We lay there for an hour, talking about nothing in particular. I kept thinking that I’d butchered a professional relationship I’d built for a decade. Perhaps Cassie read my mind, because she said a couple times this wouldn’t change things. How could it not? Even if we never laid down together again, it would always be there between us. But there was no use in arguing that point at the moment. Because if the opportunity arose again, I’d take it.
“You should probably go soon.” She lay on her side, the sheet barely covering her breasts. She traced her finger along my chest.
“Kicking me out already?”
“You know it wouldn’t be good for Pennington and Cervantes to show up here in the middle of the night and discover you in my bed.”
“They have that kind of open door policy with you?”
She smiled and lifted an eyebrow. “You’ll never know.”
I laughed at the suggestion. “Guess I should be on my way then. With the hard-on Cervantes has had for me, I don’t want to be in the room like this when he shows up.”
She planted her palm firmly on my chest, pinning me to the bed. “There’s not that much of a rush.”
I surrendered to her again.
Two hours later, I was finally on my way. The sun had long since set, but the humidity remained. The clouds had thickened across the night sky. I walked through dim pools of light cast down by the streetlights while the cicadas trilled like ancient warriors rushing a city. I scanned my surroundings, looking and listening for anything out of place. Footsteps. A ticking muffler. A sudden silence. There was none of that.
Driving through the city with the windows down was a different experience at night. The air had cooled enough that it felt chilly at forty miles an hour. It rushed through the car, encasing me in an invisible tomb, dulling Cassie’s scent on my skin.
A parking spot remained in front of the house where I was staying. I hadn’t pulled in and cut the engine before the old woman stepped out onto the stoop. I glanced up and saw her hugging on her beau. She playfully shooed the man away, then called for me after I stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Mr. Tanner?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’ve had a long day, haven’t you?”
What did she know? And how did she know it?
“How do you mean?”
She trekked down the stairs, smiling, and came up to me. “Been gone a long time today. And what’s that smell? A woman’s perfume? Either you were shopping and trying out a new lifestyle, or you’ve got a lady friend here in Savannah.”
“I’ve got a lady friend in lots of cities, ma’am.”
She slapped my shoulder. “Mr. Tanner, I’m an old woman. I can’t take hearing that kind of talk.”
“Oh yeah.” I jutted my chin toward the gentleman walking away from us. “I guess you and your fella were just playing bridge then, huh?”
“And with that,” she said, “I’ll be retiring for the evening. Breakfast is at seven if you are interested.”
I stayed on the sidewalk until she’d made her way back inside the house. Voices rose behind. I turned and saw a group of people waiting at the light at the end of the street. Despite the late hour, the intersection had enough traffic that they decided to wait for the signal to walk.
The apartment was cool and smelled of the old woman’s dinner. Some kind of pasta dish. I felt a pang of hunger and pulled out a half-eaten burger from the small fridge. After washing it down with a glass of water, I turned in with plans of joining the old lady upstairs for breakfast at seven.