The Vegan and the Wolf by Julie Steimle (list of e readers .txt) đ
- Author: Julie Steimle
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âWhere is he?â Vincent snapped, his eyes scraping over the area around them, briefly resting on Jeremy before searching once more as clearly Jeremy was not his target.
Blinking, Audry wondered if he had heard about Rick being there also.
âWho?â Audry asked.
Moaning, Vincent said, âThat creep ex-boyfriend of yours. Harlin. I have come to kick the crap out of himâ
Audry brightened up. âOh. I think he went that way. He was chasing after Rick Deacon.â
Paula and Brooke laughed then caught themselves, pressing their hands over their mouths.
âRick Deacon?â Vincent stared at her, puzzled. âDo you mean H. Richard Deacon?â
Audry nodded, hoping Vincent wasnât going to go after Rick too.
âHow do you know him?â Vincent asked, his temper cooling.
Moaning, Audry pulled out her cellphone and went to her pictures. âI keep bumping into the guy lately. But look. I first met him in Paris. He snuck into our tour group at the Eiffel tower.â
âNo way!â Brooke said as if it was the biggest secret Audry had ever kept from them.
Audry showed them the picture on her phone. In it, she was standing with her best friends from French Club homeschool group when she was seventeen, with Rick, under the Eiffel Tower. The picture was amazing, really. It was another reason why she never wanted to delete it from her phone. The funny thing was, in the picture Rick looked like a skater boy with his clothes and getup.
Raising his eyebrows after peering at it, Vincent murmured, âAre you sure that was not just a lookalike?â
Chuckling, Audry put away her cellphone. âPositive. We verified. The point is, I also did my Masterâs research on his land for the past two years. I never really even talked to him at all until I met him again in January. And we hardly talked about anything except my research and him going vegan.â
Vincent nodded. âI seeâŠ. So, why is your jerk ex after him?â
âBecause Harlin is delusional,â Audry said with a groan. âHe has convinced himself that I had broken up with him because he thinksâor claimsâthat Rick and I had an affair last winter.â
Vincent raised his eyebrows. Then he laughed, shaking his head. âYou and H. Richard Deacon? You and him.â
âWhy is that so farfetched,â Brooke asked, weirdly defensive on her behalf.
Laughing more, relaxing a degree, Vincent said, âBecause, Audry doesnât care about money. And she hates rich party boys even more.â
âAnd who are you?â Paula asked, her eyes accusing him of being the same thing.
Grinning, Vincent said, âIâm her cousin. Her dad and my momâbrother and sister.â He then turned toward Audry. âYour problem is that you are attracted to troublemakers.â
âHarlin wasnât a troublemaker,â Audry protested, but it came out with a whine.
Cringing, Vincent replied, âNo. Not technically. But you liked how he goes against the establishment. And that rebellious streak you did like.â
His words hurt. But Audry knew they were true.
âOh, so sheâs supposed to choose some boring accountant,â Brooke interjected, looking him up and down.
Pulling back, eying her look as well, he replied, âAccountants keep the money honest.â
Audry laughed. She loved his perspective on things. And he never apologized for the life he chose for himself, but he didnât get into verbal battles either.
âIt just maintains the capitalistic system,â Brooke retorted.
Vincent shook his head. âOiâŠâ Restraining himself from arguing politics and economics, he then turned his eyes back to Audry. âAnyway, where did he go?â
Audry pointed again. âThat way. He was chasing after Rick.â
âWhy do you call him Rick?â Vincent asked her, smirking. âHis professional name is H. Richard.â
âBut he asks everybody to call him Rick,â Audry shot back.
âSo⊠you are on a first name basisâŠâ Vincent said smirking more
Audry rolled her eyes.
âYeah,â Paula chuckled, nodding.
So did everyone else at the booth.
âDonât read anything into it,â Audry moaned, shooting them all dirty looks.
âI am trying hard not to,â Vincent said, but he laughed. âHowever, if people overhear you talk like that, they are going to assume you are a lot closer to him than you actually are. Youâll end up as tabloid fodder.â
Tabloid fodder. Audry didnât like that. She cringed. It was worse than being told by Silvia that witches from their hometown might hunt her down. Or that Supernatural Regulatorâs Association would find her and think she was involved with a âwerewolfâ. Tabloids at least were real, though their content was still garbage.
Looking in the direction Harlin had gone, Vincent sighed. âI donât think I will be able to find him today. Not with him running around crazy. And if he is stupid enough to go after a Deacon, then he will get his just punishment soon enough.â He looked to her. âHey, Audry. How about you come to lunch with me. Weâve got a break between sessions andââ
âYes.â Audry stepped from the booth. She looked back to the others. âMy shift is over anyway. Samantha is supposed to come, and I donât want to be here if Harlin comes back.â
âOooâŠâ Vincent thought on that, swaying as if leaving was a bad idea. His gaze hardened. âOn second thoughtâŠâ
âNo.â Audry grabbed his arm, pulling her cousin from the booth. âWe go to lunch. I donât want you getting into a fight either.â
âWhat?â Vincent protested, yet going with her. âYou donât think I can take him on?â
She stared at the sky. âI have no doubts you can take him on. But I donât want you ruining your suit and causing trouble for yourself.â
âAnd youâre not worried about your ex?â Vincent peered at her as they passed by other booths, dodging around people while her boothmates stared after her as if she had abandoned them to the wolves.
Audry snorted. âNo. He deserves to have his butt kicked.â
Vincent slapped an arm around her shoulder and cheerfully marched with her out of Schwartz Plaza. âWell said.â
They went to a deli.
