Chapter 11
When Meryl woke up in the morning, she felt sick. Very sick, to be more specific. Her chest ached, her throat hurt, she had a headache, and breathing was not that easy. She groaned as she remembered she had a stack of papers due today.
Vash was also feeling quite drowsy. He didn't remember much of yesterday's events, and the only part he remembered was that there was a white powder in his drink after Jake handed it over to him.
Meryl and Wolfwood, on the other hand, were feeling absolutely terrific. Yesterday night had been quite romantic, with them sharing a few cuddles and kisses. Wolfwood really enjoyed that.
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"Milly...I don't feel so well...do you think you could type up rest of the papers?"
Meryl's voice certainly didn't sound well. It was stuffed up, and it sounded like she swallowed a whole bottle of helium.
"Oh my, Meryl. You don't sound well at all!. You should rest."
Meryl shook her head and she pointed to her desk. On the desk were two stacks of white paper eagerly waiting to be typed on.
"Milly...we need to finish the papers. We can't possibly fail another assignment."
Meryl coughed, and she felt immense pain in both her throat and chest.
'Damn, I think I caught a cold'
"Milly, we need five papers on the recent serial killer incident, one paper on Vash, and two papers on the financial costs due to the serial killer. I have all the calculations in the pink file, so all you need to do is type that up."
Milly grinned as she saluted Meryl. "Aye aye, captain."
Meryl nodded as she snuggled back to sleep. She didn't think Milly would be able to finish the reports, but who cared? She didn't even feel like writing eight insurance reports anyway.
A few hours later, Meryl woke up to see Milly fumbling with the typewriter. Walking over to her, she saw that Milly had apparently jammed the typewriter. Sighing slightly, she tried to pull out the paper to find that Milly had put in thirty sheets of paper in the typewriter.
"Milly...WHY did you put in thirty sheets of paper in the typewriter?"
Milly looked guiltily at the typewriter, and then at Meryl. Meryl somehow sensed that Milly didn't know how to use the typewriter in the first place. Raising an eyebrow, she walked over to her bed.
"So...have you finished the report on Vash?"
Milly shook her head.
"How about the one on the serial killer?"
Milly shook her head again.
"Err...then how about the paper on the financial costs?"
Milly shook her head once again. Meryl was boiling up by now. Cracking her knuckles, she bit her lip as she walked over to Milly.
"Then what DID you do, Milly?"
"Oh Meryl, I'm so sorry! I didn't want to write bad things about Mr. Serial Killer, because big big sister always said that it wasn't nice to write bad things about other people. Middle big sister always told me that you should ask people's opinions before writing about something, so I didn't write about Mr. Vash because I thought I should ask about your opinion. And I couldn't find the blue file that has the calculations in, Meryl."
Milly said this all very quickly. Meryl didn't know whether to blow up, or to laugh at Milly's innocence. She didn't even bother to tell Milly that the calculations were in a pink file, not a blue one. She took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down. Looking back, she saw Vash and Wolfwood standing beside the door, snickering slightly.
"Hey Vash...I sense a storm's coming."
"Yeah, we'd better get out before the storm comes to us."
"Can't believe Meryl's this scary even when she's sick. Does she ever lose her voice?"
Meryl was just about to lose her temper. When she was feeling sick and tired, the two men were snickering and Milly didn't even know how to listen. Looking at Milly and her big blue eyes, she sighed and turned around.
"Can't you do anything to make yourself useful, Milly? Can't you even type up one report?"
Milly looked at Meryl in shock, one tear running down her cheek. Wolfwood was about to say something when Vash nudged him and shook his head.
"You know what...I've been doing all the work since we started to follow Vash; from typing up the reports to calculating the financial losses and profits. And you know what else? I'm tired of it. I'm sick of it. And I'm also sick of you doing the easy work and getting praise for doing the work that I do."
Meryl's voice wasn't like her usual voice when she angry. Her voice today was more hurt and painful. Vash hated hearing her voice like that. And it was his fault that Meryl had to be this hurt.
"I quit. I don't want to type any more reports. I don't want to work as an insurance girl. And further more, I don't want to be your partner. With any luck in my next job, maybe the boss might pair me up with someone who actually can make herself useful."
