Chapter IV: Crescendo Part 2

Thursday, June 13th, 08.10 p.m.

Miss Parker entered into Broots' office without knocking, as it was her habit.

"Any leads on Jarod?" she barked. The skinny, bald man sitting in front of his PC raised his dark eyes and looked at her, then quickly lowered them again, frightened.

"None so far", he answered, shaking his head, "He seems as if vanished in the middle of nothing."

Miss Parker smoothed her shiny, shoulder-long brown hair and frowned.

"It's extremely unusual", she commented, annoyed, "This time he didn't leave any hint about where he was going, and he didn't even call me for one of those stupid little mind-games of his."

She was referring to the riddles that, over the years, Jarod had often submitted to her, riddles that had taken her, against her own will, to think about herself and what she had become; but she was also referring to the hints he often had given to her shed some light on the mystery about what for a long time everyone had believed to be Catherine Parker's – her mother – suicide, who instead faked her death to give birth to Ethan, her and Jarod's father's son; the Centre had her pregnant without either her or Major Russel's permission, and faking her death she had hoped she could keep the child safe.

"Do you know if he called Sydney?" Miss Parker asked. Broots shrugged:

"I have no clues, you better ask him directly."

Miss Parker's eyes, blue and cold like a glacier, pierced him through:

"That's exactly what I'm going to do", she said coldly.

Two minutes later, she was stepping into Sydney's office, again without knocking. The elderly psychiatrist was sitting at his desk, writing a memo to the Tower, the Centre's authority.

"Any news about Jarod?" Miss Parker questioned him, with a slightly more respectful tone than she normally used with Broots. Sydney looked at her; for a moment, in the young, attractive woman in front of him, wearing a close-fitting cream-coloured business suit with a very short skirt, he saw the sweet child she had once been, a child he had loved like his own, exactly the way he had loved Jarod. Damn, he thought, he still loved them both.

"Nothing yet", he answered. Miss Parker crossed her arms, pressing her beautiful lips in a vexed grimace.

"That makes 24 days", she pointed out, in a nervous tone, "It's never happened before", she glared at the man in front of her, "How was he, the last time you heard him? Was he in some way different than usual?"

Sydney frowned, trying to remember.

"He sounded tired", he answered slowly, "I mean, from a psychological point-of-view."

"Ha, does this that the pressure has finally begun to wear him out?" she asked hopefully, "Is a breakdown coming, which will have him making some imprudent move, so we can catch him at last?"

Sydney shook his grey-haired head:

"Jarod? No. He'll never push himself over the top. Probably he realised he was tired and decided to disappear for a short time. He'll show up when he's well again, and he'll drive us mad like usual, or maybe more."

"Very good, Dr Freud", Miss Parker mocked him, ironically, "It's exactly what you hope, isn't it?"

Without awaiting his answer, she stormed out of the room, her high heels ticking loud on the marble floor. Sydney wondered sadly how much more time she would insist to be angry at the universe.

Friday, June 14th, 06.20 p.m.

In the last two weeks, Jarod had attended the gym on a regular basis, proving himself an excellent martial artist. The Friday before, as if often happened, Master Chung had invited his students over for a tea, and they had stayed till late talking about philosophy, but also laughing and joking. Erin was as usual the only woman, because there wasn't any other equal to her black belt rank in the school, and Jarod had admired her great easiness: she treated her classmates, and was therefore treated in return, like equals. That way, she had been able to establish a comradely relationship with them going beyond the gender difference, a relationship Jarod had often seen in the Military, in particular among Marines, where men and women, doing a hard and dangerous job, overcome completely sexual prejudice.

Jarod wasn't able at all to figure out what Erin felt for him. He was sure she liked him, as a man besides as a person, but she didn't encourage him, treating him in the same way she did with everyone else. Not fathoming something was remarkably unusual for him, because his Pretender skills normally allowed him to know exactly what people felt about him. At last, he identified the reason: the attraction he felt to her was dimming his abilities. He had been mistaken, sometimes in the past, believing in sincerity of people who were instead deceiving him, but he had never been completely at a loss before as he was with Erin, and this made him uneasy.

As for her, Erin was unable to deal with the situation: she liked Jarod madly, but every time she thought about talking to him, she froze. The matter was slowly beginning to strain her, and she knew that sooner or later she had to face it and find a solution. Damn, sometimes she wished she was an easy woman: she would just take and bed him! But Erin knew this wasn't the right solution: she didn't want sex with him. Or better, not only. Truth was, she wanted him: his heart, his mind, his soul, besides his body… But she wasn't sure she could give him as much in return, and this was precisely what dissuaded her to make a move, because she thought it was neither right nor correct to demand so much if she wasn't willing to give as much.

