Chapter 7

Paul sat in his favorite easy chair in the living room. On the table next to him was a half empty glass of scotch; the ice cubes had melted long ago. He had finally calmed down enough so that he could go over in his mind the events of early this evening.

He had come to the bar tonight to celebrate the completion of one journey and beginning of a new one. He had been awe-struck at the show that Angel had put on. Knowing that this was the woman that he woke up next to every morning made it that much better. And then there was the fight, or more realistically the shouting match. She had saved him from a beating through intimidation alone. Was he really man enough for this Amazon of a woman? Would she stay with him, be satisfied with someone like him, or was he just kidding himself?'

He heard the key in the door and the sound of her boots entering the kitchen. The door closed and he heard Angel's voice.

"Paul; Paul, where are you?"

"Here in the living room," he replied.

He heard her footsteps as she walked across the kitchen, down the hall and entered into the room. She had showered and changed into her usual working attire: an Angel Heaven tee-shirt, boot-cut jeans, and her western boots. She walked over to where he was sitting, leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips.

Eying the half empty glass she softly said, "That shook you up quite a bit didn't it? Do you mind telling me how it started?"

She took a seat on the sofa, pulled her boots off and put her legs up onto the coffee table.

"I was sitting there, totally enthralled by your performance, when I overheard the guy next to me start making comments about you and your act."

"What did he say?"

Paul hesitated, uncomfortable at the thought of repeating what he had heard.

"It's OK, you can say it. I'm a big girl, I can take it; it's not like I never heard bad stuff said about me before."

"At first he just said that it must be a trick of some kind, no woman could be that strong. I told him it was no trick, that I knew for a fact that you were amazingly strong. He just ignored me and continued to comment to his friends. Later, during your story, one of his friends said he wouldn't mind getting a piece of you. That got a series of insulting remarks in reply. He said that he wouldn't be caught dead with a woman like you, that you were probably a lousy fuck; that it would probably be like fucking a guy. In fact, he said that was the only way he would fuck you, is like a dog, from behind and up your ass. At that point I told him to keep his comments to himself. He just glared at me and turned back to watch the end of the show. When you finished, one of his friends said that he still wanted you. The guy told him that he didn't have a chance in hell of fucking you; 'besides, ' he said, 'she's probably a rug-munching dyke lesbian anyway. No self-respecting man would want to be seen with someone like her.' I lost it at that point and shouted at him to shut the fuck up. He turned to me and told me to mind my own fucking business, grabbed my shirt, and I thought I was dead. That's when you came to my rescue."

"Paul, that's so sweet. You stood up to a guy that was bigger and stronger than you in defense of my honor."

She paused for effect. Then her face darkened, her eyebrows grew together, and she continued:

"What were you thinking? You could have been seriously hurt by someone like that, especially when you both have been drinking. Promise me that you will never do anything like that again. You are a lover, not a fighter, remember that. I don't need you to defend my honor from someone like that. Who cares what they think about me; about us? I just want you healthy and in one piece. I know that it's tough hearing people say stupid things like that about things and people that they know nothing about. But that's their opinion and they have the right to express it. The best thing that you can do is just walk away. This business draws some very nasty people and I don't want to find you in the parking lot beaten half to death or worse, all because you thought that defending my honor was your obligation or the manly thing to do. Please promise me that you'll do as I ask."