Audry was always annoyed that Vincent was inconvincible about meatâespecially processed meats and cheeses like pastrami, capicola, and pepper jack. But he was incredibly accommodating and protective of her vegan beliefs, so she did not mind so much. The deli also had a cafĂ©. They sat down in it together and ate their different sandwiches, just resting.
Then Vincent said, âYou know, you really should just get a restraining order on that guy.â
Audry moaned. âIs this you saying it, or just relaying what Doug has been saying?â
Vincent shot her a sharp look as he replied, âThis is from everyone who cares about you. If he had a brain, he would have let you go. The guy is beyond sense now. And that makes him dangerous. You pepper-sprayed him twice, for pityâs sake. Heâs lost his mind.â
That, Audry knew to be true.
âWeâll even recommend him a therapist,â Vincent said, then muttered under his breath, âAfter I kick the crap out of him.â Yet louder he said, âBut this canât go on. I donât want to see you as a rape statistic. Or worse.â
She stiffened. He was right, of course. It was just that Audry felt like a restraining order was going too far. No one needed their life ruined. Even Harlin.
As if reading her mind, Vincent said, âHe is beyond rational thought, Audry. You have to protect yourself.â
She cringed.
âI am asking you, please come with me to the courthouse so we can get a restraining order against him,â he said.
âButâŠâ
âI will deliver it myself,â Vincent urged. âSo he understands we are serious about protecting you.â
Audry looked to him. He actually was serious. His eyes were as frank as she had ever seen. He looked like he would break if she got hurt.
âCome onâŠâ Vincent begged. âPlease.â
She softened. Her family was probably extremely worried about her. Otherwise, they would not have sent Vincent to convince her. They knew she had a soft spot for Vincent. He was her favorite cousinâand Audry had a lot of cousins.
Her family⊠Audry thought about them. Her father was from a wealthy family, old money. When he had married their mother, he had rebelled against the familyâs wishes as she was a child of hippies obsessed with protest marching and all sorts of progressive movements, mostly focusing on civil liberties and making marijuana legal. Because of that, his family was bitter towards him for turning his back on their lifestyleâwhich was why Audry hated the wealthy so much. Audryâs own family was more liberal than conservative. They were strong environmentalists who focused on holistic health, natural cures, and vegetarianism. But Audry had thirteen cousins on her motherâs side and fifteen on her fatherâs side, counting Vincent. And that wasnât counting their children. Of course her Bruchenhaus relatives hoped and expected Audry to marry into money. But her motherâs Busche-Waite family wanted her to continue her path toward naturalistic living, and probably would have not cared if she had chosen an open relationship with Harlin at all. A lot of them were hedonists. But none of them on either side would have wanted her to be stalked or worse.
âOk,â she said.
Vincent dropped his sandwich on his plate and embraced her. âOh, thank heaven.â
It drove her nuts whenever her family did that. Whenever she finally agreed with their point of view they always treated it as if they had averted global disaster. Audry cringed.
However, she did not renege on her agreement.
They went online first, using Vincentâs laptop at the deli. As they read the details and requirements for a personal protection order, they found the form and saved the Family Offense petition off the website⊠as technically she had an âintimate relationshipâ with Harlin and this fell under the family court system. They had to still print off the form, of course. Then fill it out. So they had to go back to Audryâs dorm to do that.
Together, they left their tips at the deli and walked back to her apartment. Two of her roommates were there when she arrived.
âOh, whoâs this?â Wendy Nixon asked, her smile brightening at the new face.
Audry chuckled, gesturing to her cousin. âThis is Vincent Williams, my cousin.â
âNice suit,â Wendy said, nodding as her eyes raked over him, almost salivating.
âOh, please donât flirt right now,â Audry said, hanging her shoulders. âHeâs here to help me deal with Harlin.â
Vincent chuckled.
Perturbed, Wendy said, âHarlin was here this morning.â
âI know,â Audry said, getting a drink for her and Vincent from the refrigerator. âHe hunted me down at Schwartz Plaza.â
âDid you spray him in the face again?â Tricia asked, climbing of the couch where she was studying from The Feminine Mystique. Vincent stared at her bright red (dyed) hair and quietly inched away. He kept his distance as he generally avoided anyone who looked likely to pounce on him for being a âcis white maleâânever mind that he had done nothing to hurt anybody. But Tricia grinned at him now. She generally didnât like âsuitsâ any more than Audry did.
Audry shook her head. âNope. But I almost did.â
âReally?â Vincent said, looking to her.
âSome men deserve it,â Tricia replied with bite.
Rolling her eyes, Audry said, âHe was threatening Silvia Lewis, who was with me.â
Both Wendy and Tricia gasped. Not because of the threat, though. But because it was Silvia. They were frankly terrified of her. And more, they could not understand why Silvia liked Audry. Audry decided that she ought to keep the real reason a secret. They were more likely to believe in witchcraft and curses than she was, and she didnât want to give them nightmares.
Vincent shook his head. âNow that is proof we need a restraining order on that guy.â
âTotally!â Wendy emphatically said, her head bobbing heavily in agreement. âWe keep telling her.â
âBut she doesnât want to ruin his lifeâŠâ Tricia said in a mocking voice.
Vincent looked to Audry. He then patted her on the head then put her in a headlock. âYou are too nice.â
Her roommates chimed in, agreeing. Even Tricia warmed up to him.
Audry shoved his arm off and punched him in the side. He play-winced, but she hadnât hit him that hard.
âComputer and printer, now,â he said.
Audry nodded, leading the way to her room.
She got both out,
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