Innocent Collector

"A little, but not bad, are you?"

"Maybe a little."

He put his arm around her waist and pulled her up against him and said, "Maybe this will help both of us.

Her arm went around his bare waist and she said, 'You're skin feels cold."

"And your hand feels very warm and nice on me." They stayed huddled together and she let her head rest against his chest as they continued to watch the spring show.

"Paul were you thinking about Tony when I came out?"

"Not just Tony, but a whole host of things. Nothing life altering, either. My mind just went on a little trip I guess."

"Sorry I spoiled that for you then."

"You haven't spoiled anything, it's nice to share this with you." When one of the lightening bolts seemed especially bright he said, "It won't be long now." It was only seconds later when there was a very bright flash and the thunder clapped so loud the world seemed to tremble. Meg jumped and pulled herself into him with both arms. He held her close to him and they stood there for just a second before she said, "I think we better give this up."

"Yeah, that was just a little too close." They relaxed their hold on each other and stepped inside and Paul slid the door closed and locked it. Meg was still close to Paul as lightening again flashed bright and the thunder reminded them the storm was overtaking them. The wind kicked up and the rain pelted against the glass as they watched as Paul said, "That was quite a display of power."

"That was impressive. Now I hope I can fall back to sleep."

"Me too. Oh, and thanks for not making me get dressed because I would have missed part of the show."

"You're welcome, night Paul," and she headed to her bedroom.

"Night Meg," he called after her. He stood there for another few seconds and then went down the hall to his own bed. It took him awhile to settle down, but he managed to fall asleep and didn't wake until almost eight in the morning.

Meg had left Paul a note and it was propped against the coffee maker. "Paul, thank you for last night. It was so nice sharing the storm with you even if the thunder and lightening scared the life out of me. I'll be home by five." He smiled as he pictured her holding onto him when the loud clap of thunder surprised them. That whole event had been a soul healing experience for him. The impressive lightening show, the building thunder and having his arm around Meg as they shared the experience.

While Meg was at work, Paul called Sybil and had a long talk with her. Then just before he hung up she told him, "Paul I'm so glad Tony got to see you because his condition is getting worse so very fast."

"Sybil, are you sure there's nothing I can do for you? Anything at all."

"There really isn't Paul, but thank you. Were you going to come out and see Tony again?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"I know you'd like to see him and he'd like to see you, but he's so weak."

"Then I won't come. It's more important that you be with him than me or anybody else."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Just call me if you need or even want something okay?"

"You know I will." After he hung up the phone, he knew he'd never see his friend again. He sat at the table and wrote Meg a short note. "Meg, thank you for your sweet hospitality and for being there with me through our ordeal. Having you to talk to and to lean on helped me more than you can know. I had a talk with Sybil and we decided it's best to allow them to be together for what little time Tony has left. I also can't tell you how much I enjoyed sharing the fantastic light show with you last night. Now I can go home feeling like I can deal with Tony leaving us. Thank you love, and I'll call you tonight." He put the pen down and went to his room for his bag. Then he stopped and smiled as he unzipped his bag, took out his last clean pair of briefs and carefully arranged it on the bed. Then he zipped his bag, picked it up and headed home.

Chapter Four

Paul was picking at his seventh chapter when Meg called him. "Hi Meg."

"Hi, you doing okay?"

"I'm okay. I just hope I'm doing the right thing by not going back to see Tony."

"I just talked to Sybil and she seemed pleased that you would do that for her, so I'd say you did the right thing."

"Anything new about him?"

"No. He's tough by nature so he'll hang on even if he doesn't want to."

"Probably so. You doing okay?"

"I am. I thought about us sharing the lightening spectacle several times today."

"I have too. I'm glad I was there to share that with you."

"I am too. Oh and speaking of sharing smart ass, thanks for your underwear. Nice touch."

"Thanks. I still can't believe it took me that long to realize I wasn't dressed."

"It was fun watching you when you realized you were almost naked. You really were rattled."

"I really was and I'm impressed how smoothly you handled that."

"Well part of that was show to help you relax because before I spoke to you I have to confess to staring at you in surprise. I never gave it a thought that you might be up in the middle of the night."

