Heaven's Hellhound

"I don't understand how you could let that situation escalate so quickly. However, I spoke to her before I came here and she's really sorry for any inconvenience she caused. She asked me to apologise for her."

I was stunned. That must be the understatement of the century.

"Inconvenience?! She thinks this was a fucking inconvenience?! That nightmare calls the cops on me and calls it an inconvenience?!"

"Please, Stephen. Calm down. I promised to relay her apology. She's really sorry about what happened."

Calm down!? The last time I asked a woman to calm down, she threw a shoe at me.

"You can tell her to shove her apology where the sun doesn't shine."

"Stephen Trenton Webbster! That's not how our parents raised us. Do I need to call Mom?"

The final weapon. No matter how old we were, our Mom had her ways to conclusively settle any dispute.

"Go ahead. Don't forget to tell her how close I came to having to move back home while trying to find a new job with a criminal complaint in my CV."

"Come on. You're exaggerating. There never was a risk of that."

"She fucking called the cops on me. But I'm done talking about it. I still need to get some work done after I wasted half the day in the police station because of that orc."

My sister knew me well and realised it was pointless to try and talk to me when I was in the mind set I was in right now. She grabbed her bag and gave me a quick hug because even if we just had kind of an argument, we were still siblings that treasured and looked after each other.

"Love you, too," I muttered before she had a chance to say something.

She smiled and kissed my cheek. When she had left I was standing in the living room of my apartment, trying to understand why I was reacting so intensely. Everything my sibling had said was true. Even if everything was completely the witch's fault, it was really just a misunderstanding. Nothing bad had happened and nothing bad had ever been likely to happen.

I fixed myself a late dinner and then went back to work. I was currently writing the final report for a financial service provider whose security had clearly not been up to standards. I described how I had breached their defences, included enough of their data to prove it and outlined what they could do to improve their protection. I even included a couple of recommendations for suitable service providers.

When I went to bed around two in the morning, it took me surprisingly long to fall asleep as I kept remembering the intriguing eyes of Carmen Alonso. When I finally drifted off, I had utterly confusing dreams in which she alternately appeared as a blindingly beautiful herald from heaven and a painfully ugly daemon from hell.

+

Once I managed to put the events of that day behind me, life went on as usual. Three months later, the school year was approaching its end, my sister again asked me to pick up Jim and Scott. This time, I was not only punctual but even a couple of minutes early. I was standing close to the gate when Astrid, a common friend of my sister and myself, came over. We chatted for a couple of minutes and just as the children started streaming out of the school we were joined by Annika, another friend of ours.

"Hey, Stephen. Here to get arrested again?"

I knew it was meant as a joke but for me, this still was not something to laugh about.

"I wasn't arrested. That freak Alonso went ballistic and groundlessly pushed the panic button."

Before I could go on, my nephews came out the gate and demanded my attention. After a typical chaotic greeting, they took me by the hands and pulled me towards the gate.

"Ms Alonso said she needs to speak to you."

While I was their cool uncle, I also was a role model for them since their father had died, unreasonably young from a stroke three years ago. That forced me to go and talk to Hellhound Alonso. I couldn't ignore her now and then expect these two youngsters to act differently but they didn't need to be present.

"Ok. Wait in the car. It won't take long."

Grumbling, they did as asked and once they were seated, I walked over to where their teacher was waiting.

"Thank you for coming over, Stephen."

"I don't remember offering first name basis. If you need to address me at all, it's Mr Webbster."

The reminder from Annika of what had happened three months earlier, had put me in a foul mood and seeing the pest again awoke the anger in full but why was I needlessly escalating the situation? I could just listen to what she had to say and then leave. There was absolutely no need to behave like a dickhead.

"Well, we haven't been officially introduced and I'd like to rectify that. I'm Carmen Alonso but please call me Carmen."

She held out her hand for me to shake but I just looked at it as if it was a maggot-infested long-dead roadkill.

"You wanted to talk to me, Ms Alonso?"

