(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame

You decide to head out of the office. There is really no point in hanging around with nobody else there but other men and Connie, who has already agreed to be the model for your first shoot. She isn't sure if she is willing to let you send any of her pictures to the magazine for possible publication yet, but she seemed more than eager to act as a guinea pig to help you get a feel for directing and shooting soft porn photography. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for that though, when the weekend begins and the office building, which you will be photographing her in, is otherwise closed for business. You can hardly blame the girl for not wanting to strip off and pose seductively in front of her male colleagues right now, plus it would cause a fairly major distraction to the workforce.

As well as a perfect practice model. it also seems you now have a super sexy assistant permanently on hand for just about everything in both your personal and working life. Seriously, what is happening here? Have things ever gone this well for anyone without there being some kind of hidden catch? Is there something lurking below the surface waiting to trip you up while you are distracted by how wonderful and erotic everything in your life suddenly is. There are other, even more pertinent, questions that need to be answered too. Who put you where you are now in the first place? Why would you be wandering around some small town in Missouri if you apparently live two full states away? Something tells you it didn't all happen by chance.

As you continue to fret and speculate, you suddenly become angry with yourself and your apparent determination to try and find problems to spoil your happiness with. Not wanting your ever worrying mind to ruin what should be a day to celebrate, you reach into your bag of little yellow pills and toss one into your mouth, before swallowing it whole. You vow not to make a habit of it, but just for once you would like to enjoy living in the moment.

You feel like you can continue to explore Greenvale while still doing your job, since you are essentially scouting for talent and it can be found just about everywhere in this town. There is a nice looking diner you wanted to check out, so you decide to head there for lunch.

You walk inside and are immediately greeted by a flame haired beauty of a waitress with inviting eyes and a friendly smile.

"Oh my goodness, it's you isn't it?" she beams "the guy all the girls won't stop gushing over. Now I can see for myself what all the fuss is about. It's Chuck, right?"

"Er, yes"

"I'm Marie. I'm so happy you chose to come dine with us today. Why don't you go and take a seat anywhere you want and I'll rush right over as soon as you're ready to order."

"I kind of know my order already, actually. I'd just like a burger, fries and a coke."

"Oh, perfect. I love a man who knows what he wants and isn't afraid to ask for it. I'll go get that sorted for you while you make yourself comfortable. And it's all on the house, okay?"

"What? That's extremely generous but you really don't have to."

"Sure I do after everything you've been through. Besides, I want to make sure you keep coming back to me."

She shoots you the sexiest wink before turning and strutting her way towards the kitchen with a very deliberate wiggle of her butt. You are pretty sure you have already found your favourite new restaurant and take a seat near the window so you can keep a lookout for pretty girls - it's your profession now, after all. It isn't too long before Marie returns with an extremely generous sized burger sitting in the middle of a large plate that is practically overflowing with thick cut fries.

"Here you go, handsome" the pretty waitress smiles warmly as she sets your meal down in front of you "Say, it's a little slow in here right now. You mind if I take a break and keep you company for a while?"

"Sure, be my guest."

She happily sits herself down opposite you and watches as you take a bite out of your burger. Holy shit, this place could give Betsy's cooking a run for its money. Even the Coca Cola tastes better than usual, which doesn't male any sense. Marie could count on you coming back even if she wasn't drop dead gorgeous and willing to bribe you with free food.

"So what do you think?" she asks eagerly.

"It tastes amazing."

"Aww, Chuck you're just being sweet to me."

"No it really does Marie. I didn't know a burger could taste this good. You'll have to pass on my compliments to the chef."

"Actually I won't , since it's me that cooked it. So thank you, it's honestly touching to get such praise from someone whose opinion I truly value."

She almost looks emotional for a moment before she switches the subject away from herself.

"So what is it you do for work, Chuck?"

Okay, this is your chance. Ever since you arrived here you have been picturing Marie perched naked on the diner counter, or standing near the entrance armed with only a small specials menu to cover her modesty with. The great part about it all is that you don't even have to feel like a sleazeball, since this is literally what you do for work now, and it's hard to deny she is exactly the kind of candidate you are supposed to be searching for.

"Actually, I'm in the photography business. I shoot models for the magazines."

"Oh wow, what an exciting job" you can't help but notice that Marie is now primping her hair a little "I bet you have all sorts of fun with that. Such a glamorous industry."

You are never going to get a more golden opportunity than this.

"You know Marie, I have a project I am working on at the moment and you are exactly what I'm looking for"

She gasps and instinctively places her hands to her mouth.

"You're teasing me Chuck!"

