Mei Valentine

It was Friday night and I was trying to make up my mind about what to do over the weekend. During afternoon break I took the local phone book out and looked up Dawn's phone number, it had both a landline and a mobile number published—I put both of them into my contacts. After I got home from work I called Dawn and asked for Ruf as I didn't have his number. It was against policy to get it from the official records I had access to—though I had thought about it—rules were rules.

"Val, he's not back from work yet, and I'm not sure he's coming home right away. He said something to Larry this morning as he left about having to look at an apartment in town. I'll give you his cell number, I'm sure he would like to hear from you."

I wrote down his number and was about to say goodbye when Dawn told me she thought she should tell me about the rumor she had heard. I was afraid I knew what it was as I had heard from another friend the day before it was still making the rounds. After three months, I thought it would have gone away by now.

"Val, someone told Ruf about you...well...spending time with two guys on multiple occasions in a motel room in town. Ruf asked us if he thought you would do something like that and we told him no. I'm not sure who told him, but...well...you know, Ruf is a bit cautious when he first meets someone, especially women."

"Dawn, you know none of it's true. Craig started that rumor after we broke up and it seems to have a life of its own. I don't understand why Craig wanted to hurt me that way, but it's been impossible to stop—I hate to tell you the kinds of looks I've gotten from people."

"Val, we know it isn't, and I don't think Ruf thought it was either—he told me he thinks you're really nice."

"Thanks, you know I think he's nice too. I called to see if he wanted to meet me at the library later when I take my books back."

I heard her chuckle, "You mean another book date?"

"He told you!" I exclaimed a little surprised.

"Yes, he thought it was a 'novel' idea, so to speak. His pun was intentional I'm sure. You know he gets hit on quite a bit and Larry has always ribbed him about it."

After hearing the comments while at the beauty parlor and what I myself had thought I wasn't surprised at the comment. It made perfect sense to me—but it did make me wonder again why he wasn't taken already. He was four years older than I was, plenty of time for someone to have tied him down. I remembered his birthdate when preparing his new driver's license and had looked at his ring finger—he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

"So, is he divorced?"

"No, but he's hurting a little, well...maybe a lot. He asked his long-term girlfriend to move here with him when he was hired and she refused—saying she didn't want to be so far away from her family. Ruf hopes she'll change her mind and says he's going to give it a little time. I've met her two times, and frankly I always thought she was a little needy. I don't think she was a good match for him, but that's just me."

That certainly explained a few things—he was happy to have a new friend, but wasn't hunting for Ms. Right as he potentially already had her. That was okay, I needed another friend right now, even one of the opposite sex, to spend time with—there was no reason it couldn't be Ruf. But, I was beginning to wonder if his experiences with me made spending more time with me was less attractive—maybe I was more trouble than I was worth. Ted had made almost every aspect of my life miserable and now Craig's contribution had appeared—maybe Ruf had seen enough.

I didn't hear from Ruf until it was too late for a book date and the rest of the weekend passed without further communication. The next week I planned to stay with my regular Friday routine, supper at home, then a run to the library to spend an hour, then return home to read, and maybe spend time with Gloria and Burt. I was in a rut, but a comfortable one for the most part; Craig had come to mind only one time—I was getting past him.

It was Friday evening and I was standing at the shelving unit holding the new titles—bending over to view the second shelf off the floor when I realized I had my ass sticking out. I quickly got down on one knee and continued reading the titles. I had just stood up again when a man a few years older walked up next to me, smiled, and then looked at the books for a few seconds before looking at me and speaking in a low voice.

"Excuse me, have you noticed a book entitled 'Shoot Like A Girl'? I was told at the circulation desk it just arrived and should be in this section."

"No, sorry, I haven't noticed it," I smiled back and returned to looking at book titles.

I was just reaching in to pull a book off the shelf when I saw another man step in on the other side of me in my peripheral vision, then a voice I recognized, "Hmmm, that might be a good title to share on a book date."

I stood upright with a smile and saw Ruf smiling at me. Before I could reply, the man on the other side of me said quietly, "We could do a threesome, you have one fine looking ass."