For some reason, I was in full-blown ass-mode. Since that first disastrous meeting, I had had recurring dreams of her. After the initial confusion about whether she was sent from heaven or hell, she had unquestionably become an angel and the dreams had taken on a decidedly erotic nature. But I didn't want that. I wanted to think of her as a hellion, not an angel. She had called the cops on me, for fuck's sake. I refused to regard her as beautiful and attractive. I wanted to loathe her.

"I haven't yet had the opportunity to apologise to you in person for the unfortunate series of events in February."

I looked intensely at her, fighting the effect her disarming smile had on me.

"Your rash actions could have cost me my company, my career, and most importantly, the respect of my nephews. Just a few minutes ago, I was asked if I was here to be arrested again. What do you think is an appropriate apology for that? The only thing worse you could have done would have been to accuse me of attempted rape. From my point of view, you've proven that you're not qualified for your job, jumping to conclusions like that. You were acting irresponsibly and are obviously overwhelmed by the requirements of your position. If I had children of my own in this school, I'd pull them out until you were fired. You're just apologising to make yourself feel better, not because you're actually sorry for making baseless accusations."

I turned around to briskly walk away but was blocked by at least a dozen people who had just closely witnessed this exchange. Fuck! I wondered how long it would take until Tracy would hear of that. Or even worse, Mom. However, there was nothing I could do about it now and I pushed my way through the crowd and to the car.

Of course, this was not the end. My two nephews wanted to know what their teacher and I had talked about and were not satisfied at all with my answers.

The bush telegraph had obviously worked fast and the questioning eyes of Tracy told me all I needed to know as I dropped them off at their home after dinner. I left before she had the opportunity to question me though.

+

Two days later on Saturday, I was working at the desk in the second bedroom which served as my office when the doorbell rang. That had taken a day longer than expected.

"Come in. It's open."

My sister entered and the look I got from her was clear enough. She was pissed with me and there could only be one reason for that.

"Was that really necessary?"

She even skipped the greeting. That didn't happen very often.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't act stupid. Why did you have to treat Carmen like that?"

I had beaten myself up about my behaviour already. I was acting totally irrational. Why couldn't I let go? Sure, the consequences could have been drastic but nothing had happened and she had seemed sincere in her apology. I had almost reached the point where I was willing to admit the reason to myself.

"Nothing would have happened if she had just left me alone."

"Why are you so uptight around her? That's not your usual character."

She was certainly right with that and smart as she is, it wouldn't take her long to draw the right conclusions.

"Because she didn't even feel the need to say hi before she started in on me. I'm fucking tired of always being the nice, rational guy, considering how everybody else feels before I say or do something and then have people taking advantage of it."

"She knows that what she did was wrong and she has apologised to you twice now. I've talked to her and know why she acted the way she did. I understand her reaction. It doesn't make it right but fathomable. Your response to her apology was vicious and hurtful."

"Good. Maybe she'll leave me alone now."

What I verbalized and what I felt were not the same thing. I was ashamed of my behaviour. Sure, she had made a mistake but as unbelievable as it may sound, I've also made my share of them in my life. If I made an effort and tried to look at it from a neutral point of view, she had stood up for the kids she was, at that moment, responsible for. Also, I had to admit that my curiosity was piqued. My sister wouldn't say what she had if there wasn't a good reason for Carmen Alonso's behaviour. Then I suddenly saw her eyes light up.

"Oh my god! You fancy her! My brother, the self-proclaimed eternal bachelor, has fallen for a woman!"

I wanted to contradict her, refute her claim but unfortunately, she was mostly right.

"That makes so much sense. Don't even try to deny it. You saw her, fell for her, and then she blew up on you. That's why you act so intense and emotional around her. That's perfect."

"I do not fancy her," I started but as expected my sister ignored my objection. My contradiction was kind of true, though. I didn't just fancy her. I was head over heels in love and I had been since that first short instance when our eyes had connected before we had even spoken a single word, before I had even got out of the car.

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but you and I both know the truth. Don't worry, though. Your secret is in good hands."

