgeous, if a bit too feminine for my tastes. There was a particular balance of beauty and masculinity that I liked in my men, the kind of balance Trevor had. Still, this was going to be a fun shoot.

Test shots came first, so that I could play with the lighting. Lucas looked best in natural light, so I opened the blinds to let the sun into the apartment.

"I really appreciate this, by the way," he told me just as we started in on the real shots.

I smiled behind the camera. "No problem."

"I paid a fortune - well, for me anyway - to a studio for decent shots, but they were just so...blah, you know? The modeling agencies today are brutal. If your portfolio doesn't wow them on the spot, they won't give you the time of day."

"Trust me," I told him with a frown. "Isn't any easier for us photographers."

Lucas grinned. "Yeah, I heard you got on with Dangerous Angels."

I nodded, more focused on getting the right shots than on the conversation.

"I even heard some of your models have gotten work with Armia," he said.

"That they have," I muttered, really happy with the shot I'd just gotten. "Oh, that one's gonna be great."

He flashed a big happy smile. "Yeah?"

Turns out that I was right. Shooting Lucas was a breeze. Only twenty minutes into the shoot, I noticed that the best shots were when he wasn't trying to hard. In fact, my favorite series were the shots of him walking around my apartment, checking it out. He'd asked about various nicknacks, pictures we had scattered around of Sarah, Violet, Trevor and the rest of our friends. We talked most of the shoot and I just kept filling up SD cards.

Two hours later, we took a short break for a snack and reviewed the pictures we'd taken so far. We were at the dinner table with my laptop, sitting side by side. Lucas was still wearing the last set of clothes he'd changed into, a pair of jeans that he probably paid way too much money for so that they would look old and worn but were brand new, trendy leather flip flops, and no shirt at all. He was leaning so close that his shoulder was in front of mine, close enough that I noticed he smelled really good, like spiced vanilla, but I wasn't uncomfortable at all. He hadn't made a single move on me since he'd arrived, which was nice.

"God, Amy, these are amazing," he said with awe, then he looked at me. "You make me look

good

."

"You make it easy," I laughed and patted his back. I couldn't help but notice how soft his skin was, how warm, or how hard the muscles of his back were.

Lucas just looked at me for a moment, his smile fading to something else as he blushed, and I drew my hand away. I had the horrible feeling that he was about to come on to me, but thankfully, he didn't.

"So, listen, I know you need to make a living doing this, and I'd like to return the favor," he said, referring to the fact that I wasn't charging him for the shoot.

"Okay. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, there's this guy I met when I first talked to the agency," he held his hand up high. "Tall, blonde, gets any girl he wants, I'm sure." Lucas waggled his hand. "Kind of a surfer look, if you ask me, but he's nice, and more importantly, he can pay."

"Paying is good," I chuckled.

"Yeah, I figured you'd like that," he smiled at me, glancing at my mouth for a moment.

Okay, maybe he

was

about to come on to me.

Looking quickly away and back to the laptop, I asked, "Does he need his portfolio refreshed too?"

Lucas cleared his throat beside me. "Yeah. Same as me."

"No problem," I told him, flicking through the pictures we had so far. "Leave his number with me before you go and I'll give him a call."

Lucas's demeanor changed after that, back to all-business, confirming my suspicion that he really had been coming on to me, although not aggressively. The plus side was that the rest of the shoot went really smoothly, he was so much more relaxed. After the shoot, we reviewed the rest of the photos and he gave me a thumb drive to copy them to.

"Sorry about earlier," he said meekly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, watching the progress bar grow.

"About coming on to you."

I chuckled. "Don't worry about it."

"It's just..." he paused, so I looked at him. He was blushing again and he smiled sweetly. "Well, I'd heard you didn't have a boyfriend, and you really are quite pretty."

"Heard from who?" I asked with a half-grin.

"Phillip."

"You don't know Phillip very well do you?"

"Only in passing," he said. "Why?"

"Because I have a

girl

friend," I told him. No, I have no idea why I didn't include Trevor. Technically, he

was

my boyfriend, but the first thought that always comes to mind when I consider my relationships is Sarah.

"Oh!" Lucas's eyebrows shot up, then he gave a nervous laugh and blushed again. "Now I feel like an idiot."

"Don't worry," I patted his leg. "I play for both teams, so your efforts weren't entirely wasted."

"Ohhh," he said quietly, at length, then he grinned and bumped my shoulder with his. "So, does that mean you'd be interested in..."

"No," I laughed, making him laugh too.

Lucas held up his hands. "Just had to check."

He ended up with some really great additions for his portfolio, but we both agreed he needed a little more variety, like maybe some outdoor shots. I had the idea to follow him around the grocery store the next time he needed to go shopping, and he was crazy about the idea, so we set a date for two weeks from today. He also wrote down the contact info for his friend, Sydni, which I thought was an interesting name.

