Chapter 20 - The End

We let Diego keep the tape off of his mouth, Stephan remained bound. Junior and his partner entered the condo following the recent call I had made and explained the situation. There was a smile on his face, "I knew you were innocent," he said as he extended his hand.

I took it and shook it hard, emphasizing my respect and thanks for his in return. "No hard feelings, Mr. Scott?" he asked.

"No worries," I responded. "It has been a really long day. Can you take these unwanted guests to your place? You can ask me everything you need tomorrow. Right now I need a Bud and some time to unwind."

The senior partner of the police tag team said "That's fine. Normally this condo would be a crime scene, but the homicides took place on the beach and at the station, that's where we will get the evidence. We won't mess with your place, you have put up with enough for one day," he said as he went to Stephan to replace the taped hands with cuffs. "We'll take these guys off your hands now. Please stop by the station in the morning to give your statement."

"Will do," I said as I followed them to the door.

"You throw a mean party," said Jake. "I'm gonna take off if you don't mind."

Andrea spoke up, "thanks Jake." She hugged him and held on for what seemed like five minutes, but was more like fifteen seconds. After the embrace he reached out and shook my hand.

"Thanks man, you literally saved our lives," I said. He broke the shake nodded that 'no problem' gesture, then parted company through the door.

Andy and I walked in silence to the sofa and sat in un-choreographed unison. The silence was deafening as we both looked out on the moonlit surf.

"You okay?” I finally asked breaking the standoff.
“Yeah, I guess,” she replied. “The past few hours were a whirlwind.”
“I know what you mean.” I looked up at the clock – it was 9:15. “The last fifteen hours have seemed like a decade. I’m just happy to be at home, not in jail, or dead.” I looked at my fingers, I was happy to have those as well, but didn’t want to bring up the threat from Stephan. “You want a Bud?”

“I thought you would never ask.”

I got up and walked to the fridge, opened the door and grabbed two longnecks, which I set on the counter, twisted the tops off and tossed in the trash. Then grabbed the two by the necks and returned to Andrea. I offered her one, we clanged bottles, “cheers,” I said.
“Cheers,” she replied. I sat back down beside her and chugged about a third of the bottle. As it went down, an uncontrollable burp came up. Andrea laughed. I turned a bit red, and then joined in laughter. We couldn’t stop. I never thought I would laugh again. It was like we were stoned on weed, we were laughing at nothing, but it felt good to laugh. It was a sign that all was good. We would survive this day to remember forever. Another shared event between Andy and myself.

If I had to think about it hard, she was my best friend. True, she is my boss, but my best friend as well. The timing could not be better – or worse for that matter for what came next.

“Do you find me attractive?” she asked.

I looked at her – deep into her eyes. I saw something that was not there before. There was strength; there always was strength in Andy’s eyes. But this time there was vulnerability too. I had never seen that in her eyes before. Was she vulnerable in anticipation of my answer, or was it from the terrifying events of the day? I was not certain. What I was sure of is that the answer was ‘yes’. I did find her attractive in a way I had not seen before. She was always my boss, a ‘Plain Jane’ executive. A woman trying to be a man in a man’s world. Of coarse she lacked the typical feminine attractiveness of the women I dated. Was that a bad thing I wondered?

“Yes,” I answered after considerable thought.
“That took you a long time,” she replied sounding hurt.
“Andrea. Today you are a different person to me. We have experienced life and death situations. Sure we have faced monetary issues before. Stockholder dissatisfaction. SEC compliance. Sarbanes Oxley. But never death. This changes everything. I thought that the looks of a woman like Rachel, was what I desired. Now it is repulsive to me. That type of woman in my life, died on the beach. I no longer seek the polished, made up, surgically enhanced Barbie Doll. What I want is something real. A strong woman, who is my equal, superior even. A woman like you. Do I find you attractive? Absolutely.”

This time she looked into my eyes. I could see that she was touched by what I had said, and was looking to ensure I was sincere. Eyes don’t lie. People lie, but eyes are pure. Then she broke the gaze and lifted the neck of the Bud to her lips, tilted up and downed half the beer. Up came a burp that rivaled mine. The laughter resumed.

The End.