Author's Note: Enjoy, you lovely people!
Say Good Bye and Let Go
Eugene touched Rapunzel's forlorn face as they walked away from the apartment block.
"Hey, are you OK?" He asked her.
"Uh, I'm just... sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"Sorry for the way things turned out for Mother. I wished that it didn't end like it did."
"Some things, Punzie, you just have to let go. Some things are beyond your control."
Rapunzel looked at Eugene and with some effort erased the lines on her face.
"You're right – So! What are you doing after this?"
"I'm gonna see Miss Walker. The last time I saw her was at the hospital, believe it or not."
"Can I come?"
"Of course! I'd be happy if you do."
Miss Walker's apartment block was just around the corner from the Chinese eatery where Eugene was working. This explains the frequency of visits that he was able to make to his former caregiver. Miss Walker welcomed them cheerfully even though the elderly woman was down with fever and cold.
"My favourite girl, Rapunzel. How is Eugene taking care of you?" Miss Walker took Rapunzel in her arms and hugged her.
"He's doing just fine, Miss Walker. I think he needs to take care of himself better than he takes care of me,"
"That is Eugene," Miss Walker said laughing.
Upon entering, the two of them were surprised to see the floor was occupied with boxes of things and the walls were already bare.
"What's up with the overzealous spring cleaning, Miss Walker?" Eugene asked uncomfortably. He was so used to the decor during his visits, for tea and sometimes for a nap during work break that the barrenness was making his heart constrict.
"I'm going to a retirement home, Eugene," Miss Walker said happily, judging by the tone of her voice.
"What? When?" Eugene asked, clearly in panic.
"Tomorrow, the home will pick me up and so will begin a new chapter of my life."
"But why?"
"Look at me Eugene. I won't lie to myself. I'm old and alone. My health is failing. Anyway, that is where I invested my money. Solely for my retirement, many, many years ago. For tomorrow, and the days after, until God knows when," Miss Walker explained, her voice trailing off as she went to the kitchen to prepare some tea.
"But, but," Eugene stammered.
"If I remember correctly, you're going to graduate at the end of the year," Miss Walker asked from the kitchen.
"Umm, yes –"Eugene said hesitantly, at the same time thinking of the dissertation in his bag, which needed to be sent to the Vice Chancellor.
"What are your plans after that?"Miss Walker asked.
"Nothing, no plans," Eugene avoided the question.
"Do you know anything about Eugene's plan, Rapunzel?" Miss Walker asked Rapunzel as she was familiar with all of Eugene's evasive tactics.
"Just bits and pieces. He told me once, that he's going to leave the city upon graduation," Rapunzel said, remembering the time they spent together in the Corona University Library.
"That is SO Eugene," Miss Walker sighed.
"Always wanting to be the one leaving, but never be the one left behind. He has a runaway heart. He's really bad at good byes. I remember the day when he had to leave the Children of Magdalene Orphanage. He wouldn't see me, but he left me a -"
"Miss Walker, please..." Eugene begged, "at least don't tell Rapunzel while I'm still standing here."
"Oh Eugene, isn't it fun to have a childhood filled with people and friends?" Rapunzel said to him, her eyes showing that she was genuinely amused by the story that Miss Walker was about to tell.
"Is there trash that I can take out?" Eugene asked, shifting uncomfortably on his feet as Rapunzel seated herself on a chair.
"Do the doctors allow you to take out rubbish for old ladies?" Miss Walker came in with a filled tray.
"I can take out the trash, Miss Walker," Eugene said as he headed into the kitchen. When he got the trash bag and was walking to the door, he saw the two ladies were whispering to each other over their tea and cupcakes.
"I'll leave you two ladies to gossip about me," he mumbled and made his exit.
Eugene went outside and dumped the trash in the bin. He stood in front of Miss Walker's apartment block. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Miss Walker was right. He was not good at good byes. He always had wanted to be the one leaving but never the one being left. But that was the time when he got no one. Now, things had changed. Would he be a better person at letting others go and he himself would learn to stay and be constant and reliable for once?
