Page 22 of Tank

“No.” She looked at her own cell phone and couldn’t believe that the two of them had been in bed that long. Of course, their shower had taken a bit of time too, but she didn’t care. She didn’t hurt nearly as much as she had and was glad for that.

As soon as they were in the kitchen, the cook handed them both a plate of food. The table was already set, and she thought that she could get used to this. Having food when she needed it was going to be something that she couldn’t live without. She was forever forgetting to eat when she was working.

Ace joined them as soon as they were finished eating. He was given a sandwich too and enjoyed it while Sherman was telling him about the woman who wanted him to find her husband. He’d only been gone from the house for an hour, a couple of more hours than that by now, but it was too long in her books. Sherman asked Ace what he wanted to do.

“Find him. I don’t know what else to tell her. I don’t like this, but that’s what she wants; then we can give it to her.” Sherman said he thought that he’d say that. “Do you really not want to do it? Then don’t. Tell her that you can’t get a reading on the things that she brought for you, and leave it at that. If he comes home soon or is already there, then we don’t have to mess with her. I’m still reeling from the first time that I went to find out if a woman was cheating on her husband or not.”

“Ace went to a bar to see if the woman that the man had us looking for was having an affair. Almost as soon as he realized that she wasn’t just a lonely woman having a drink alone at the bar, her husband came in and killed her. Ace saw the entire thing. It was scary for us to take on domestic things after that.” Serenity said that she didn’t want him to do that either. “I can do what Ace said and pretend like I don’t know where he is. I also want to know how she got our names.”

“I’d want that as well.” They decided to meet her in a public place and chose the Den. There would be lots of people there on a Friday, and she wanted the place to be too full for them to enter. She was worried about this and didn’t care if Sherman did it or not. But she wanted him safe. “I’ll be able to protect us if she gets out of hand.”

“I’m a dragon, honey. I think that any one of us can protect the other.” She felt embarrassed, but he kissed her, and things were all right.

~*~

Sherman decided that he wasn’t going to tell her where her husband was if he was someplace far away. The man might have a good reason for walking out on his wife, and he didn’t know enough about it to wonder. Just as they were sitting down at one of the many tables in the restaurant, he decided that he could use some dessert and they all ordered sundaes.

He knew who she was the moment she walked into the place. She was dressed in what he could only call a hooker outfit. She had on a tight leotard that was pin-striped; it was so tight that most of her breasts were hanging out, and her nipple showed on the left side. Fishnet stockings as well as boots that went up to her thighs. Her hair was bright orange and hanging straight down her back. The purse she had in her hand, along with a baggie that zipped closed, was the only normal color that she had on. Everything else was as bright as neon and just as sickly when she moved. She sat down with them and smiled.

“Holy Christ.” He had to agree with Serenity when she whispered that through his mind. “No wonder he doesn’t want to be found.”

Ace was saying the same thing to him, and he cleared his throat. It was that or burst out laughing. He didn’t know what to think when she put out her hand for him to shake. Her nails looked more vicious than his claws did when he was his dragon. And they had so many beads and other things on them that he wondered how she even used her fingers. Taking her hand, he got a feeling of dread and asked her what her name was.

“Margo Smith.” Yeah, sure, his mind thought. “I’m looking for my husband. He wasn’t supposed to leave the house when it’s my turn to be who I want. I want to know where he is.”

She handed him the baggie, and he laid it aside. Just as he was going to ask her to tell him a little about their relationship, their sundaes were brought to them. He thought that the waitress was going to say something, but all she did was ask her what she wanted, and when she said coffee, he had to bite his lips to keep from asking her if she’d been up all night in her outfit. Instead, he asked her about their relationship so that he could get a better idea of what sort of person he was looking for.

“We have this thing we do once a month. For two days, I get to be who I want, and he gets to be what he wants for another two days. It’s worked out well for us until today. He told me he couldn’t take me looking like I did and take me to the grocery store. I don’t know what’s wrong with my outfit. His is no better.” He asked what he was dressed as. “A woman. He likes being a domestic. I support him in what he wants to wear, but he doesn’t me.”

“Do you suppose he’s just waiting until your two days are finished before he returns? I mean, this sounds like a domestic issue rather than him just not supporting you wholly.” She shook her head, and he nodded his acceptance. “All right.”

After getting the payment taken care of, he pulled the pair of socks out of the bag. He knew that they were his the moment that he touched them. Finding the man wasn’t difficult, but he didn’t tell the other woman that just yet.

“He doesn’t want to be found. He has it in his head that he doesn’t like doing this with you and would rather live his life alone as a woman.” She asked if he was living nearby. “He is. He’s set himself up in an apartment close by and has been living off and on there for months. He sometimes spends the day there instead of going to work.”

“I see.” She looked around the room, and people were staring. She didn’t seem to mind, but he did make sure that no one was going to cause a scene. “I don’t know what to do now. He’s been the love of my life for as long as I’ve known him.”

“Let him go.” They both looked over at Serenity when she spoke. “Obviously, he wants out of your relationship, and this is his way of telling you. I’d just move on.”

“But I love him. I really do.” She told the other woman that she couldn’t help her if she wanted to stay in a one-sided relationship. “What if I gave him more time as a domestic? Do you think that would help?”

“That would be something that the two of you need to work out.” Sherman handed her back the socks. “I’d just wait for him to come home. If he left with nothing, he’s going to need to come back for some of his things. Just wait and talk to him then. I can tell you where he is, but I don’t think it’s going to be better for you if you were to go there. He seems to want to be away for a while, and that’s what I’d give him.” He wrote down the address. “It’s up to you now if you go and see him. I’d not. Just wait on him but like I said, it’s completely up to you what you do now.”

“Thank you.” She didn’t touch the paper with the address on it, but did look at it. “I’m not going to take it. I’m going to do what he wants.”

Standing up, she left them in the restaurant, and they finished their ice creams. None of them talked about the woman, but Ace asked if he’d gotten more information than he normally would have.

“I did. Not only did I know where he was this time, but what he was thinking. I’ve never had that before.” Serenity asked what he wanted. “He just wants to be himself, and that’s being a woman. I don’t know why he wants that; he has no feelings of sexual pleasure from what he wants. He just wants to be a woman in his own way and leave the others around him alone. I think he’s saddest because he has to leave Margo. Her rules are what are keeping him from doing what he wants.”

“That’s so sad.” It was, and Sherman would have been the first to admit that. “It’s too bad they can’t work things out instead of just running away.”

They talked about the couple as they walked back to their home. Ace went to the office as he had plenty of work going on to keep him busy. Sherman had plenty to do as well, but his wasn’t as pressing. Besides, he wanted to spend the day with his mate and get to know her better. It was then that he realized that he’d been in love with her since the very beginning, and he couldn’t have been happier. Going into the house, he realized that he’d not checked up on things for Ace in a while and decided to get on to that. He opened his computer and found that he had fifty unanswered emails.

Since he’d been out of his office for the last several days, he caught up on his email and things that were left on the burner for a while. There was enough on his plate right now to keep him busy for a few days, but he paced himself. Getting more than half of the emails answered and taken care of, Sherman went to find Serenity.

“I was just looking for you.” She smiled at him as she handed him a freshly baked cookie. “I got into the mood to bake something for us to snack on, and chocolate chip cookies won out on what to bake.”

He ate the still-hot cookie and told her that it was delicious. Taking a second off the cooling rack, he got himself a glass of milk and a glass of tea for Serenity. They both ate several of the treats while they downed their drinks. He was putting away the milk when she asked him what he was going to do now that his power had changed.