Land of Tears
Tiny-Dancer
A.N: This is a Rei/Jed story, for they are my next to favorite couple besides the obvious Serena/Darien. Hope you enjoy!
"Rei, are you still coming to the cookout? And don't suddenly say you've got some migraine because you and I both know that that is not true," Serena Valmont reprimanded her sister-in-law. Serena was determined not to let Rei miss this cookout. Darien's entire company was coming to the ritual cookout, and almost half of the men in the company were very available men, which improved Rei's chances of finally getting to settle down. Yet, Serena knew that when it concerned Rei, settling down was not one of her top priorities.
"Serena, I told you, I don't want to go. Why can't you understand that? I have a major story due tomorrow first thing in the morning, and I need to edit it at least once more before I go to bed. I don't have time to hang around a bunch of egotistical, sexually frustrated men who only want to do me in the backseat of their hotrod," Rei explained, her South African accent becoming noticeable.
"Rei, please, don't be so uncouth. A lot of the guys coming are actually quite civilized and decent, and I'm sure that if they wanted to 'do you', they'd do it in a much more appropriate place. Quit being so goddamn you, and just make an appearance. That's all I'm asking." Serena pleaded. Okay, so she sounded a bit pushy and overbearing, but Serena knew for a fact that Rei wasn't getting any younger, and eventually she would want to settle down. She only figured that by pushing Rei to all these engagements such as their cookout, Rei had a better chance of meeting some one.
"Alright. Alright. Quit being so pushy. I'll make a quick appearance," Rei succumbed. This had to be perhaps the millionth time that she swore never to give in to Serena's pleas, and yet, she always found herself in some interesting situations, thanks greatly to her overbearing sister-in-law. Her brother sure did know how to pick them.
"Thank you. Besides, Elizabeth has been asking me when she's going to see you again." Elizabeth was Serena's 3-year-old daughter, and an absolute adorer of Rei. Elizabeth was perhaps the only person under the age of 20 that Rei actually had no problems with.
"Has she, now? She's probably the only sane person in that family of yours, you know. I don't know how my dear brother does it, but I assure you, I cringe every time I think about being in your shoes." Serena's bell-like laughter rang loud through the telephone, and Rei herself chuckled at the image of herself being a mother.
"You do love your freedom. I was like you once, you know. Then I met Darien, and it was like, I couldn't picture NOT having children with him. We're both just too goddamn beautiful," Serena cockily announced.
"Yeah whatever. Well, I have to go. I just got back some film from my last trip, and I need to make sure that the stupid developers didn't fuck up this batch of pictures. So I'll see you at 8:00?"
"No, the cookout is at 5:00. So show up by 6:00 so you can eat with us," Rei's sister-in-law planned. She knew Rei well enough to know that she'd show up late, but at least she was going to come, and that was better than the last cookout Serena had hosted where Rei didn't show up until all the guests had already left. It was as though she simply repelled any social activities besides her death-defying excursions all over the globe. Sometimes Serena thought that Rei worked for the CIA instead of the international news magazine that she worked for.
"Yeah whatever. I'll show up as soon as I finish checking the prints and my story, okay?"
"Rei." Serena warned.
"I WILL show up. Don't worry. I'll see you at eight. Bye, love." And she hung up. Talking to Serena was tiring, especially when weaseling her way out of the usual cookout that Darien and Serena hosted every 3 days. Stretching out on her overstuffed, worn out sofa, she grabbed the yellow notepad that was sitting on her maple coffee table, and zealously started looking over her notes.
She had just gotten back from a three-week trip to El Salvador, where she was doing an article on a radical political party that was beginning to cause some ruckus in the country. Although it was nothing that should have concerned the other countries, Rei believed that if something, no matter how minute, was not done to tame the radicals, that the constant terror in El Salvador would only get worse. Her three weeks there had been everything far from dull. At one point, her translator, Eduardo, had been stuck in a gun war between the local police and a group of warlords. She had captured some amazing pictures, and some even more amazing stories from different people, still throwing Rei for a loop that she had come out unscathed in the end. Her editor was already praising her for a job well done after seeing a couple of the proofs from the trip, and now all she had to do was finish her article. Another thousand words and she would be done.
