Weather Riders: In Over My Head

Studio 30+ afforded me a great opportunity to continue my Storm Riders series this week with their prompt quirky and/or odd.  If you've missed the previous pieces of the story, click here or follow the tab above.  And, be sure to check out other responses to the Studio 30+ page this week through the button below.

                I sat in the kitchen long after Caiden left, still trying to decide what to believe.  He seemed so odd.  Cultured and refined, yet ruthless and unrelenting.

                Joe interrupted my confused musings, “So?”

                “So, what?”

                He snorted as I studied my hands to avoid the look on his face, “You two looked pretty cozy out there.  I didn’t know you were capable of laughing like that without it killing you.  When do you see him again?”

                “Very nice, Joe.  Just because I take my work seriously doesn’t mean I don’t know how to have some fun.  And I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”

                “What do you mean you don’t know.  A man like that won’t be on the market long.”

                “Trust me.  I do know that.  I just,” I trailed off.

                Joe knew though, like usual, “You don’t want to seem impulsive or crazy.  You like him.  You want to say screw it all and be reckless with him.  You like him and that scares you.”

                “It’s more than that,” I blushed, knowing he was right.

                “Like what?”

                “He’s different.  Not in a cliché way.  More like he’s got quirks that I’m not sure what to make of yet.”

                “And you don’t, my friend?” Joe always could make me smile, “Go.  Live it up while it lasts.  We got the restaurant and God knows you have more than enough time off coming to be gone for several months.  We’ll be here to pick up the pieces when your fun is over.”

                I looked up at Joe, unsure of how to answer his insane suggestion.

                “Shay, it’s time to experiment with the rest of your life, not just your food.”

                I laughed, “Thank you, Joe.  I’m not totally sure yet what I’m going to do, but you’ll be in charge if I am gone a while.”

                Those words turned out to be prophetic.  I never made it back to the restaurant the next day like I’d planned.  I also didn’t get to see Caiden again, like I’d really wanted to.  Call it fate.  Call it the Boogey Man.  Call it what you will.  But, it came knocking later that night.  I opened my apartment door to find yet another strange Storm Rider standing in the hall.

                The next thing I knew I was waking up in the back seat of a sedan cruising down an unknown highway.

And take a stab at this week's Don't Panic Picture Prompt!