The VIP Room(6)

Mark nodded and I could hear him chuckling under his breath. "I enjoy it that way," he said. "What about you, what do you drive?"

I laughed and looked over at him. "You'd laugh if I told you."

"Oh, come on. You know if you don't, I'm going to spend five minutes in your parking lot guessing what it is until you tell me one way or another."

The North Side isn't exactly Hell's Kitchen New York, but it's not the sort of place a guy just hangs out in a Mercedes sports coupe. I didn't want Mark to have any problems, so I gave in. "Fine. I drive an old Honda Civic. I mean, the thing's so old they still have that old badge on the back, the one that looks like it says CVCC instead of Civic?"

"I know what you mean. I'm not afraid to note my first car was one of those too," Mark said. He glanced out of the side of his eyes at me and smirked. "What, you thought I was born with money? You get to know me well enough, you'll find all sorts of surprises."

The comment touched me. Maybe he wanted to see me again, and wasn't just giving me a line back in the parking lot.





Chapter 5





Mark





The Vista Garden Apartments weren't the worst apartments I'd ever been to. My work takes me to worse places sometimes, although I didn't exactly like hanging out in locales like this. I spotted Sophie's Civic almost immediately, and noted that it was parked in the slot for apartment 212. I filed it away, along with the fact that her car had a parking sticker for not only the local university, but the university hospital. Her story about being a student wasn't bullshit.

"I'm sorry that our dance got cut off," I told her after stopping the car. "I know it's a bit sudden, but are you busy Sunday night?"

"Yeah," she told me sadly. "I'm doing a night shift at the ER. But I'm free Tuesday."

"Tuesday it is. I'll pick you up here, seven o'clock Tuesday."

Being the gentleman I am, I went around and opened the door for her, helping her out of my Mercedes before pulling her in for a kiss. Her lips were just as soft as I had hoped, and her body molded itself nicely against me. She was a bit shy at first, but when my tongue probed at her lips, she opened herself willingly, until she was clutching against me. I was tempted to delay my work for the night, but knew that I couldn't. Instead, I broke our kiss regretfully, and looked into her eyes. "It was wonderful meeting you Sophie. Can I ask, what's your last name?"

"Sophie White," she said, biting her lip again in that unconscious sexy way she had. "What about you?"

"Mark Snow," I said, both of us chuckling at the similar nature of our last names. I didn't tell her that Snow was just one of five different aliases I use, although it is the one closest to my real name. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sophie White."

I headed back to my car, before remembering that I promised Sophie my card. Reaching into the slot in between the cell phone holder and my stereo, I grabbed the slim metal case that I kept my cards in. I flipped it open and considered which of my different cards to hand her. Finally, for reasons I still don't fully understand, I handed her my professional card, the one that read "Mark Snow, troubleshooter," along with my cell phone number. I had never given it out to a regular person before.

"Here, just in case you thought I wasn't telling you the truth earlier," I joked, handing her my card. "Call me when you get off work tomorrow?"

Sophie's smile was worth the niggling little voice in my head that was telling me I should have given her one of my other aliases. As I drove away into the night, I only hoped my appointment in the North Side wouldn't take me too long.



* * *



Mark



I had bought my Mercedes not for the performance, although it was a great car, but, like Sophie said, for its ability to be totally silent when I wanted it to be. Driving slowly, I crept up until I was about two hundred yards away from my destination before I pulled over and waited. It's one of the advantages of an electric car, I can sit in idle mode in total silence, and very few people will notice me.

I have a very hard and fast rule in my line of work, one I've adopted personally. I always make sure the problem is present before I go in and do anything. Too many operators in my line of work just go in there regardless of the mess they make. I prefer to prevent future problems for me and my employers, and for that reason, I was highly sought after.

It took me almost thirty minutes to verify that the problem was there, and that I wouldn't be creating a scene or causing more mess by going in. Fine. I reached under the passenger seat of my car, and took out my tools.

Time to go to work.





Chapter 6





Sophie





I barely was aware of walking up the steps to my apartment, or going inside and locking the door behind me. When I got to my living room, I flopped down on the couch, trying to find something to watch on TV to wind down. But my mind was still whirling with the feel of Mark's lips on mine, and his strong arms pulling me into him. The confident feel of his kiss was different than any other first kiss I'd ever had, and my body betrayed my morals. I'd never slept with a guy on the first meeting, but I wanted him so badly it literally hurt. If he'd have asked to come in, I'd have most definitely said yes.