The mirror clock on her vibrant red wall read 3:26, which gave her a sturdy three hours before she had to show up at her brother's house on base for their little 'engagement'. She detested their cookouts with a passion. All the men were cocky bastards who were cursed with overwhelming hubris. It sickened Rei at the thought of marrying one of them. The entity of marriage sickened her. When she was younger, Darien would always write her letters from California talking about how one day, he would meet the girl of his dreams; that she was out there waiting for her Prince Charming (which was he). Rei had always envied that about her brother; his hopelessly romantic notions. Even after 5 years of marriage to Serena, he always seemed to surprise Serena with a romantic gesture that even made Rei sigh dreamily. Rei had always been ambivalent about such fantasies. Darien and herself grew up in two separate worlds, each one forming their own opinions, their own lifestyles. Darien desired the comfort of familiarity and family, despite being in the ARMY. Rei yearned for the adventure that she had lived all through her childhood. Her burning fire in life was the need to help all those around her. Never did she yearn for a warm body at night to curl up next to, or a companion to ward off her loneliness. Her work was what made Rei want to get up in the morning and live.
She had lived a hard life. Her scars were too deep to be seen by the human eye; her tragedies too great to define with words. She grew up in a world that saw such death and destruction, everything paled in comparison. Forced to grow up with the future always in danger, Rei had grown accustomed to harbor reservations against anyone. The first day she met Serena, for example, she had studied her as though a scientist would study a new species of animal, and kept herself as closed off as possible. Yet, Serena had forced her way into Rei's life whether Rei liked it or not, and made her realize that she was not the enemy in Rei's reality, but a friend. Now, Rei couldn't imagine living without Serena there to support her and bring optimism to Rei's depressing reality.
Looking at the clock once more the neon numbers blared 4:55 P.M. She must have fallen asleep. She had not been able to get a good night's rest the night before, and Rei found herself dozing off every few hours to catch up on the lost hours. It was a miracle that her editor, Mina Keriakis, had given her the week off to get back to the routine everyone else around her had, otherwise Rei would have been struggling to keep up with her fast paced schedule. Her days spent in El Salvador had been rough, emotionally and physically. By the time Rei boarded the small one-engine plane to go back to the States, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to forget some of the horrifying things that she had seen. Children left abandoned by the streets because of hard times in the family. One time, Rei interviewed a mother of three who had raised herself after she witnessed both her parents and older brother be murdered by power hungry warlords. It was difficult to see such things, but Rei never complained. She loved her job, but what she loved even more was knowing that by writing articles that exposed the raging problems, she was making a difference in a world that she was forced to live in. Society needed a reality check when it came to the suffering of their fellow humans, and Rei enjoyed being the one to open the eyes of everyone around her to what was REALLY happening in the world.
Grunting at her lassitude, Rei decided to at least start the rest of her article before she headed out, and slowly trudged up the three stairs that led to her small closet turned office. Her laptop had been left on from earlier that day, and clicking to where she had filed her article, Rei began working. The hours passed with ease, although every once in a while Rei would get up to stretch or find some more cigarettes. She had picked up the nasty habit while on a trip to Russia, and although she knew that each stick was cutting her life years in half, she couldn't seem to curve her need for them. It wasn't as though she chain-smoked-that was simply disgusting-she merely smoked whenever she needed to calm down or get her creative juices flowing, which was every hour or so.
After giving her last paragraph a quick run through, Rei scanned the clock on her desk to find the box-like numbers reading 7:30. She had been working for almost 2 and half hours straight, and she was late to the cookout she had sworn to attend, no matter how tired she was. Serena was DEFINITELY going to get on her about being late. Cursing loudly at her misfortune, Rei grabbed her last pack of cigarettes from her dishwasher (since Serena never perused the dishwasher to take the contraband from Rei, and Rei never washed her dishes, therefore having no need of a dishwasher), slammed her feet into a pair of running shoes, and grabbed her keys before locking the door and heading out to her car.
Traffic was grueling. It seemed as though every soldier west of the Mississippi River wanted to get on base. What made it much worse was that since she didn't have one of the magical stickers that automatically let her in, DECALs, she had to wait in the even longer line to get her car inspected and then allowed to pass through the makeshift gates. Imagine her luck when, after finally being allowed to pass, her car refused to start. Huffing vehemently at her ill fortune, Rei lighted the cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth, smiled apologetically to the amused guard, and tried once more. Nothing. If only cars could feel pain, Rei had no doubt that hers would have been howling in agony. She tried once more, and finally was able to get it rumbling. Pressing the gas, she let out the choke lever to her 1978 Honda, and puttered her way out of the gates and onto the roads on weaving throughout the base. The roads were not as crowded as she had imagined them to be, and after turning onto the neighborhood where her brother lived, she easily found his dark green cottage fortressed by at least 15 cars, each of them the latest year and model of their respective make. Parking her own hunk of junk in front of a particular red mustang, Rei turned off the engine and rolled up her windows using the window roller. Nothing in her car was automatic.
