New Acquaintances

Sophie was already waiting outside Olivia’s apartment building when the doctor arrived, nylon jacket pulled tight around her shoulders, black yoga pants on, white joggers on her feet. “Do you have him?” she asked, excited.

Olivia nodded. “Right here in my purse,” she patted the side of the brown leather bag over her shoulder, “But I had to tape him, he was pretty damn feisty for such a tiny little man,” she said, shaking her head.

Sophie looked around surreptitiously, “Maybe let’s go up to your apartment to make the transfer,” she suggested, eyes sparkling with expectancy.

Olivia nodded, unlocking the glass building door with gold stenciled lettering using her key, before looping the ring around her finger in her left hand.

“Sun will be coming up soon,” Sophie commented, pulling her jacket even closer to stave off the slight but damp chill in the early morning air.

Olivia looked out at the sky, the faint fiery glow of a new day burgeoning in the east, as she pulled the building lobby door open wider. A number of mailboxes lined the wall and the orange carpet seemed a little retro.

Walking in, Olivia turned, “I’m curious, why do you want him?” she asked, eyebrow slightly arched.

Sophie smiled. “Girl to girl?”

“Sure,” assured Olivia.

“I have found myself becoming a little more, self-aware of late, I think that’s a good way to say it. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s is a nice man who means well, but he has used his size to intimidate, you know, loom over you or put you in his shadow and I’ve always felt a little scared around him, now the proverbial table is turned and I want to exert my presence, reclaim what he took,” Sophie explained. What she didn’t say, was how incredibly aroused she felt when Theo was in her panties and Ted had grabbed her, how much she wanted to dominate this seemingly unflappable man, force him to capitulate to her.

Olivia cocked her head slightly, wry smile. “You found his son, didn’t you?” she asked in a low voice. “Theo.”

Sophie couldn’t help herself, she blushed, and nodded slowly.

“And, oh goodness. What did you do?” she asked, brows now raised.

“Just about everything,” she said softly, lower lip pulled in between her teeth.

“And?” Olivia asked, mind drifting to the young firemen from the previous evening, imagining what it might be like to hold that exquisite specimen in the palm of her hand.

Sophie giggled, “I don’t know what to say, there is a certain sense of wielding absolute power over another person, very stimulating.”

Dr. Featherstone chuckled, it had been a very long time since she had enjoyed some intimate time with a member of the opposite sex. The fireman’s youthful face lingered in her mind’s eye, Wiley, that was his name.

“Is he still alive?” Olivia inquired.

“Of course, though one of my roommates stepped on his leg, but other than that, he’s okay,” Sophie responded.

Arriving at the apartment, standing at the door sorting the keys on her ring, “That’s good,” Olivia said as the door to her neighbor’s apartment opened and a young woman dressed in a housecoat stepped out into the hall. “It’s Dr. Featherstone, right?” asked the pretty blonde with green streaks in her hair.

Olivia frowned and nodded, “Yes,” she replied. “Andrea, isn’t it?” she asked.

The woman nodded and smiled, glancing at Sophie.

“Oh, Andrea, this is Sophie, Andrea,” introduced Olivia, mildly perplexed by the woman’s appearance so early in the morning.

“This matter might be better discussed in private,” Andrea said, reluctant to speak in front of the doctor’s companion.

The pace of Olivia’s heart quickened.it was something to do with Clayton, she just didn’t know if it was good or bad. “Of course,” she said, fumbling to get the apartment key into the lock.

Andrea looked into her own apartment, “Maybe in here?” she suggested.

Olivia looked at Sophie and nodded. Easing the key out of the lock, she held it between her fingers.

“Um, Last night during the fire, well, I think I found something that I think belongs to you. Something odd,” Andrea said, somewhat elusive.

“Oh?” Olivia asked, hoping beyond hope it was something positive.

“Follow me,” she invited, holding the door to her apartment open. Down the hall, there was a binging noise, announcing the arrival of the elevator.

Olivia nodded and walked in, followed by Sophie, both surprised by the amount of clutter stored in the small apartment.

“Sorry about the mess, down the hall, in the bathroom, he’s in the tub,” Andrea said. “I didn’t know where else to put him that he might not escape from. He’s unharmed, I made sure of that.”

Walking to the bathroom, Olivia clicked on the light and moved over near the tub. Sitting down on the toilet, she looked down on Clayton seated in the empty tub.

