Chapter 7

Exhausted after nearly twenty four hours of traveling Brandon dropped his bag on the floor in the hotel room in Kabul. Taking in his surroundings he smirked, this was definitely no Mandarin Oriental. For the next six months this was going to be his home away from home from. There was a bed, table and chair, dresser and what looked like a clean bathroom. What was most important it had a steady internet connection, his link to the world outside.

Laying flat on the bed he closed his eyes momentarily, feeling the jet lag set in all he wanted to do was curl up in the bed and sleep at least for a few hours. But before he could do that, hopefully in a few hours, there were still some things that had to be done. He promised to send Kelly an e-mail as soon as he arrived. Plus, he had to meet Sean and Hamid in half an hour. Sean was the guy he was going to replace, more than ready to give him a how to survive in a war zone introduction before he'll return to the States in a week. Hamid was going to become his new best friend, lifesaver, guide, an eye into all the madness that was going on outside this relatively safe bubble that was the center of Kabul.

Opening his eyes he sat up dragging his laptop out of the bag, first things first, there was a certain lady back at home waiting for his e-mail.


Kelly leaned back against the chair breathing out in frustration. She arrived in her office already at seven in the morning that day, hoping her work will distract her worrisome thoughts, now nearly ten hours later she had yet to finish any of her work. Tired, frustrated, irritable and anxious. She was fully aware that she could be a royal pain in the ass on the odd occasion and this was definitely one of those days. She'll have to apologize to Abby tomorrow.

Clicking on her mailbox she stared at the empty inbox as countess times before. With each second without an e-mail from him her anxiety grew, all the horror scenarios going through her mind. Resting her head in her hands she waited again. No relationship, no labels, no claim, no commitment, right...she knew it was a lie, she cared way too much about him to believe it even for a second.

Raising her eyes again, she finally spotted his name in her mailbox letting out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. Clicking on the e-mail she read it carefully, finally a content smile on her face.

Before she could hit the reply button a knock on her door made her tear her eyes away from the computer screen.

"Come in." She called pushing herself slightly away from the table. Looking surprised when she saw Steve's blond head pop in. "Steve?!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Kel." Still grinned walking in and closing the door behind him.

"I'm glad to see you. I was just not expecting you. How did you get past Abby?" Kelly smiled standing up, the two of them exchanging an air kiss.

"Used my charm." Steve winked at her. "I told her it was an emergency."

"What do I owe the pleasure?" Kelly asked leading him to the chairs on the other end of her office.

"Do I need a reason to visit my friend?" Steve grinned.

"No, but if my memory serves me right it's the first time you're in my office. So?" Kelly asked.

"You're tough Miss President." Steve joked.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. Brandon." She looked at him intently. After he left her place yesterday afternoon someone had to take him to the airport to catch his flight, Steve was her best guess. Now she wondered what exactly the two of them talked about.

"Well, I can say no and we can carry on this discussion for the next few minutes. But the years with my wife taught me that there is no point in doing so, so I bow down, you're right." Steve looked at her guilty.

Kelly let out a groan. "What did he do?"

"He asked me to take care of you while he's gone." Steve admitted.

"Great." Kelly clasped her hands together. "I don't need a babysitter. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." She said stubbornly.

"I know that. But you know Kelly, you don't always have to be in charge, strong, independent and carry the weight of everything on your shoulders. You have family and friends to lean on." Steve looked at her hopefully.

Kelly looked away from him. His words...it was all she knew in the last years, that's how she built her company. That's what her clients and partners were looking for and expecting from her, that's why they trusted her.

"Yeah, well...if you need anything, you know where to find me." Steve stood up seeing he was not going to get any reaction from her, kissing her forehead on his way out. She had always been stubborn, but in the past years...it was almost impossible to reason with her.

"Steve!" Kelly called after him before he could reach the door. "Thank you." She said standing up.

Steve gave her a weak smile. "How about a dinner at our place on Friday? Donna, David and Jack are coming as well." He looked at her hopefully.

"Sounds good." Kelly smiled softly.

"Just don't forget to write it down, before you start to rule the world again." Steve joked.

Kelly groaned. "It happened only once." Kelly said in her defense.

"Yes, but you'll be hearing about it for the next twenty years." Steve grinned.

"That's one thing I'm sure of." Kelly smiled, finally remembering something. "Just before you walked in, I got an e-mail from Brandon, he arrived to Kabul and he's alright."

"I'm glad to hear that." Steve smiled, for once deciding that whatever was going on between his two friends, he was not going to question them about it, not yet. No matter how much it was killing him. "I'll see you on Friday, Kel." He kissed her cheek giving her a smile and leaving her office.

Kelly stood there for a brief moment, surprised by his reaction or rather lack of it, this was not like Steve. Before she could overanalyze it, she remembered she had an e-mail to reply to and happily returned back to her desk.


Listening to Sean's words, Brandon figure out rather quickly that he had absolutely no idea what he had gotten himself into when he took on this offer. Not even working as a journalist for over a decade could prepare him for this and he was sure he'll replay this sentence as his mantra once he'll leave the relative safety that centre of Kabul provided.

Mistake. Stupidity. Unpreparedness. Those and similar words were running through his mind as his eyes slipped from the talking Sean to Hamid who was quietly sitting in the corner. Fitting the depiction of typical Muslim guy you get served by the media to a dot. On contrary of what the media feed you there was something about that guy that calmed Brandon down, especially knowing he'll be by his side after Sean will leave bringing him relief.

The three of them talked for a long time and returning back to his room, he could already tell what was so calming about Hamid, he was not a man of many words, he rather sat and listened to others, but when he talked in his nearly perfect English, his words were wise and spot-on. He felt secure in his presence and instinctively knew he'd do anything to bring him back to Kelly in one piece.

Speaking of Kelly, he grabbed the laptop from the bed and turned it on waiting for his mailbox to load. Seeing her name in his inbox a content smile crept on his face. Leaning against the headboard of his bed he clicked on the mail reading carefully.

A/N: Wishing you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016.