The smell of burning charcoal and grilling hamburgers welcomed her to her brother's abode, and was greeted to see Serena and Darien sitting at one of their many patio tables, laughing and talking with the men and women sitting around them. A few of the soldiers in Darien's group had brought their girlfriends and even their children, and Rei was relieved to see that she wouldn't be surrounded entirely by obnoxious single men. Darien noticed her first, and waved her over to his table. He put his beer down to give her a big welcoming hug, and Serena smiled warmly at her from her seat as she continued to talk to one of the other women there.
"You're late. Serena's going to have your head for that," Darien whispered into her ear as he hugged her. Despite being Rei's brother, he did not carry the accent that was so evident in Rei's speech.
"I know. I got caught up with work." She took a last puff of her cigarette before casting it out on the concrete and squishing it with her foot.
"Well, how does that not surprise me?" Darien rolled his eyes at her comment, and handed her a beer.
"No thanks. I'm driving you know. Don't want to be a threat to the public."
"More so than you already are?" he asked, failing miserably to hide the grin on his handsome face, "Besides, you can crash here if you get THAT wasted." Not one to turn down an offered beer, Rei grabbed the cold bottle, and took a quick gulp of the bitter brew.
"Aunt Rei!" a high-pitched voice yelled as a small body bombarded Rei and wrapped its small thin arms around her leg into a tight embrace.
"Ellie! How's my favorite niece?" Rei asked, picking her up and kissing her affectionately on her chubby cheek.
"Aunt Rei, I'm your only niece!" the bemused little girl replied.
"You're still my favorite you know," Rei seriously reiterated. The little girl laughed, which sounded remarkably much like her mother's, and wrapped her arms around Rei's neck to give her another hug
"Did you miss me while you were gone?" Elizabeth knew that Rei had gone out on another trip and had just returned a few days earlier.
"Yup, and I brought you some stuff, too. Look in my bag, Ellie, and I have something for you and your brother."
"Yay!" Rei put the small child down so that she could show Elizabeth the surprise. Opening the tissue paper, Elizabeth found a necklace that had a beautiful wood carving of a dove in flight. Untying the leather strap that held the charm, Rei put it on her niece, smiling at how cultured it made the 3 year old look. Everyone around the two looked onward with amusement and interest to see aunt and niece share such a precious moment.
"Thank you, Aunt Rei." Elizabeth looked at her necklace with fascination as she gave her aunt another hug before running off to show her mother. Serena nodded and complimented her daughter on the necklace, before looking over to Rei.
"You always spoil that child. I'm afraid now that you're going to make her want to go with you on all your trips." Serena feigned fright.
"It's in her blood. I was always fascinated with that kind of stuff when I was young, and look at how I turned out."
"Heaven forbid," Serena scoffed before laughing. "Sit down. Let me introduce you to everyone since you decided to show up late and miss the FIRST introductions." Rei sat down gracefully in the padded chair next to Serena, and lit another cigarette. "Rei," Serena admonished, "not in front of Brandon, please."
"I'll blow the smoke the other way, I promise." Brandon was Serena and Darien's second child. He had been born a few months prior, 3 months to be precise, and was already intruding on Rei's habits, which she found somewhat annoying. Like his father, he was born with a fluffy patch of raven black hair and an olive complexion, but had been graced with his mother's sky blue eyes; which was the opposite of Elizabeth, who carried her mother's facial features, golden hair, and father's midnight blue eyes. Both would grow up to be beautiful children, like their parents, Rei knew that much.
"Rei, you do realize that you're killing yourself with those cigarettes?"
"Yes," she coolly replied, taking another puff. The cigarette was doing wonders to her frazzled nerves.
"And you do realize that you're endangering my son here by you smoking right next to him?" Serena continued her interrogation, knowing that if she kept pestering Rei, she would eventually get rid of the cigarette.
"Dear God, you're not going to stop irritating me are you?"
"Not until you go either smoke somewhere else or don't smoke while I'm here with Brandon or Elizabeth. Second-hand smoke is dangerous to both of them. that kind of smoke could damage their lungs and give them some ungodly disease, and it would be all YOUR fault." Serena pointed out furtively.
"Fine," Rei grumbled with defeat. She snuffed out her cigarette on the concrete, and smiled to the rest of the people sitting around them. "I guess Serena isn't going to introduce me, so I might as well. I'm Rei Valmont, Darien's kid sister." Everyone waved politely while others lifted up their beer in acknowledgement of her presence.
"Let me introduce these people to you," Serena began. "This is Lita Granger and her boyfriend, Nick Ralling, who under Darien. This is Amy Masterson, she's a friend of mine from college. Then there's Luke Williams, another one of Darien's group members. Ricardo Sanchez, James Morris, although everyone calls him Jed, and Antonio Marinia, all of whom are members of Darien's group as well." The last three men to be introduced to Rei gave her the appreciative eye, before smiling grandly at her, as though trying to employ all their perfected charm on her. It would do no good, for Rei was immune to it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the one named Ricardo suavely said. His voice was accented with a Latin ring to it, and it made Rei lift her shapely eyebrow in his direction.
