Both tried to apologize at once and then there was an awkward silence between them.“I’m going to bring the rest of this garbage out to my truck; then I’ll take it to the company dumpster.”Sasha replied, “How much do I owe you?”“Have dinner with me.”“Do you think that’s wise?”“I promise to be on my best behavior.”“I was talking about me.”“This will just be dinner, no more than that, a chance to get to know each other better. Besides, you still owe me for my work here. That is all that I want from you; nothing more. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes to pick you up.”“Make it twenty, I have to close up, lock the front door and make myself presentable.”“You look beautiful just as you are.”He turned and left her standing there before she could respond.Twenty minutes later, he returned, left his truck running, and knocked on the back door. Before he had finished knocking, the door swung open and she stepped out, shutting the hall light as she left. Rick walked her around the front o
I told her I did not want to leave the United States. She told me I didn’t have to; but that I had to leave Brighton Beach at once. I was eighteen years old, when I was placed on a train; I had one suitcase of clothes, a new passport, and a new name. I never questioned why. To this day I don’t know what my mother did or what her fate was once she returned to Russia. I thank her every day for the sacrifices she must have made so I could live my life in freedom.”They ate their meal in relative silence. Rick watched as she ate half of her burrito, then unwrapped the second half and ate the chicken, rice and beans, leaving the wrap.“I try to watch my carbs. I don’t have to worry about calories or putting on weight. I do at least six hours of Pilate’s exercises every day. My body craves protein. Some night’s before I go home, I stop at Costco, buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner; or two deli sandwiches, throw away the bread from one and chow down. But that’s enough about me, tell me abou
He left the office, took the elevator back down to the ground floor, exited the building and walked over to his Dodge Challenger Hellcat, which he had left earlier that afternoon, and drove around to the front of the shopping center. He stopped for a few minutes in the center of the lot, in front of The Studio, far enough away that he was sure she could not see into the car. He watched the front window until he saw her silhouette as she straightened out the waiting area. Convinced that she was safe, he slowly left the parking lot and headed for home.As he drove home, he chuckled to himself. ‘She thinks she’s so smart; concealing the fact that her car is always here overnight. I know your little secret Sasha; you’re living in the building, aren’t you. You’re lucky I’m the only one who knows. If my father had known or my cousin ever found out, I’d have a major argument on my hands. But for right now, your secret is safe with me. Good night, Sasha, sweet dreams.’They saw a lot of each
He knew for a fact that the back door was thirty-six inches wide, a solid core, metal clad, door, which opened outward. If he bought a thirty-six-inch raised panel door, he could build his own frame with four by fours, anchor it to the cinderblock wall above the door and along the perimeter of the existing door frame with door opening inward. He could remove the lower raised panels and install the exhaust fan facing outward. When Sasha wanted to change the air in the studio, she could open the transom window, open the connecting doors to the work out room and the door to the back hallway, open and secure the back outside door, and close the newly installed inside door and flip the switch he would install. Simple.The following Monday morning, he told her about his solution to her problem.“That sounds perfect, when can you do it.”“This week if you want. I can install the transom window one evening and get my measurements for the back door assemble. I’ll make the frame and the interio
Rick smiled and said, “Sure, I’m done for the night, all I have to do is get my tools and the ladder loaded in my truck and I’ll be off. In less than five minutes he was headed out the door. Sasha watched as his truck left the parking lot and disappeared into the night.What she didn’t see was him make a turn two blocks later and come back around the back of the office building. From his office moments later he watched as she moved her car from the back parking lot to a different spot in the front lot. Then he closed his office and took the truck home.That night, try as he might, he just could not fall asleep. Her kiss was still on his mind. Things were happening faster than he had planned, in fact, they were almost out of control.Now his mind switched to the conversation that he had had with his father shortly after he had graduated from high school.‘Enrique, you know we have been truly blessed by God. We have wealth, more wealth than we could ever hope to spend. But with great we
The house itself was sitting empty, a monument to their lives, but Rick could not bring himself to move back into the house. The house was currently going through a complete renovation. It was almost finished, only the painters remained. Rick hoped he would be able to live within those walls when it was finally completed.After completing his normal number of laps, Rick pushed himself to do another ten. If he was going to have to compete with Sasha, he was going to have to get his body into much better shape than it was now. Five years of law school and work had softened his body; not that he was in bad shape, he was in decent shape, but he wanted to be ripped when he finally stood next to her on the night of their wedding.That was it wasn’t it; he was really an old-fashioned kind of guy. He came from a religious family, who attended church weekly, and would not think of pre-marital sex. To his way of thinking, however, that was a little harsh. He had already pushed that boundary to
Now he had a dilemma. He really wanted to check out her office, just to make certain that she was indeed living in the building. He had his ladder strapped to the overhead rack of the truck. It would only take him a few minutes to pop up one of the drop ceiling panels, hoist himself over the office wall and drop down into her office.‘You already know she is living here. You’ve seen her car here late at night and in the same spot early the next morning. You would be invading her privacy. And what if you left some incriminating evidence behind; how would you explain yourself. How would she feel about you then? Worse still what if she walked in on you while you were in there snooping around?’He had finished bringing out the last of his tools and was just sweeping the bits of cinderblock and dust, that were scattered on the floor, into a dustpan, when he felt, more than heard that he was no longer alone. Turning quickly, he found her leaning against the frame of the hallway door.“Don’t
“Sure Rick, I think that’s very commendable of you. Although from what I see you don’t look too out of shape to me; but I have to ask the students in my beginner’s classes about having a male join our group. You would be the first male to ever join us.”“If it is going to cause a problem, then I’ll just have to think of something else.”“No, let me talk to them first. I’m sure we can work something out.”Two days later she flagged him down as he was driving through the parking lot.“Rick, I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting the responses I received from my students. Basically, they didn’t want to feel that they were being leered at. When I told them that you were not that type of guy, they basically insisted that all guys were the same.”“Don’t worry, I’ll try something else.”“Wait, what would you think about individual lessons. They can be pretty expensive, usually I charge fifty-five dollars per lesson, but for you I’ll cut that in half.”“No, that’s fine with me, besides, I have already