Rescue Me by M.C. Cerny

Author:M.C. Cerny
Language: eng
Format: epub

2

Tempest

The Gemini officially closed at 2 a.m., and after filling all my salt and pepper shakers and the ketchup bottles, I was able to leave by 2:30 a.m. Waitressing wasn’t overly hard, but the hours on my feet left my legs throbbing. Luckily I had a studio apartment several blocks over. Seeing Officer Hernandez, or Joey as I forced myself to think of him, made the night go by quicker. Every two weeks we worked a similar schedule of nights on the same rotation. I looked forward to seeing the way he filled out his uniform that gave me goosebumps and naughty thoughts to carry me through until the next time I saw him. And the way he spoke to me…holy moly, it was hot the way his tongue rolled off speaking Spanish. He made me hot and flustered like no one else listening to his slight accent. Big muscles bulged under his uniform shirt and hints of tattoos edged the rim of his collar and sleeves. The devilish side of me wondered what he had on underneath there and what it might take to find out.

I practically skipped home thinking about my audition. Soon I would have a chance to be an official Rockette dancing on a stage I dreamed about in my small twin bed across the river in Jersey growing up. I was so close to dancing in the legendary line I could taste it. I could hear the clicking of heels and feel the sweep of a high kick pirouetting to the contemporary choreography. The stuff that had fueled my little girl daydreams was conceivably going to be a reality. I danced in a circle, adding a hop to the end, and turned the corner gasping.

“Shit! Mr. Walker!” I panicked nearly loosing my footing.

Old hands grabbed me around the shoulders, keeping me from face planting after having the shit scared out of me.

“Sorry, Miss Tempest. I was just moving from the park to the doorway here.” Thomas Walker was homeless, nearing his sixties. He preferred the solitary life on the streets, bouncing from park to park instead of the shelter down the street, after battling years of mental illness. He was a war veteran who wore a worn olive green coat and a long facial beard grayed with time. Even his boots looked like they had battled.

“You frightened me. I didn’t expect anyone to be there.”

“No worries, Tempest. I saw your friend patrolling the park and figured I’d make his job easier.” Mr. Walker must have meant Officer Hernandez or someone from the precinct on tonight. There was a no sleeping in the park ordinance and many of the homeless in the city had been displaced over the past few years during the mayor’s neighborhood clean-up initiative.

“I should have taken some pie for you, Mr. Walker.”

“Another time, Tempest.” His gap toothed smile was warm and he squeezed my hands reassuringly. “Make sure you get home safe.” He brushed past me, carrying his duffle bag and settled into the nook of the shop doorway where he muttered to himself.

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