"Likewise, I guess." She shrugged.
"Darien never mentions you," Jed, if she remembered correctly, spoke up.
"Well he never mentioned you to me, and I can see why now." Her words were sharp and cold, and Serena smacked her arm lightly for her lack of manners. "What?" Rei snapped at her in return for the physical blow.
"Be nice," Serena answered as she stood up to go see what her husband was doing.
"I see you're not one for manners," Jed muttered as he took a sip of his drink.
"Get over yourself," Rei spat out. This guy was infuriating! She had barely spoken a sentence to him, and suddenly he starts making assumptions on her.
"So," Ricardo cut in before an argument ensued, "what do you do, Rei?"
"I work for, Global United, I'm one of their reporters."
"So what exactly do you do?" Jed asked her. He seemed to be the most handsome out of all of the men she had met thus far at the cookout. With short blonde hair and riveting blue-green eyes, he was indeed breathtaking. Yet his exterior appearance seemed to exceed his interior, that much Rei gathered from his quick judgments and cocky attitude.
"I travel all around the world doing articles about current international issues, whether it be from a political standpoint or a humanitarian perspective. I recently got back from a three week trip to El Salvador where I did a major piece about the suddenly often uprisings of radicals and warlords against the government. It was quite intriguing," she informed those around her.
"Sounds a bit dangerous don't you think? Especially for a female reporter no less," Jed commented.
"Well this female reporter finds nothing dangerous and scary about it. The world deserves to know the truth about what's going on around them. Danger is just a minor detail to my job description."
"Sounds fascinating," Amy spoke up. Rei took her to be the quiet one out of the group at the table, for although many of the others had yet to speak a word to her, Amy had a calm aura to her that oozed conservativeness and quiet intelligence. Her dark brown hair shined in the setting sun with an almost blue hue, to which Rei found out later on was actually because she had blue highlights.
"I hate reporters," Jed commented.
"Well no one asked for your opinion, especially not this reporter," Rei replied, her voice sounding a bit shocked to hear him say something so rude and blunt.
"It's a free country. I can say whatever damn well pleases me, and just because you're a reporter, it doesn't mean that I have to hold my tongue in your presence. I hate reporters because when I get sent to do a job, your cameras and nosy selves are trying to get the 'good stuff', making it damn near impossible for me to get MY job done." Sitting back in his seat, he took another sip of his beer, as though he had just completed a hard task and was patting himself on the back.
"You have some nerve. You say that it's a free country, yet when we try to take heed of it, you complain. This free country deserves to know what's going on out there, and if it inconveniences you, well boo fucking hoo. Deal with it, or find another job, because I always get my story, no matter what."
By now, the entire party had gone silent listening to Rei and Jed argue over their difference in opinions. She never intended for her conversation to turn sour, yet he had the nerve to shame her career-her LIFE-in front of her, obviously not apologetic in the least to have done such a disrespectful thing.
"You know, you have some nerve, jackass." And with that, Rei stormed off to find her brother.
"Nice speech, Rei," Darien said as he flipped the burgers. "only took you 5 minutes to find someone to argue with."
"He started it," Rei muttered, lighting a cigarette and sounding every bit the petulant child.
"Spare me, Rei. I know you well enough to know that you probably said something to get Jed all worked up. Usually he's seducing the girl, not arguing with her you know."
"I'd rather argue than be seduced, thank you very much," Rei spoke, blowing the smoke into a fanciful curve. "Besides, I have to go. I only promised Serena a quick appearance. I have a lot of work to do."
"Well take some burgers then if you insist on leaving."
"I would have stayed longer, but I don't feel like putting up with such rude people. How do you put up with them?" she asked. If she couldn't stand the guy for 5 minutes, how could Darien do it in the middle of a warzone?
"You may find him unbearable, but he's a hell of a soldier, and he's saved my ass more times than I count. That's all that matters to me; getting back to my family." Darien looked out to see his wife, the love of his life, putting their son in the playpen she had set up for him as Elizabeth looked on in wonder and amazement. They were his life, and he didn't care what kind of person his teammates were, as long as they brought him back to the people whom he adored.
"Yeah well, you've definitely got some balls on you to deal with him because I sure as hell can't stand him." And with a quick hug, she left to return home to a pile of depressing pictures and a heart wrenching article.
A.N: Not my best work, but it'll do for now. Please review!