At the end of the second week, spent among reveries and harsh auto-scolding, Erin was ambling through the hall when Jean called her:

"So, will you ask him out for dinner or not?"

Erin needn't to inquire who her friend was speaking of: they had talked about Jarod far too many times, in those twelve days since he had arrived.

"What do you mean…?!" she snorted, "You know I'm not the one that makes the first move on a man."

"Well, maybe it's time to change this", Jean replied, "I see the way you look at him, and I see, too, the way he looks at you."

Erin stared into Jean's green eyes:

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, using unintentionally a rough tone. Her friend didn't blink, as she was used to see her loose her temper – a trait she had obviously inherited from her mother, an authentic Irish redhead.

"Listen, since that stupid ex-husband of yours dumped you, you never looked at a man this way", she said, frowning and talking very seriously, "At the beginning, understandably you were interested in nobody, but it's been almost two years now and it's about time that you let yourself go with someone. Jarod is the right one, and you, too, know it: I see it in your face every time you stare at him."

Erin looked away with a suddenly frightened expression.

"You're right", she admitted in a low voice, speaking maybe more to herself than to Jean, "I like Jarod very much, but I'm terrified... Terrified to put my all on stake again. I know how I am: if I'll ever fall in love again, it'll be as before with my ex-husband, fully, unreservedly... But I really don't know if I'd be able to stand another letdown..."

A lump in her throat forced her to stop, and Jean sympathised with her friend. Erin was a person of deep feelings, so her sorrow had been as great as the love she had felt for her ex-husband. Her fright was understandable, but something told Jean that in this case – in Jarod's case – it was unjustified. But how could she make up Erin's mind?

"Only you can know if and when you'll ready to risk it again", Jean said quietly, "but if you let Jarod go, I'm sure you'll regret it forever."

Erin's eyes were damp with tears she was barely able to hold back; not wanting Jean seeing her weeping, she rushed to her office. Jean held back the impulse to go after her, sensing that her friend wanted to stay alone.

OOO

Unnoticed, Jarod had heard the entire conversation from behind the half-closed dressing-room door, where he was changing after having one hour swimming. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when he had heard they were talking about him, he couldn't help but listen. The unexpected turn the conversation had taken had then frozen him on the spot.

And so, Erin shared his feelings... but she was too afraid to show them. He, too, had been once in love and had been betrayed, so he could understand her, but his had been a very short story, while Erin had been even married. Hearing the pain in her voice had touched him more than anything he had ever felt. He had only known her for a few days, yet he felt as if it was months, or even years...

There could be but one explanation: she was the woman of his life, he was sure of it, with the certainty that, so many times in the past, had saved the life of those who trusted him, and his own life, too.

Making an effort to put up a casual face, Jarod opened the door and crossed the hall, stopping in front of the reception desk. Jean smiled warmly at him: since that first day, she had realised she could trust him.

"I'd like to see Erin", Jarod said straight. Jean frowned:

"I'm not sure she can see you right now", she answered, but of course she couldn't decide for her friend, "Wait a moment, I'll ask her", she pressed the intercom button, "Erin, Jarod would like to talk to you."

A few seconds went by before Erin answered:

"Only a minute, I'm on the phone."

Jean knew it was only an excuse, because she could see on her switchboard that all the lines were free. On the other hand, if Erin was weeping, she had to have the time to wipe off her tears.

"Let him in", Jean heard then her voice, slightly distorted by the electronic device. Jean gave Jarod a nod and he went to Erin's office door, knocked and entered.

Erin was sitting behind her desk, but when Jarod came in, she stood up to meet him.

"Can I do something for you?" she asked, struggling to produce a smile.

"Yes", he answered, pretending he wasn't noticing her nervousness, "I'd be glad if you come and have a drink with me", he blurted, smirking to hide his own anxiety.

Erin's smile relaxed visibly:

"I'd love to."

She realised what she had just said only after having actually voiced it, which was something very unusual for her, because she used to think at what she was about to say. After a moment of bewilderment, which Jarod read clearly on her face, she thought that fate had decided for her: no matter what happens. But anyway, what might possibly happen, going out with a nice guy for a drink?