I spun around to face the man, not quite believing what I had just heard. No one would say that in a public library would they? The man stood smiling at me as if there was nothing in the world wrong. I was pretty sure now I hadn't heard him well enough, "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly."

He leaned closer, "I heard the word date. Perhaps the three of us could enjoy a threesome together. I'll gladly pay for the motel room."

I froze. Then, Ruf's voice came from behind me as I stood silent, unable to speak, my mind reeling due to the absurdity of the situation—I was in a public library, standing between two men and I had been propositioned for sex by one of them! A threesome—what the hell was this world coming to?

"Sorry, but we have a date for the two of us. I think you got the wrong idea."

The guy looked at Ruf with a frown, then to me, "Well, you saw her displaying her ass for us to see. What else I should have thought?"

"I felt my face go scarlet red."

"That it was unintentional. She got down on one knee after a few seconds to read the titles. Now, perhaps you can spare this lady further embarrassment and leave."

I watched as the man turned, apparently nonplussed, and walk away. Now, I felt a rush of emotions wash over me, anger, confusion, embarrassment, and humiliation. I turned around to face Ruf, the expression on his face told me he felt empathy for me. All I could offer was a feeble, "Thank you."

"Are you going to be alright? I'm sorry this happened to you."

"I'm so embarrassed, I never meant to...well...you know..."

"I know you didn't, come on, let's get our books and go for a Coke and a donut. That is if you really want to have a book date tonight. This time it's my treat."

I gathered my composure and finished looking over the new titles, this time with Ruf not far from me as he searched the titles for himself. I found a book with the title 'Shoot Like A Girl' and picked it up. I read the back-cover blurb—it was about a female helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. I decided to check it out—thinking I might as well get something positive and worthwhile out of this godawful experience.

As we walked to the coffee shop I explained I had called Dawn earlier, then he told me he had too and knew I would be at the library. I felt better knowing he had wanted to have another date, but wondered if this hadn't gone too far with this latest incident. He had to be having second thoughts and I really didn't feel I could blame him. We sat down with our drinks and a donut apiece and he told me about the apartment he had decided to rent—it wasn't but ten minutes from my own.

"Are you sure you want to be that close to me? The way things are going you may regret it."

"Val, you're a good person. At least I think you are. I don't fully understand your past relationship with your ex but it seems he's terribly vindictive."

"Ruf, I have to admit I don't understand it either. I really cared for him and then our relationship went off the tracks after he accused me of cheating on him. I hadn't, but he refused to believe me."

I watched as he looked out the window, not replying directly to my comment. I wasn't sure he believed me at this point—after all, my ex had to have some reason to believe I wasn't being faithful. He turned his gaze back to me, his expression serious. Shit, I knew where this was likely going as I steeled myself for another series of questions.

"Val, isn't that the car we saw at the library before? I mean it looks like the same guy. He's sitting in the car right across from us."

I looked out the window and spotted the car, then the form of a man sitting inside just as he raised a camera with a telephoto lens, which then quickly disappeared from sight. I was certain it was the same man and car. I felt myself tense—I had thought I had seen a car like that a few days ago, but had told myself I was imagining things again.

"Ruf, did you see that? I think he took a photograph of us," as I turned to look at him with an anguished expression.

"Yes, I saw it. Val, don't look his way again. Let's pretend we didn't see him. When we go back to the library let's wait to see if he follows us. Are you sure you're not being investigated for something?"

"Ruf, no! All I do is go to work, grocery shopping, visit with Gloria and Burt, visit my parents, and these past few weeks met you. Why would any of that be of interest to anyone? I'm boring, no drug use, no alcoholics anonymous meetings, no kinky secret sexual adventures, nothing."

Ruf grew a small smile, "A kinky secret sexual adventure sounds interesting."

"Ruf, that's not funny," I retorted.

"Sorry, it really isn't. But only because I know it's not true."

I couldn't help but smile inside as his words told me he wasn't buying the rumor, while at the same time suggesting he saw me as a sexual being was somehow appealing.