Love,
Michelle
Tiny-Dancer
A.N: This is a Rei/Jed story, for they are my next to favorite couple besides the obvious Serena/Darien. Hope you enjoy!
"Rei, are you still coming to the cookout? And don't suddenly say you've got some migraine because you and I both know that that is not true," Serena Valmont reprimanded her sister-in-law. Serena was determined not to let Rei miss this cookout. Darien's entire company was coming to the ritual cookout, and almost half of the men in the company were very available men, which improved Rei's chances of finally getting to settle down. Yet, Serena knew that when it concerned Rei, settling down was not one of her top priorities.
"Serena, I told you, I don't want to go. Why can't you understand that? I have a major story due tomorrow first thing in the morning, and I need to edit it at least once more before I go to bed. I don't have time to hang around a bunch of egotistical, sexually frustrated men who only want to do me in the backseat of their hotrod," Rei explained, her South African accent becoming noticeable.
"Rei, please, don't be so uncouth. A lot of the guys coming are actually quite civilized and decent, and I'm sure that if they wanted to 'do you', they'd do it in a much more appropriate place. Quit being so goddamn you, and just make an appearance. That's all I'm asking." Serena pleaded. Okay, so she sounded a bit pushy and overbearing, but Serena knew for a fact that Rei wasn't getting any younger, and eventually she would want to settle down. She only figured that by pushing Rei to all these engagements such as their cookout, Rei had a better chance of meeting some one.
"Alright. Alright. Quit being so pushy. I'll make a quick appearance," Rei succumbed. This had to be perhaps the millionth time that she swore never to give in to Serena's pleas, and yet, she always found herself in some interesting situations, thanks greatly to her overbearing sister-in-law. Her brother sure did know how to pick them.
"Thank you. Besides, Elizabeth has been asking me when she's going to see you again." Elizabeth was Serena's 3-year-old daughter, and an absolute adorer of Rei. Elizabeth was perhaps the only person under the age of 20 that Rei actually had no problems with.
"Has she, now? She's probably the only sane person in that family of yours, you know. I don't know how my dear brother does it, but I assure you, I cringe every time I think about being in your shoes." Serena's bell-like laughter rang loud through the telephone, and Rei herself chuckled at the image of herself being a mother.
"You do love your freedom. I was like you once, you know. Then I met Darien, and it was like, I couldn't picture NOT having children with him. We're both just too goddamn beautiful," Serena cockily announced.
"Yeah whatever. Well, I have to go. I just got back some film from my last trip, and I need to make sure that the stupid developers didn't fuck up this batch of pictures. So I'll see you at 8:00?"
"No, the cookout is at 5:00. So show up by 6:00 so you can eat with us," Rei's sister-in-law planned. She knew Rei well enough to know that she'd show up late, but at least she was going to come, and that was better than the last cookout Serena had hosted where Rei didn't show up until all the guests had already left. It was as though she simply repelled any social activities besides her death-defying excursions all over the globe. Sometimes Serena thought that Rei worked for the CIA instead of the international news magazine that she worked for.
"Yeah whatever. I'll show up as soon as I finish checking the prints and my story, okay?"
"Rei." Serena warned.
"I WILL show up. Don't worry. I'll see you at eight. Bye, love." And she hung up. Talking to Serena was tiring, especially when weaseling her way out of the usual cookout that Darien and Serena hosted every 3 days. Stretching out on her overstuffed, worn out sofa, she grabbed the yellow notepad that was sitting on her maple coffee table, and zealously started looking over her notes.
She had just gotten back from a three-week trip to El Salvador, where she was doing an article on a radical political party that was beginning to cause some ruckus in the country. Although it was nothing that should have concerned the other countries, Rei believed that if something, no matter how minute, was not done to tame the radicals, that the constant terror in El Salvador would only get worse. Her three weeks there had been everything far from dull. At one point, her translator, Eduardo, had been stuck in a gun war between the local police and a group of warlords. She had captured some amazing pictures, and some even more amazing stories from different people, still throwing Rei for a loop that she had come out unscathed in the end. Her editor was already praising her for a job well done after seeing a couple of the proofs from the trip, and now all she had to do was finish her article. Another thousand words and she would be done.
