'Doc Juan'

Chapter 12

He woke up to the smell of something burning one night...only to find his home engulfed in flames which slowly crept towards his bed! He rubbed his eyes as he made out a familiar curvaceous silhouette not far from him. "You? Did ya break in ere? An' this?! I was gonna call, ya know?! Ya didn't have to do this! Ya really are dangerous, ya psycho...! Just ya wait...I've got a flare gun in ere...somewhere..." he stuttered, as she began to move towards him with a heavy object in hand, possibly to bludgeon him to death before the fire consumed him. He rummaged through the bedside table drawer for the flare gun to defend himself...but it was gone! Fortunately, he didn't need it, as she stopped next to the window as if contemplating her escape. She flashed him a grin through the smoke. He caught a glimpse of her red hair one last time as she smashed the glass using the heavy object and climbed out, leaving him cowering as the flames slowly began to engulf the bedroom.
"How'd this happen? You poor man...An' your house...your fancy house, it's gone! Up in flames..." Elle, who was his emergency contact and had rushed over as soon as possible, consoled him as they sat watching the firemen douse the fire. They'd received a call from passerby and saved him in the nick of time, but unfortunately, his ancient mansion and everything in it had burnt to the ground. "I know who did it...I, uh...I couldn't resist that redhead friend o' yers. I'm sorry, but I picked er up at the firm one evenin an' we went out for drinks....An' ya know, one thing led to another..." he confessed, stopping to inhale from his oxygen mask in between sentences. "Tell me ya didn't sleep with her after I warned you not to..." she muttered.
"Worse! I slept with er an' didn't call er back. She kept callin an' I ignored er. You were right. She did get real nasty, real fast! I'm sorry..." the ashen man explained his foolishness, apologetically. "Maybe you deserved this then! I think you should apologize to her instead of apologizing to me. Although, I reckon she's already left town. Wow! Ya really do push people over the edge, dontcha? Never thought she'd resort to arson." Elle nodded her head in disbelief, while he sat clutching the blanket wrapped around him with his trembling fingers.
"Ya know, they found the cause o' the fire. Yer flare gun? The one ya gave me? She found it somehow an' shot a flare right into the fuse box." he revealed to her what he'd heard from the fireman, sweat dripping down his wet hair and running down his sooty face as he dabbed at it with the blanket. "Does this mean I've to leave town as well? Well, I'm gonna kill ya before I leave! " she declared, leaving in a huff. "Oi, wait! Where am I gonna stay tonight?! " he called out behind her, gulping as he was left all alone in the cold.