Shifters of Grrr 1 (81 page)

I wouldn’t. I never did. There was no need to be rude, but I sure hated it when they assumed that they were my type, flirting up a storm and ending up confused when I didn’t return it. Most would assume that I was gay and I was perfectly fine with them thinking that.
 

Nope, I was looking for a big, voluptuous,
Mama Bear
type.
 

One to keep me and my bed warm. For life.

Chapter Three

(( 3 ))

CASSIDY

At some point, spending most of my day in bed, reading – I finally got up and went for a swim. My preferred form of exercise. As a plus-sized, curvaceous woman, I’d found that the hardest part wasn’t the actual workout as I loved getting in the water and how calm, relaxed and
zen
I felt during and after a workout.
 

Nope, the hard part was the scrutiny I would get from other people. Some disapproving, some amazed, others, mainly men, who were attracted to me. Over time, I’d become more accepting, kind and loving of my body. Once I got past all the stereotypical, societal bullshit, I was finally able to look beyond what was dictated as attractive and desirable to find that I was an attractive woman, in my own, curvy way.

I ate well, exercised, went to the doctor and in the end, I’d realized that having a positive and healthy attitude about my body was far better than being on some sort of never-ending diet that never worked, deprived me of the pleasure of food, and let’s face it – was a type of psychological hypnotism that the diet industry used to make money.
 

It had taken some time to readjust my expectations about myself, to be more realistic, kind and fair. Instead of berating myself constantly, like seemingly so many plus-size women do, I learned to love, accept and take care of me and my body the best I could. So, at the end of the day, I was confident, comfortable and proud of my rubenesque physique.
 

About the only area I still struggled with was how to meet a man’s attraction and desire for me, head-on. To believe it, accept it and know it was real – no doubt or question’s asked. A type of assumptive confidence that many thin, slender women seemed to take for granted.
 

That teenage part of my brain that had been mercilessly teased about being chubby or plump still lurked, deep in the recesses of my psyche and unconscious, wreaking havoc on my self-esteem. As if being either of those things was a bad thing? But the world sure did make it seem terrible. Foolishly, when young and naïve – we fall prey to and believe this utter nonsense. The focus should be on health and well-being, not some magically-defined pant size.

It was like a demon in there, roaming around sometimes.
Cast thee out!!

I’d decided that I needed an exorcist to face my inner demons surrounding self-esteem and body acceptance. It arrived in the form of my therapist, Stanley. I paid to talk my way to sanity, when being perpetually solitary got to me. When I was climbing the walls. I was more than happy to pay for some talk-time that brought peace of mind and some sense to my life, my silly little existence on Earth.
 

So, there I was, doing my laps and just as I’m about to flip and go down the other side, a guy in the lane next to me makes a mean remark;
watch out, the whale is doing a flip!

Most of the time, I would just let that slide. Besides, whales are perfectly amazing animals. In any other context, I’d take that as a compliment.
 

But not today.
 

Maybe it was because I’d met Abe earlier in the day, an attractive, handsome and physically fit man I clearly desired and had no idea if he would ever be interested in me. It was hard to figure for the most part since the amount of bullshit a plus-sized woman endures is only equal to the amount of grief and shame that gets poured onto men who happen to find us attractive, sexy and desirable. So, they learn to hide it and they hide it well.

I was already feeling vulnerable, so to be provoked and made fun of, in public,
while I’m bloody, fracking exercising
, no less – was too much!

Instead, today, I stopped swimming and decked him. Just out and out hit him. Straight in the face. He didn’t see it coming either. Next thing I knew, there was blood everywhere, pouring out of his nose. Disgusted, I made my way to the steps and got out of the pool. I ignored his wailing and all the shocked looks by other swimmers and gym members, and made my way to the locker-room showers.
 

Allowing the warm water to run over me, soothing and calming me, my seething anger turned into a sob.
 

What had I done?!
 

I was almost done drying myself off when a staff member of the gym made her way to me in the locker-room. I could tell that she looked about as awkward as possible, but it was her job.
 

“M’am. The police are here to ask you some questions about assaulting another gym member. I’ll need you to come out and speak with them, please.” She said, her voice shaky but still considerate.
 

“Okay,” I said miserly. Somewhat embarrassed, I finished dressing as fast as I could while she waited for me.

Once she escorted me out of the locker-room, two burly-sized police officers stood by, waiting.
 

“M’am, we need to talk with you. Please come with us.” One of them said to me, his voice firm but not rude.
 

They led me into an employee break-room that had been cleared out so they could talk with me. Once I sat down, I finally looked up at them and sucked in a big sigh.
 

“This is Officer Rotan and I’m Officer Biggs. Mr.Silk, the man you assaulted in the pool, he is pressing charges. Care to explain what happened in there?”

I gulped, “He made a rude comment during my workout about me being a whale and for everyone to watch out. Something about a flip.”

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I saw an amused grin cross the officer’s face. “So, you decked him in the face, the nose to be specific, for making that comment?”

“Yes, sir. I did.” I said softly, the tears brimming in my eyes.
 

What a fucking fool I felt like! I was a good, law-abiding citizen. Not the type to hit people. Where had that come from?!

He shifted his stance and looked at me closely. “Have you ever assaulted anyone before, m’am?”

“No, not unless you include wrestling my little sister when I was a kid.” I answered.