Meryl couldn't believe what she was saying. She didn't feel half the anger she said to Milly. Saying mean things to Vash was easy; he would just shrug it off. But saying mean things to sensitive Milly was a different story. Being too cowardly to look up and see Milly's tear-stricken face or Wolfwood's shocked face, she walked briskly out the door, not caring that she was still in her pajamas.
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Milly was hurt. Really hurt. She knew that she wasn't much of a help to Meryl, and she knew that Meryl did all the work. But she didn't know that Meryl could snap like that. As many tears fell down from her big blue eyes, Milly sat on her bed while Wolfwood sat next to her, putting his arms around her.
"Oh Meryl..."
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Wolfwood was scared for Milly. He knew she was hurt, and that her heart had been deeply scarred.
"It's okay, Milly...Meryl didn't mean all those things."
He just did not get Meryl. What was her problem anyway? She asked Milly to type stuff up, and now she's hurting Milly because she didn't do the stuff.
'God, what's her problem? Does she have PMS or something?"
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Vash hated himself. Wolfwood always told him not to play the "What if" game. But what if he never was Vash the Stampede? What if Meryl and Milly didn't have to chase him around and put him under surveillance 24/7?
Milly was a sensitive girl; the most innocent woman he'd ever seen. She was strong, both physically and mentally. But upon close friends breaking apart from her, she would be weaker than a sheet of paper.
Milly wasn't ready to leave her nest yet; Meryl was.
Vash knew that Meryl didn't mean all those things she said to Milly. In fact, he knew that Meryl didn't mean all those things she said to him. He knew that Meryl was just tired and needed a break. But he didn't know that Meryl was in danger. Now.
He left the two in the room as he quietly slipped out. Setting out of the inn, he walked around the town in search of Meryl.
But he never found her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as she left the inn, Meryl found herself gasping for air as a strong arm grabbed her neck. She was too busy fighting for her life that she didn't see the person's face. When the arm finally left her neck, a cloth covered her mouth. Breathing in the cloth, she soon felt her eyes closing slowly. Slowly, the surroundings around her started to get blurry, and finally, she closed her eyes.
When Meryl woke up in the morning, she felt sick. Very sick, to be more specific. Her chest ached, her throat hurt, she had a headache, and breathing was not that easy. She groaned as she remembered she had a stack of papers due today.
Vash was also feeling quite drowsy. He didn't remember much of yesterday's events, and the only part he remembered was that there was a white powder in his drink after Jake handed it over to him.
Meryl and Wolfwood, on the other hand, were feeling absolutely terrific. Yesterday night had been quite romantic, with them sharing a few cuddles and kisses. Wolfwood really enjoyed that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Milly...I don't feel so well...do you think you could type up rest of the papers?"
Meryl's voice certainly didn't sound well. It was stuffed up, and it sounded like she swallowed a whole bottle of helium.
"Oh my, Meryl. You don't sound well at all!. You should rest."
Meryl shook her head and she pointed to her desk. On the desk were two stacks of white paper eagerly waiting to be typed on.
"Milly...we need to finish the papers. We can't possibly fail another assignment."
Meryl coughed, and she felt immense pain in both her throat and chest.
'Damn, I think I caught a cold'
"Milly, we need five papers on the recent serial killer incident, one paper on Vash, and two papers on the financial costs due to the serial killer. I have all the calculations in the pink file, so all you need to do is type that up."
Milly grinned as she saluted Meryl. "Aye aye, captain."
Meryl nodded as she snuggled back to sleep. She didn't think Milly would be able to finish the reports, but who cared? She didn't even feel like writing eight insurance reports anyway.
A few hours later, Meryl woke up to see Milly fumbling with the typewriter. Walking over to her, she saw that Milly had apparently jammed the typewriter. Sighing slightly, she tried to pull out the paper to find that Milly had put in thirty sheets of paper in the typewriter.
"Milly...WHY did you put in thirty sheets of paper in the typewriter?"
Milly looked guiltily at the typewriter, and then at Meryl. Meryl somehow sensed that Milly didn't know how to use the typewriter in the first place. Raising an eyebrow, she walked over to her bed.
"So...have you finished the report on Vash?"
Milly shook her head.