Jean was very satisfied to see them leaving together and exchanged an eloquent glance with Erin, which Jarod carefully pretended he wasn't noticing.

There was a nice bar at the corner, not far away, where the gym habitués often went for a drink, Erin among them. When she entered, with Jarod in her wake, many patrons greeted her; someone looked amazed, because usually Erin didn't came with a guy, but with a group of people, yet the young woman didn't take notice.

They sat at a secluded table and the waitress came to take their orders.

"Orange juice, please", Erin asked.

"For me, too", Jarod said, and at her questioning glance he explained, "I don't drink alcohol except during meals, and for sure never after training."

"It's very bad for the organism, indeed", Erin agreed, "But a good glass of wine during a meal is a panacea, says my grandfather."

"Is he a wine expert?"

"He comes from Venetia, an Italian region which produces very good wines", she explained, "More precisely, he's from Verona, Romeo and Juliet's town. He was a winemaker, and once he arrived in California, he founded a small winery, the Chiarini Vineyards – my grandmother's girl name. They specialized in cabernet and chardonnay, two vines he succeeded to grow here, but for several years, they produce also a delicious golden verduzzo and a worthy pinot noir. My brother Sean inherited his passion for winemaking and for five years now, it's him running the family business, while my father never liked it, nor me, as for this", she concluded smiling.

"It's important doing what you feel more suitable for you", Jarod observed, as the waitress placed two glasses in front of them, "If you don't, you risk wasting an important part of your life."

The way he said it made Erin realise he was talking about himself. She took her glass and sipped.

"And you? Do you do what you feel more suitable for you?" she enquired. Jarod nodded:

"Yes, now I do. For years, I did what other people wanted me to, but finally I rebelled... and now I'm here."

"I understand what you mean. I had to rebel, too, against my family, because they didn't want me to take a job they thought not suitable. You know how parents are: they wanted me to be a lawyer, or a doctor, or devoting myself to the family business, but I didn't listen to them, so after graduation, I entered a school for gym instructors. Luckily, after some time, as they recognised my determination, my family eventually accept it, and at last, the day I graduated from this school, they were more proud of me than I was myself!" she smiled at the memory, "If I let them, they'd have a party organised even more sumptuous than for my college graduation..." she shook her head, and a lock fell on her face, "I never loved high society too much, so I was able to change their mind and they took me simply to dinner... at Rocheford's, of course!" she concluded, chuckling.

Jarod laughed with her, glad she wanted to share with him this fond memory.

They chatted pleasantly for a while; at a certain point, Jarod felt instinctively that it was the right moment in time and asked her:

"What about going out for dinner together?"

His invitation caught Erin by surprise, making her hesitate.

"I should close the gym at nine..." she began, then she bit her lower lip: what a fool was she being?! She had been waiting for two weeks, hoping, begging for a move from Jarod, and when he did it, she threw it away? She must have gone crazy! Moreover, she couldn't misunderstand the disappointment on Jarod's face.

"I'll ask Jean to do it for me; she has the keys, anyway."

Smiling at him, Erin grabbed the cell phone from her purse and called Jean, asking her to close the gym. On the other end of the line, she heard her friend giggle:

"You go out for dinner together?"

Erin didn't mind telling her the truth:

"You're right", she confirmed.

"Then Monday I want a complete report!" Jean concluded, laughing. Erin closed her cellphone with an amused smile: Jean was really incorrigible!

"You must advice me", Jarod said, standing up, "I don't know this town very well yet."

"Do you like Greek cuisine?" she asked. Jarod smiled:

"Never tried, but I'd love to!"

"So let's go to La Plaka", Erin decided, "It's suitable for our informal outfit, they cook really fine food and it's close, too."

Dinner began with the typical Greek aperitif, a liquor called ouzo, which tasted like almonds; then they ordered dolmades, which are rice morsels wrapped in vine leaves, absolutely delicious, and drank Santorini, a light white wine; as a main course, they chose souvlaki, tasty meat skewers, with a side plate of colourful salad made of lettuce, olives, pepperoni, onions and feta, a salted goat-cheese, and drinking red Goumenissa. To finish, a puff-pastry dessert called baklava with Samos, a sweet white wine.