"Val, it's time to find out what this is all about. This has to be stressful. I mean now you know for sure that guy is following you. You don't recognize him at all do you?"

"No, that's the thing that bothers me most—if it were Ted or my ex it would make some sense. But I don't ever remember seeing his face before we encountered him before. All I knew then was it wasn't Ted, and at the time that's all that mattered."

"I understand. Let's finish our drinks and walk back to the library and see if he follows us. Remember, don't look back, we'll take a look once we get to the parking lot and get into our cars to leave. I'll lag behind as you start to leave and see if I can intercept him. This time he's likely to know pretty quickly he's been found out and try to make a break for it."

We were soon standing on the sidewalk outside the library, then started for our own vehicles. My heart was beating hard. I didn't look to see if the car had followed us and when I pushed the button on the key fob to open my car door I took a quick glance around. I didn't see a dark car anywhere as I pulled out slowly and stopped at the exit preparing to pull out onto the street.

I glanced both ways to look for traffic and saw the car parked behind another just down the street. I pulled out in the opposite direction and slowly accelerated away, my heart pounding hard in my ears. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the dark car pull out to follow me.

He was approaching the driveway to the library when Ruf's truck appeared forcing the guy to a stop before hitting him. I pulled over and watched in the rearview mirror as Ruf got out. The guy in the car was out of his car, then stopped abruptly, and turned away as if to leave. I quickly did a U-turn and pulled up next to Ruf's truck and saw he was talking with the guy. He had stopped him from getting into his car and escape. I walked up to Ruf. The guy was a little taller than Ruf, but not as heavy—he also looked very uncomfortable.

"You can't stop me like this! You're not a police officer," the man said forcibly.

"You know, you're right. I think we can remedy that, let's call 911 right now so we can get them here. That way you can explain everything to them," as Ruf pulled his smart phone out.

I walked up and stood next to Ruf, looking at the man to see if I recognized him—it was the same man from before. He looked at me, then shifted his gaze away, looking very nervous, not frightened, but nervous—as if our knowing he was here was a real problem.

"Look, I'm willing to admit I should have been going a little slower. So, let's just admit we were both wrong and leave it at that. After all, we didn't make contact so no damage was done." He wasn't pleading, but remained calm, obviously trying to defuse the situation as he looked at Ruf.

"No, I think it's best to call the police, don't you Val?"

Before I could speak the guy spoke again. "Look, it really isn't a big deal, I apologize. There was no harm done."

I looked at him with a hard stare, "Then why are you following me? Why are you taking photographs of us?"

This time, I saw the man's face go white as he recognized it was more than a simple near miss on the street. He had been discovered. He looked at Ruf, who stood staring at him from a few feet away.

"Look, I can explain. We don't need the police here, it would only complicate things."

"For whom?" Ruf asked.

I watched as the man took a hard swallow. "I'm a private investigator, I was hired to track Ms. Valentine's activities for a few weeks."

I was stunned, what would anyone want to do that for? "You have to be kidding! I exclaimed.

"Who hired you to surveil her?" Ruf asked in a no nonsense tone of voice.

"I'm sorry, but that's confidential."

"Ruf, held his phone up and pushed three buttons, then put it up to his face. He waited a few seconds before speaking, "Yes, I would like to report a stalking situation. A man saying he's a private investigator is following a friend of mine."

"Wait, wait! I'll tell you. I don't want the police to know about this. It would ruin my reputation if they found out."

Ruf, pushed a button and put the phone into his back pocket after taking a photograph of the guy as he stood there befuddled.

"Look, I haven't found anything. I'll just report that to my client and I'll tell him he's wasting his money. No harm done."

"Who is it? No more playing games. Spill it or I call the police and we can all make written statements and see where this goes," Ruf replied calmly.

"It's Ted Ransom, Ms. Valentine's boss."

"What! What the hell does he think he's doing? What reason does he have for wanting to see what I do while I'm not at work? I'm not romantically involved with him and frankly, I wish he weren't my supervisor as he's a scum bag."