Soon after my sister left for home, I was again standing confused in my apartment. She was right. I was hopelessly in love. That hadn't happened to me for a long time, if ever. For the last few years, I had successfully avoided all kinds of lasting emotional investment in my relationships. As soon as they started hinting at longer terms, I broke it off. Not rudely or cruel but nevertheless unmistakably. Most of my commitment phobia or reluctance came from my experiences with past girlfriends. Two I had caught cheating, one had tried to trick me into fatherhood, and the last one, the worst, had been physically and mentally abusive. These four had left me with a huge pile of distrust towards women, with my mother and my sister being the sole exceptions.

But somehow, this was different. I couldn't get her out of my head. Whenever I thought of her, I saw that first impression before my inner eye. Those almost golden eyes, the smile which had made them sparkle, and this overall angelic impression that had made me stumble.

Then why did I act the way I did? Because it was a totally unfamiliar situation. I, Stephen Trenton Webbster, didn't fall in love. I charmed women out of their panties. I had flings. I was always in control of any relationship. Until I met Carmen. Now I was here, not knowing what to do about it.

+

It was obvious my sister was up to something. She was just a tad too nice to me during our normal calls and meetings. The problem was I had no idea what she planned. Two weeks after she had discovered my secret, she asked me to pick up the boys again. For once, I refused as I didn't trust her intentions. I didn't even try to feign an excuse. I expected her to call our Mom to bring me around but she didn't. That should have been a warning sign but to be honest, I never played in the same league as my sister when it came to plotting.

Friday evening a week later, she called me again. It was seven o'clock and I had just finished working. I was about to cook myself some dinner.

"Hey, Stephen."

"Hey, Tracy. What's up? A bit late for me to pick up the boys, isn't it?"

She chuckled on her end of the line.

"Ok. That was stupidly obvious of me, but you can't blame a hopeless romantic for trying."

I grunted some kind of confirmation. My sister wasn't a romantic and she usually didn't admit mistakes that easily. Something didn't add up. I was about to call her out on it but she pre-empted me when she came to the reason for her call.

"But I have kind of an emergency at my hands. My laptop seems to have caught a virus. Can you help me remove it?"

That took my mind off her unusual behaviour and I immediately switched to professional mode. How could she catch a virus? I had made sure that she had the best security available.

"What did you do?" I scolded her.

"Nothing. Maybe it was one of the boys. You know how they can be at that age. Maybe they tried to download a game or something or even checked out a porn site."

That was not totally unrealistic. At almost eleven years old, this could well have happened even though the security I had installed should have been sufficient to stop a virus.

"I'll be right over. Don't do anything with it."

"You're my saviour!"

Ten minutes later I was on the way and arrived at my sister's house shortly after. I parked in her driveway, walked up to the door and rang the bell.

Tracy opened and sent me to the living room. I was a little surprised that it wasn't the twins welcoming me but that was nothing compared to the shock when I found Carmen Alonso sitting in the living room. Before I had the chance to say something, Tracy put her hand on my shoulder.

"No, Stephen. Please. Sit and listen."

I turned towards her to complain about this setup, but the way she looked at me made me stop and consider my position. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time to start acting my age and behave like an adult instead of a pouting child or a terrified teenager. I looked around and found that 'somebody' had removed all seating opportunities except the couch where Carmen was already sitting. Occasionally, I wasn't totally stupid and could take a hint when I got one, so I sat down on the sofa, albeit as far away as possible from her. I even turned towards her, signalling that I was open to listening.

My sister took the opportunity to leave us alone. "I'll go and make some tea. I'll be right back."

Carmen mirrored my posture which almost made me smile. Psychology one-oh-one. How to connect to your vis-à-vis. As we consciously made eye contact, I saw vulnerability and nervousness in her eyes and definitely didn't like that. I would have preferred to see those golden jewels sparkle from laughter.