"I swear I'm not, you're beautiful but in a way that comes across as very natural and not out of place in an everyday setting like this. I'd love to have the shoot with you right here, actually"

"Really? That would be amazing publicity for my business. Gosh, I can't believe this is actually happening!"

She looks almost deliriously happy. You'd better let her know the catch now.

"The only thing is, Marie. The type of photography I do involves some, very tasteful and artistic, nudity."

"Oh my goodness!" she blushes quite visibly and starts fanning herself with her hands "I can't say I was expecting that. I'll have to think about it, but I have a feeling you'll talk me around with that silver tongue of yours. Anyway, we're starting to get to the lunchtime rush so I'm going to have to tear myself away from you. I'll be right back over as soon as you're ready for your dessert though - I recommend the strawberry sundae!"

As Marie walks away you feel quite confident you have your first non practice model as good as locked in, which basically means you are done with work and can relax for the rest of the afternoon. Or, at least, you could have if a fierce looking lawman hadn't just entered the diner and automatically put you on edge.

To make matters worse, he is coming right for you. Why? Is there any chance you were some kind of notorious criminal before you took a blow to the head and lost your memory? Should you make a run for it while you still can? It looks like he is armed!

Mercifully, as he reaches your table, he breaks into a smile and extends his hand. When you shake it, you feel like yours could get broken, such is the strength of his grip.

"Chuck, right?"

"That's correct, sir."

That sir just slipped in there out of nowhere.

"I'm Robert Reynolds, the Marshal for this town. You're someone I've been wanting to speak to, so it's quite fortunate to run into you like this. Do you mind if I take a seat? You can rest assured you aren't in any trouble but this is important."

Well this is a hell of a downgrade from dining with Marie but you definitely don't dare refuse, so gesture for him to join you.

"I'm happy you're looking so healthy and have made a full recovery from whatever it was that put you out of action a few days back, but it's important for me to investigate the cause of it. Are you sure you don't remember anything at all about what happened to you?"

"Absolutely sure, sir"

Dammit, 'sir' again! You're pretty sure the fact you keep saying that makes you seem guilty of something even though you don't think you are! The marshal shakes his head and exhales a little at your answer.

"Well that makes life a little more difficult for both of us, Chuck. You see, since I took over law enforcement here, I'm proud to say crime in this town has become practically non-existent. Folk know how to behave themselves and keep in line. So you can understand how it looks when an outsider shows up unconscious, having gotten themselves mixed up in who knows what, and tells me they know nothing about their predicament. Now, John assures me you are as fine and upstanding a citizen as he's ever met, and it may well be that you're telling the truth. But the fact is, if you can't remember anything from before you arrived here, then it's impossible for you to say you weren't involved in something I ought to know about."

"So what am I supposed to do about that?"

"It's more what I'm going to do, Chuck. I'm going to investigate your case fully. Until then I'll need to ask you not to leave Greenvale under any circumstances. However, you may move about the town as freely as you wish."

"What, so I'm like a prisoner now?"

Robert actually laughs, something you had assumed up until now he probably wasn't capable of.

"From what I hear this place has hardly been like a prison for you, son. If it were then Lord help us as most fellas would be trying to get themselves put away."

"But what if I want to leave town for the day? I'm not even from Missouri"

"Then I'm mighty sorry for the inconvenience, and I'll do my best to wrap up my investigation as quickly as possible. It does look like a complex one, though. Of course, if something were to happen that jogged your memory in the meantime, it ought to speed things up."

"You can't do this!"

"Oh let me assure you I can and I will."

There is something almost chilling in how calmly Robert speaks. He never raises his voice, never sounds irritated with you and remains almost genteel in his manner at all times. Yet the threat is very much understood.

"I'm sorry son. To keep order it stands to reason that I also have to follow the orders I'm given. I'd really prefer for us not to become adversaries, but if I'm forced to make an enemy to keep my people safe then that's what I'll regretfully have to do."

You are about to try and reason with the man, if such a thing is even possible, when Marie walks back over. She seems surprisingly happy to see the Marshal.

"Daddy!"

Oh no.

"You met my new friend Chuck! I'm so glad two of my favourite boys are already getting along so well"

"You know my daughter already?" Robert raises an eyebrow at you.

"Well, I, ah...."

"Chuck and I only met today" Marie decides to helpfully bring her father up to speed "but it was one of the best conversations I ever had with anyone!"

"It was, huh?" the marshal has an extremely unsettling way of keeping his eyes locked firmly on you as he continues to address his daughter "And what did you and Chuck here discuss exactly?"

Maybe you should have run off while you had the chance.