A Thief In The Night

Professional Curiosity

Bill

"Is that a mayo sheen, or are you glowing, Billy?"

A chuckle rolled out of me as I wiped the mayo from my mouth and shook my head at Regina Shelby. I felt light. Energized. Hopeful. Yet, I knew better than anyone that relationships were fleeting and what delights one weekend could bring, a multitude of others could take away.

"Maybe both," I said. "I spent the weekend with Izabella again."

We ate lunch at the deli Regina liked. I offered to pay this time. I appreciated the Wednesday ritual we developed after Nathan left. She saved me from being a very moody demon.

Thankfully, I'm not the kind that goes galloping through the city square lopping off heads, but when my mood is foul, my students do poorly, and grades slip, and faculty review boards involve themselves without just cause. Regina came to the rescue with magical roast beef. Well, it wasn't really magical, and actually, it wasn't even beef. But it was close enough, and it was damn good.

"This is the second weekend, yeah?" Regina said. "Did you two do anything interesting?"

The question was innocent enough, but it had me reminiscing to Izabella as Tom, the trumpet player. And about fifteen or twenty other things we did in my apartment since it rained most of the weekend.

"Stayed in mostly. Though we did go out on Friday night to listen to some jazz. That turned out pretty well."

"There's something you're not telling me."

I looked at Regina and wondered how much she actually wanted the details. "Did I ever talk about my sex life with Nathan?"

"No, now that you mention it."

"Then why would I talk about my sex life with Izabella?"

"So I can live vicariously?" She said with a whimsical voice. "She's rather interesting looking, stunning in a sort of vampiric kind of way, though I know she's not a vampire."

"No, she has a heartbeat and a soul."

"Vampires have souls."

"Just barely."

"So harsh, Bill. Anyway, if she has a sister, I'd be interested."

The snort that escaped me made Regina laugh. I could only imagine. My instinct told me that if Izabella did have a sister or any relatives alive, it was very likely that they didn't look like her.

"I'll ask," I answered even though I knew her wife, Francis, would likely not approve, and she was joking. Regina was and always has been a one-lady woman.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Bill."

"No problem." I shook my head and finished up my sandwich.

Later that afternoon, I sat in my office grading papers when my phone chimed. An alert from a bot crawler I had set up told me that one of the objects I sought was mentioned in a recent article on South Pacific cultures. There was a picture of a stone with four lines on it. The article talked about the stone being used in ceremonies, but they didn't know in what capacity.

I knew what it was. It stole your sense of danger or fear. It caused people to wander far and wide. It made heroes and legends until they lost the stone, or their lack of fear made them do something that they couldn't survive. I wanted the object. I'd have to see what I could do about acquiring it.

My thoughts drifted to Izabella. I knew she could get it for me with her skills, but I hesitated to have her involved yet. Two weekends were not enough to know if I could trust her. Though I wanted to more than I realized.