The mirror clock on her vibrant red wall read 3:26, which gave her a sturdy three hours before she had to show up at her brother's house on base for their little 'engagement'. She detested their cookouts with a passion. All the men were cocky bastards who were cursed with overwhelming hubris. It sickened Rei at the thought of marrying one of them. The entity of marriage sickened her. When she was younger, Darien would always write her letters from California talking about how one day, he would meet the girl of his dreams; that she was out there waiting for her Prince Charming (which was he). Rei had always envied that about her brother; his hopelessly romantic notions. Even after 5 years of marriage to Serena, he always seemed to surprise Serena with a romantic gesture that even made Rei sigh dreamily. Rei had always been ambivalent about such fantasies. Darien and herself grew up in two separate worlds, each one forming their own opinions, their own lifestyles. Darien desired the comfort of familiarity and family, despite being in the ARMY. Rei yearned for the adventure that she had lived all through her childhood. Her burning fire in life was the need to help all those around her. Never did she yearn for a warm body at night to curl up next to, or a companion to ward off her loneliness. Her work was what made Rei want to get up in the morning and live.
She had lived a hard life. Her scars were too deep to be seen by the human eye; her tragedies too great to define with words. She grew up in a world that saw such death and destruction, everything paled in comparison. Forced to grow up with the future always in danger, Rei had grown accustomed to harbor reservations against anyone. The first day she met Serena, for example, she had studied her as though a scientist would study a new species of animal, and kept herself as closed off as possible. Yet, Serena had forced her way into Rei's life whether Rei liked it or not, and made her realize that she was not the enemy in Rei's reality, but a friend. Now, Rei couldn't imagine living without Serena there to support her and bring optimism to Rei's depressing reality.
Looking at the clock once more the neon numbers blared 4:55 P.M. She must have fallen asleep. She had not been able to get a good night's rest the night before, and Rei found herself dozing off every few hours to catch up on the lost hours. It was a miracle that her editor, Mina Keriakis, had given her the week off to get back to the routine everyone else around her had, otherwise Rei would have been struggling to keep up with her fast paced schedule. Her days spent in El Salvador had been rough, emotionally and physically. By the time Rei boarded the small one-engine plane to go back to the States, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to forget some of the horrifying things that she had seen. Children left abandoned by the streets because of hard times in the family. One time, Rei interviewed a mother of three who had raised herself after she witnessed both her parents and older brother be murdered by power hungry warlords. It was difficult to see such things, but Rei never complained. She loved her job, but what she loved even more was knowing that by writing articles that exposed the raging problems, she was making a difference in a world that she was forced to live in. Society needed a reality check when it came to the suffering of their fellow humans, and Rei enjoyed being the one to open the eyes of everyone around her to what was REALLY happening in the world.
Grunting at her lassitude, Rei decided to at least start the rest of her article before she headed out, and slowly trudged up the three stairs that led to her small closet turned office. Her laptop had been left on from earlier that day, and clicking to where she had filed her article, Rei began working. The hours passed with ease, although every once in a while Rei would get up to stretch or find some more cigarettes. She had picked up the nasty habit while on a trip to Russia, and although she knew that each stick was cutting her life years in half, she couldn't seem to curve her need for them. It wasn't as though she chain-smoked-that was simply disgusting-she merely smoked whenever she needed to calm down or get her creative juices flowing, which was every hour or so.
After giving her last paragraph a quick run through, Rei scanned the clock on her desk to find the box-like numbers reading 7:30. She had been working for almost 2 and half hours straight, and she was late to the cookout she had sworn to attend, no matter how tired she was. Serena was DEFINITELY going to get on her about being late. Cursing loudly at her misfortune, Rei grabbed her last pack of cigarettes from her dishwasher (since Serena never perused the dishwasher to take the contraband from Rei, and Rei never washed her dishes, therefore having no need of a dishwasher), slammed her feet into a pair of running shoes, and grabbed her keys before locking the door and heading out to her car.
Traffic was grueling. It seemed as though every soldier west of the Mississippi River wanted to get on base. What made it much worse was that since she didn't have one of the magical stickers that automatically let her in, DECALs, she had to wait in the even longer line to get her car inspected and then allowed to pass through the makeshift gates. Imagine her luck when, after finally being allowed to pass, her car refused to start. Huffing vehemently at her ill fortune, Rei lighted the cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth, smiled apologetically to the amused guard, and tried once more. Nothing. If only cars could feel pain, Rei had no doubt that hers would have been howling in agony. She tried once more, and finally was able to get it rumbling. Pressing the gas, she let out the choke lever to her 1978 Honda, and puttered her way out of the gates and onto the roads on weaving throughout the base. The roads were not as crowded as she had imagined them to be, and after turning onto the neighborhood where her brother lived, she easily found his dark green cottage fortressed by at least 15 cars, each of them the latest year and model of their respective make. Parking her own hunk of junk in front of a particular red mustang, Rei turned off the engine and rolled up her windows using the window roller. Nothing in her car was automatic.
