2
Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised
Dennis Waitley
z
"This is ridiculous. You are a grown ass man; why can't you act like it instead of being such a bitch? God!" I huffed as I tossed the dishrag I was using to dry my hands into the sink. Han rolled his eyes at me from his place by the counter on a bar stool.
It was one of those wonderful Mondays; the sun was shining, the gulls were crying, and being around Han was like taking a cheese grater to my forehead. It had been a rough day at the garage and we had been at each others' throats. After we got home, the tension hadn't lessened any and we were still bickering.
I leaned against the cabinets for support as I attempted to untangle my shoe laces and get them tied back in a bow. I almost face planted a few times before I finally got both shoes on and tied. I glanced back to see Han sulking and staring off into space.
"I'm going running." I said tensely. I received a shrug as a response. Grumbling, I turned and stalked out the back door. The second my foot hit the ground from the last step I was off in a run.
I sprinted down the long drive and then slowed to a jog for the rest of the trip to the beach. The wind was whipping through my pony tail and bent the leaves of the plants as it pushed the storm towards shore. The black clouds rose ominously over the trees as I got closer to the beach. The sound of the waves attacking the shore could be heard a long way from the beach.
I flopped unceremoniously in the sand to get my breath back the second I made it to the beach. I let the wind flow over me as the adrenaline drained from my body. With it went the anger and frustration at Han and this awful Monday at the shop. When I no longer felt like kicking a puppy I dragged myself up.
I fished in my pocket for my phone. I pushed the speed dial number and waited for the person to pick up.
"You got Miles." The smooth voice said on the on other end.
"It's Elle. You got this week's figures?"
Miles was one of my dad's best friends. They worked together for years before they both retired after a job that went bad. He went on to settle in Costa Rica and own a few casinos in different countries. After getting a call from me in Tokyo, he worked to get me away from Kamata and out of Japan. After I settled in Columbia, I offered him the money in one of my dad's old accounts and became joint owner of one of his casinos in Italy.
"Yeah, right here." There was a pause and it sounded like he was readjusting the phone and flipping through papers. "We've had a lot of business; it was almost six thousand more than last week. I deposited your half in the Stockholm account."
"Thanks a lot Miles." I mentally started to calculate how much I had sitting in Europe. It was a lot.
"Are you ever gonna tell gangster boy about this?" Miles asked bluntly. I felt my chest twist with guilt. I couldn't be still with the crushing feeling washing over me. I started pacing aimlessly in the sand.
He had no idea. I didn't keep a lot of secrets from Han, but for some reason I couldn't tell him this. I had every intention of doing it when he was actually starting to heal, but I kept putting it off until it was a little too late to tell him without it causing massive problems. After his mistakes in Tokyo came back to bite me, telling him about this just felt like a really bad idea.
"I might." I answered defensively. I heard Miles snort on the other end.
"Might? Babe, you've been living with him for what? Three years now?" He patronized. I started to feel really guilty now. "Are you saving that for when you leave him?"
"No!" I cried. "I'm not leaving him. I'm just keeping that in case I have to run again." I added honestly.
I was starting to feel awful about the argument I just had with Han. I couldn't even remember what started it; the best I could come up with was exhaustion, the heat, frayed tempers and snippy comments. We had days like this sometimes, but we always made up fairly quickly. I couldn't imagine anything bad enough for me to actually consider leaving.
"Of course you are." Miles stated sarcastically. I sighed deeply.
"Miles, you have been completely alone for all your forty-two years. Do you really think you're qualified to lecture me on this?" I snapped. He laughed in response.
"Babe, you got a lot to learn." He replied smugly. I gritted my teeth in annoyance at his dodge to my jab. I gave a frustrated sigh which left him almost cackling because he knew I didn't have a reply.
"Tell you what, you call me if ever you need me when something bad does happen, and I might try to be nice and pretend this conversation never happened." He added patronizingly. I felt my temper rise hotly.
"I'm going back to pulling jobs." I said quickly. I heard him exhale quickly through his teeth and knew I struck a nerve. My lips pulled up in a smirk.
"Why? You have everything you need in Columbia, except a guy that I approve of." He asked. He hated Han for getting me in his mess with Kamata.
"I'm bored. Why should I settle for a life in a one stoplight town when I could be beating the best of the best in the big cities? You were in your thirties when you retired. I'm twenty years old; that's way too young to settle down." I explained.
