The Most Dangerous Dame

A bell chimed as the elevator doors opened. “Here’s where we part ways, Chief. Nab you a couple of hours of shuteye, ‘cause we’ll be back at it bright and early. Don’t sit up all night plugged into sym-sex.”

“Man’s gotta get some kind of action, Mick. I didn’t see any pro skirts anywhere around the joint.”

“Not that kind of dive, Ace. One vice invites another, and pretty soon the whole joint is filled with rats and cockroaches. The Red Room is just down the street. I hear they have some sweet synoid foxes, but they’ll cost you an arm and leg. Your dibs, though. So long as you can get up in the morning I don’t care how you pass the time. Just remember: bright and early.”

“I heard you, Mom. Bright and early.” Benny hulked down the carpeted hallway in the direction of his room. I stopped in front of room 2046, where I stayed since I first walked in the Luzzatti. There were better rooms on the upper floors, but I was used to where I was. Wasn’t like I needed some cushy suite anyhow. Everything I needed was already on me.

The room was cramped and dimly lit. A single window revealed a scenic view of the alley and the bums that slept there. A ceiling fan span lazily over the unmade double mattress that served as a bed. A heavy punching bag hung in one corner, a small battered desk in the other. My own personal haven. No wonder I drank so much.

The good thing was I didn’t mean to stay there long. By the time I finished a smoke I was already making my way out the door. It didn’t take very long to get to my next stop. It was room 2047, right across the hall. I never came home without checking in on Natasha. Ever since her parents got rubbed out I made her safety a top priority. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

The door opened after I rapped it with my knuckles. My casual stride halted as soon as I stepped inside. One look and my heart tried to claw out of my chest. Adrenaline surged, hammering so hard my hands shook as I clumsily yanked the Mean Ol’ Broad from her slip and fanned the area, knowing something was terribly wrong.

The room was clean.

Everything was neat and orderly instead of the familiar abstract explosion of creative arts and crafts haphazardly strewn across the floors and counters. The walls were repainted in shades of rich yellows and dark reds. New furniture adorned the living space — minimalist styled amalgams of aluminum, teak, bamboo and glass.

The culprit responsible lounged against the wall in the corner of the room, her oversized auburn sweater exposing one slender pale shoulder. Rumpled gray lounge pants completed the outfit. Her bare toes massaged the newly installed crème-colored carpet. Her long raven locks tumbled over one eye as she looked up in surprise.

“Mick Trubble. Why are you waving that cannon around in my apartment? Put it away before you hurt someone.”

I quickly tucked the Broad back in her holster, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Just gave me a scare with the change in scenery, darlin’. Got used to the place looking like an artistic disaster zone.”

She smiled, her big eyes shining. I knew then she had changed. Her eyes had always been the stuff of dreams, but for the longest they were shrouded by the trauma of her parent’s murder. Her eyes turned the color of overcast skies, shrouding the gruesome memories that haunted her. The real Natasha buried herself deep within her own consciousness, recovering while her creative, unfocused alter ego went on with life.

In the back of my mind I knew it was only a matter of time before the old Natasha resurfaced, but in the bustle of things I hadn’t prepared for it. Her gaze had changed from clouds to silver waters, swirling with all the allure and mystification that had nearly snared me when I was a lost soul and she was an inexperienced girl looking for thrills. I hadn’t changed much, but she had. The eyes that gazed at me weren’t those of a fragile young girl.

Sweet Natasha had grown up.

“It was time for a change, Mick. I can’t just sit around hiding from the world. It’s time to move on.”

I noticed she called me by my first name only. In the past she had always called me by both names, something that amused me to no end. But those days were gone, just memories that danced in the darkness of my mind. I watched her as she moved, graceful and confident. There was a word for the person I saw in front of me. A single word that summed up all the beauty, magnetism, and allure that shuts a man down so he can only marvel at what he desires but can never fully comprehend.

Woman.

“Have a seat, Mick. Would you like some coffee? I just brewed a pot.”

I didn’t need coffee. I needed sleep. But my world has just flipped upside-down, and I couldn’t just beg off without knowing the new person Natasha had become.

“Sounds like a dream, darlin.’”