The smell of burning charcoal and grilling hamburgers welcomed her to her brother's abode, and was greeted to see Serena and Darien sitting at one of their many patio tables, laughing and talking with the men and women sitting around them. A few of the soldiers in Darien's group had brought their girlfriends and even their children, and Rei was relieved to see that she wouldn't be surrounded entirely by obnoxious single men. Darien noticed her first, and waved her over to his table. He put his beer down to give her a big welcoming hug, and Serena smiled warmly at her from her seat as she continued to talk to one of the other women there.
"You're late. Serena's going to have your head for that," Darien whispered into her ear as he hugged her. Despite being Rei's brother, he did not carry the accent that was so evident in Rei's speech.
"I know. I got caught up with work." She took a last puff of her cigarette before casting it out on the concrete and squishing it with her foot.
"Well, how does that not surprise me?" Darien rolled his eyes at her comment, and handed her a beer.
"No thanks. I'm driving you know. Don't want to be a threat to the public."
"More so than you already are?" he asked, failing miserably to hide the grin on his handsome face, "Besides, you can crash here if you get THAT wasted." Not one to turn down an offered beer, Rei grabbed the cold bottle, and took a quick gulp of the bitter brew.
"Aunt Rei!" a high-pitched voice yelled as a small body bombarded Rei and wrapped its small thin arms around her leg into a tight embrace.
"Ellie! How's my favorite niece?" Rei asked, picking her up and kissing her affectionately on her chubby cheek.
"Aunt Rei, I'm your only niece!" the bemused little girl replied.
"You're still my favorite you know," Rei seriously reiterated. The little girl laughed, which sounded remarkably much like her mother's, and wrapped her arms around Rei's neck to give her another hug
"Did you miss me while you were gone?" Elizabeth knew that Rei had gone out on another trip and had just returned a few days earlier.
"Yup, and I brought you some stuff, too. Look in my bag, Ellie, and I have something for you and your brother."
"Yay!" Rei put the small child down so that she could show Elizabeth the surprise. Opening the tissue paper, Elizabeth found a necklace that had a beautiful wood carving of a dove in flight. Untying the leather strap that held the charm, Rei put it on her niece, smiling at how cultured it made the 3 year old look. Everyone around the two looked onward with amusement and interest to see aunt and niece share such a precious moment.
"Thank you, Aunt Rei." Elizabeth looked at her necklace with fascination as she gave her aunt another hug before running off to show her mother. Serena nodded and complimented her daughter on the necklace, before looking over to Rei.
"You always spoil that child. I'm afraid now that you're going to make her want to go with you on all your trips." Serena feigned fright.
"It's in her blood. I was always fascinated with that kind of stuff when I was young, and look at how I turned out."
"Heaven forbid," Serena scoffed before laughing. "Sit down. Let me introduce you to everyone since you decided to show up late and miss the FIRST introductions." Rei sat down gracefully in the padded chair next to Serena, and lit another cigarette. "Rei," Serena admonished, "not in front of Brandon, please."
"I'll blow the smoke the other way, I promise." Brandon was Serena and Darien's second child. He had been born a few months prior, 3 months to be precise, and was already intruding on Rei's habits, which she found somewhat annoying. Like his father, he was born with a fluffy patch of raven black hair and an olive complexion, but had been graced with his mother's sky blue eyes; which was the opposite of Elizabeth, who carried her mother's facial features, golden hair, and father's midnight blue eyes. Both would grow up to be beautiful children, like their parents, Rei knew that much.
"Rei, you do realize that you're killing yourself with those cigarettes?"
"Yes," she coolly replied, taking another puff. The cigarette was doing wonders to her frazzled nerves.
"And you do realize that you're endangering my son here by you smoking right next to him?" Serena continued her interrogation, knowing that if she kept pestering Rei, she would eventually get rid of the cigarette.
"Dear God, you're not going to stop irritating me are you?"
"Not until you go either smoke somewhere else or don't smoke while I'm here with Brandon or Elizabeth. Second-hand smoke is dangerous to both of them. that kind of smoke could damage their lungs and give them some ungodly disease, and it would be all YOUR fault." Serena pointed out furtively.
"Fine," Rei grumbled with defeat. She snuffed out her cigarette on the concrete, and smiled to the rest of the people sitting around them. "I guess Serena isn't going to introduce me, so I might as well. I'm Rei Valmont, Darien's kid sister." Everyone waved politely while others lifted up their beer in acknowledgement of her presence.
"Let me introduce these people to you," Serena began. "This is Lita Granger and her boyfriend, Nick Ralling, who under Darien. This is Amy Masterson, she's a friend of mine from college. Then there's Luke Williams, another one of Darien's group members. Ricardo Sanchez, James Morris, although everyone calls him Jed, and Antonio Marinia, all of whom are members of Darien's group as well." The last three men to be introduced to Rei gave her the appreciative eye, before smiling grandly at her, as though trying to employ all their perfected charm on her. It would do no good, for Rei was immune to it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the one named Ricardo suavely said. His voice was accented with a Latin ring to it, and it made Rei lift her shapely eyebrow in his direction.