"God, young and restless; just like all of us once were." He said bitterly.
"I have the common sense not to do some of the thing you did." I shot back.
"That's not the point, babe" He said in exasperation. "That's life is completely unpredictable. Do you know how many of my best friends wound up in body bags or jail?" I heard the anger rise in his voice.
"Yeah, I do." I replied. My dad was always getting the news of one of his crewmembers death or arrest. Most of them died or got caught from pulling something insane.
"Then you know the consequences of doing this." He stressed like it was going to stop me.
"I've always know, Miles; it's never stopped me or you for that matter." I stated in sarcastically in a way I knew would drive him insane.
"I'm not arguing this with you right now." He said in the frustrated tone that most parents had towards their kids. He had that a lot towards me.
I never expected him to become like a second dad to me because of how easily annoyed and abrasive he was, but when I got out of Japan that was exactly what he did. Because he now saw me as his kid, he was now practically hardwired to hate Han and he made sure I knew it.
"Okay then." I said with finality. Several bolts of lightning split across the black clouds that had gotten a lot closer while I was bickering with Miles. I felt a little bit of cold fear at seeing the raw power of the electricity and feeling the boom of thunder. I was still a long way from home and the storm was about to break.
"Was that thunder?" Miles asked on the other end.
"Yeah, I'm about to get blown away. I'll call you next week." I said hurriedly as I started my jog home.
"Be careful." He said before hanging up.
The plants and trees were bent over double as the wind tore at the green leaves. I quickened my pace as much as possible, but there was no way I was going to make it. The first raindrops started as I turned down our drive way. They started coming hard and fast until my hair was plastered to my scalp and my clothes clung to my body. I started to feel cold to the bone.
I could barely see the house until I was right on it. Han stood up from a wicker porch chair to meet me when I started up the steps. He pulled a towel off the table next to him and threw it around my shivering body. I pulled it tighter around me as I tried to stop the chills.
"I'm sorry." Han muttered almost inaudibly as he pulled me inside. I really started to shiver when I got in the cold house.
"Me too." I replied softly to his chest as he pulled me into a hug to try to warm me up.
I mentally debated if I wanted to tell him about my full bank accounts. After a few minutes, I decided that I'd leave that information for an emergency.
Z
Han jerked out of a sound sleep beside me at a crack of thunder that rattled the windows and shook the house. I had been awake for half an hour because of the bright white flashes of lightening shining through the glass of the damn French doors to the porch like the freaking sun. Grumblingly, I had cocooned myself up in the comforter against the cold air conditioner that was going full blast because I was too lazy to get up and turn it off.
I felt Han shift beside me. His hand reached out along the sheet covering him until he found my pile of comforter. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it hard enough for it to unwind around me. I whined unhappily at the blast of cold air I got from the blanket being lifted as another flash lit the sky.
"I was wondering why I was cold." Han said pointedly as he jabbed me in the ribs. I huffed back at him and he responded by pulling me closer. I gladly moved closer to his body heat.
"How long have you been up?" He asked sleepily. The house creaked loudly as the wind tore at the sides and the rain battered the roof.
"A little while." I answered shortly.
"I say we skip work tomorrow, or at least go in late. We're caught up on everything and I don't see the storm slacking off to much by then." He suggested.
"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere if it's like this." I replied.
The lightening kept illuminating the room like a spotlight. The noises of the rain and wind would lull me almost to sleep before the light would hit my face and the boom of thunder would rattle the windows. I was finally able to close my eyes and drift off when the sound a phone vibrating on the inside of a drawer dragged me back to consciousness.
I groaned sleepily and elbowed Han so he could get it. When he was finally awake enough to realize what the noise was he jerked the drawer open and started fishing for it. He flipped it open right before the last ring.
It was really rare that Han got a call that wasn't some sort of crisis situation, but occasionally Twinkie would be calling just to say hi. The latter was a rare occurrence because he got told off every time he did. It was rather funny, actually.
I watched as Han sat all the way up and put the phone against his ear. In the dark I could barely make out his profile as he rested his elbow on his knees. The lightening gave a quick flash and I could make out the smirk on his face.
"Perfect. We were just looking for a job." I was suddenly wide awake. I pushed myself up on my elbows.
"Yeah, we." The lightening caught his white teeth as he smiled at me. I felt a smirk work its way on my face.
"We'll be there Dom."