“Are you taking any medications or recreational drugs?” He asked, his partner scrutinizing me in one way, while he did in another way.

“Yes, I take medicine for my asthma, but nothing recreational. I don’t use that type of stuff. Just a drink every now and again.”

“Any mental health issues, disabilities or other health concerns that might affect your behavior?”
 

“No, officer. None that I know of. I was just hurt and angry. He crossed the line and I reacted… I reacted poorly.” I muttered, holding back my tears.
 

“Well, ma’am, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the man you hit is a local newsman and unfortunately, you broke his nose. He’s on his way to the E.R. and when we spoke to him, he wanted to press charges.”

Suddenly, it occurred to me the extremity of what I’d done. He could sue me for all that I was worth. Make a national joke out of me. Shame me in front of the world.
 

I’m sure all the color in my face must have drained away. Oddly enough, they both seemed sympathetic.

“For what it’s worth, he shouldn’t have made the remark. We already spoke to another gym member who confirmed that he’d made a rude remark to you and that it wasn’t the first time, so we’ll take that into consideration. It wouldn’t be in his favor for the public to know that he was making snide remarks about someone while they were exercising, follow?”

That’s right!! Damned straight! The turd was an ass-hat…

I nodded my head ever-so-slightly, indicating that I comprehended the message he was attempting to get across.
 

“For now, we need to take you down to the police station.”
 

My heart sank to my stomach, “Okay, officer.” I put out my wrists for the handcuffs and he shook his head.

“No need, you’re not the violent type. I reviewed your record and you have no criminal history, only a couple parking tickets. We just need you to ride in the back of the police car and come down to the station. We’ll process the charges and arrest. Be thinking about who you’d like to bail you out. The weekend is coming up.” He explained and then we walked out of the break-room to a room full of gawking gym members.
 

I wanted to fall right through the floor and die from embarrassment.
What did I think was going to happen? Why hadn’t I thought this through before impulsively decking a total stranger?

On the way into the police station, I realized that both my best friend and my sister and her husband were out of town.
 

Shit! Fuck! Crap! There was no one around to literally, physically bail me out?!

That did it. I started to cry again. Despite my attempts to not sniffle and make it obvious, the officers noticed.

“M’am, you okay back there?”

“Yeah… Just realized that everyone I know who could bail me out is currently out of town at the moment.” I said miserably, “I wish I’d skipped my workout today, right about now.”

They looked at one another briefly, sharing one of those,
it sucks to be her right about now,
type of looks. I couldn’t even believe it. I was arrested, in a cop car, being taken downtown and charged with assault. All because the local weatherman, aka, ass-clown, called me a whale during the middle of my swim workout.
 

This day had started so well. What had happened?

Chapter Four

(( 4 ))

ABE

My cell identified the call as coming from the county jail. It had to be a mistake, or a weird prank? Nonetheless, I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Abe?”

“Yes?” I said, recognizing the voice. It was Cassidy’s.
 

“It’s Cassidy… this is incredibly embarrassing, but – um, would you be willing to help me? I need to ask like the hugest favor in the world…” She eeked out, her voice brimming with nervousness and embarrassment.

What in the world had she gotten herself into!?

“Cassidy, are you calling from the jail?” I asked, confused.

There was a pause, “Yup, and I’m utterly mortified about it. I’ll explain everything, but are you able to bail me out? I can pay you back immediately, of course. I promise! We can go straight to the bank or something.”
 

“Wow! Okay, but why are you calling me? I don’t mind helping, but surely you must have someone in your life or a family member in the area?”

She fell silent, and I was pretty sure she was on the verge of crying, “Everyone I know who would help me is out of town, as luck would have it. Both my best friend, my sister and my sister’s husband…”

“Got it. I’ll head straight over.”

“Thank you. Abe, they’re saying I need to get off the phone, but I promise to explain everything.” I could hear the tears in her throat. She was genuinely upset, that was plain as day.

“Okay, it will be okay. How much? How much is the bail?” I asked.

“It’s a lot. I apologize, I’m so sorry. It’s five-thousand. Can you do it?” She said, pleading in her voice.

Five thousand?!
That would clear out my savings… But somehow, I knew she was good for it.

“Yes, I can. I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Abe. You’re saving my ass twice in one day. Thank you…” she said softly.
 

“I’ll be there are soon as I can. Promise.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

*
 
*
 
*

I pulled my
Jeep
up in front of the police station and took a deep breath. My mind was spinning with all sorts of crazy ideas about what sort of trouble Cassidy had gotten herself into. I barely knew her, but this didn’t seem like her. Somehow, I just knew this about her.
 

I climbed out of my Jeep and headed in. I had a cashier’s check in my jacket pocket for the bail. Once inside, I glanced around – sniffing out the space, my senses on high alert. In the shifter universe, it’s not uncommon for many to be in law enforcement and I needed to play ball so as not to make Cassidy’s situation any worse.
 

Being a newcomer in town only made it that much worse. No one knew me. Because of that, I was at a disadvantage. Since I had absolutely no idea what had happened or why she was even in jail, I needed to rely on instinct to get me through this.
 

In the end, it could be nothing and no bother whatsoever.

But never bother a bear
, they say. I hoped no one would take issue with my dormant form and true nature. I was pretty much already heading into internal hibernation mode, so hopefully, no one got a whiff of me.