Wolf

Christa Hayes was gritting her teeth and trying not to react as the pawn shop keeper fingered her string of pearls. The necklace was the last connection she had with her father, but she now had no choice but to sell them.
It was the last thing of any value that she could sell. Everything else was gone. All her other jewelry, every penny she’d ever saved, which hadn’t been a lot, even most of the furniture from her budget apartment was gone. And still she had student loans to pay, rent, and now hospital bills and a funeral to pay for. And a job as a waitress wasn’t going to cut it. So much for that degree that Dad had been so proud of.
She held on to my emotions as the man behind the counter took a good look at the string of pearls.
“I can give you twenty-five,” he said.
“Twenty-five dollars?” she asked incredulously.
“Yep.”
“Can you go any higher?” she asked, trying not to plead. She needed a good deal more than that and knew that her father had paid more.
“Honey you can go on eBay and get a string of pearls for ten dollars.”
“But…these are real.”
“Yeah but they’re a dime a dozen.”
“But…” She didn’t know what else to say.
“You really need money?”
Her spine stiffened but she forced herself to swallow her pride and nod.
He looked her over for a second, and then sighed. “I don’t normally do this.” He pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling. “You want to go see Wolff Reese. Here’s his address. Tell him Mike sent you.”
She took the address, seeing it was one of the most upscale office buildings in downtown Johnston.
“Is he a banker?”
“Something like that.”
She left the shop with her pearls which she placed carefully into her purse. She looked at the scribbled name and address again. Then started walking. She was desperate enough to try anything.

