I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I was going to make this a rather short story because if I make it long, I might never finish it because I am very lazy and have a short attention span. I was originally going to make it just three parts but I think i might end up being four instead. Oh well...
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Part 2How it Began
It began a year later. Adela was seventeen now and still slept in my extra bedroom. I had discovered who her father was a long time ago but had not been able to tell her that he was, in fact, my own Turk, Rude. I could not even tell Rude.
Summer had come and the night was warm but I was not aware of this. I slept fitfully that night. I was dreaming, dreaming of the day when the tower exploded while I was still on it. I thought I was going to die then and I hated reliving it but I had this dream frequently. This time was different, however, and it is what started it all.
AVALANCHE was attacking the towers, I was angry, very angry. I had run all the way to the top of one, but I did not know why my legs had taken me there. I looked up and saw there ship cirlcing around to fire again and I frowned. I knew they were going to fire at the very tower I stood on but I could not move. They fired, I could see the missle leave the gun fastned to the belly of the ship and fly strait towards me. I tried to run but my legs would not move. It was too late for me then, the missle collided with the tower and the reactor exploded and my body was caught in a wave of flame and heat. I cried out in pain, and then…I awoke.
I sat up in my bed, screaming. The dream again, it made sweat break out from every pore in my body. Swinging my legs out of bed, I tried to calm myself down, and then I felt it, the cold. It bit at my skin and made me shiver. I did not understand it, why was I so cold? Maybe it was because of the drastic temperature change between the dreams and now, I did not know. I hugged my bare chest for warmth, the sweat was not helping my case and neither were the sheets, they felt cold as ice to the touch. I began to shake violently; I just could not get warm. The window was open and I felt the cool night breeze enter and lightly brush against my back. It stung and I could feel the goose bumps rise up on the back of my neck and face.
Then she came in, Adela. I heard the creak of the door and looked up to see her, barely wearing anything at all, walk in with a worried expression on her face. Her silk nightdress was short, just stopping in the middle of her thighs and one of her string straps had slipped off her shoulder and rested on her arm. Her dark tan skin seemed to glow in the moonlight and her dark hair shined like her silk nightdress as it cascaded down her shoulders and back.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, sounding a little agitated. Somehow, I could not stop looking at her.
"I heard you cry. Is everything alright?" Her voice was sweet and caring, something I was not used to and did not want at the moment.
I broke away from her gaze. "I am fine. Now please, leave me." She did not. The sweat on my body had dried but I still could not stop shaking. Suddenly, I felt warm fingers touch my frozen cheek and I looked up to see her standing there staring down at me. I did not like it; I hated it when people looked down on me. I wanted them to look up at me, not down. But she looked down and it made me feel uncomfortable. I stared at her, oh how beautiful she looked with only the light of the moon's glow on her bare skin. She sat down next to me and wrapped her arms around me, her warm skin touched my cold skin and I jumped and twitched suddenly. She hugged me tighter and ran her fingers through my sandy blonde hair. My face rested on her chest and moved with her steady breathing; I could hear her heart beat quietly through her chest. I did not want her to let go, I wanted to stay there forever in her arms.
Could the comfort of this young woman, this girl, the daughter of my subordinate, really mean that much to me? She was young, she was beautiful, and she was kind. She would only disobey an order from me if the opposite was what was best for me. For the first time in my life, I realized I was in love and I wanted her to know it, to understand it. I turned my head and began to kiss her neck; she did not object. I then removed her other strap from her shoulder, still no reaction. I moved my lips up her neck and along the jaw line, laying her down on the bed as I did so. Finally, my lips touched hers and she seemed to like it, to want it, for she did not resist but allowed it.
"Rufus…" she moaned my name softly as I went back to kissing her neck.
"Sshhh…" I said, silencing her instantly. Because she was only seventeen, I was easily eight years her senior, but I did not care, I wanted her. She was everything I did not know I ever wanted.
We crawled under the sheets and I removed the rest of her nightdress. This time, she kissed me. I was caught off guard at this sudden action but continued anyway. She let me do what I wanted, never complaining, just going along with my movements. I went lower, kissing her subtle breasts then moving down to the bellybutton. She allowed it, running her hands through my hair as she did before, then sliding them down my bare back as I came back up and kissed her soft, moist lips again; my tongue darting in and out of her mouth as hers did the same. I now realized that I had wanted to do this for a long time but never noticed I had that urge nagging me in the back of my mind. This is what I wanted and I prayed, to what I have no idea, that she would never be taken away from me. I loved her too much.
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I awoke the next morning to the sun shining on my face. Opening my eyes, I turned my head to look at Adela. She was asleep, facing me; the sheets covering her naked body. The sunlight fell on her dark skin and hair giving it a shine that would entrance any man. I leaned in and kissed her closed eyes and smiled; she did not wake up. Getting out of bed, I put my pants back on and walked out of the room to the kitchen. I made myself a pot of coffee, then poured myself a cup and sat at the table to read the newspaper.
Once I found an article worth reading, the doorbell rang. I sighed then stood up to answer it. Opening the door, I looked outside to see Rude standing there with a flower in his hand. I thought this strange but let him in anyway. "What's with the flower?" I asked as I sat back down at the table and picked up my cup of coffee again.
Rude shrugged. "Reno asked me to give it to Adela."
I took another sip of coffee. "Figures, he's been trying to get her in bed ever since he first saw her."
Rude still held the flower in his hand. "Where is she?" he asked.
"Still asleep," I answered a little too quickly. He glared at me through his dark glasses then set the flower on the table in front of me.
"Could you give this to her, then?" he requested, then turned to leave.
I looked at the flower then up at Rude. "Hold on, Rude." He turned around and I motioned for him to sit. He did so and I set my cup down on the table. "I need to speak with you…about Adela." I could see he was curious, even though I could not see his eyes. Rude had to find out sooner or later that she was his daughter, I figured now would be the best time so I just came out with it; to hell with beating around the bush. "Adela, she's…well, she' your daughter."
He stared at me, silent for the longest time, before he came out with a response. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "I did background checks on both you and her and I also snuck in some DNA tests. You are her biological father." He said nothing, nor did he move. He was silent as a stone, silent and unmovable.
When he finally spoke, his voice was cold and sharp. "How long have you known?"
"About three months. Sorry, I couldn't bring myself to tell you until now." Why was I apologizing?
"Does she know?"
I shook my head. "No, not yet." As if on cue, Adela emerged from my bedroom. She looked tired but happy at the same time and she had not bothered with getting dressed but just wrapped the sheets around her body and took them with her.
"Rufus? There you are. So this is why there was an empty space in the bed next to me," she said, a little groggy. I do not think she seemed to notice that Rude was there. I could feel my face flush when she arrived. I looked at Rude; his skin seemed to have turned a shade lighter than normal at this sight. He looked from me, to her, then back to me, looking like he just now noticed that I looked like I got dressed in a hurry. Suddenly, he slammed his hands down on the table, making Adela jump, and then stood up sharply.
"I see, I understand now," he said simply. Then, giving me one last glare, he walked out of the apartment, not even looking back to shut the door. This was not like Rude at all.
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If Rufus is eight years older than Adela and Adela is seventeen, that would make Rufus, drumroll please twenty-five! Good job, you did math!! I wanted Adela to be young, but not too young and not too old because I wanted Rude to be her dad. I thought it best to make Rude around thirty-seven or thirty-eight in this because then he would be about twenty or twenty-one when Adela was born but then left to be a Turk.