A Nose For Murder: Pearls Before Swine (A Phantomstein Mystery)

Chapter 5

Erik sighed as he sat at his desk, tapping his pen thoughtfully. Finally, he wrote a few sentences, "Many believe that courage comes naturally. I believe that courage comes from fear, from accepting that you are afraid, and embracing it. A man is not defined by his looks, but is defined by his actions, and how he treats others. If he cannot treat others as he would treat himself, then why is he a man? If he cannot treat others with the kindness and decency that a good man should, then what is he defined as? Society has many standards, and with greed and hatred among the many shared feelings in our current day, we must all be prepared for whatever lies around that bend in our path. We walk a thin line, defined only by who we choose to be, so who are we? Or perhaps a more appropriate question is, who are we meant to be?"

Ms. Caroline walked in, smiling, "Hello, Erik."

Erik looked up and flashed her a smile, "Ms. Caroline, hello." He stood and kissed her hand gently, pulling out the chair for her. As she sat, and so did he, Erik murmured, "Would you be interested in coming to my house for dinner?"

"You said your house was a disaster." Ms. Caroline said, "And you had a case to work on."

"The case is solved." He replied with a smile, "And I spent all this week cleaning everything up." He took her hand gently, "Will you please come to my house and honor me with your presence at dinner?"

She smiled, "I would love that, Erik."

He smiled and stood slowly, "Then let us waste no time." He took her arm in his and led her out. He looked at Ms. Josephine, "You can take the rest of the day as well as tomorrow and Sunday off, Ms. Josephine." He said. She looked surprised, and he smiled, "I think we've all done enough work for awhile."

..........

Erik made the best dinner Ms. Caroline had ever had, or so she said, and he gave her a tour of the house. She was amazed by his Victorian-Style home, and he gave her a history of his place. Eventually, they ended up in his bedroom, where she turned to him, fiddling with the collar of his shirt gently, "Erik..." She whispered, "I really do want to take you out on a dinner date..."

Erik stared down at her, his hand reaching to brush back a strand of her hair, "And I want to go out with you." He said softly, "I want to take you out to dinner every day."

She smiled, and he leaned down, kissing her softly. Their clothes came off quickly, making a trail to Erik's bed, where their passion was made long into the night, until they both fell asleep, curled in each other's arms. Erik woke up at some point and looked at her peacefully sleeping face. He wondered to himself, What am I doing? How did I end up doing this in the first place? But looking into her sleeping face, he just smiled and fell back asleep, pressing himself against her smooth body, content.

..........

Erik made a wonderful breakfast for Ms. Caroline, who was walking down the stairs, looking extremely sleepy. Erik chuckled softly, "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Shut up." She mumbled, sitting down at the table and gratefully accepting the cup of coffee that he offered her.

Erik smiled as he set eggs, sausage, and toast on a plate in front of her, "Did you sleep well?"

"Better than I've ever slept actually." She admitted, "What about you?"

Erik shrugged, lifting his eyebrows as he adjusted his glasses, "I don't sleep much, so I think I slept very well last night."

"You twitched a lot in your sleep." She said quietly.

Erik stiffened slightly as he made his tea, but he forced himself to be calm, "Oh? Huh... I must've been dreaming."