Dave gave a slight shake of his head as he rode his motorcycle toward a practice firing range outside of town he’d learned about recently. Sure, there was the range at work, but this one was supposed to be better in some regards, in addition to being an outdoor range, and he wanted to see how he stacked up against people who weren’t his co-workers. It was early afternoon when he found himself rounding the bend toward the designated lanes. There weren’t a ton of people there – mostly hunters, it seemed. He kept walking, past the wannabe cops or guards and hunters.
Initially, he was going to stop about midway, but he happened to spot a very fine looking figure near the end of the lanes, and he decided last minute to move closer in order to get a better look. She was with an instructor just then, so he didn’t try any small talk yet – just took his time setting up while also trying to observe her. She was dressed pretty casual, but her style leaned toward goth; something that he thought looked great on her.
Trying to not be too obvious at studying her, he turned his attention back to the gear and ammo he’d brought with him, and focused on what he was there to actually do. Her instructor had returned at that point anyway, so he let the matter be for now, focusing on the array of targets in front of him and optimizing the use of his targeting system. While he was shooting, he used some of his practice as an excuse to work out frustrations.
Home life had been pretty crazy lately after all. First, there was his best friend. Tony was his bro and he’d do anything for him, but in some ways he felt like he was being left behind. After all, Tony was in a stable relationship that had little issue as far as rockiness went, and he was beginning to explore his varied interests. He didn’t like that feeling of being left behind, but he didn’t want to say anything to Tony either – they’d rarely seriously fought, and he felt like this could be an issue that strained their friendship. So he kept to himself.
Work seemed to be the only thing going right lately, and even that has some questionable qualities to it. Then there was his own dating life to contend with. He’d been elated when Asami had suggested they try dating, but he’d realized after a while that it wasn’t working. He’d never wanted to hurt her, and in a way he had been. The saying went that if you love someone, set them free, and maybe someday they’d come back. He wasn’t going to deny that a part of him wanted that to happen, but he was also trying to be realistic about the situation. CJ didn’t help matters any either – he couldn’t read whether or not she was actually interested in him, or if she just enjoyed his cooking or teasing him. It certainly seemed like the latter was the case. Grumbling to himself, he smacked a cartridge into a handgun and took a few rapid shots.
“Well, you missed that by a mile.” came a voice from beside him after he finished. Blinking, he looked over – it was the girl from a couple lanes over, a sucker in her hand, and a smile on her face. Looking over, he noticed her instructor wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Did I?” he asked, then immediately gave himself a mental smack for a lame opening line. She gestured out to the targets.
“Well…I guess maybe not?” she said, sounding doubtful. “See, I’ve been watching you, and mostly you’ve just been focusing on one target…so if that’s what you were doing here, then yeah, you missed. But if you meant to hit multiple targets, then you did great, to be honest.”
“Uhh…thanks.” he said, giving her a cheesy smile. She smiled back and put the sicker in her mouth for a moment before removing it again.
“You’re a good shot.” she said. “Who taught you?”
“Oh…um…just work training.”
“Really? What kind of work?”
Dave paused, scrambling for an answer. “Oh…you know…just security.”
“Nice. You must have been at it a while.”
“Not…really? I’m just talented, I guess.” he said with a shrug. “What about you? How long have you been shooting for?”
Mandy shrugged. “A year or so at most, though I’ve known firearms safety for a lot longer.”
He grinned – it was a little lopsided, giving him a mixed look for cheesy and adorable – and then he spoke. “You any good?”
As he was grinning, she’d put the sucker back in her mouth, and was actively focused on it when he asked his question. She made a gesture over to her lane. “My instructor thinks I could do better.”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Go for it.” she said, walking with him back to her lane. He took a look at the targets and whistled. “And this needs improvement?” he asked. “This is some great grouping.”
“Maybe…” she said.
“Well what the hell kind of instructor do you have that he thinks this isn’t good enough?”
“My dad.” she said, rather matter-of-factly.
This took him sort of aback. “That was your Dad?” she nodded. “What is he then? A drill instructor or something?”
She shook her head. “Stocks.”
“Huh?”
She pulled the sucker out of her mouth. “He does stocks and accounting.” Dave just stood there blinking, feeling like a part of his brain had broken, at least temporarily. She just grinner, then tossed the empty sucker stick into a nearby trash can. “Why don’t you help me with my targeting?” she asked. “Dad says I need to work on aiming on vital spots instead of just the head or the chest, and you seem to have that down.”
“Sure.” he said, and watched as she loaded her gun. It looked like a custom job – a sleek, deep purple with an ankh inlaid in the handle.
“Nice gun.” he said, watching her figure as she lined herself up.
