Thanks for the reviews:
Hutchy- Don't worry, Tyson will have his thing with Hilary too (Well, I hope so coz it'll be too nasty). I hope that you'll like this chapter.
Silver Suzaku- Is it so obvious that Garland is gay, or is it just a suggestion? Well, I didn't quite plan for him to be gay but yeah, there's certainly someone who's gay. I'm not telling who. XD
KawaiiYuki- Are you getting really lost? Because I didn't mean for it to be this way. I hope the later chapters will help clarifying you.
Chapter 18: Bachelor's Night
Max, Tyson and Kenny sat in circle around empty cans of beer and bowl of popcorns. The boys were in the desert kitchen, looking lost.
"I can't believe it, I can't believe it," Tyson was murmuring.
"I know, mate, me neither," Max patted his friend's back.
"I mean, this is not the first time!" Tyson moaned.
"Well, girls are girls," Max shrugged.
"You're not the only one whose heart is broken," Kenny sniffed. "I've completely made a fool of myself in front of Miss Watson!"
"At least you know what you did," Max said, "I don't even know why Mariam isn't talking to me anymore!"
"Yeah, girls are really strange," Kenny agreed. "They are a science that even Einstein wouldn't be able to understand."
"I just don't get what she sees in him!" Tyson was still in the shock. "OK, he's good-looking, funny and all but he doesn't even have a brain!"
"I think it would be good if someone writes a guide book about how to understand this species," Kenny went on.
"The person who does that will be a genius," Max concurred.
"I don't understand! I'm not that bad-looking, am I!" Tyson exclaimed.
"I think a good title would be: Girls- How to handle them, "Kenny murmured.
"Or: The Key to a Girl, Unveiling the Mystery," Max added dreamily.
"I bet I'm better at math than he is!" Tyson shouted in triumph. "I must try to get some of our tests back to show Hilary. I might have much more than he did."
"Oh God look at the time, why isn't Mariam back yet?" Max yawned.
"It's a party, you know," Kenny replied. "I suppose she'll be back quite late."
"Or not at all," Tyson signed, not listening to the others.
"What! Are you mad?" Max yelled. "How can you say something like that?"
Tyson stared at the blond without understanding why Max was so mad that he couldn't have higher grades than Enrique.
"I… Well, thanks Max," Tyson stammered.
"Mariam must come back!" Max shouted. "Because, I… Because she still hasn't bought me the portable TV she broke!"
Before Tyson and Kenny could agree that Max had really lost it this time, a sound of crashing made itself heard outside.
"They're back!" the three of them exclaimed and ran towards the kitchen door.
Mariah was looking out of the dark window, breathing on the window pane. Her brother had been gone for a while now and still there was no sign of him. She, being his little sister knew that he and Boris were working together but she ignored their actual plan. Ray was involved too, since he was her brother's side-kick but he was forbidden to tell her what was going on even though they were together.
The guests had gone and Mariah did her best to justify her brother's absence. She wondered what happened to that mysterious red-haired guy who disappeared just after her brother left.
Maybe, he was one of them…
Suddenly the bedroom door opened. Mariah turned to see her bodyguard, Gary Shung. Her brother had recommended her this giant because he said that no one could pass his strength but he was too stupid to rebel. Mariah didn't think Gary stupid at all. He was the best bodyguard she ever had since he was gentle and kind.
"Yes, Gary?" Mariah demanded.
The giant answered in a deep growling voice:
"Master Lee demands to see you, Miss."
Back already? Why didn't she see the car entering the mansion, then?
Mariah followed her bodyguard to a room where her brother used as his study. The dark-haired man was standing with his back towards her, looking out of the window. When she entered however, he turned to her.
"Thank you, Shung. You may leave now," he ordered.
Gary bowed and left but Mariah knew that he was just behind the door, waiting.
"What do you want, Lee?" she asked her brother.
"Do you know why I ask for you to come to America, Mariah?"
Mariah looked at him blankly.
"Why, to visit you, of course!"
"Yes, but apart from that," Lee said.
"See Ray?"
"Not really."
Lee got up from his chair.
"What do you think of Ray Kon?"
Mariah was taken aback by the change of subject.
"Well, he's nice, I suppose," Mariah couldn't find anything else too say.
"Just nice?"
Lee turned and looked at her in the eyes like he had never done before.
"Umm, well no. I mean he's handsome and courageous, I suppose. And… and he's a good friend." But that, you already know, don't you, Lee? So why are you asking me all this?
"Mariah, Ray is in love with you," Lee said seriously.
"I know," she said, mildly startled.
"And he had just asked your hand in marriage."
What?
Mariah was speechless.
"I… I don't know what to say," she murmured. "Why did he ask you?"
"Considering that I'm your only relative, I am responsible of you. Ray has done right by asking me first. And I guess the boy's too shy to ask you directly too," he added gently.
Mariah was still under the shock. She had just arrived from Hong Kong and now she was going to be a bride. She and Ray had been going out for a year now. Is a year long enough for a couple to get married?
There was a knock on the door. Ray himself came in. Mariah soon realized how good-looking he was: his golden eyes sparkled like light from a candle and his raven black hair tickled his fine eyebrows. Plus he was very athletic too. Mariah knew because he was her trainer too.
"Well, I guess Lee told you," he stammered.
How cute he was when he was unsure of himself! Mariah had always loved Ray for his gentle side, the side that is sensitive to all feelings.
She nodded.
"So?" Ray's eyes were full of hope.
How could Mariah decline? He really loves me. I won't be unhappy.
"I accept."
Mariah threw her arms around Ray's neck. The latter was so surprised and happy that he didn't react immediately. Then he smiled and drank in Mariah's scented hair. Finally, the lovers remembered Lee's presence and broke from each other.
Lee fended not looking but Mariah was sure that he was smiling discreetly.
"Well, that's done. Mariah, can you leave us for a second?"
"But…"
"Please, Mariah."
Mariah tore her hand away from Ray and with one last glance in his golden eyes, she closed the door behind her.
Ray adjusted his shirt and looked at Lee.
"Why did you let them go?"
Lee knew that Ray was talking about Tornatore's spies. He gave a sign before falling in his chair.
"Boris has more than one trick in his bag," he said slowly. "He slipped a GPS tracking dot in that Mariam girl's pocket."
Ray felt relieved and sat down in the chair in front of Lee's desk.
"So what's the next move?" he asked his boss.
"We still need to steal one more painting: Botticelli's Birth of Venus. They say that the last piece of recipe is there."
"Will you drink it?"
Lee looked up wearily at his friend.
"I don't know…"
