The Apparition Man - Part Forty- Nine #

Chapter Thirteen - Part Forty #1

I waited outside while Taylor handed the key back to the receptionist.2

It had been one hell of a night, one shocking day, and now as the sun had risen towards another hot day; I looked up sleepily at Hotel room number Two and wondered what my night would have turned out like, if I had gone with my Mother to the Mercy Clinic.3

I knew it would have been worse with her, in the car for so long, not that after what I did had I even been daring enough to continue that drive with her. I don't think that I would have been able to contain my anger, not after the reaction she had given me to the return of the Candy man, Turner, and the reaction towards the not forgotten memories of what he had done to me.4

"Hay," a voice sounded from behind me.5

I turned around to see the strange girl who had sold me her clothes last night, standing with her hand leaning against the back of Taylor's truck, a backpack heavily hung on her shoulders.6

"Oh hay," I replied, a little sloppy, my voice slurring with exhaustion, it was funny I could even keep my eyes open in the harsh sunlight, let alone keep a conversation.7

I leaned against the truck like she had, my eyes watching behind her and around her for a sign of when Taylor would return so that we could continue my journey, our journey back on track into our own lives.8

"I see the clothes were a good fit then," she stated, her eyes wandering from my shirt to my pants.9

Slightly unnerved I shook my shoulders, smiling inside for it had reminded me of an old insult a girl at the Mercy Clinic used to us when insulting the nurses, "Have I got something of yours on, is that your problem, but I didn’t think so."10

It seemed such an appropriate thing to say as I stood there folding my arms across my shirt. But I didn't I just leaned in closer to the truck and let her eyes wander as much as they wanted to.11

"Perfect fit, smelled nice too,” I whispered in a strange tone of voice.12

Smelled nice too, they did, god shut up Reidy, I thought to myself. I always said the most outright stupidest things when I was nervous, I wasn't this way around men, around men I was in charge, I was strong.13

Around girls I was always clumsy, mean and bitter, it had been my Mother's influence and at times I was thankful I could catch my tongue before I made a fool of myself, but this was just one of the many times when my brain had failed to catch up with my mouth and it had come out sounding slightly perverted.14

"Where are you going?" I asked her, trying so hard to cover up my embarrassment. I hoped to god I was doing a good job, I could not let her see I had weakened at all.15

Smiling, she slapped her thigh, shooing away a half dead fly that buzzed around out heads in the small morning heat.16

"I am going to move into my boyfriend’s house in downtown Mercy."17

Immediately with the words Mercy my stomach clenched up with panic and my mind unsettled into thoughts of Kerry again.18

"Mercy, your boyfriend lives in Mercy?" I asked, even though she had clearly just told me that he had.19

She nodded, frowning a little, as if worried by my reaction.20

"Yeah Sorry I didn’t tell you yesterday, just looked like you were in a rush to get back to your man friend."21

She laughed a little, adding emphasis to the "man friend" comment.22

Shaking my head, I shook away the panic it was more my nerves than anything else.23

"It's okay; it wasn’t like I really needed to know anyway, I'm not your Mother."24

At this she laughed, adjusting the straps on her backpack. It looked awfully heavy.25

"Are you okay with that bag?" I asked. "Need any help with it?"26

I could not understand why anyone would want to carry around something that big and that heavy in the summer heat, it would be excruciatingly painful, not to mention stressful for me.27

"No, thank you, I am alright. I just got a lot of things in it that's all, practically my whole life actually."28

I nodded, out of the corner of my eye I could see Taylor walking across the footpath, getting closer towards us.29

He still looked so good to me, with that pearly white smile and that perfectly sculptured body and the arching curves of his muscles.30

"So did you have fun last night with your man friend?" the girl asked, punching my shoulder in a friendly gesture.31

Still watching Taylor get closer, I nodded.32

"Yeah we had a good time, still a bit tired though."33

"Oh I bet you are,' she said snickering in a matter-of-fact kind of way that made me instantly suspicious at what she was trying to get at.34

"Mrs Graves from room number Three, old gasbag came over this morning to help my mum, comes in and the first thing she does is complain about her lack of sleep last night due to supposed love struck teenagers making love in room number Two, apparently according to her you two were making quite some noise, considering that Mrs Graves is partly deaf."35

I felt my face almost immediately redden and heat up with an embarrassment.36

Snickering again, she turned to smile at Taylor. Her face was almost the same blushing red as mine.37

Taylor stood behind her, his arm rested on the truck door; he looked at the both of us amused.38

"I have the sneaking suspicion that ya'll conversations were about me. Ya'll both as red as tomatoes now aren’t ya'll. Well, come on, spill."39

He laughed, reaching out to touch the girl's face.40

My heart stopped, as he glided it across her cheek, her smile growing under his touch.41

I felt strange, like I wanted him to stop, like I wanted all his attention on me.42

"My ya'll sizzling," he said returning his hand to his thigh.43

Giggling, she turned to look at me, somewhat regretful of letting him caress her. 44

Could she tell that I was watching, with a slight tinge of anger in my eyes?45

"Urm anyway, I just wanted to come and see you of and say goodbye and thank you for the money. Now I can finally escape my Mother's domineering grip."46

I kept my eyes fixated of Taylor's as his eyes returned to mine with a smile. Looking away, I faced the ground.47

"Really it was no problem, I mean a deal is a deal right?"48

Nodding, she grinned.49

"Sure is, still you don't know how happy you have made me, and how happy my boyfriend will be to see me in Mercy. It will be one hell of a surprise I can tell you that right now."50

As if I knew what was to come, I raised my head, and my suspicions were correct. Taylor had taken a fancy to the girl.51

"Really, ya’ll going to Mercy too? Why didn't ya'll say something before? We could give you a lift. There is plenty of room in the truck."52

Shaking her head, the girl looked towards the car park entrance.53

A bus had pulled up outside the hotel complex and a crowd full of people had started to pour from the open door of the bus.54

Turning around, she looked anxiously at the two of us.55

"That's my ride I have to go, but thank you anyway. It is rather kind of you to offer, and thank you," she said, leaning forward towards me kissing me lightly on the lips.56

"You saved me"
Pulling back, I tried to shake the feeling of surprise out of my system. Had she just kissed me?57

As she turned around and walked away, I watched her in silence until she was just another person amongst a crowd of many strangers I would never know. 58

Yet, somehow I felt so connected to her that I felt a little lost inside. Maybe it was the fact that both our Mothers had been the main source of all our unhappiness and the reason for our escape, or maybe it was because I had never felt these kinds of feelings before, feelings of respect and appreciation rather than resentment and anger.59

"Ya'll alright Miss Reidy?" Taylor asked, walking towards me, placing his hand firmly on my shoulder.60

Flinching under his grip, I moved back, shaking him of, letting my eyes once again fall shamelessly to the ground.61

There was something about the way he had touched her that seemed to cut me real deep like a dagger.I cared; I wanted it to be me and only me, his one and only. I was jealous of that touch and I tried to tell myself that he had only been trying to be nice to her, but somewhere inside my tired mind an inner voice was telling me it was more than that.62

"I'm fine. Can we just get going? I really want to get there today?"63

Nodding, he backed away.64

I knew I had offended him deeply this time. I just could not stand his touch. It melted my heart and I had no reason for my heart to melt, nor did I have any reason to be jealous of his attraction and flirting towards another woman.65

"Alright then let's get this show on the road,” Taylor said walking around to his side of the car.