I had to get to work myself, so I told Lucas to give me a couple minutes to change clothes and get my stuff, then I saw him out. We passed through the courtyard, the planting beds still in dire need of attention, but at least the fountain was working now. On the other side of the gate, I saw a man leaning against the fence, smoking a cigarette. He was really tall and dressed all in black, a dress shirt and slacks and shiny shoes - no make that boots - with silver tips. His black leather belt had a strange silver buckle too, a Celtic knot design, I think. His black hair was really long, pulled back in a loose pony tail, almost down to his butt. I couldn't see his face though.

"Thanks again, Amy," Lucas said as we stepped out onto the sidewalk and the gate closed behind us.

"Thanks to you too," I shook his hand, but he frowned, not understanding. "Hey, this helps my portfolio just as much as yours."

He grinned. "Does it help enough to still be free next time?"

"Probably," I shrugged indifferently, teasing him.

Lucas laughed and went on his way.

"Photographer?" the man asked behind me.

I turned around and saw him looking at the camera bag slung over my shoulder. Up closer, he was much taller than me, my eyes level with his chest. I also got to see his face, strong lines, very masculine, but his eyes were absolutely stunning. They were simply too green, too vibrant to be real. Contacts, maybe?

"Oh. Yeah," I said, then asked, "Do I know you?"

"No," he said simply, shaking his head and blowing out thick smoke, which the wind carried away from me, thankfully.

He just stood there looking at me, like he was sizing me up, and I got uncomfortable. Then it happened again. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, but this time a shiver rolled through me.

"Feel like you're being watched?" he grinned, but it was like a predator with prey.

Any other time it would have made me nervous, but after dealing with Todd Redding and his friends, I was surprisingly calm, sizing this man up just as he was me.

"Yeah," I mumbled, looking around when I realized my unease had nothing to do with this stranger.

"You can't see them," he said, and it was a statement of fact, not a question.

I looked sharply at him. "What do you mean?"

He didn't answer my question. Dropping his cigarette, he crushed it with the toe of his boot. "You're attracting a lot of attention."

I opened my mouth but he talked over me.

He shrugged. "Not your fault, really, but I thought you should know."

"Who are you?" I asked, frustrated he was being so vague.

He smiled, and I swear his canines were a little longer and a little sharper than most. "I'm the guy that makes sure everyone plays by the rules."

It wasn't a nice smile, just like his earlier grin wasn't friendly, but still, for some reason, I wasn't afraid of him.

Adjusting the strap of my camera bag over my shoulder, I glared at him. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you a PI or something? Is someone stalking me?"

"Stalking," he tested the word, looking at my mouth for a moment, then he nodded and leaned against the fence again. "Yeah, that's a pretty good word for it."

I looked around again, suddenly afraid that Todd and his friends wanted to get back at me. But weren't they under house arrest? I thought I remembered Detective Willis telling me that once. What if I'd heard wrong? What if they were free to do what they wanted until the trial? What if they wanted to shut me up before I could testify? Oh God, what about Paula?

"She has nothing to do with this," the man said.

My breath caught in my throat and I looked at him. I hadn't said Paula's name out loud, had I? I was just thinking about her. That's all. Just thinking. So how did he...?

The man pushed away from the fence and put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Amy, you have a gift," he began. I couldn't breathe. Did he know? Or was he talking about something else? "The kind of gift that attracts attention," he continued, taking a step closer.

Strangely, I still wasn't afraid of him, but I thought I should be.

He smiled again, "I'm no threat to you. I enforce the rules, which means I have to play by them too. You've been Touched, so you know it to be a fact, and you don't need me to tell you either."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I shook my head, curious about the emphasis he'd put on 'touched', like it meant something more than usual. But he was right. I just knew that he wouldn't hurt me, that it simply wasn't possible, unless I tried to hurt him.

His too green eyes flicked down, low on my body, then back up, and I simply knew. He knew. He knew about my gift from Freyja. I don't know how. Hell, I don't know how I knew. But I knew he knew.

Damn, that was a messy line of thought.

"You do know what I'm talking about," he grinned again. "Don't you?"

"What the hell do you want?" I backed up a step.

He just took a step closer, then another, and when he spoke again, his voice was low, secretive. "I want you to pay attention to what's going on around you. I want you to remember that you have free will. I want you to understand that the kinds of beings that bestow gifts such as yours can be fickle and cruel, and they can be just as moronic as anyone else, too caught up in their own wants and desires to really see what stands before them," He paused for a moment, looking low at my body again, then fixing me with his too green gaze and flashing an amused grin. "More importantly, I want you to remember the birds and the bees."

I opened my mouth to ask him to explain himself, who he was, exactly what and who he was talking about, what he wanted from me, how he knew about my secret. But then he looked at something behind me. I spun around to look too, but saw nothing, and when I turned back, he was gone.

There it was again, the feeling that someone was watching me.

I spun around in circles, seeing people going about their way on the sidewalks, in their cars. A homeless woman was pushing a shopping cart around a corner. A bike messenger was speeding down the street. Three young guys, around my age, were laughing as they passed by in a convertible. A middle-aged woman in a pant suit and high heels came out of a store across the street. And there were others, but none of them were looking at me. There I was, standing on the sidewalk, surrounded by a city alive with its children, and I had never felt so exposed.