"How about the one on the serial killer?"
Milly shook her head again.
"Err...then how about the paper on the financial costs?"
Milly shook her head once again. Meryl was boiling up by now. Cracking her knuckles, she bit her lip as she walked over to Milly.
"Then what DID you do, Milly?"
"Oh Meryl, I'm so sorry! I didn't want to write bad things about Mr. Serial Killer, because big big sister always said that it wasn't nice to write bad things about other people. Middle big sister always told me that you should ask people's opinions before writing about something, so I didn't write about Mr. Vash because I thought I should ask about your opinion. And I couldn't find the blue file that has the calculations in, Meryl."
Milly said this all very quickly. Meryl didn't know whether to blow up, or to laugh at Milly's innocence. She didn't even bother to tell Milly that the calculations were in a pink file, not a blue one. She took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down. Looking back, she saw Vash and Wolfwood standing beside the door, snickering slightly.
"Hey Vash...I sense a storm's coming."
"Yeah, we'd better get out before the storm comes to us."
"Can't believe Meryl's this scary even when she's sick. Does she ever lose her voice?"
Meryl was just about to lose her temper. When she was feeling sick and tired, the two men were snickering and Milly didn't even know how to listen. Looking at Milly and her big blue eyes, she sighed and turned around.
"Can't you do anything to make yourself useful, Milly? Can't you even type up one report?"
Milly looked at Meryl in shock, one tear running down her cheek. Wolfwood was about to say something when Vash nudged him and shook his head.
"You know what...I've been doing all the work since we started to follow Vash; from typing up the reports to calculating the financial losses and profits. And you know what else? I'm tired of it. I'm sick of it. And I'm also sick of you doing the easy work and getting praise for doing the work that I do."
Meryl's voice wasn't like her usual voice when she angry. Her voice today was more hurt and painful. Vash hated hearing her voice like that. And it was his fault that Meryl had to be this hurt.
"I quit. I don't want to type any more reports. I don't want to work as an insurance girl. And further more, I don't want to be your partner. With any luck in my next job, maybe the boss might pair me up with someone who actually can make herself useful."
Meryl couldn't believe what she was saying. She didn't feel half the anger she said to Milly. Saying mean things to Vash was easy; he would just shrug it off. But saying mean things to sensitive Milly was a different story. Being too cowardly to look up and see Milly's tear-stricken face or Wolfwood's shocked face, she walked briskly out the door, not caring that she was still in her pajamas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Milly was hurt. Really hurt. She knew that she wasn't much of a help to Meryl, and she knew that Meryl did all the work. But she didn't know that Meryl could snap like that. As many tears fell down from her big blue eyes, Milly sat on her bed while Wolfwood sat next to her, putting his arms around her.
"Oh Meryl..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wolfwood was scared for Milly. He knew she was hurt, and that her heart had been deeply scarred.
"It's okay, Milly...Meryl didn't mean all those things."
He just did not get Meryl. What was her problem anyway? She asked Milly to type stuff up, and now she's hurting Milly because she didn't do the stuff.
'God, what's her problem? Does she have PMS or something?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vash hated himself. Wolfwood always told him not to play the "What if" game. But what if he never was Vash the Stampede? What if Meryl and Milly didn't have to chase him around and put him under surveillance 24/7?
Milly was a sensitive girl; the most innocent woman he'd ever seen. She was strong, both physically and mentally. But upon close friends breaking apart from her, she would be weaker than a sheet of paper.
Milly wasn't ready to leave her nest yet; Meryl was.
Vash knew that Meryl didn't mean all those things she said to Milly. In fact, he knew that Meryl didn't mean all those things she said to him. He knew that Meryl was just tired and needed a break. But he didn't know that Meryl was in danger. Now.
He left the two in the room as he quietly slipped out. Setting out of the inn, he walked around the town in search of Meryl.
But he never found her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as she left the inn, Meryl found herself gasping for air as a strong arm grabbed her neck. She was too busy fighting for her life that she didn't see the person's face. When the arm finally left her neck, a cloth covered her mouth. Breathing in the cloth, she soon felt her eyes closing slowly. Slowly, the surroundings around her started to get blurry, and finally, she closed her eyes.