Through dinner, they spoke freely about the most different topics; as they already had discovered during their short journey to San Francisco, they shared interests in a number of areas. Besides martial arts, they both loved music, especially pop-rock, and dancing, above all Caribbean dances such as salsa, merengue and bachata; they were fond of fantasy and S.F. – both adored Tolkien and Marion Zimmer Bradley, and confirmed to be Star Trek and Star Wars fans; and both liked powerful cars and motorcycles. Erin remembered chuckling that at the fast-driving class she attended in Monza, she had been the best, far over her classmates – all males. She had to thank her father for this, as he had been a car-racer in his youth and had taught her all the tricks and techniques he knew. Besides, if Erin's main hobby was writing, Jarod's was drawing; he was able to model and to sculpture, too, but drawing was what he liked most.

While they were talking, Jarod found more and more confirmation of his first impression: Erin was a volcano of interests and activities, you never could get bored with her.

Jarod insisted to pay for dinner, and exiting from the restaurant he commented:

"I think this was the best dinner in my whole life!"

"The cook is a Greek woman, as is the owner, and both insist to use only Greek products", Erin explained, "That's why they are a little expensive, but the taste is inimitable."

They returned to the gym, now closed and darkened except for the hall.

"Can I take you home?" Jarod asked. Erin was about to say that she had her own car right there, but then she thought this was an opportunity to stay with him a little while longer. She could come and take her car the following day.

"Gladly", she answered therefore.

They arrived far too early in front of Erin's home, a detached house with a very well kept garden in front of it, located just outside of town. Jarod walked her to the door, on a shadowed veranda decorated with a wooden wind-bell; in the evening breeze, it was producing a low and vibrant tune, very pleasant. Seeing that Jarod was looking at it, Erin explained:

"I bought it in Thailand six months ago. The old man who sold it to me said it drives away the evil spirits, and at the same time it gives serenity to the house that hosts it."

"And do you believe it?" he enquired, smiling.

"Well, I'm not a fanatic of the supernatural, but I'm sure that there has to be something, in the universe, that goes beyond our perception", she asserted. Jarod nodded:

"I think the same way."

Another thing about which they agreed, thought Erin, pleased. She returned his smile, then turned around and opened the door.

"Good night", she said, reluctantly, "Thank you for keeping me company, I had a great time."

As Jarod didn't answer, she raised her eyes to him, discovering he was staring at her; the intensity of his gaze took her breath away and, without realising it, she returned his gaze with the same intensity.

Jarod took a step forward and leaned over; he avoided on purpose hugging her, afraid that she could feel scared, and simply brushed his lips on hers in what he meant to be an innocent good-night-kiss.

But he had underestimated the power of the attraction seething between them.

As their mouths touched, a spark shot through both like a high voltage electric shock. With a gasp, they clung at each other; Erin parted her lips and Jarod slipped his tongue through them, unable to contain himself, searching her tongue in a hungry kiss. Far from being frightened, the young woman returned the kiss passionately. Jarod's mouth was soft, warm and tasted good, and she dropped in his arms.

Her reaction turned on Jarod even more. With a groan of wild desire, he pressed her against his body, and she could clearly feel all of his greed against her belly. Without thinking, she moved her pelvis, and Jarod gasped; he arched his back to slip one hand between their bodies and placed it on her breast. Leaving her mouth, he kissed her neck; Erin threw back her head and he placed his lips on her pulsing throat, tickling its delicate skin with the tip of his tongue, wandering down to the soft joining of her breasts peering from her partially open shirt. Erin could barely breathe, and her hardened nipples were aching, protesting against the restraint of her clothes; her depths were all knotted up and between her legs she was feeling unbearably hot. She shivered, thinking that, in all her life, she had never felt before such a searing desire.

Jarod felt her trembling in his arms and thought he had frightened her. He stopped, then forced himself to withdraw.

"Forgive me", he whispered in a hoarse voice, "It didn't mean to scare you... but I want you so much..."

For a moment, Erin was confused about his defection, but then she realised that, acting like this, Jarod was making clear she was important to him, very important, or he wouldn't care to reassure her.

"I'm not..." she began, but she had to stop to clear her throat, "I'm not scared at all", she touched her forehead, stunned it wasn't burning like she was expecting it to, "But..." she hesitated, unsure of what she really wanted to say, "I'm not used to inviting a man in my bed just a few days after meeting him..." she looked him straight in the eye, with the frankness that was one of the qualities Jarod appreciated most in her, "but with you I'm about to do so."

Jarod swallowed, sensing what she was trying to tell him: she wasn't an easy woman, but with him, she felt different.

"I don't want you to do something that tomorrow morning you could regret", he said quietly, "Maybe we are rushing things..." he sighed, "Better I go away."

