Chapter 9
Wolfgang wasn't good with this kind of thing. He knew that they needed to talk about what each person wanted but he didn't know where to start. Kala was sitting beside him on the couch patiently as he searched for the right words, hell, any words to say. He finally picked a start, opened his mouth and Kala's cell phone started ringing.
Kala was instantly frustrated. Why now?! Then it dawned on her what time it was. She looked at Wolfgang apologetically, "I am so sorry! I am sure that it's Rajan," and she hopped up to grab the phone. She managed to grab it by the fourth ring and answered, "Hello?" It was Rajan. She looked at Wolfgang sitting on the couch and she pointed to the phone mouthing Rajan and then slipped into the bedroom. She didn't want to face his hurt look while she talked to her husband.
Wolfgang got up as soon and she went to the bedroom and stormed out to the balcony. He regular dark mood descended like a cloud and he wanted to smoke. As he walked out he noticed Lito was standing out there leaning on the railing. "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood Lito," he grumped as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a deep pull off it and let the smoke out slowly, savoring the feeling.
"Yeah, you pulled me here, Brother," Lito chuckled. He let a long whistle out in appreciation as he went back to looking at the view off the balcony. "This is some view!"
"I'm sorry," Wolfgang started and jumped to Lito's location. He felt bad for pulling him away but realized that he was with Dani and Hernando in a park just lounging together, so he didn't feel as bad.
"Was there something in particular that sparked this visit?" Lito asked slowly, back on the balcony.
"Kala's on the phone with Rajan…" he trailed off at the end nodding his head toward the inside of the room.
"Okay….." Lito dragged out the word out slowly fishing for a little more info than what he seemed to be getting here. He could feel the storm in Wolfgang and recognized the furrowed brow, but he wasn't quite sure why he had initiated the visit.
Wolfgang started to pace like a caged animal and continued to smoke for a few breaths then turned to Lito, "I can't make her choose. I don't know if I even want to! It wouldn't be fair because she loves Rajan. He saved her life, for fuck sake!" His pacing picked up and his voice was getting more frustrated, "I love her, and I have never had someone love me like she does. But, damnit! I want her, I want what I can't have and I feel like it's not fair to tell her how I feel! And when I say I want her, it's not just sex, you know. I want what she has with Rajan. I want to have a life time of days coming home to her, and for the first time in my life I have actually entertained the faintest of thoughts about the possibility of a family!"
Wolfgang stopped his pacing and his rant and flicked his cigarette butt over the railing of the balcony. Throwing up his hands as a sign of frustration and resignation and flopped down in one of the padded chairs, pulled out another cigarette, lit it and continued to chain smoke.
Lito watched all this with some amusement. He knew that Wolfgang needed to vent and just express all of this. He also knew that he was a defeatist. "Are you done, my friend?" Lito said chuckling. Wolfgang just looked up scowling and gave Lito the finger. To which Lito held his hands up as an apology and sat down on the chair across from him.
"I know what's in your head and your heart man," Lito started softly. "Because of this bond you and Kala will never be able to avoid each other. We were all miserable when you guys tried that. But if none of you talk about it, nothing can be worked out. And it won't all end there. You guys will have to keep talking about it, because emotions and feelings are like the ocean, they ebb and flow." Lito gently moved his hands back and forth to accentuate his words.
"I'm not so good with the talking thing," Wolfgang responded a little more calmly as he considered Lito's words carefully.
"No shit," Lito fired back, chuckling again. "Are we good here, cause it sounds like Kala is wrapping up her call."
"Yeah. Thanks man." Wolfgang said standing up and flicking another butt over the balcony. When he turned back to Lito, he got a quick salute and smile before Lito went back to Dani and Hernando. Wolfgang looked into the hotel room and saw Kala had hung up the phone. She was pacing as she chewed on the nail of her index finger which usually was a sign that she was mulling over a problem, but as he watched her he could feel the anxiety flowing through him and he realized something was wrong.
He went inside as soon as he felt her worry, "What's wrong?!" He asked as soon as she looked up adding, "Is Rajan ok?"
Kala nodded and went to Wolfgang without even hesitating, threw her arms around his waist and held him tight. He smelled like cigarettes and she buried her face in his chest, breathing in his scent to calm her before she spoke. She looked up into his concerned blue eyes and closed hers as he smoothed her hair away from her face. Opening her eyes she said, "There has been another attack on Rajan's father. He is ok, but they have increased their security."
"Are you in danger because of this?" He asked immediately tensing and going into protection mode, his mind racing.
"They don't feel that I am right now as I am so far away. And Rajan said he was confident that you would keep me safe," Kala added, and looked into his chest, not wanting to meet his stormy gaze.
Wolfgang moved her gently to the couch and sat down with her tucked close beside him, in his arms. "Tell me what happened. I need to know everything so I can be prepared."
Kala went through the conversation she had with Rajan on the phone from start to finish. She recounted how Rajan's father had been at a speaking event when they had discovered a backpack left near the stage. They had managed to get everyone off the stage just before an explosive detonated in the bag injuring some people. Everyone was expected to be ok, but they were moving the family to a more secure location in Bombay, and increasing security measures. Rajan had made arrangements for Kala to have an even further extended stay in Paris until they could determine the extent of the threat. He was looking at purchasing a condo very close to the hotel so she could have a place that wasn't a hotel. At this point Rajan was unable to go or travel because of the danger and he was going to move in to the house with his parents to be close and have the security while dealing with Ajay's embezzlement case.
Wolfgang frowned at the whole explanation. He was conflicted with Rajan feeling he could trust Kala's safety to him, but frustrated that he was moving Kala out of the safety of the hotel. "When is looking at moving you? And how am I supposed to keep you safe then?" He said finally settling on those questions to start.
"Well," Kala started, blushing and again choosing to focus on Wolfgang's chest instead of his face. "He said he would be calling you so that you both could work out a suitable location. And that you would…move in with me…..of course." And with that bomb dropped she dared to peak up at his astounded face.
"I'm going to WHAT?!"
