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I blocked his punch and started to throw one of my own, but just then I caught sight of Shelly who was watching from the ground. I had a few urges. On the one hand, I wanted to pound Ian’s face for hurting Shelly and on the other hand I wanted to keep what Shelly and I had started totally safe and secret. In that split second I had to make a decision that would affect the both of us.
I uncurled my fist and instead shoved Ian back with an open hand. He staggered backwards losing his balance and almost falling to the ground.
“Stay right there!” I yelled at him. “Do not even think about trying that again!”
I could sense that Max was trying to make his move as well. He didn’t want to back down. Was he also under the impression that this was a bar fight against a total stranger I was going to step in to and allow him to continue to pummel the other guy? No. Ian was a member of the crew, albeit a new member of the crew.
Ian stopped in his tracks as he saw the anger in my face. He knew that he had better not try to punch a senior member. As it was, he was possibly going to be fired. Maybe Max, too. It would serve them both right. If I was chief I would have done the same. It was up to him and completely out of my hands. There was no excuse for this sort of thing. It was understandable in a sense. The team was basically locked together all day every day with mostly boredom to do. That could give you a case of cabin fever really fast.
The rest of the crew was pouring in now helping to break things up and bring order to everything. The Chief was the last to show up on the scene of course. He stormed into the room with an irate look on his face. He took one look at both men disgusted.
“Both of you get to my office now!” The Chief yelled.
Max and Ian sauntered off. The fight seemed to have gone out of them by then. I watched them go and stayed silent, but I wanted to check on Shelly and make sure she was ok. At the same time, I didn’t want to appear overly concerned. The Chief helped out with this.
“Are you alright, Shelly?” he asked helping her to her feet.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a nasty bruise on my arm. I guess I should have waited for backup.”
“It’s alright,” he said. “That was good instinct.”
“Glad you’re alright,” I said to Shelly.
She nodded and smiled at me. The bruise on her arm had a cut below it that was starting to blead a bit. “I’ll go take care of this,” she said. Shelly walked out of the room and headed toward the medical supply room, most likely to get a bandage and maybe some ointment. She was a tough woman. I wanted to caress her and hold her, make sure she was really fine, even though she needed nothing of the sort. Somehow, it would have made me feel better.
I hated to see her in any pain.
“And I’ll go take care of those two jackasses,” the chief said as he stormed off. The rest of the crew had left the room and were now going about their days. I was starting to head out, as well. My stomach was really rumbling now. Maybe a big burger would hit the spot…
That was when I saw the phone on the ground. I picked it up. The screensaver was a picture of Shelly and another woman whom I did not recognize. Shelly’s phone.
I went to the medical supplies office. No Shelly. Then I checked in her office, but Shelly was not there. Where did she go? Ladies room?
Maybe she went outside to get some air? I went to the front of the building and glanced out the window. There was Shelly. She was getting into her car. A fresh bandage was on her arm. I checked the time. It was about five. It had been a long, uneventful day, or at least it was until the fight.
Shelly was going home. I wondered if she was hurt worse than she was letting on, or if there was something else wrong with her. It was unlike her to just take off that way without saying goodbye to anyone, but she was more or less free to go as she chose as long as she got all of her work done. That was the perk of being a bit higher up in the company.
I clutched her phone tightly in my hand. She would need this back right away. I decided that I would return it to her then. I got in my car and drove out of there heading toward Shelly’s.
Besides, this would give me a great excuse to see her again outside of work.
Chapter Twelve
Shelly
I was shocked to hear the knock at my door about five minutes after I arrived home. I’d just made it to the bathroom to take a real look at the big bruise and cut on my arms I’d suffered during my knock to the floor during the fight at the end of the day. I took this to mean that my training had an ill effect on a few people. Or the guys were just tired of being so cooped up inside.
I understood this. These were physical, active people and when they weren’t allowed to get that active, they tended to go a little bit haywire. It did throw me for a loop though. I hadn’t expected to be knocked to the floor, that was for sure. But I did want to help and stop this senseless fight before anyone got hurt. I thought foolishly that if a woman ste
pped in the way, it would trigger the men to stand down.
That had not been the case.
But I was fine. Just another bump and bruise to add to my collection I’d picked up over the years. That was the name of the game sometimes.
I opened the door surprised to see Gary standing there. We had just made it through the entire day without wigging out and getting mushy with each other. And it had not been easy. I couldn’t count the times I wanted to hug him, kiss him, even talk to him, but I was so paranoid that it would get misconstrued that I barely even glanced his way.
Gary felt the same way. I could tell. Once or twice I caught him staring at me, that look full of lust in his eyes. It looked the way that I felt when I was around him. This wasn’t going to work. I knew it wouldn’t. To be that close to each other all day, pretending to be strangers, and to know that at the end of the day there would be no payoff, no release for your trouble… that was just maddening.
