Free Touch Me Once by Anne Kyle Page A

the tire episode. He made me feel safe. I threaded my arm through his as we walked up to the house and went inside.
    We went to the living room and settled ourselves on the sofa. Alex looked like he was gathering his thoughts. I put my hand on his leg and said, “Just start at the beginning. It’ll be okay.”
    “I really hope I’m wrong about this, because I’ll feel really bad if something from my life becomes a problem for you,” he said with a sigh.
    “It’s just a tire, Alex. Now, tell me what you think is going on.”
    He moved his hand to mine , and our fingers intertwined. “I told you that I don’t date very often. One of the reasons is because I don’t have a lot of time. Another reason, though, is that the last time I went out with someone, she ended up being a real wingnut.”
    I giggled a bit, “Wait until you see my crazy side.”
    “She seemed fine at first. She and a few friends came into the restaurant one night, and they were having a good time. I was helping Jerry behind the bar, and this one woman was flirting with me relentlessly. It was harmless, really, just another night slinging drinks.”
    “I can’t say that I blame her. At least she has good taste,” I said.
    Alex squeezed my hand, “So , anyway, she tells me her name is Mandy and asks me what mine is. We shake hands, and she asks me if I’m the Alex that owns this place. I tell her yes, and her eyes kind of light up. I should have seen that as a sign right away, but I didn’t. To tell you the truth, I was kind of flattered.”
    “ That’s nothing to be ashamed of; I can tell you that I was very flattered when you asked me out,” I told him.
    He smiled at me. “I have to admit that asking you out is turning out to be one the best decisions I’ve ever made. Anyway, Mandy comes in a few more times, and we talk. She gets pretty sloshed once or twice, but hey, it’s a bar right? Finally, she asks me if I want to go with her to an oyster roast a friend of hers is having. I figure what the hell so we go.
    It’s a bummer from the start. When we get there, she starts pounding shots, and then she asks me if I want to smoke some pot. People can do whatever they want, as far as I’m concerned, but I tell her I’m okay. Well, that doesn’t stop her, so she disappears with some friends, and when she comes back, she’s just baked to the gills. I’m quickly realizing that this isn’t my scene, and I try to think of a way to leave.”
    I say, “It’s her party and she’ll get fried if she wants to.”
    “Exactly. She’s getting really loopy by the time I bring up the idea of leaving. She says that the party is just getting started and that I need to loosen up. The next time she goes off to smoke some weed, I ask one of her friends if they can take her home. Her friend tells me that she doesn’t get this way very often and agrees to give Mandy a ride home. But then she says with an ominous tone that Mandy won’t be very happy about this. I didn’t think anything of it at the moment, but I should have.”
    “I think I can see where this is going. It doesn’t sound like a happy ending,” I tell him.
    “Oh , just wait, I haven’t gotten to the good part yet,” he says. “Over the next week, crazy Mandy comes into the restaurant a couple of times and keeps getting hammered. I avoid her the best that I can, but she goes out of her way to run into me. She yells at me and calls me a dick and a spoiled rich boy.
    I make her leave the second time she pulls that shit , and when I go out to my car at the end of the night, I have two flat tires.”
    I said, “Well , it looks like I got off easy.”
    “Oh , yeah, you did. Then, one night I wasn’t working, and I get a call from Jerry,” Alex tells me, shaking his head. “It seems that Mandy had come in drunk and was yelling that I should stop hiding from her. She starts smashing plates and some glasses and generally freaks the fuck out.
    Jerry has to restrain her while he waits