Chapter 4

"You never said we were traveling to Russia!" Amelia protested.

Leon looked up at her, "You never asked."

"YOU never mentioned it!" She took a seat next to him.

"What difference would it make?" Leon went back to his paperwork.

"A HUGE difference."

"Relax."

Amelia went quiet and looked out the window from her airplane. Anxiety crept up from deep within her. She wanted to turn around, go back and hide underneath the covers of her bed back at home and try hard to get some sleep.

"Are you alright?" Leon had put down his papers and was staring seriously at her.

"Yea," she fumbled, and sat up straight. "It's just a cold desolate place. It's depressing weather. I thought we were going somewhere sunny."

Leon looked at her seriously. Her auburn eyes shone steadily into his, but something about her wavered. She wasn't retracting like other times; she seemed to be overflowing, wildly, as if out of control. Some aura about her flickered wildly. Did she really not want to go to Russia? "Amelia," his voice came out sternly. Slightly, demanding for a sincere answer, but gentle enough to probe through without damaging any of the defenses she was putting up. Whatever it was, he hadn't seen her like this before, weak, no, vulnerable. As if a point was shown and her heart directly exposed and she was aware of it and remained petrified for moments.

"What is it, Amelia?" He leaned further into his chair. Leon reached for her hand when the plane shook.

"Jake? Jake Muller?" A slim tall woman ran to him. Said man turned around. "Here's your job. Make sure you get it right this time around."

"Yea, yea," he replied as he took the set of papers and reviewed them before handing them back to the woman in a business outfit.

"I'm serious. You don't get it right this time around and you'll be looking to worse consequences than a check bouncing back."

Jake rolled his eyes, "Don't worry. I got it."

"Jake?"

"What?" he replied as he walked away from her.

"They want them dead."

"Gotcha."

"All of them!" She yelled back at him, but Jake had gone down a staircase and out of sight.

Amelia threw down her blazer on the bed and groaning she lay down beside it. "That was an awful ride." Her companion brought in their bags and looked around the room before turning to her.

"Turbulence, it happens." Leon walked over to a center table and placed his handgun on top of it.

Amelia rolled over to get a glimpse of him. "I thought the plane would go down with every shake."

Leon smirked as he took off his bullet proof vest and walked towards the shower room. "I'm going to shower."

"Without me?" she playfully replied.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Leon listened to her raspberry from the other room before closing the door and turning on the showerhead.

Once she heard Leon get in Amelia sat up and eyed the curtained window. Deep red curtains blocked the view from their room. For all she knew she could be in any hotel, anywhere in the world, anywhere but Edonia. Hesitatingly she walked towards it and pulled open a curtain. Before her lay a snow covered town. In all its bleakness there was a sense of old culture underneath snow and slight abandonment. Whereas businesses seemed to be open there wasn't many people out and about. She closed her eyes and tried to conjure up a memory when a voice awoke her from within.

"You're up next."

"Ah, you scared me. That was fast." Leon looked at her as he dried his hair. He had taken his time, but when he went to comment on it Amelia quickly laughed, "You said you'd wait for me."

"Did I?" He smiled back. Amelia quickly got her travel bag and headed to the bathroom. Inside her shoulders slumped as her heart raced. Edonia, she was here in Edonia, everything swirled about her and created this hole in her heart, it hurt, it physically felt like it'd burst. She wanted to yell, cry, release all that steam within her, but Leon was right outside. Leon would hear. And besides, for several years now she found that her tears had dried along with something else deep within her. At times the lady in the mirror didn't seem like her. Her eyes seemed dull and her face lacked a radiance of someone her age. The only distinctive mark that remained of her past was above her forehead, down her ear, she traced it and remembered.

.

.

"Don't!" Jake bellowed. His cries hurt her more than the wound forming down her face, the way his voice grew hoarse with exasperation tore at her soul more than the evil men before her laughing as they hurt her.

Jake's pleas ranged from desperation to fury, back and forth, all in this maelstrom that she eventually lost track as she was beaten down and kicked. Her breathing became ragged, her vision blurry, only did she manage to react between kicks that Jake had stood up and came running towards one of the evil men toppling him over. "Jake," she tried to whisper. "Run," she coarsely voiced again and again.

Why? This did it. The attention shifted from Jennifer to Jake. She sobbed. He, too, was then beaten, but he didn't know the location of her father's work and after a while the attention returned to her. One of the two lifted Jake's face and held it roughly in one hand and with a flick a knife came out of the other and pointed it to Jake's cheek. "Where is the data, girl?"

Her sobs became deep and ragged. "Don't tell 'em!" Jake assured her. "Don't!" When they had beaten her he would've advised the very opposite. Forget them! Forget their father! The world! What did it matter? Tell them, just tell them, he would've yelled, but she had denied them and withstood their torture. After bearing all that there was no way she could back down for him. "Don't" he repeated again and again.