A dark glassed limousine stopped with a screeching sound at the curb. Two men in black coats and sunglasses came out of it. Eugene was about to ignore them and walk back into the apartment when the two men let their coats open slightly and he could see that they had guns on their persons.
"Get in, Rider," one of them said.
And Eugene had had enough of guns. He certainly wouldn't take any risk when his two women were nearby. He got into the car.
Inside, a female of about his age was waiting. She had long, night black hair. He couldn't see her eyes as she hid them under dark glasses. She had legs up to her armpits which she had no intention of hiding under the short black skirt.
"Mr. Rider? Or is it, Mr. Fitzherbert?" The woman said in a deep, husky, slightly accented voice. In ordinary circumstances, Flynn Rider would find her extremely attractive.
"You know who I am, regardless of my name," Eugene was in no mood for games. The woman was like she was carved out of marble and darkly beautiful, cold and feline. But his heart belonged to the one whose beauty is imperfectly human and filled with both warmth and light.
"Do you have the manuscript, Life After Rachel?"
"You are the one who wanted it? To the point of obsession?" Eugene asked angrily.
"My name is Julietta. My father wants it. He obsesses for it. He'd give anything for it, out of spite for his old enemy, Algernon Kingsley."
"Why are you in this, Julietta? This is your father's burden," Eugene asked her, controlling his voice from showing too much of his annoyance. But pity came up as more prominent and endearing to the woman.
"I'll do anything to get my father's love," she said with sadness in her voice. Eugene was reminded of the closure he needed. And he had come to terms that he just would never get it. The next logical step was of course, to let go. And so should Julietta.
"Julietta, tell your father that he will not hurt Algernon Kingsley by stealing the manuscript. The book about Rachel is already published. Algernon Kingsley had already suffered eighteen years and consider that as retribution for WHATEVER he had done to your father. And you are a beautiful woman, with both talent and depth; you must free yourself from this self-imposed imprisonment of trying to impress your father by hunting for his unrealistic obsessions."
Words flowed freely from Eugene as he think of ways to get out of the car, unhurt. He might have quoted some sentences from his dissertation.
"Perhaps you can free me from my prison, Mr. Rider," the young woman said and took off her dark glasses. Eugene couldn't help to be mesmerised by her pale icy irises. But then, he felt the cold muzzle of a gun pointed to his gut.
"I heard that you freed a girl from hers."
Rapunzel aka Rachel Kingsley. Everyone who needed to know knew about the lost princess of the University's most prominent figure.
Eugene was thinking fast. He must not screw this up. He must let Miss Walker go safely to her retirement home before Corona can fall apart under the Mafia's reign of terror. He must get out of this car to see Rapunzel back to her father. Give him one more day to get everybody to safety and then let him deal with the consequences of his actions in the past.
"Maybe, I will," Eugene said as their faces came so close that he could smell her minty breath. Eugene gave her that look. She was almost mesmerised by the potential kiss from the attractive man's youthful non-smokers lips. As this was going on, Eugene touched the gun, and pointed it away slowly from his body and took it away from her hand. Instinct took over him; his old skills never left him. That sleight of hand. That magic of making things disappear. He tucked the gun in his pants' waist, hidden by his vest at his back.
"Maybe I will, Julietta."
Another lie had escaped his lips.
"Patience, Julietta," he said. She seemed compliant and was no longer planning to hurt him. Eugene made his get away from the car, smoothly, like a bandit hero who had just placated an angry lady-hunter with a promise of future pleasures. He had always managed to do that.
Except to Rapunzel. The last time he worked his smooth criminal way, a young woman took him hostage and had him shot by her momma. It was almost unreal it could be a joke.
The black limo drove away, leaving Eugene breathless and glad to be alive.
Damn, what is it with him and sheltered girls? He gushed.