“Thanks.” she said with a smile. “It was a gift. Now, are you gonna get over here and help me with my aim or what?”
“Oh. Right.” he said, and stood just behind her, helping guide her arms and adjusting her trajectory. While helping her, he couldn’t help but note how damned good looking she was again, and he took a minute to try and memorize her scent. Whatever she was wearing, he liked the smell of it. He’d been assisting her for several minutes, when he felt something cold and hard pressed at the back of his head.
“You have ten seconds.”
“Whoa. Wait…what the hell is going on?” he said.
“Six seconds.” was the only response, followed by the sound of a hammer being cocked.
From in front of Dave came a heavy sigh. The girl he’d been working with straighted up and stepped away from him. “Daddy, put the gun down.”
“But he had his hands on you!” the guy with the gun to his head protested.
“Daddy, I was asking him for instruction.”
“But…”
“Put the gun down.” she repeated. The guy sighed, and the gun moved away from Dave’s head. Once removed, Dave started to relax.
“So…what’s your name?” he asked. Dave started to answer, but he interjected. “First and last, if you would.”
“Dave Chen.” he responded, looking back from him to the girl he’d been with. She just sighed and rolled her eyes at her Dad, and looked to Dave.
“I’m sorry about him – he’s overprotective.”
“But you’re my favorite daughter!”
“Daddy, I’m your only daughter.”
“So?”
“I’m also your only kid.”
“All the more reason to be protective.” he protested.
She just sighed again, ignoring her father and looking at Dave. “I’m Mandy…Mandy Winchester. I’m glad to have met you, Dave.”
“Me too.” he said. “Despite the..uh…uniqueness of the situation.” he rubbed the back of his head a moment but smiled. “Hey….you wanna go get a bite to eat.”
“Sure!” she said, perking up. “Meet you out front?”
“Yeah.” he said, unable to help his grin at his actual success.
She smiled and walked away. He headed back to his lane and worked on packing up. Once he had everything tucked into his backpack, he started to head for teh door, but was abruptly stopped by a hand to his chest.
“Do anything to harm a hair on her head, and you’ll wish you were dead.” her father said, his expression void of emotion, but his tone was deadly serious.
“I don’t plan to?” he said.
“Good. Make sure wherever you go has french fries. And be a gentleman, or I will hunt you down.”
“Yes sir?” he said…puzzled and more than a little intimidated.
“Good.” he said, and wandered away. Dave looked after him, puzzled, but then hurried to catch up to Mandy out front.
“Sorry that took so long.” he said.
“Not a big deal…I figure Dad stopped you. So which car is yours?”
“Oh…umm…none of them, actually.” he said, gesturing for her to follow him. Once they arrived at his bike, he handed her a spare helmet.
“This looks like fun.” she said with a grin.
“The bike?”
She nodded in response. “I’ve never ridden, so I’m excited.”
“Want to go for a ride first then?”
“Yes!” she said, nodding enthusiastically. He climbed on, and motioned for her to climb on behind him.
“Hold on tight!” he said, and took off. He still planned on taking her to lunch, but figured he’d give her the scenic route first. After several minutes of riding, she tapped him on the shoulder, and gestured off to the side. Figuring there might be a problem, he pulled off into the parking lot of a metropark and parked the bike.
“You ok?” he asked as he took off his helmet. She took off hers, and responded by pushing against him and giving him a kiss.
~Hell yes!~ he thoughts as she kissed intensely, something he wasn’t about to stop. She pulled away after a few minutes, a little breathless.
“Sorry.” she said, a little sheepish.
“Don’t be.” he said, leaning in to kiss her again. When they broke apart this time, she whispered in his ear, suggesting they find a quiet place. Not needing much hesitation, he got back on the bike, waited for her to be ready, and drove off again, finding an out of the way motel they could have a room for a while.
Once there, they resumed where they left off, both of them riding a high of adrenaline and hormones. It was a welcome release, over and over again, until they wore themselves out.
“Food?” he asked, after they’d caught their breath.
She nodded. “I need fries.”
“I know a good place.”
They redressed, and he took her to Bob’s, where they did the get-to-know-one-another thing over lunch. He found her to be fun, into history and paganism, with a love for singing. They’d been there a while when she got a text from her Dad wanting her to meet back with him, and she pouted.
“Can we see each other again?” she said after explaining the message.
“I would really like that.” he said, then exchanged numbers with her. Since she was going to be waiting for her Dad there, she smiled and waved to him, giving him a peck on the cheek before he left. Dave headed home in a much better mood than he had been in in a while.
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| Mandy Winchester |
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| Mandy’s Dad |