Danger Zone

Chapter 2: "Like A Prayer"

"And you are really one hundred percent sure?" Lee Anne asked when Tom was back.
He nodded. "I want Jules. She's ..." He made a short pause to collect his thoughts which wasn't that easy since all he could think of were her ocean eyes. "She's a badass. She is fierce, she knows what she wants. She's smart, and I love how her brain works."
Lee Anne looked at him. "What about that burnout?"
"I didn't grill her too much about it, if that is what you mean. Let's just say – psychiatric treatment and meds aside, I bloody admire how Jules managed to turn her life around." He grinned. "And well, people were right about her sense of humor." He quickly retold the moment of Jules "introducing" her Fireblade to him, and his sister also had to chuckle.
"So, your Jules really seems to be the perfect fit, then?"
"Well, she isn't 'my' Jules, but yes. I don't even care about her treatment, and whatever kind of help she might have received to overcome the burnout. She'll see the light at some point, I am sure."

He had no idea how absolutely wrong he was going to be with that statement ...

Jules, meanwhile, was hanging out with Nora again. "That man, I swear ...!" she said.
"Ohhhh, what did he do?" Nora enthusiastically replied.
"He almost drooled over my baby", Jules chuckled. "You know, he rides, too, so obviously he needed to have a look at my Fireblade."
"Haha, I can see it now – you two guys on that bike, riding off into the sunset."
"Fuck off!" Jules laughed and flipped the bird at her friend.

"So, do you think you nailed it?"
Jules sighed. "I'd be surprised if I didn't." Pause. "And yes, I talked a bit about the burnout, but more in the sense of how it happened and that I picked you up on your advice with the Sabbatical. He doesn't need to know about being in a psychiatric clinic ...at least not for the time being. It's skating on very thin ice, anyway."
"That is what I was going to say – be fucking careful, Jules. I'd hate to see you get reeled in with that Cult!" She looked straight into her friend's eyes. "Promise me – as soon as he starts some shenanigans with you, let me know and I will be there with the fire of ten thousand suns and read him the Riot Act. I am not going to have him steal you away from me."
Good ole Nora, ever so protective, Jules thought and nodded. "Aye aye, Captain!"
"Good. Because we know how passionate he is about that shit, and that he has the charisma and all." As soon as she had mentioned the word 'charisma', she noticed a faint smile on her friend's face. "Jules?"
"What?"
"Do not, I repeat, do NOT fall for him, okay?"
"I have no intention to, Nora. There's still my Rule Number One – I don't date my clients!" she said with a grin. And yet, there was something about Tom she had found irresistible when they had their lunch date. This could become more complicated than it actually should in any way or form.
"One more thing – how much about your Soccer Dude does he know?"
"I laid the cards on the table, and I hope he also got the hint that I don't usually date someone I work with. You know, setting boundaries from the start. Just to be on the safe side!" She glanced at her friend. "Plus, there's the age gap. I don't do more or less than five years. Nuff said!"
"Ah, nope, Jules – age is just a number, you know?" Nora teased her.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Jules replied, laughing.

Tom sat in his room, reminiscing his lunch date with Jules. Her eyes. He couldn't stop thinking about her eyes. Mysterious and full of life. How her slender, yet strong frame had sat on the Fireblade, taming that beast of a bike. The sassy smile when she had said "Fireblade, this is Tom – Tom, this is Fireblade!" Her sense of humor. Her being so tough, but also carrying an air of fragility. There definitely was more to her. Much more. And he was going to find out. "Careful, Tom", he reminded himself quietly. Then, he decided to text her again.

When Jules woke up the next day, the first thing she did was reaching for her phone. She had it on "Do Not Disturb" when she was sleeping, because if there was anything of importance – even with international clients in a different time zone – there would still be enough time to discuss. If anything needed publication outside of her own time zone, she could always work around that with scheduled posts. She'd been doing this long enough to know a trick or two.