Paint The Town Red

Chapter 3

Rebecca's POV

It's after five when I start looking at my watch, wondering if I really am being stood up this time. I'm not sure what compelled me to call her, flirt with her, then agree to a date. Maybe its because I need to feel less like a cold monster and more like a woman/person.

I lived. Others dies

I lived, yet I feel dead.

Maybe I want to feel alive, considering my time may be limited I should treasure every moment...when I'm not collecting on an overdue debt. its not exactly romantic to think of a person while slicing another one to pieces, but Freen was definitely on my mind during three days I spent reaping the debt from Joe.

Not in the dark recesses of my mind that are reserved for revenge either. No. Freen was the good parts that I thought no longer existed. She awakened a long-gone light as though not all the good inside me had been destroyed.

Just as I'm about to text her and find out if she's okay, there suddenly a body sliding into the seat in front of me, and my eyes pop up to meet a set of soft hazel eyes. I could stare at those eyes all day. The rest of her measures up to those perfect eyes too.

She's a sin and pleasure wrapped in a package I'm tempted to peek at.

"So sorry" she groans, motioning a waitress over. "There was a traffic jam. I actually had to abuse my power and hit the lights just to get through."

My smile surprises me everything she makes me use it. "It's fine. I was just worried," I lie, well, sort of. I was worried about her and I was worried I'd been stood up.

Her grin is genuine and instant when she sees I'm not pissed, and the waitress shows up, ending the moment of two idiots grinning at each other.

I honestly can't remember a time when my stomach was fluttering around. I was just a teenager when my life was shattered and the illusion of normality forever stayed out of my grasp.

This is the most human I've felt in so long. And its just a coffee drive-by on her way to work.

We both order, and the waitress walks away after giving her a quick once over and winking at me as though she approves. Not that I need her approval.

"So, what made you agree to meet me?" she asks, apparently skipping small talk. I guess thats wise, since our time will be limited. Not to mention she interrogates for a living, so its only natural to start a date out that way with her.

I decide against telling her that she makes me feel like a human instead of a monster I've had become, since she will sort of lock me up and throw away the key.

"What made you ask me out?" I asked her instead.

Her grin spreads wider "you're deflecting, but I'll bite. You've been in my head. Your turn." She says, leaning up on the table with her elbow

"You've been in my head too."

"Ah, see thats cheating. You can't just parrot my words to keep from disclosing too much. That's a commonly used tool in a detached personality."

"Stop profiling me" I say with a teasing smile, but secretly hoping she does really stop.

What if she sees too much? what the hell am I thinking? This is the stupidest date I could possibly go on.

I finally meet a person I want to see, perhaps even date, and it has to be the one woman who could see right through me?

She's studying me too intensely, but I keep my smile and hoping it doesn't seem strained.

"Occupational hazard. I can't turn it off. I wish I could, but I can't."

Great.

She continues to wait my reaction, and I try to think of how to properly react. How do normal women react? Do they gush and goo over her badge and skills? Do they get offended by her admission of constant profiling, feeling like she won't let them have that privacy? I have no idea.