Jennifer tried to sit up, but fell down. Lying on the floor with crushed ribs she breathed out raggedly, "Just don't hurt him."

.

.

Amelia splashed around the lukewarm water. It had been almost boiling and had sent the room into a deep steam, but by now the water had cooled and she only played around in the perfumed water. She could hear Leon talking on the phone with his supervisors informing them they had arrived. With eyes closed she traced his footsteps. Her thoughts wandered here and there like a kite on a windy day until a knock snapped her back to reality.

"Leon?"

"Everything alright?"

She smiled sadly, "Yes."

Amelia waited for his footsteps to leave. She stood up and grabbed a towel. She dried herself and looked inside her travel bag for clothes. She settled on a simple silk robe and slipped it on.

Leon was on his phone when she came out. She hadn't bothered to dry her hair and it hung damply about her. She dragged her feet as she crossed the room and sat on the bed beside him. "No extra rooms," she began. "Lies."

Leon smiled but replied nothing.

Amelia ran her finger down her hair trying to untangle it. Leon closed his phone and placed it on the coffee table and stared at her. Amelia returned the gaze and gave a small smile. For three years they had been introduced. He had saved her. Leon had come in and rescued her, her hero. He had taken her out of abandonment and neglect, out of pain. Amelia would be lying if part of her didn't idolize him. When no one was left in the world to care for her Leon had shown up.

"You've been acting strange for a while now." Leon examined her carefully. She stared right back at him and then skillfully directed her gaze elsewhere. She wanted to avoid the question, badly. It was getting tougher to walk around it. Part of her wanted to disclose everything, but unused to that, she turned to him and sat up straight. "Well?"

"I'm lonely," she began.

"No you're not."

Amelia chuckled lightly, an opening. "Leon," she whispered. Feeling vulnerable and overcome by all her emotions she was quite shocked to hear the words coming out of her. "Do you like me?"

Leon hesitated but with her face so close to his all he could do was stare right into her large imploring eyes.

"I know you love someone else, Leon." Almost everyone knew someone had stolen his heart and that he lived waiting for her, this lady that had left him long ago. "That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking if you like me?"

"Yes," he found himself saying. Amelia neared his face, her eyes slowly closing as she stared at his lips. Whatever overcame them both, who knows, but their lips joined and both stayed there a while, unsure of what was happening, unsure of how to proceed.

Sure they joked and teased all the time, and although Amelia always held him in high regard and Leon admired her determination neither had seen each other this way. None had crossed the boundary of partners.

Amelia waited anxiously for him to continue. Leon moved a hand to her waist and she wasted no time. She inched closer and held him as their lips kissed. A fire within her made her face feel like it was scorching. Her arms found their way around his neck and she pressed herself harder against him. Leon separated to breathe, but she let out a disappointed sigh and clinged harder to him, her body begged him to continue.

Leon looked her straight in the eye and wanted to protest. He was a man and denying her was difficult, but she was a coworker and it wouldn't be fair to her when his heart belonged elsewhere. She shook her head and placed her forehead against his, "Please, please. I know you feel the same way about me." She kissed his cheek. She kissed it again and made her way to his lips which remained unresponsive. "You don't have to love me," she added. "Just feel the way I do for you."

Leon brought his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He began to kiss her fervently. She smiled in between kisses. He trailed down her neck and she let out small gasps of pleasure. Every part of her burned with desire and a sort of delirium. In those seconds that he brought her down underneath him and she hastily unbuttoned his shirt a figure passed through her head. She stopped midway. Leon noticed this and stared at her inquisitively, "What is it?" I'll stop; he was going to add, when she shook her head, "Nothing."

Amelia pulled away his shirt and lurched her body against him, "Keep going," she begged. It was all a mistake, an excuse. They both knew it, but their bodies begged for completion of the act and Leon brushed away the decorum he knew he was breaking and Amelia wiped away the phantom that crossed her mind. Leon pulled away her robe and buried himself in her and all was forgotten in those minutes that passed. Their bodies became one and as Amelia felt deep satisfaction overcome her she held onto Leon as he then felt it and it was over.

After Leon rolled onto his side and he, to her surprise, pulled her closer and held her there. Amelia waited for him to let go, but he didn't. She listened to his calm heartbeat, how different from her's which refused to settle down. His steady breaths became slower and slower and when after what seemed an eternity and she was positive he had fallen asleep, Amelia slowly shifted out of his hold.

She had admired that man, wanted him until she had him and yet she found herself pulling on her robe and walking towards the window. She peeked out of the curtains and into the world she had stepped into, a new dawn was breaking in the city of Edonia, and as it happened she let the phantom invade her mind and even left some tears escape her eyes. Things were changed and ever changing, there was no going back.