"And in my skivvies."

"That part took me even longer to get past."

"Sorry, I guess I should have gotten dressed."

She laughed and said, "By then it was far too late for it to matter. I almost retreated because of the way I was dressed...or rather wasn't dressed."

"You looked very sexy by the way, at least what I saw of you when the lightening flashed."

"You were supposed to be watching the storm."

"I was, but I still managed to look at you when we talked."

"I think you're more devious than I would have ever guessed. Are you sure you didn't plan any of that?"

Paul laughed then and said, "Yeah, I logged on to Amazon and ordered a very special storm just so I could see you in your little whatever and I could stare at your legs."

"Very funny, okay so that was a dumb thing to say. Besides I was wearing that robe."

"That flimsy thing? It wasn't even fastened."

"I was holding it closed smarty."

"For the first couple of minutes."

"My god, you really did check me out."

"Nah, but I was lucky enough to see what I saw. I can talk bravely now that is past and I've had time to think about it. At the time I was a little flustered."

"Paul you were not flustered. Well not after you recovered from realizing you were almost bare assed."

"That was just an act. I was flustered because, in the eight or nine years that we've known each other I've never even seen you in short shorts, let along a...a nightie or whatever. On top of that I had my arm around you and I could feel your warmth like you were wearing nothing. Oh I was rattled alright."

Meg was getting uncomfortable as they talked so she asked him, "Will you be coming back up to Battle Creek?"

"I'm sure I will love, but when will depend on Tony I guess."

"And you'll stay here again then."

"That's up to you, but I'd like to do that."

"Well of course I want you to, I probably won't get to see you again for months after then if not even longer."

"Unless you decide to come down here and stay."

"You know, I've never done that."

"I know. You were going through your own trials and then all of the emotional baggage left over from that and then...well I don't know what your excuse was after that."

"I was still healing."

"I know. Well anyway, the offer stands. I'll take you to Grape Road and you can drag me around shopping until I drop."

"I can see you tagging along with me while I shop for clothes."

"I'm your man, and remember I know where all of the stores are."

"That's bribery."

"I can live with that."

"I'll think about that in the coming weeks. Paul, seriously, I really did enjoy having you here." Then her voice lightened as she said, "And thanks again for your briefs. That's a nice memento of our stormy night. Now I'm going to have a big salad and crash with a book."

"Thanks for calling Meg."

"Night, handsome," and she hung up. It was only a minute later when she called back and asked him, "Hey, how can you know where the women's stores are. Is there a woman in your life that I don't know about?"

"Nope. Okay so maybe I don't know exactly where they all are, but I can find out in a hurry and be ready when you get here."

"Okay, just checking. Night," and she hung up again.

The phone receiver hadn't even cooled when Tina called him. "Hi Paul."

"Hi Tina, nice of you to call."

"I wanted to hear how Tony is doing."

"Not well at all. I spent a little time with him, but he's weak and tires easily so I didn't push it. I'll be surprised if he lasts much more than another week."

"God, that is so sad and unfair."

"I couldn't agree more. Hey, thanks again for the dinner invite last week. Renee and I really enjoyed the evening."

'Um...Paul is that your way of saying that Renee spent the night with you?"

"Very funny, but no, I took her home and I was in bed...alone I might add, by midnight or so."

"Too bad. I think she's hot for you."

"She just spent too much time at the tanning salon."

"Very funny. Okay hon, I just wanted to hear about Tony. Let us know if we can help in some way."

"You do help me just by keeping an eye on me love."

"That was sweet, thank you. Night Paul."

"Night pretty one."

Paul sat there and thought about his life. He was so damn lucky to be healthy and to have friends like Tony and Sybil and Meg, to say nothing of Dale and Tina. He didn't know how to classify Renee. She certainly was a friend but maybe in a different way than the others. Just how or why he had no idea however. He decided he had a convoluted way of sorting things out in his mind. Even he couldn't make sense of it a lot of the time.

