“Okay, who are you?”
“I’m Michelle. But he won’t know me.”
Gordon returned, so Mario left them alone.
“This is an amazing place. Where did you find out about this?”
“I was walking and asked a policeman where was a good place to eat. He said to come here.”
“You just spoke to a cop?”
“Sure, why not?”
“You wouldn’t do that in the Ukraine?”
“No, but I am not in the Ukraine any more,” she said, and he laughed.
They ordered their food, which, when it came, was very good and plentiful.
“No wonder America is the land of the fat. I have not been given portions like this in a restaurant ever,” he said.
Michelle, finishing her food, smiled and put her fork down.
“I like it. Being big means I can eat a lot and not get fat. In Ukraine, I never got enough.”
Mario came over and saw two clean plates.
“Aha. You like my food. Not often everything gets eaten.”
“It was delicious, and just the right amount for us little people,” said Michelle with a smile.
They ordered dessert and coffee and spent a long time in idle chatter.
“No meeting this afternoon?” she asked.
“No. I have one more tomorrow morning, and one in the afternoon.”
She twiddled her teaspoon, and he took her hand. She looked up.
“I really do want to marry you,” he said.
“I know. But as I said, things happen very fast for me.”
Her accent came back when they spoke of intimate things, and she was aware of the levels of concentration required to keep it up.
“I don’t mean to rush you, but I’m terrified of losing you.”
She smiled and squeezed his hand.
“You won’t. But I need to be certain before I say yes.”
He smiled.
“I can wait.”
He paid the bill, and they took a cab downtown, spending the afternoon Christmas shopping. They bought small items, all the easier to take home in their luggage. On their return to the hotel, they both went to the hotel gym and worked out. Michelle surprised Gordon with her very high level of fitness, and even though she was deliberately not lifting her optimum weights, she was still able to almost match anything he lifted.
After the workout, they swam in the pool, and Gordon, who considered himself a good swimmer, was unable to beat her for style or stamina. She was like a dolphin in the water, her action smooth and perfect. She hardly produced any excess splash, and with the maximum power. He thought she was Olympic standard, and said so.
“They tested me for Olympic team, but I had influenza and missed it,” she said, inwardly cursing for being too fast.
“Well, you can represent the UK now.”
“Perhaps, but if you get your way, I will be having lots of babies,” she said, and he went bright red, as that was exactly what he would like.
They dined in the hotel, and retired early.
Just enjoying being together, they made love and lay in bed watching the TV.
The news came on, and a bemused reporter was talking about a couple of incidents that occurred in the city that day.
“Convicted felon Luis Delgado (17), managed to snatch 72 year-old Glynnis Coltrane’s purse, having knocked the elderly woman to the ground, he made off, and was described to have been laughing by several witnesses.
“However, what followed seems so unreal that it could well have been written by a script writer from Hollywood. Witness Marcus Haddow told me what he saw.”
The picture changed to the shopkeeper who was with the woman when Michelle brought the bound Luis back.
“It was like something from the movies. I sees this guy snatch the purse and the old lady fell onto the sidewalk. And he just runs away, laughing he was, as if it was funny. Then, outa nowhere, this girl came, with long hair and, man she was just beautiful. Anyways, she goes after him, and man, was she fast? I swear she was runnin’ at a hundred miles an hour. Anyways, a couple a minutes later, she carries him back, with his hands tied and all, and she gives the old lady her purse back. I mean, this girl was strong and big, she was way bigger than me. I saw her snap the guy’s knife with two fingers.
“Someone said she was the Avenging Angel, and she just disappeared before the cops arrived.”
The reporter was back.
“Police arrived to find the suspect compliant and cooperative. In fact, he confessed to the crime, and seven others that the police did not know about. The mysterious girl has yet to be traced, but as far as the local people here are concerned, there is a new superhero in town. She is big, she is blonde and she is beautiful. She is the Avenging Angel. Back to the news room.”
Michelle was aware that Gordon was looking at her.
“Michelle?”
“Hmm?”
“What exactly did you do yesterday morning?”
She looked at him, and smiled.
“Tell me that wasn’t you?”
She shrugged.
“He was a nasty man, and the woman could have been hurt.”
He shook his head.
“Avenging Angel?”
She smiled and shrugged again.
“They made that one up,” she said.
“What really happened?”
“The guy mugged the lady, I ran, caught him, and got the bag back.”
“Why didn’t you wait for the police?”
“You would not have wanted me to be late for lunch, would you?” she asked innocently.
She then carefully manipulated his mind, so that all memories of the incident and her involvement were neatly erased.
He looked at her and frowned.
“What were we talking about?” he asked.
“Do you want me to come with you to your meetings tomorrow?” she asked, and his brow cleared.
“If you want to. They won’t be very exciting for you, as the first group is from the companies who produce our software and some of the distributors. The second group are potential suppliers. No foreign languages on these jobs, sorry.”
In the police station where Luis Delgado had been charged, Captain Harry Mancetti was fighting off the press.
He slammed the phone down on yet another pushy journalist who wanted to know about the Avenging Angel. He walked to the door of his office and opened it.
“Carl!” he yelled, and a balding overweight detective came over.
“Yeah, Cap, what?”
“Some dumb reporter tells me that this girl has done the same with a car-jacker in 35th Street. Tell me it ain’t true?”
“I just heard myself. The patrolman on that beat heard it from a witness. It is spreading like wildfire. I had one guy call in to say that she stopped a pickpocket in the subway station.”
“This is all I need. Since when do we need fucking superheroes? Does anyone know who she is?”
“No boss. No CCTV, and all we know is she is over six foot and is a beautiful blonde with a figure to die for.”
“Could she be a guy in drag?”
“No according to our witnesses, this is 100% woman,” the detective said, making breast motions with his hands.
“Goddamn it. I want her found. Hell, if you have to, enlist her into the goddamn department, but stop her making headlines.”
Michelle drifted off to sleep unaware she was creating waves in so many areas. News reporters across the city were being tasked with identifying and locating the mysterious girl. Databases were being trolled in order to create lists of very tall blonde girls who could possibly match the descriptions.
She accompanied Gordon to the morning meeting looking every inch the sophisticated, professional and exceptionally glamorous P.A. She was in her pinstripe skirt and jacket, but with her high heels, she was a stately six foot six inches. She had put her hair up, so it gave her a very cool and almost untouchable image. Gordon had been quite right, as she was bored rigid, but maintained a look of intelligent interest, impressing all she met with her charm and good nature.