"No!" she burst out, instinctively. She drew a breath to calm down the turmoil she was feeling in her heart and went on, "It's true, maybe we are rushing things... but I don't want you to go away now. Would you... would you stay for the night?" she blushed, "I mean, to sleep. I have oane spare bedroom always ready for guests..."

Jarod realised she was telling him she trusted him completely, an unjustified trust, because she barely knew him. He knew that her trust was well placed: rather than betraying her, he would prefer to die. It was simply extraordinary that she was feeling the same way.

"Okay", he accepted therefore, simply. Erin smiled at him shyly, then turned and opened the door.

The house reflected well her personality: roomy, with a plain but valuable furniture in bright wood, carpets with warm colours, shiny pictures on the walls. They crossed a drawing room with a large L-shaped couch and packed bookshelves; a huge television set, fully equipped with video-tape recorder and a DVD player, and a HI-FI stereo with a rich collection of LPs and CDs completed the interior decoration. In a corner stood a small fireplace, in front of which, during the winter nights, it was surely very nice to sit down and stare at the fire.

Erin led him to the large garden, of which a gardener took care once a week.

In the yellow light of the lamps, Jarod saw shadowy trees, yews, alders, poplars and other ones, and flower-beds blooming with roses, lilacs, rhododendrons; in one corner stood a large swimming-pool of irregular shape, surrounded by stones and low bushes of heather and honeysuckle that gave it an almost natural look. A white wooden gazebo, built on one side of the swimming pool, hosted three rocking-couches in a horseshoe arrangement around a square stony table. A leprechaun, the typical Irish gnome with green jacket, red pants, high cylinder-hat and big white beard under his large nose, peeped from behind a butcher's broom bush, while a number of fairies danced a minuet not far away in the silvery light of the moon, which was almost at its first quarter.

"What a wonderful place!" Jarod cried, delighted. Erin smiled:

"An Irish corner in the middle of California", she explained, "I drove the gardeners mad because I wanted exactly those trees and those flowers. Would you like something to drink?" she asked him then, "Water, fruit juice... or some wine?"

"No wine", Jarod decided, "I'm not sure I'd keep my self-control, if I drink more alcohol", he explained in a soft tone. Slightly embarrassed, but also flattered, Erin fetched some water and papaya-and-passionfruit juice, and only after having served it she realised that these two fruits were thought to be both an aphrodisiac. She hoped that Jarod didn't notice it, or, if he did, he didn't take it in the wrong way.

They sat down on one of the rocking-couches with their drinks. For be more comfortable, Erin took off her shoes and invited Jarod to do as much; so barefoot, lazily sunken into the couch, they chatting about everything and nothing.

Then, little by little, with no apparent reason, sadness descended like a huge stone on her, weighting down on her heart and crushing it; Erin became silent.

Jarod noticed immediately that her eyes were blank. He perceived her melancholy like an abyss widening inside of her and his throat tightened in anguish. He put his glass down on the stony table, shifted over to her and, without a word, wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She didn't move.

"Erin..." he called softly, "What's up, Erin?"

Erin felt the firm grasp of his arm around her shoulders, the solidity of his body pressing against her hip, the warmth in his voice, and she felt like being lifted out from the precipice she had unexpectedly fallen into. She turned to look at him, but was unable to speak. The pain in her gaze troubled Jarod deeply: even if he knew the reason of it, he hadn't suspected its true vastness.

"Talk to me, Erin, will you?" he asked her quietly, "It was you, the one who said that, when a secret begins to hurt, it's not to be hidden any longer..."

Almost two years had passed since her marriage had arrived to an end. In all that time, Erin had sometimes spoken about it to a friend, or to her mother, but never to the bottom. There was something she had never told to anyone; now she realised she would finally tell it to Jarod. But she had first to tell him the whole story.

"Once upon a time there was a romantic girl who dreamt about Prince Handsome", she began, in a dull tone, looking away, "and one day she met him. He was tall, charming, amusing, interesting, intelligent, and handsome. She fell madly in love with him. She gave herself to him completely, mind, soul, body and heart. After one year of engagement, they married with a wonderful ceremony. For her, it was the happiest day of her life. For the following ten years, the two of them were the perfect couple: same thoughts, same emotions, same ideals; they were faithful, loyal, always ready to support and comfort one another. Friends said that talking to one or the other was all the same, they really were the embodiment of the motto two bodies and only one soul..."