"My father is an alcoholic. When he came home drunk, he would often beat my mother, or me, for the smallest of reasons. First, I was too young to understand what was going on and even thought it was somehow my fault. It wasn't until I got older that I comprehended that the problem wasn't me or Mama but him and the liquor. When I was sixteen, he caused an accident driving home from a bar inebriated. He went to prison for it but the ensuing damages cast my family in debt. With a lot of hard work, and unwaveringly supported by my Mama, I managed to make my dream of becoming a teacher come true."

I wanted to speak up, say something nice and encouraging but she stopped me by raising her hand.

"When you came to pick up Jim and Scott, you were staggering on your way over, almost fell a couple of times, and worst of all, you smelled just like Papa used to. Old memories flashed through my mind and I did what I did. You did not deserve that, you did nothing wrong, but it called up violent memories from my childhood. Yes, I should have given you a chance to explain yourself and I'm sorry I didn't do it but I acted out of deeply ingrained fear and my instinctive reaction was to protect the children at all cost."

I waited for a moment to see if she had anything more to say but she stayed quiet, looking at me with those wonderful, golden eyes. I raised my eyebrows, asking for her okay to speak which she gave with a tense nod of her head.

I consciously chose a very formal way for my reply after her emotional outburst. She had bared her soul to me and I wanted to be sure I didn't hurt her.

"I accept your apology and in turn ask you to forgive my own for my despicable behaviour a couple of weeks ago. You chose a public situation to rectify your mistake and my reaction was abysmal. I promise to make sure you'll get an equally public apology from my side."

There. That wasn't very difficult. All it took was some mature behaviour. I felt a lot better now. Relieved, I extended my hand.

"Friends? Or at least not enemies anymore?"

"Friends sounds wonderful," she replied with a grateful smile and I could see how the tension left her body.

She rose, took my hand and pulled on it. As soon as I stood, she hugged me, holding me tightly around my chest and cradling her head to my neck, just above the collarbone. Oh god, that woman felt fantastic. Curved where I liked it curvaceous, flat where I liked it flat, hard where I liked it hard, and soft where I liked it soft. Then I remembered to breathe and was immediately captivated by her smell which was a mixture of some fruity shampoo and her own personal scent which reminded me of freshly baked bread and cinnamon. I couldn't suppress a small groan and without thinking, I placed a soft kiss on the side of her head which was instantly countered with a whimper of her own. Then I felt her soft lips on my shoulder, then my neck and in return kissed the top of her ear, the temple, under her eye.

Totally entranced and powerless to resist what was happening, our lips gravitated to each other and we got lost in time and space as they found their counterparts. Our tongues started to get involved and caress each other, expressing feelings whose intensity we both didn't yet fully comprehend.

"Now that went even faster than expected," my sister laughingly interrupted us, coming back into the living room carrying a tray with three cups of tea on it. To this day, I don't know what would have happened if Tracy hadn't appeared at that moment.

As it was, we both retracted reluctantly, not wanting this perfect moment to end.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not understanding what she was talking about.

"You both told me the same thing. That you fell in love the moment you laid eyes on each other but then everything spiralled out of control. I was just wondering how long it would take for you to realise that."

"I never said such a thing," I replied defensively, not letting Carmen escape from my arms.

My sister just laughed.

"I did," Carmen stated, somewhat sheepishly. "At least sort of." My refusal to let go of her told her all she needed to know.

"So did you, baby bro, just not with words. But you were acting so irrational that there was only one possible explanation."

Defeated, I smiled and looked at Carmen.

"I'm sorry, I was so daft. It's been a while for me and didn't know what to do, so I panicked."

She gave me a soft kiss on the lips.

"It's okay. You'll have plenty of time to learn," she schmoozed back.

My sister feigned vomiting, "Oh, god. New lovers. I'll go and throw up."

Not even an hour ago, Tracy had described herself as a hopeless romantic which I had thought weird. This reaction was far closer to what I would expect from her but I understood. I had made similar comments about other newly enamoured couples before.

"Well, you reap what you sow," Carmen bantered back and rightfully so. If my sister hadn't conspired to get us together, we still wouldn't be on speaking terms.

"Just wait with the sowing for a while. Jim and Scott will be back soon from dinner with their grandparents. I don't want them traumatised."