Chapter 6

Paul did call Pat the next morning and told him that the mother of the tennis player called him and expressed their displeasure with how Pat acted with them. They said they would never ever use this service again.

Pat explained to Paul what had happened and why he did what he did. Pat said he wasn’t about to put up with their attitude and if that caused problems for Paul, well that was just too bad. Pat said he didn’t need to be doing this type of job and would quit working if that’s what Paul wanted.

Paul after listening to Pat’s side of the story he said, “Son of a bitch, I would have done the same damn thing. Don’t worry about anything, they had it coming.” Laughing he said, “It seems you do better with female authors as I did get a nice complementary letter on you from Mandy Watkins. She said she was very impressed on how you conducted your duties and would recommend you to other authors that she knows.”

Pat chuckled to himself as he knew what the duties were that Mandy was referring to.

Nothing unusual was happening in Pat’s life until a few days later when he was in a convenience store. He was looking for some items that were on the bottom shelf. Pat’s bending down would hide his presence from anyone entering the store.

Pat heard the bell on the door chime because of the door being opened and then he heard, “Give me all the money you have and don’t try anything funny.”

Looking up over the shelves he saw a young man brandishing a gun pointing it at a terrified store clerk. Pulling out his pistol from its holster he walked up quietly to where he was just behind this would be robber.

Pressing the gun against his head and pulling back on the hammer the robber heard a distinctive click as Pat said, “If you try and do something funny that is the last thing you will ever do. Put your gun down on the counter and get down on your knees.”

The robber complied and Pat told the clerk to call 911 and ask for the Police to come here.

The Police did arrive in ten minutes and after taking a short statement from Pat and the store clerk took the robber away to jail. The clerk was continuously expressing her thanks to Pat for what he did. Pat just said he was glad he was there to help.

It was about two hours later that Pat received a phone call.

“Pat, this is Stacy Reynolds with Channel 6 Eyewitness news. I would like to interview you for a report about that robbery incident which you were involved in today for our news broadcasts.”

Pat new who Stacy was and that she doubled as a field reporter besides being the main anchor on the weekend evening news. She was about ten years younger than him. In watching her doing the news Pat did have at times what would be called some “impure thoughts” about her. She in his opinion was one good looking intelligent woman who exhibited a subtle classiness in how she conducted herself.

Quickly he had a thought which caused him to say, “I will only do the interview with you on one condition.”

“What is that?”

“That at some time in the future you have dinner with me.”

“I don’t know you.”

“That is the best reason for you to have dinner with me so you can get to know me.”

There was a long pause on Stacy’s part. Before she could respond to what Pat had said he said, “While I would like to have dinner with you since I feel that I know you by how often I see you on television, I was only kidding as to the dinner requirement. Yes I will do the interview, when and where?”

He could feel some relief in her voice as she asked that he go back to the store and she would meet him there in a half hour.

On his way back to the store he did think about Stacy. He remembers seeing a clip in the paper about her and her husband selling their north suburban home for a pretty penny. That coincided with a prior article saying that they were getting divorced. Nothing was said about children. Pat had googled her previously and there was no mentioned of children but it did say she was married for ten years.

Meeting Stacy in person was a pleasant experience. She had a presence to her that just enhanced her attractiveness. Pat was a little surprised in that she was shorter than she seemed to be on television. He would guess her to be five foot three and she did have a very attractive figure with ample breasts, a small waist and womanly hips.

Stacy first introduced herself to Pat and after discussing with him what had had happened told him what questions she would ask in doing the interview. When the video camera was turned on she conducted the interview in a very professional no nonsense manner. It seemed she was a little surprised when she learned that Pat was a retired police officer. She incorporated in her interview what Pat had said about the Mayor encouraging retired police officers to carry their weapons which would enable them to help in situations like what had just happened.

Pat thought her comment about the Mayor would give her and the Mayor points. Her points would help her if she ever needed something from the Mayor and the Mayor points would help with the public because of the dire financial situation the city was in.

When the interviewed concluded Stacy thanked Pat for taking the time to do it. She said it was nice meeting him and gave him her business card. He watched her walk away thinking she was one attractive classy lady.

After waving at her as the news van drove away Pat looked at her business card she had given him. What surprised him was that on the back of the card she had written her cellphone number and a note that said “For dinner call me.” She must have written these things on the card before she met Pat and only after seeing and meeting him decided to give him the card. Maybe she did have an attraction to Paul as he knew he had a definite attraction to her.

Stacy and the card she had given him were constantly on his mind. He watched the six and the ten o’clock news and recorded her interview of him which he thought was nicely done. He did think Stacy looked better in person than she did on television. She had attractiveness to her that you could only see in person.

Pat waited for two days before he phoned Stacy. In a way she seemed surprised that he phoned her. She was pleasant to talk to and accepted his dinner invitation for Thursday night.

When Pat asked her asked her where she would like to dine she surprised him by saying, “Pat, you should know that I am a small town girl at heart and I don’t prefer dining at the fancy type restaurants. Because of that something simple would be fine with me.”

“Would you like to have a thin crust pizza that is loaded with Italian sausage, cheese and mushrooms? I do know a restaurant that makes one to kill for.”

“That sounds great. I live in the Brittany Towers, unit thirty eight twelve and you can pick me up at six. I will let security know you are coming.”

“See you then.”

Thursday couldn’t come fast enough thought Pat but it finally did. When Stacy opened the door Pat could see that she had dressed causal. She was wearing designer jeans a light blue sweater and her brown hair was up in a ponytail. She didn’t look like she does when she is doing the weekend news, she looked better thought Pat.

He was impressed by the view her condo offered of the city. She commented that during the day she thought the view was better especially after a windy day which cleared the air. Stacy offered Pat a drink but he said he would wait till the restaurant.

It was a pleasant time at the restaurant. He was surprised that so small of a lady could devour so much pizza. She told him it was her favorite pig-out food. They did ask questions of the other in an effort to know the other person better.

Pat told her about being a widower, retired police detective and of a few things he was now doing. Stacy said she was born in a small town in Kansas and during college had started interning at a local television station. After school they offered her a job basically she said as a runner which progressed to reporter which progressed to a bigger station and to another bigger station which finally progressed to doing television here. Doing the weekend news is probably the end of the line for her she said because of the age of the main weekday anchors which is similar to hers. She enjoys what she does and is satisfied in doing it. It would take a big offer from a major city for her to ever move from here although the winter’s cold temperatures here are a challenge she wouldn’t mind missing.

While they were talking an elderly lady came up to the table and asked if Stacy was the weekend television newsreader. When Stacy confirmed who she was this lady surprised both Pat and Stacy that instead of asking for an autograph she asked for a picture. Stacy agreed and the lady slid into the seat next to Stacy and Pat took the photo using this lady’s cellphone.