Chapter 3

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Alex smirked, his eyes dancing. "So, we went to Jakarta as planned and spent the day wondering around. Drove by the presidential palace, visited Kota Tua and Taman Sari and basically just meandered here and there. Evelyn and I ate at a couple of street vendors that Chaz turned his nose up at. For someone committed to living in another country, voluntary or not, he sure didn't embrace the food. And yes, I know the same could be said about me, but I've learned to try it first. You know Bayani's is now one of my favorite places to eat! Anyway, in the village, he ate mostly plain rice or noodles, not exactly a nutritious diet and one that had led to him being a bit…flabby." His listeners looked at each other and held back their smiles at the description, even though they were pretty sure it was colored with disliking the first boyfriend he'd had the chance to meet in person. He continued on, them thinking they'd hidden it from him, him knowing exactly what they were thinking. "Finding a nice restaurant that would actually serve him something he would eat, turned out to be challenging. I think that was when Evelyn started to look at him through different eyes."

"Still not seeing where their breakup is your fault." Kai said, leaning forward with her chin on her hand.

"I'm getting to that. Patience Kai."

"Patience? That's great coming from you! You're one of the most impatient people I've ever met."

Alex looked at her seriously. "You don't spend eighteen months undercover in Colombia without having patience, Kai." Neither one of them liked the shadows in his eyes as he said it quietly. He never really talked about that time in his life, and they'd discussed it just between them, both thinking that he'd seen and/or done some things that still haunted him. He was silent for a few seconds, once again seeming far away and it took a visible effort for him to return to the here and now.

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, after dinner I made sure we headed to the venue early, Chaz whining the whole way about it being a waste of time. How there wouldn't be anything to do while we waited for the concert to start. I could see that Evelyn was getting more and more annoyed with him. I've seen that look aimed at me way too many times not to recognize it. I said we could take the time to rest and relax after a busy day and he actually snorted at me." He paused here and laughed at the memory of the look on his little girl's face. He knew he hadn't been the best father. He'd been away too much and when he was home, he'd been obsessed with making sure she could take care of herself. His biggest fear had always been that someone from his past would try to make her pay for the things he'd done. His fears had proven true, just not in the way he could ever have imagined. Still, somehow, between her mother and him, mostly her mom, their daughter had turned out exceptional. At least in his humble opinion.

"Why are you laughing?" Ernesto asked.

"Evelyn was not impressed with his attitude. I don't know if he'd always been on his best behavior around her in the village and now that we were in a more cosmopolitan atmosphere his overinflated opinion of himself came out or if he was upset that she was spending more time with me than with him so was trying to get her undivided attention back. Either way, she was not pleased. We finally made it to Istora, and I casually suggested trying to get backstage." He stopped with a smirk on his face.

"And?" Kai asked, interested almost in spite of herself.

"We walked around to the side door, Chaz making whispered comments to Evelyn about how I seemed to have an overinflated opinion of myself, his oh so upper crust British accent getting more obvious the longer his rant went on. Prattling on and on about how some Americans think they're so much better than anyone else and always have to go where they weren't wanted or needed. How rude it was to expect to be allowed backstage. How I was the ugly American and she was the exception to the rule. Like I couldn't hear everything he was saying. I know that's how some Americans act but I like to think they're the exception to the rule. Truthfully, it was all I could do not to punch his snooty face in, but it was worth it as I watched Evelyn put more and more space between them the longer he talked."

He paused and Kai had to laugh. "I'm dying to know what happened when he found out Crowe is a friend."

"Oh, it was beautiful, but it didn't go smoothly right off the bat. I'd never asked to be put on any kind of list or anything, so security did their job and said no. The look on Chaz's face was like he'd just won an Olympic gold, puffing out his chest and going on about how he'd told us so. I let him go on for a bit and then while he was still talking smack, I quietly asked the guard to just call back and tell Mr. Crowe that Alex Walker was here and asking to see him. If he said no, we'd go on our way. I might have also added that the guy rambling on was my daughter's boyfriend and I might have said it in such a way that he knew immediately I wasn't, shall we say, fond of him. He winked at me. Said he had a daughter himself as he stepped back and made the call."

"Where they suitably impressed when you were allowed in?" Ernesto asked with a smirk.

"Oh, it was better than that. The guard asked us to wait, and Chaz started in about how more security was probably on the way so that they could kick us out and we wouldn't get to see the concert after all. Whining about how the money they'd spent on the tickets would be out the window and what a waste because who even cared about some washed up country singer no one even remembered? Grandstanding about how we might actually get arrested as we were in a foreign country and we could have broken some obscure law. It was an epic meltdown, really."

"Arrested? For asking to get backstage at a concert?" Kai asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Yup."

"I find myself wishing I'd been there!" Ernesto said with a laugh. "So, come on, don't drag it out, what happened?"

"Well, the stage door opened and out walked August. He yelled out 'Hey, Choir Boy!' and headed our way."

Kai interrupted. "Choir Boy?"

Alex laughed. "Yeah, the first time we met he offered me a drink. I declined, saying I was on duty and he called me a choir boy."

"Well, if anyone asked me to describe you, those are two words I would never have used!" She snorted.

He frowned at her. "And what, exactly, does that mean?"