I was starting to freak out, so I went around the building to my car, hopped inside, and took off. The feeling went away for a minute or two, but then it came back. I checked my mirrors to see if I was being followed, but still, there was nothing.

The man had said I couldn't see them.

Now I was

really

freaking out.

I checked my watch. I had just enough time for a quick stop before going to work. I only hoped she was there.

Chapter 62

The little bell banged against the top of the door and rang like crazy, then again when the door shut behind me. I didn't see Helena, but a man was standing at the counter. He looked to be in his late twenties, and he was absolutely gorgeous. At first glance, he reminded me of Trevor, so as I pretended to browse around the store while waiting for Helena, I studied him.

He had one booted foot up on a thick bar near the base of the counter, kind of like what you see

in

a bar. His golden hair was thick and just a touch curly, but mostly wavy, like Trevor's when he lets it grow out. His eyes were blue, but so pale they were almost gray, like storm clouds when they first roll in. His features were sharply defined, like the stranger I'd encountered on the street, and his jaw was strong, masculine. Unlike the stranger, he was wearing thick-soled black biker books, faded and torn blue jeans, and a tight fitting gray tee shirt.

As I maneuvered through the store around racks and shelves, I saw the light hitting him from various angles. Beneath his clothes, I could see he was fit, leanly muscled, and though he was standing very still, he seemed full of energy, as though he could pounce like a cat. His lips were very full and very kissable. It was that last detail that made him go from gorgeous to incredibly cute, but in a good way. Then his lips stretched into a smile.

"You're first in line."

His voice was like warm honey, and I swear I felt his words pouring over me, caressing my skin. I shivered.

"I'm sorry," I said, tongue feeling thick in my mouth. I swallowed to clear up my voice. "Were you talking to me?"

He turned his head to look at me, and I froze. His gray eyes seemed to look right through me. No, into me. I squirmed under his intense gaze for a moment, then found some courage buried inside me and made my way over to the counter.

"I'm just a friend of Helena's," he said, turning to lean against the counter, facing me, then he extended his hand. "Erin."

Glancing at his hand, I took it, watched as his long fingers closed around my much smaller hand. His skin was so soft, and so incredibly warm, like my favorite blanket on a cold winter night.

"A-Amy," I stammered.

He smiled and released my hand. "Nice to meet you, Amy. Helena speaks highly of you."

I blinked at him. "She does?"

"Sure," Erin nodded, the corner of his mouth turning up in a charming grin. "She makes a point to remember all of her customers. Says you're her favorite in this store."

"I'm sure she has a favorite in Texas too," I muttered.

"What was that?" he asked, leaning a little closer.

"Nothing," I shook my head, looking away, pretending to be interested in something behind the counter, down the way from us.

We waited for a few minutes, but Helena still hadn't come out to greet us.

"You're a photographer?" Erin asked.

I glanced at him and frowned, and when he grinned and flicked his gray gaze at my camera bag, I blushed.

I nodded and asked, "You?"

"Archery," he smiled, keeping his arm straight over the counter and drawing back his other hand, flicking two fingers, like he was shooting a bow. "Professional competitor."

"That pay well?"

He snorted, and he sounded kind of bitter when he replied. "I wish."

Erin glanced over my shoulder, then I heard the curtain of beads at the back of the store rattle lightly.

"Amy?" Helena called out happily.

I turned to see her walking toward me, still as beautiful as I remembered. Her light brown hair wasn't braided today. Instead, she wore a band of silver around her head to keep her hair out of her eyes, but her hands and arms were still draped with silver rings and bands. Her skin still had that healthy golden glow too, contrasting with her white toga.

Closing the distance, her blue eyes shining with kindness, Helena drew me into her arms for a hug. I'm not sure why I didn't notice before, but while Helena was stunningly beautiful, the curves beneath the thin fabric she wore incredibly tempting, there was a motherly feel to her, and not just in the way she held me in her arms. I could feel the strength of her, but she was soft too, even around the middle. She personified what it meant to be a woman, I realized.

Taking my shoulders in her hands, she leaned away to look at me. "How have you been, honey?"

"Good," I nodded, glanced beside me, since I couldn't look at Erin without turning my head, then asked her, "Could we talk for a minute?"

Helena studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Of course."

Erin sighed behind me. "I'll just be outside, I guess."

Helena frowned and called out after him as he stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Be nice to the pedestrians!" When the door closed, she shook her head and gave me a grin. "I love that dear boy, but he can be a handful, and the Gods know I don't get enough customers as it is without him frightening them off with his antics."

"He seemed nice," I shrugged.

"Oh, he is," she smiled, taking my hand and guiding me away from the counter. "Sweetest man I've ever known. You'll never meet another so in tune with how people feel about each other, but so very alone."

She glanced through the shop windows, where Erin was sitting on a bench just outside, his back to us, both arms draped along the back of the bench, head turning this way and that as people passed by him. When I turned back to look at Helena, she seemed sad, watching Erin.