Chapter Five

Paul's life settled down for the next week. He worked in his office, but he kept getting distracted. It was nearly impossible to be productive if he couldn't focus on a thought for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Tony was still very much in his thoughts and he had talked to Sybil a few times along with updates from Meg. Tony continued to lose ground, but he was still conscious and mentally functioning. It had to be a living hell for Sybil.

After ten days, Tony was still alert even though his body continued to waste away, and he required more and more pain medication to make it through each day. Paul was doing better in his office, but Tony was still right there and he talked to Meg again. Storms and underwear didn't come up in their conversation again, but they talked as only very close friends talk. Honestly and openly. He mentioned Renee and tried to explain how he couldn't decide about her, but Meg said she couldn't help him with that problem.

Then Paul's life took another turn for the worse. He went out to pick up a small branch that had fallen from his only tree when something made him look to his right toward the corner. He stopped breathing as he watched a small van quickly stop at the curb and a second later the back two doors flew open and two men plus the driver were forcing a woman into the back. It was all over so fast that he hadn't run more than fifteen feet before the van left with tires squealing. It was over before Paul could even pull a deep breath. It took him a few seconds before he could even think about calling the police.

The first police car arrived in what seemed like less than a minute and his nightmare continued. Question after question came at him and he answered all of them, but there was little he could tell them. He had seen little and could identify no one or the van other than it being a dingy gray color. One of the questions that they came back to a couple of times was, "Are you sure it was a woman that was abducted?"

"I'm pretty sure. She...or he, had a slight build, and the hair was too long to be a man. There was a struggle, but not like you might expect were the victim a male."

"No sounds."

"None, no shouting or anything, but I thought I saw a glimpse of silver, like maybe they put tape over her mouth. I could hear their feet as they forced her into the van, but that's all." Paul knew he was giving them nothing to work with, but that was all he could tell them. The only evidence they could find was a short black mark on the pavement where they had spun a tire as they raced away.

Paul went back inside then and paced as he replayed the kidnapping over in his mind again and again. Was he missing something? Did he see more than he could remember, or was he blocking something for some reason? He really didn't think so, but he couldn't stop replaying the event in his mind. He was still pacing when Meg called him and said, "Paul, Tony is unconscious now and he's having trouble breathing. I think it's coming to an end."

Paul dropped into his chair and said, "I'm glad for his and Sybil's sake."

"I am too. Your room is ready if you decide to come back up."

"There's nothing I can do, but thanks, unless you want me up there."

"I'd love to have you here again, but I'm okay."

"If he's still with us Saturday, I'll come up and go see Sybil."

"Paul, tomorrow is Friday."

"Oh. Okay, then I'll see you Saturday if that's okay."

"That would be great. Tony won't know, but I'm sure Sybil could use some support now."

"I'm sure she could. Okay, see you by ten then. And Meg, thanks again for keeping me posted."

"You're welcome. I told Sybil I'd call you, and for her not to worry about either of us. She's starting to fall apart from the sounds of it."

"She's been so damn strong through the whole thing, but even she has to have her limit. Okay, see you day after tomorrow then."

"Bye Paul."

Renee called Paul the next morning and said, "The abduction was just on the television, are you okay?"

"I'm not sure."

"Want me to come over?"

"There's nothing you can do, but thanks. Tony has taken a big turn for the worse so I'm going back to Battle Creek Saturday morning."

"Your life sure is a mess right now."

"I feel like I'm dreaming all of this crap; that none of it's real."

"Paul, don't try to deal with all of this alone okay?"

"I won't be alone. I'll see Meg and of course Sybil, Tony's wife, and I'll talk to you when I get back."

"Okay, you know where to find me."

Paul was packed and on the road by seven thirty Saturday morning and was at Meg's door well before ten o'clock.

Meg opened her arms for him and he walked into them. They stood in the doorway for a minute holding each other. He took his bag to the guest room and when he came back out she asked him, "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, how about you?"

"I was going to say fine, but...well you know."

"I know. Let's face it, this is a nightmare for Sybil, but for you and me it's a very sad time. Having so many weeks to get used to the idea of Tony dying has helped me a lot, and with him unconscious now I feel better for him. He isn't suffering mentally or physically anymore."