"Look, I don't ask clients for their motivations for hiring me, but he gave me the impression you're his girlfriend and he thinks you're stepping out on him. It appears to me the two of you are friends and nothing more."

Ruf looked at me with a questioning expression, then looked at the man with a hard stare, "Okay, if Val agrees we don't call the police, but you give her the card out of your camera and your business card to me as part of the deal. I'm her friend and at this point I'm an unhappy one."

The man looked at me, and I nodded my agreement. He pulled the camera out of the car, opened it, and handed the card to me, then handed the business card to Ruf. Ruf looked at the card, then looked at the man, "Mr. Cameron, I don't ever want to see you anywhere near Ms. Valentine again. If there is ever a next time, there won't be a deal, understood?"

"Perfectly."

Ruf looked at me, "See you at your place?"

I nodded, then watched as he walked to his truck and moved it out of the way so Mr. Cameron was able to leave. I walked to my car feeling angry and hurt, and at the same time grateful for a man that would stand up for me—a man who respected me, trusted me, and enjoyed my company.

It was a quiet evening. We talked about what had happened, and I told Ruf about the trouble I was having at work with Ted. Then, we read some more, ate a few chocolate cookies with a glass of milk and he left at eleven o'clock. Telling him about Ted was somehow cathartic and for the first time in weeks I slept well that night.

Now, I had something on Ted that would level the playing field when I needed it to. I was determined to use it to best advantage and vowed to wait until it would be most advantageous. Knowing I had that in my pocket gave me an emotional resiliency I hadn't had for a long time.

It was almost a week later when I was due for my annual evaluation. Ted had been hands off all week, not a single off color remark or lustful gaze had come my way. I wasn't sure why Ted had changed his behavior, but I was pleased he had. When I walked into his office at the appointed time I was anxious, unsure what my evaluation would be. I hadn't bent to Ted's desire to spend time with him to improve upon my performance review—this was the most despicable behavior I had ever experienced in my life. I sat down in the chair in front of his desk and waited. I could tell he was uncomfortable if nothing else.

"Ms. Valentine, I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Here's your copy of your annual performance review. You should take this and review it. You of course, have an opportunity to respond to it as you see fit. Thank you for the fine job you have done this past year."

I took the document from him and looked at him not quite knowing what to say. I knew what I wanted to say, but it wouldn't make a bit of difference. He had humiliated me and caused me tremendous psychological stress enough to cause me to consider leaving my job to avoid the pain he had inflicted. Now, I had a decision to make and wasn't sure if I had the gumption to do it. I looked at him determined to be strong and not show my internal distress.

"Are we done?" I asked calmly.

"Yes, but you know you didn't have to inform my supervisor that I hired a private investigator to follow you. If you had remained faithful to me it wouldn't have been necessary. What did you expect me to do when you cheated on me? I got rid of Craig, telling him you were spending time with other men, then you go and start seeing this other guy at the library. You just can't seem to understand I'm the best man for you. I'm the only one you need, the only one that truly loves you."

I was stunned. What was he talking about? I hadn't called his supervisor. Even worse was the realization he was a sick man. A very sick man if he thought we had a relationship, an understanding between us that bound us in a romantic way. Now, I did feel unsafe. He was unstable and I was sitting right in front of him. I gave a quick glance towards the door of his office into the customer service area making sure I could be seen. I decided it was wise to tread carefully and to choose my words with care.

"Ted, I had nothing to do with that," I replied firmly.

He glared at me, "Who else would have sent a picture of the private investigator I hired to McCormick if it wasn't you? Who else would have told him I was treating you unfairly and more?"

It was then I understood. Ruf had acted on my behalf. I would like to say I was unhappy with him, but I couldn't be—he acted to protect me in a way no one else could have. I was about to say something when Ted continued.

"I'll be sent to another position in a week, so I'm not going to be able to see you for a while."

See me in a while? Those words struck me hard. I wanted this to be over. I wanted him to be far away from me—the sooner the better. I decided it was time to end this madness and stood to leave.

"I'll look over the evaluation and if I have any questions I'll let you know. Good luck with your future position."