Erin paused for a long moment, searching for the most suitable words to express all her bitterness. She went on:

"Then, one horrible day, without the smallest warning, Prince Handsome decided that he had enough and told the girl he would leave. She thought there must be another woman, but there wasn't any. Simply, he could stand no more the responsibilities of marriage and wanted to be free, going back to be a boy, with no worries, no boundaries, no obligations. For six long months, she refused to surrender and tried any and every way to put back together the broken pieces of their marriage, but he didn't cooperate at all. Simply, he didn't want to be with her any longer. Because she loved him truly, finally she returned him his freedom: she had put a ring on his finger, and not a chain around his neck. She sold their house, divided in two all their common estates, and then, devastated, broken, annihilated, she ran from the ruins of her life. She trusted her business to a loyal friend, purchased a motorhome, a trolley, loaded her motorbike on it and for two months she took a roundabout, trying to escape her pain, not realising that she couldn't do it, because the pain was there, inside of her, and couldn't be left behind, and it would go on and on tormenting her. When she finally realised it, she cried all her tears in a vent that teared her chest and ripped her soul, to the point she thought she would die with a broken heart; and then, unexpectedly, she found inside of her a sparkle of strength that saved her from the chasm. She came to terms with her pain and vowed that she would weep never again..."

She interrupted hearing a choked sob. She turned to look at her unexpected confidant: Jarod was very pale, one hand on his mouth, his eyes glistening with tears. His deep care left her wordless.

"You suffered in a horrible way", Jarod whispered in a trembling voice. His Pretender skills had made him go through the terrible sorrow that Erin's words had evoked as if it was his own, and now he felt his heart bleeding for her.

"Yes", Erin confirmed, talking again with some difficulty, "but luckily it's gone. Time, in such cases, is a great doctor."

"But I see there's still much sorrow in you", Jarod objected, looking into her eyes. Erin hesitated a bit, then nodded:

"True", she confirmed, "but it's not the same sorrow as before. That one was due mostly to the fact that I was still in love with my ex, or so I thought. At last, his actions killed my love for him. No..." she stopped, uncertain: there it was, eventually the moment had come to confess what she had never confessed to living soul; she drew a deep breath and went on, and tears were in her voice, "Now my sorrow is due to the fear I won't be able to love ever again. I'm... afraid that my heart... is dead..."

Her voice trailed off. She had finally managed to say it. The tears, which she had held back for such a long time, broke off the walls she had stubbornly built around them and began to stream down her face.

"Yet I feel I've... still so much love to give..." she sobbed, "I just want someone to give it to... with no reservations... with any fear to be hurt again... Someone who would love me as much in return... Am I a stupid romantic…? Maybe I ask too much... and maybe I'm not even able anymore to love that way... But I wish so dearly... to feel again butterflies in my stomach... Oh, God, how much do I wish it..."

Jarod wrapped his arms around her and held her tenderly; he felt an almost fierce longing to protect her against all sorrows of the world. He rocked her like a child. Erin was very strong, she just proved it facing and looking in the eye her pain one more time, and she didn't really need any protection, but he knew that everybody needs a support, now and then, and that no one is eternally unwavering like a rock. He was moved to realise that Erin trusted him so much to show him her vulnerability, and vowed by himself that, from his part, she would never have any reason to fear to be hurt, ever.

"One day you'll realise your fear has gone", he whispered, "In this case, too, time is the best of doctors."

She went on weeping with distressed sobs that troubled him deeply; he felt helpless, and all his knowledge about psychology all of a sudden seemed inadequate and banal to him. Therefore, he just held her tight.

In his arms, Erin wept for a long time, soaking his shirt with a river of tears. Then, little by little, she calmed down, and eventually, exhausted, she fell asleep, searching for solace and relief from her sorrow.

When Jarod realised it, he softly kissed her hair, then he lifted her gently in his arms and carried her inside; he found her bedroom and laid her down. He slipped off her shoes, then wrapped her in the light quilt. He was about to go out when Erin re-emerged a few seconds from her sleep and whispered:

"Don't leave me alone, Jarod..."

Her imploring tone struck him. It was a request for help, and he couldn't, he wouldn't, let her down.

He took off his shoes and slipped under the duvet, next to her; he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently.

"I'm here", he said in a low voice, "I won't leave you alone."

Never, he added by himself, not really understanding why.

Erin uttered a small sigh, then went back to sleep. A few moments later, Jarod fell asleep in turn.