Ernesto stepped in yet again, once more making sure an argument didn't break out. He wondered once more what it was about the two of them that made their most common form of communication be arguing, even though it was clear that they cared about each other. "So, what happened then?"

Alex gave Kai one last glare that she returned with one of her own and then continued. "He pulled me in for a hug and said how glad he was to see me, that it had been too long. Chaz just stood there with his mouth open. It was…legendary. I introduced Evelyn and he hugged her too. When I reluctantly introduced Chaz as my daughter's boyfriend, August picked up on the undercurrents and gave him a cursory, 'What's up?' and then turned his back on him before he could reply. He put his arm around me and Evelyn and pulled us into the building, thanking the security guard for his call and leaving Chaz to trail along behind us. He took us into the green room that had been set up for him and had us all sit down." He didn't tell them that he'd taken a careful look around the room and had been relieved and pleased to not find one single sign of alcohol. Nor did he repeat what August's response had been when he'd asked if he could get them anything and Chaz had asked for a scotch. His nonchalant 'don't have none of that here but I can get you some water or pop…' had made him proud of his friend.

"We spent the next hour talking about his tour and the new album he was planning on putting together afterwards. He pulled out his guitar to play Lone Wolf at my request, with the caveat that I had to sing with him, and Evelyn noticed right away that it wasn't the one he'd always had. Girl has some sharp observation skills!" He said proudly. "When August said I'd destroyed Jezebel the last time we'd met up, Evelyn just looked at me in shock and then he added that I'd done it to save his life. Chaz, of course, had to question that, no doubt thinking I'd used it to kill a bug or something." His nose wrinkled up in disgust. "August gave them a somewhat sanitized version of what had gone down. Then Evelyn said so he really did save your life and he told her I'd actually saved his life three times during his stay on Cebu."

"Three times?" Kai asked, frowning.

"Oh, um, yeah." Shit, Alex thought, I didn't mean to give that away. He thought quickly. "August decided to go out and do some sightseeing that first night, without either me or Dwaid. Later found out he just wanted to get away from feeling like a prisoner. He got lost and ended up being out after dark. I spent some time searching and finally found him in a bad part of town being hassled by a street gang. One guy had a knife on him and was threatening to cut him up to see if he had any money to 'pay his bill' for being in their territory. I unarmed him and scared them off. That was one." He mentioned nothing about August's 'sightseeing' actually being a search for drugs. "Third time was Dwaid."

"And the second?" Ernesto asked.

Alex sighed. "We had a long talk after his run in with the gang. He was feeling pretty down about his career. Major case of writer's block. Hadn't written anything new in years and was thinking maybe he would have been better off if those street kids had just killed him. I let him know how much his music had meant to me during my various undercover stints, especially Lone Wolf. How it spoke to me and made me feel less alone during my time in Colombia. Made him look at it with different eyes. Then, when he had to distract the kidnappers long enough for me to get in position to take them out, he spontaneously wrote an entire new song, right then and there. Told me that it was like a dam had burst open and all these songs had popped into his head, like they'd been there all along, but he just couldn't hear them. That song is going to be on his new album."

"What's the name of it?" Ernesto asked.

"Errmmmm, Choir Boy." Alex admitted quietly and sheepishly. The other two stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter, which he immediately joined in with. When they got things back under control, he continued. "Anyway, we stayed and talked until it was time for him to get ready to go on stage. Chaz contributed little to the conversation, just sitting and sulking. Evelyn did a masterful job of completely ignoring him. We were allowed to watch the entire show from backstage and then spent some more time with him afterwards. When I saw he was flagging, I made noises about needing to be up early the next morning for my flight back to the Philippines and we left. Evelyn decided to spend the night in my room completely freezing Chaz out, much to his amazement. Even after the way he'd acted all night, he still thought she would be crazy to not want to be with such a catch as him. We actually sat up and talked all night. Worked out some more things and she told me it was over with Chaz. That she hadn't liked the way he'd acted towards me or towards others. Even said she was ashamed she hadn't seen the way he was before. Told her it wasn't her fault and that some people just hid the way they were until a light got shown on it. We still have a ways to go with our relationship but it feels like whenever we spend time together, things get just a little bit better."

He paused and Kai put her hand over his, Ernesto gently laid a hand on his shoulder as he said. "You'll get there bud, you just have to give her time. She's an adult now and is seeing things through an adult's eyes. Not everything is black and white like it was when she was a kid. Adults finally get to see the gray."

"Thanks man." Alex responded quietly. He turned his hand over and held onto Kai's. "It's good to be home."

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From Google:

Kota Tua – one of the most historically significant parts of Jakarta and is seen as the cultural heart of the city and many artists and photographers gravitate here to take in the relaxed atmosphere and old-world feel, and the area is also studded with cafes so you can have a drink and enjoy the surroundings.

Taman Sari - also known as Jakarta's Chinatown. It is now home to a range of temples, markets, and shops

Istora - is an indoor sporting arena located in Jakarta. According to Wikipedia, Tina Turner played there in 1988, Bruno Mars in 2011, Maroon 5 in 2011 and again in 2012, along with a host of other bands. Hopefully it's correct, if not, well, I did my best.