The office building of Reese International was intimidating on sight. The building was probably the biggest in the city and none too friendly looking. Spotless black glass threw Christa’s face back at her. She didn’t even know why she was here. She was just about to turn away when the door was opened. The man coming out was dressed in an expensive-looking suit and seeing her there, held the door open for her. Not wanting to feel like a complete idiot, she entered.
The lobby looked like something out of a television show with two receptionists sitting behind a large glass-topped desk. One of them looked up upon her entry and asked, “May we help you?”
The woman’s voice echoed and Christa got closer so as not to be so loud.
“Umm…I was told to see Mr. Resse about a financial problem.”
The woman looked at her and for a moment, Christa swore she saw pity. But she quickly masked it and said, “His office is on the tenth floor,” then went back to her computer.
Christa thought that was a bit odd but dismissed it as she went to the bank of elevators.
The tenth floor lobby looked much like the first floor only smaller and with only one receptionist. The walls were sea foam green with white trim; the chairs were lined up against one wall facing the receptionist’s desk and made of black leather. The desk itself was a rich mahogany color that screamed antique.
The woman manning the desk looked up. “May I help you?”
“I…was told to speak with Mr. Reese about a financial issue.”
The woman didn’t blink, simply pushed a button. “Mr. Reese there is a woman here to see you about financial issues.”
The voice that came back was muffled.
“No sir.” She paused a beat as the voice came over again. “Yes sir.” She looked up at Christa. “Mr. Reese is free for only a few minutes. Right through there.” She motioned to a closed door to the left of the desk.
“Thank you.”
The woman didn’t respond, she had already gone back to her keyboard.
Christa walked hesitantly to the door and after hesitating only a moment opened it.
The man sitting behind the desk looked up from his computer screen. Christa’s mouth went dry. He didn’t look like your average businessman. His brown hair was slightly too long and the beard looked unprofessional as did the slight mustache. But what was all business was his eyes. Piercing brown behind his glasses that looked like they saw right down to her soul. His eyebrows matched his hair and while not very heavy, were harsh over his slightly sunken eyes.
She swallowed.
“Do come in,” he invited kindly enough. His voice was flowing and the accent was French. “Please take a seat.”
Christa took a step into the room and the door closed behind her with an ominous click. “Uh...umm…Mike sent me,” she said, belatedly remembering the note clenched in her sweating fist.
He blinked owlishly and took the glasses off to set them on his desk. “I see,” he said, linking his hands behind his head. “Victoria mentioned you were here about a money problem.”
Christa was about to respond when she heard a low growl. Her eyes instantly went to behind the desk where a large dog…no not a dog, a wolf, appeared. She instantly took a step back. The animal’s hackles were up and it was barring its teeth.
“Benoît!” Mr. Reese said sharply. The wolf looked back at him, still growling. It snarled once as if it was talking to him. “Enough.” Mr. Reese said voice low and firm.
The wolf growled one last time and then retreated behind the desk.
“Please excuse him,” Mr. Reese said, indicating the chair once again.
Christa was feeling a little light-headed. She wasn’t a fan of dogs in the first place and that wasn’t even a dog. “I-”
“Don’t let Benoit frighten you,” Mr. Reese said, still without smiling. “He means well he’s just a little…overprotective sometimes.”
She swallowed and took a hesitant step forward. She slid into the chair that sat opposite his desk. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his steepled hands. "All I need from you is your name and social security number.”
That instantly put Christa’s back up. “I…I don’t like giving random people my social security number.”
He didn’t smile, but his eyes did. “You don’t have to worry about my stealing your identity. I don’t think I could pull off the hair.”
Christa found herself cracking a smile at that.
“Now who is it that I am having the pleasure of talking to?”
“My name is Christa Hayes. I’m in a bit of a rough spot finance wise-”
He held up a hand. “Stop there Ms. Hayes. It is Ms. isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Or may I just call you Christa?” He made her name sound like a caress.
“I-That’s fine.”
“Very good. And you may call me Wolff, or Reese.”
The reminder made her cast a suspicious glance towards the corner of the desk where the wolf had appeared.
“You wonder at my pet yes?”
“Well, yes.”
“I’m stuck with him and if I leave him at home he tears everything up.”
“Is he…well what breed is he?”
“A very rare species of…timber wolf.”
“They aren’t very rare in Minnesota,” she reminded him.
His lips turned up ever so slightly. “Yes I know, but he’s…different.”
“Domesticated you mean?”
“Of course,” he said but there was an odd hesitation.
It was only then that Christa realized how far off topic they’d gotten. “I-I’m sorry for keeping you. I have my social security card.” She handed it to him across the desk.
“It was no trouble at all,” he said, putting the glasses back on as the transferred the number on the card to the computer. “I need a bit of a distraction every now and then.” And he flashed her a full-on smile that nearly knocked her breathless. He handed her back the card. “I run a background check on anyone asking for a loan you understand?” He continued when she nodded. “I will let you know in a few days whether or not I will loan you the money.”
“But what about how much and interest rates and-”
“I try not to worry about that until I’ve decided to give you the loan.”
“Oh. Of course.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you Christa. I’ll be in contact within a few days.” He rose and offered his hand. She took it and electricity ran up her arm. More than any static shock she’d ever received. She pulled her hand back almost immediately. He was frowning at her but quickly erased the expression from his face.
“Yes…it was n-nice to meet you.” She turned on her heel and practically ran out of the office. Her arm was still tingling as she entered the elevator. It took her until she got to the street to remember that she hadn’t given him a phone number, an email, even an address in order to get in touch with her. But she was not going back up there again with the wolf and literally shocking man.

The man in question was standing at his office window, staring down at the street and the woman whom had just left his office. His palm, no, his arm was still tingling.
“You’re staring,” came a voice from behind him.
“I know,” he said without turning around.
“If she catches you looking she’s going to think you’re crazy.”
He cracked a smile. “She already thinks that.”
“You never get so involved with your clients, what makes this one different?” There was movement from behind him and another form came to stand at the window next to him.
“I don’t know. There’s something about her.”
“Like what?”
“She’s not like the other girls that have come in here. Prostitutes, drug addicts, the regulars. She’s…I don’t know, just different.”
“And what could that possibly mean?”
Reese looked down. “You know damn well what it means.”
The wolf looked up at him and raised its eyebrows. “Enlighten me,” it challenged.