Here's that Rainy Day by Frank Sinatra

37. Expose the Nemesis

Here's that rainy day they told me about
And I laughed at the thought
That it might turn out this way

In the ten years that he has been away from her, Red's enemies have all fallen. By taking down each of the whales on the list, the smaller more insignificant sharks have all disappeared. Many of them have simply decided to leave him be. Others have died. Then there are those who he paid off to buy their loyalty.

Yet he still keeps himself from going back to her. Even when he's a thousand miles away from her, he can still see that mischievous glint in her eye. Her sweet voice fills the silence in his head at night keeping him awake until the early hours of the morning.

Red finds fleeting moments of happiness when he begins seeing her in places she couldn't possibly be at. Down by the Florian cafe in Venice, he nearly breaks down in tears when he once again catches sight of her sitting next to the window. Slowly, she turns and gazes at him with the most serene look on her face. It takes all he has for him not to give in to the mirage of her presence.

Red carved his own chest open and tore his heart out the night he walked down that lonely road and left Washington. Since that night he's been dead inside. No coaxing from Mr. Kaplan or stern words from Dembe could bring him out of his blind stupor of misery. He thinks he might as well be dead. He has lost all will to move on. He can't do that; not without her by his side.

He doesn't laugh anymore. That boyish grin no longer graces his features. It's like he's forgotten how to be happy. He's free to move as he pleases without having a price on his head. He's a free man. Even that doesn't bring any comfort whatsoever. None of it is worth it without her.

His dreams consist only of her. Her hair. The way her body moved when she walked in front of him. The feel of her back beneath his palm. Her smell. It's like a broken film reel of what he once had.

Now all he does is sit and wait. In the villa, alone in the library with his scotch, at the park, in his room. He waits for death to come and whisk him away from this hell.

But he no longer wants to wait. He can't.

Funny how love becomes a cold rainy day
Funny that rainy day is here

A/N: Another one cuz I love y'all and I've been gone too long! Tell me what you think! Special shout out to my dear friend, JackandSam