I woke up to a text from Ruth. “I won’t be able to talk for the weekend because there won’t be any service where I’m going. But let’s talk more when I’m back!”

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I replied, “Oh yeah, of course, say hello to Bambi for me!” Ruth sent back a couple of laughing emojis.

I had a busy day ahead of me. I needed to get the engagement ring and decorations for the engagement. I also needed to finish my Christmas shopping. So naturally, with such a busy schedule, I started the day off with a bit of procrastination. I watched the new movie adaptation of a book by Bartholomew Insanis—my favorite author. He started writing when he was ten, and was then picked up by a big publishing company last year when he turned twenty-two. He was truly a talented writer for his age.

I was currently watching the movie adaptation of his first book, Dave the Unstoppable. It was basically a story about a spy who worked for the CIA but was later recruited by an organization that dealt with the supernatural. In this movie, Dave had to stop Atlantans from raising their city out of the ocean’s depths to conquer the surface world. It was basically “X-Files meets James Bond.”

Besides Dave, one of the best main characters in the series was Satrina, his love interest. After her parents passed away in a fire, she was recruited by the organization and trained as a super-soldier. Even though she was a woman, it didn’t stop her from taking on bigger opponents because she had gadgets and used her wits to compensate for her not being the most physically strong. This trait of tackling any goal she set her eyes on was so attractive. Satrina dove into any adventure headfirst to overcome any obstacle with just her wits and humor. It was so amazing to see because girls like that didn’t exist. Well, at least not the ones I’ve dated.

Ron texted me the list of items to pick up, so it was probably a sign I should get moving. Quickly getting dressed, I hopped into my car and drove into the city.

Once in the city, I parked in the cheapest parking garage and started walking the streets. Across the street, I saw James walking in the opposite direction. It appeared he was heading somewhere in a hurry but was looking around cautiously to make sure he wasn’t being followed. It appeared he didn’t see me, so naturally, I followed him. I mean, I might as well give him a reason to be paranoid, plus I needed to know why he was so nervous about telling me about his plans for today.

Struggling to keep up with his long-legged strides, I had to jog a little to keep pace with him. He kept looking back and making it difficult to stay out of sight. But nothing was impossible for a seasoned detective. In hot pursuit, I ducked and hid behind different mailboxes and light posts. I even had to cross the street to make sure I wouldn’t be spotted. However, he was none the wiser of his new stalker. Checking my surroundings, I noticed we were heading to an unfamiliar part of the city. We passed a couple of strip clubs and adult movie stores. I had never been to this side of the city. Just where on earth were we going?

Finally, he slowed his pace, and we arrived at his destination, and boy, oh boy, it was a weird sight to see. James went into a store called “The Spanky Wanky” which, from the looks of it, appeared to be a sex shop, given that there were different sets of lingerie and sex toys in the window. I hoped he wasn’t going in there for something foot-related. Our building already had one too many creeps with a foot fetish. I had to know more, so I took my hat and sunglasses out of my bag. Putting them on, I sat on a bench across the street from the shop.

While James was inside, he was friendly to the staff, waving at the person behind the counter. They looked as though they were joking around. It was much worse than I thought—he was a regular! My curiosity was spiking. I needed to know what they were talking about. I took a baseball cap out of my bag, put it on to cover my face, and went inside. When I walked in, James had his back turned to the front door, so I walked in and carefully walked over to the erotica section, so I was in eyesight of the cashier counter.

I grabbed the first book I saw, Confessions of an Amish Slut, and pretended to read it. The erotica section I was standing at was far enough away that they couldn’t see me, but I could still hear them.

“James, if you keep up this good work, we’re going to have to promote you to Manager Slut pretty soon,” the woman behind the counter said.

James picked up a box of flashlights… wait, they might have been… Anyway, he put them on the counter and said, “Thanks, boss, but I’ve only been here for like a year. I’m sure there are people that are more qualified than me.”

Leaving the counter and walking to the backroom, the manager shook her head. “No, that is simply untrue. You have never called out once in the entire year that you’ve been here. You need to give yourself more credit.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” James said, turning around and walking in my direction. Crap, I had to think fast! Putting the book back, I crawled to the entrance underneath the swing set and a rack of dildos.

Now outside the shop, I figured it was best to end my light stalking and respect James’s personal space. Leaving the area, I went back to the less kinky part of the city to finish running errands for Ron.

After grabbing what I needed for the party, I went back to the car and drove to the mall. Ron left me in charge of getting the ring since he wouldn’t make it before they closed because of work. So, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. Get the engagement ring and do my Christmas shopping. Today was looking to be a perfect day.