"Likewise, I guess." She shrugged.
"Darien never mentions you," Jed, if she remembered correctly, spoke up.
"Well he never mentioned you to me, and I can see why now." Her words were sharp and cold, and Serena smacked her arm lightly for her lack of manners. "What?" Rei snapped at her in return for the physical blow.
"Be nice," Serena answered as she stood up to go see what her husband was doing.
"I see you're not one for manners," Jed muttered as he took a sip of his drink.
"Get over yourself," Rei spat out. This guy was infuriating! She had barely spoken a sentence to him, and suddenly he starts making assumptions on her.
"So," Ricardo cut in before an argument ensued, "what do you do, Rei?"
"I work for, Global United, I'm one of their reporters."
"So what exactly do you do?" Jed asked her. He seemed to be the most handsome out of all of the men she had met thus far at the cookout. With short blonde hair and riveting blue-green eyes, he was indeed breathtaking. Yet his exterior appearance seemed to exceed his interior, that much Rei gathered from his quick judgments and cocky attitude.
"I travel all around the world doing articles about current international issues, whether it be from a political standpoint or a humanitarian perspective. I recently got back from a three week trip to El Salvador where I did a major piece about the suddenly often uprisings of radicals and warlords against the government. It was quite intriguing," she informed those around her.
"Sounds a bit dangerous don't you think? Especially for a female reporter no less," Jed commented.
"Well this female reporter finds nothing dangerous and scary about it. The world deserves to know the truth about what's going on around them. Danger is just a minor detail to my job description."
"Sounds fascinating," Amy spoke up. Rei took her to be the quiet one out of the group at the table, for although many of the others had yet to speak a word to her, Amy had a calm aura to her that oozed conservativeness and quiet intelligence. Her dark brown hair shined in the setting sun with an almost blue hue, to which Rei found out later on was actually because she had blue highlights.
"I hate reporters," Jed commented.
"Well no one asked for your opinion, especially not this reporter," Rei replied, her voice sounding a bit shocked to hear him say something so rude and blunt.
"It's a free country. I can say whatever damn well pleases me, and just because you're a reporter, it doesn't mean that I have to hold my tongue in your presence. I hate reporters because when I get sent to do a job, your cameras and nosy selves are trying to get the 'good stuff', making it damn near impossible for me to get MY job done." Sitting back in his seat, he took another sip of his beer, as though he had just completed a hard task and was patting himself on the back.
"You have some nerve. You say that it's a free country, yet when we try to take heed of it, you complain. This free country deserves to know what's going on out there, and if it inconveniences you, well boo fucking hoo. Deal with it, or find another job, because I always get my story, no matter what."
By now, the entire party had gone silent listening to Rei and Jed argue over their difference in opinions. She never intended for her conversation to turn sour, yet he had the nerve to shame her career-her LIFE-in front of her, obviously not apologetic in the least to have done such a disrespectful thing.
"You know, you have some nerve, jackass." And with that, Rei stormed off to find her brother.
"Nice speech, Rei," Darien said as he flipped the burgers. "only took you 5 minutes to find someone to argue with."
"He started it," Rei muttered, lighting a cigarette and sounding every bit the petulant child.
"Spare me, Rei. I know you well enough to know that you probably said something to get Jed all worked up. Usually he's seducing the girl, not arguing with her you know."
"I'd rather argue than be seduced, thank you very much," Rei spoke, blowing the smoke into a fanciful curve. "Besides, I have to go. I only promised Serena a quick appearance. I have a lot of work to do."
"Well take some burgers then if you insist on leaving."
"I would have stayed longer, but I don't feel like putting up with such rude people. How do you put up with them?" she asked. If she couldn't stand the guy for 5 minutes, how could Darien do it in the middle of a warzone?
"You may find him unbearable, but he's a hell of a soldier, and he's saved my ass more times than I count. That's all that matters to me; getting back to my family." Darien looked out to see his wife, the love of his life, putting their son in the playpen she had set up for him as Elizabeth looked on in wonder and amazement. They were his life, and he didn't care what kind of person his teammates were, as long as they brought him back to the people whom he adored.
"Yeah well, you've definitely got some balls on you to deal with him because I sure as hell can't stand him." And with a quick hug, she left to return home to a pile of depressing pictures and a heart wrenching article.
A.N: Not my best work, but it'll do for now. Please review!
Love,
Michelle