Thanks to everyone who is following this story. Extra special thanks to the reviewers and those who 'favorite or alert'. Please keep letting me know your thoughts and opinions: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's the only way I know what you like and can get better. As always, I do not own any of the established characters only Haydence.
Kissing Haydence had begun as a necessary ruse to save their lives but was quickly turning into a habit. Even after Lucas thought they had left the men watching Copleston Road behind, he would stop, pull her close, and kiss her as they paused on the street. Everything from her scent to the taste of her lips to her touch was intoxicating. It also gave him a chance to rest from the walk that was more tiring than he expected. He leaned on Hayd, and she wrapped her arm around Lucas's waist giving him support.
When the pub finally came into view, Lucas gave an honest sigh of relief. Walking through the doors, Lucas steered Hayd toward a booth. Instead of sitting opposite, Lucas slid in beside her. But as Haydence looked around, her mood visibly changed. Lucas took this to be her nerves finally showing and tried to place his hand over hers in a gesture of reassurance, but she shifted her hand under the table and refused to meet his gaze.
Lucas leaned in, "What's wrong?"
"They haven't followed us?"
"I don't think so. What the matter?"
"Well, we can stop acting now."
Lucas tilted his head. "Acting?"
"Would you mind sitting across from me?" Hayd was distracted scanning from one side of the pub to another.
"Yes, I would."
She finally turned to look Lucas. "Why?"
"I can protect you better from here. I need to see the door. And. . ." He stopped, uncertain of whether he should continue.
"What?" Hayd flicked her hair out of her eyes searching for something in Lucas's face – almost daring Lucas to make the first real move.
Lucas leaned closer. His voice darkening, "It didn't feel like acting to me."
Haydence's unease became decidedly worse. She twisted in the booth and put her hands to her head. When she came back up, she took a deep breath. "Lucas, I need you to understand something. I divorced five years ago. The five years before that my marriage wasn't even real. We were just roommates. Didn't share the same bed. Didn't share anything. Once I started salvaging my life from that bloody disaster, I made rules for myself."
"Such as?"
"My husband was a handsome man, he was beautiful, and he broke my heart."
"So you haven't dated handsome men since then. What of it?"
"It's a bit more than that. I haven't," Haydence struggled to say the rest. She felt herself blushing which made her even more embarrassed. "Haven't been with anyone in over ten years."
"That doesn't mean that what you felt with me back there wasn't real."
"But it does mean that I'm breaking my rules – my cardinal rule, in fact."
He looked at her questioningly.
"Lucas, you're intelligent, funny, able, and the most beautiful man I've ever known. It would never work. And before you start being modest and how you don't think of yourself as handsome, listen to me. Listen to me say that it doesn't matter what you think. It's how the rest of the world sees you."
Before Lucas could speak, Hayd continued, "As soon as we walked in here, women's heads turned. The brunette at your 2 o'clock, the red head at your 10, the two blonds at your 7. They're vultures. When you walk to the bar to place our order, the two blonds will pounce. Should you decline them, the red head will advance and offer to go to your place."
Lucas was a bit incredulous, but decided to play along. "Why my place?"
"She's wearing a wedding ring. If you refused the red head, the brunette will deem you worthy because you did not respond to her competition. She'll wait till I go to the toilet before she asks you to come home with her. No wedding ring. She wants husband material."
"How can you possibly know this?"
"I'm a keen observer of people – beautiful people, especially. Most beautiful people think it their right to seek out other beautiful people – regardless of the effect their actions have on the rest of us poor mortals."
Lucas casually glanced to those positions and found that four women sat exactly as she said. And they were watching them. "You would have made a good Spook. But, I'm not most people, Hayd." He shook his head, "I'm a British spy who married a Russian woman."
"Out of duty?"
"Out of love. But, I lied to her. She didn't know what I was. So when the Russians captured me, and she found out, she divorced me. All I thought about in those eight years of hell that followed was her. Two years ago, when I was released, she had already remarried, had a child, and was working for the FSB. On top of that a few weeks ago, I met a beautiful CIA agent who pretended to love me while all the time she was betraying me." His voice shook with emotion, "Haydence, don't think I don't know something about what you've gone through."
Hayd's hand crept up to hold Lucas's hand on the table. "Eight years. My god." Her right hand wiped away the moisture starting to build at the corner of her eye.
"All I'm asking is for you to keep an open mind."
She nodded, "Alright."
Lucas let her take a moment to recompose herself before continuing, "So, where does this leave us?"
Hayd's smile returned. "In a pub, surrounded by vultures, gagging for a drink."
Lucas laughed. "Ok, but before that, let me use your mobile. I never got to call in back at your flat. We may need help to get out of this."
"I don't have a mobile."
"You forgot it?"
"I'm a woman who hand quilts and owns a black rotary phone. Some modern 'conveniences' I can do without."
"Ok. There's a pay phone outside. I'll use it after I order. Drink? Food?"
"Yes, please. In that order. I could murder a cup of tea."
Lucas smiled, slid his hand over hers in a light caress, and stood up to walk to the bar. While he waited, one of the blonde moved in to speak to him.
The second blond, in her skintight jeans and frilly revealing tank top, walked past Hayd with two pints of lager in her hands. Bumping into Hayd's table 'accidentally', lager flew all over Hayd soaking her. While the blond rattled through a thinly veiled apology, she leaned over attempting to dry her off.
Hayd dropped the serviette she was using to dry off and leaned down under the table to retrieve it. When she reemerged, Haydence simply smiled and waved the blond off. "No trouble. I know how hard it is for some people to walk and chew gum at the same time. Maybe you should switch to polo mints. I'm sure sucking is something you have a lot of experience with."
The blond walked back to the bar with a smirk on her face. The smirk turned into a look of confusion and then anger as she realized the different levels on which Hayd had insulted her.
Hayd collected her handbag, stood up, and walked over to Lucas. When he saw the state of her, he simply followed her out of the pub without asking for an explanation.
She stopped at the pay phone, but Lucas wasn't interested in it anymore. He tried to wipe some of her hair out of her eyes and followed Hayd's calm demeanor. "I'm so sorry, but it wasn't a total loss." He pulled out the mobile he had swiped from the first blonde and grinned. "We've got communications, now."
Haydence was the image of a drowned rat. Wet hair plastered to her face, lager streaked across her skin, but her smile shone. "We've got more than that, Strawman." She pulled out a set of keys with an Alfa Romero insignia attached. "We've got transport."