"That's what's making all of this easier for me too. I was over and visited with Sybil last night, so when you go I'll stay here if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind. Dinner at the Outback when I get back?"

"That would be nice, but Paul, just because you're staying here doesn't mean you have to keep taking me out for dinner."

"I know and also it isn't because I dislike your cooking, but it's easier for us to relax if somebody else is doing all of the dinner chores."

"I could get so spoiled with you around."

"Good."

"It's good to have you back in town Paul."

"It's good to be here and to see you love." They talked over coffee and he told her about witnessing the kidnapping.

"Oh my god Paul, that's awful."

"It's driving me crazy. I couldn't do a damn thing to help her and I didn't get to see enough to help the police. With no evidence and only me as an eye witness, there's nothing the police can do. They were going to check through missing persons, but I haven't heard if that helped any."

"But you're sure that a woman was kidnapped."

"As sure as I can be. Meg, I keep seeing her eyes like she was looking at me. I could feel her eyes on me and all of that keeps coming back to me. Whoever it is, is haunting me."

"I wish I could do something to help."

"I do too. Okay, enough of that, I'm going over to see Sybil. I'll call you later and let you know how things are going and so forth." He put his cup in the sink and said, "I'll see you in a few hours."

"Be careful and I'll be here waiting for you."

Chapter Six

When Sybil opened the door and saw Paul, she went to his arms and cried. He pulled her into him and held her close and let her cry as he worked to keep from joining her. "Paul, the hospice nurse is with him now. Tony just passed away." He looked at her and she said in a near whisper, "It's over."

There was nothing he could say but, "Sybil honey, I'm so sorry, but I'm glad for him that it is over."

She managed to mumble, "I am too." They released their hold on each other and went to the living room where he sat close to her on the couch. "The funeral home is on the way over."

"Let's stay in here then okay? We don't want to be there when they arrive."

"I don't know if I do or not. I feel like I should be there for him."

"Sybil, he's not there anymore. If anything he's watching over you now."

"I've known this day was coming and I tried so hard to know what I needed to do, but now I can't even think straight."

"I'm here to help you however I can Sybil. First, give yourself time to settle down. Right now, nothing requires you to be anywhere or do anything. I'm not going anywhere and Meg isn't far away if you need or want her."

"Oh god that's right, she needs to know."

"Don't worry, I'll call her." With one arm still around Sybil, he punched in Meg's number and when she answered he pulled Sybil closer to him and said, "Meg, it's over."

"Tony's gone?"

"Yes, he's free now."

"Should I come over there?"

"Just a sec," and he asked Sybil and then went back to Meg. "She said that's up to you, but there's nothing you can do. She said she'd need you more later."

"Okay, but all she has to do is call."

"She knows, but I'll remind her anyway."

"Paul, don't worry about coming back for dinner. Sybil probably needs you there."

"I'll let you know, but it will be awhile."

"I'm sure it will. Just see to Sybil and we can talk later."

"Okay, bye." He closed his phone and asked Sybil, "Is there anything you have to do concerning the funeral home?"

"No, it was all arranged by Tony. There will be a service for him, but then he'll be cremated."

"I didn't know that was his wish."

"It has been for several years."

"I'm glad you don't have to go through the agony of the funeral and the graveside services."

"That's the reason he prearranged everything. He was always thinking of me."

Paul and Sybil ended up in the kitchen sipping coffee and he told her his kidnapping story and she asked him, "Shouldn't you be back there in case the police need you?"

"They have my cell number, but there's not much they can do, so I won't be hearing from them."

They traded the coffee for wine and for the next hour they sipped white wine and reminisced about thing the three of them had done together and stories they had told. Then Paul got a call. "Paul, it's Dale. I don't know where you are and I'm sorry to bother you."

"That's okay Dale, what's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Tina left me."

"What? But you two had a good thing going I thought."

"I did too. I don't know what happened, she just left me a note, took fifty grand, her purse and a couple of bags of clothes and disappeared."

"That's crazy, Tina wasn't the impulsive type."

"I know, so she had to be thinking about leaving for some time."

"I'm really sorry Dale, is there anything you need?"