“Well, well, well,” Olivia said, broad smile on her face, a sense of relief and jubilance filling her as one of the variable that could have unraveled her entire scheme was within grasp.

Clayton looked up at Andrea and then Olivia, shaking his head slowly knowing no possible good could come from this exchange. He knew he was dead.

“Here is my wayward little firebug,” Olivia said, reaching into the bathtub. “That was an incredibly clever and brazen ploy Clayton,” she conceded.

Clayton didn’t bother to move or speak, there was no point, nowhere to run. He was resigned to his fate.

Picking him up, she brought him up near her head, a triumphant smile on her face, “Whatever shall I do with you now?” she asked.

”Hey babe, the door was open, I think I forgot my, what the fuck?” Bryce asked, standing at the door to the bathroom, Sophie and Andrea, backs to him as Olivia held Clayton aloft. His unexpected appearance startled all the women. He stared at the tiny figure in the Olivia’s hand.

Andrea turned her head, “Bryce?” she said, panic in her voice.

Olivia threw Clayton back into the tub and crossed the floor quickly as Bryce back pedaled. He wasn’t expecting the neighbor chick to launch herself at him, but that is exactly what she did, causing him to trip over some of the boxes stacked in the hall. Before he knew it, all three woman were on him, He raised his arms to protect his face from their ineffective punches.

He laughed, “What the hell is going on here?” he chortled as he pulled himself back up onto a knee. Bryce was big, but more bark than bite as the three woman struggled to bring him back to the ground. Having three attractive woman wrestle with you might seem a masculine idea of foreplay, what Bryce failed to appreciate, was that he was actually in a fight for his life. Andrea brought down the heavy box onto the side of his head, cracking him in the skull, he dropped like dead weight to the faded brown carpet.

“Is he dead?” asked Andrea, still holding the box, breathing heavy.

“He’s still got a pulse,” Sophie said, middle and index finger measuring his carotid pulse.

“We need to tie him up, get him to the lab,” Olivia said, looking up at the clock on the wall. “Should still be empty except for Warren.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Andrea breathlessly.

“He’s seen too much, we need to shrink him,” Olivia replied, fixing Andrea with an evaluative eye, wondering on the nature of the relationship and whether or not the woman would balk, in which case, Olivia would need to subdue her as well.

Looking down at the unconscious Bryce, Andrea frowned then looked at the doctor and nodded. “Like Clayton?”

 “Like Clayton,” Olivia stated, looking toward the bathroom where the small man was still in the tub, feeling a sense of relief and thinking she may have gained a new ally.

“Is there any way we could smuggle the machine out of the lab? This guy is going to be pretty heavy,” Sophie inquired.

Olivia considered a moment. “Possibly, I’m not sure how portable the core components of the GCR are and how much computational power I would need,” she said, perplexed as she contemplated the possibility.

“Less risk than trying to lug this fellow around,” Sophie said.

“Bryce,” Andrea said. “His name is Bryce.”

“Well we need to prevent Bryce from giving us any trouble, we’re going to need to tie him up,” Olivia stated.

Andrea and Sophie nodded, almost in unison. “I’ll see what I can find,” Andrea said, disappearing into the main room, not entirely sure what the heck was going on, but thoroughly hitching her wagon to Olivia.

Using electrical cords, bungee straps, and silver duct tape they thoroughly bound Bryce and left him on the floor in the hall.

“Sophie and I will return to the lab and see if it’d possible to bring what we need here. If we could make this device portable,” Olivia laughed, imagining the potentialities of being able to use the machine at whim. “You stay here make sure he doesn’t raise a ruckus.”

“Okay,” said Andrea with an affirmative nod, looking down on the bound form of her ‘boyfriend’.

Stepping back into the bathroom, she saw Clayton lying face down on the floor of the tub, unconscious and sporting a sizeable contusion on his forehead from the impact of having been unexpectedly thrown. Reaching in, she picked his limp form up.

Standing at the door of the bathroom, Sophie looked at Olivia, “Um, before we go, there was the Ted thing?” she inquired, glancing down at Olivia’s purse.

“Right, we’ll go next door, I’ll put Clayton in the tub there,” she replied, nodding, “And then we’ll go to the lab.”

Sophie smiled, anticipation palpable.