CHAPTER FIVE

A week had gone by and in that entire time Odd and Yumi hadn't seen or heard from Cadence again. Although it still bugged Yumi that Odd chose her, a helpless friend, over his beautiful fiancé, Odd stopped talking about her so it was as if Cadence had never existed.

Within that week, Odd had two days off of work so on one of those days he brought her shopping but being as Yumi couldn't enter any stores in just boxers, Odd had let her borrow a pair of pants and a belt. She had been dazzled at the many sights and sounds of the town and different department stores because she hadn't been to one since her and Ulrich had gotten married. Odd couldn't help but laugh but he knew he would have been the same way if he had gotten married to a woman that went psycho on him and kept him locked up in a house for three years.

After four hours of shopping, Odd and Yumi had left the mall with eight pairs of jeans, three pairs of dress pants, about twenty different T-shirts, and baby T's, five bras, ten pairs of underwear, five sets of pajama pants and boxer shorts, ten pairs of socks, a pair of sandals for dressing up, and a pair of running shoes for everyday.

Odd had spent a lot of money on Yumi but she needed the clothing so she would have something for the home, and he kept on insisting for her to choose what she wanted.

The other day that he had off was the day she would be leaving. He took her out to eat for lunch and then they went to go and see a movie. Yumi felt good to be able to join the public again and she couldn't help but show off one of her new outfits to the air itself. Odd had a good time and he couldn't help but pay a lot of attention to her. She looked completely dazzling and beautiful and he couldn't help but notice the way her eyes now sparkled in the sunlight. At times he was at a loss for words so he just looked away and began to speak again. Yumi never took a notice of that because she was too preoccupied at the different sights and views.

When Odd and Yumi returned back to the house, they headed inside and began to gather Yumi's new clothes and personals. When they were in his room, Yumi noticed the picture of Odd and the German Sheppard again and picked it up, turning to the closet where Odd was dwelling in at the moment.

"What happened to this dog?" Yumi called to him, staring at the picture while hearing him walk to the open closet door.

"What dog?" Odd asked as he stepped out of the closet and started to walk towards her.

Yumi showed him the picture inside the frame that she was holding and once Odd saw it, he took it and sat down. She sat down next to him and watched his tortured expression. Odd never cried easily and the look he was making now seemed to make him look close to it. His hands were gently gripping the black frame and his eyes stared hard at the German Sheppard.

"Are you OK?" Yumi asked after a few minutes when he wasn't talking.

"Yeah," Odd said almost instantly. "Yeah I'm fine."

Yumi wasn't sure how to respond but gladly she didn't have to because he started to speak again soon after.

"Her name was Calais, named for the city in France where I bought her from. She was a beautiful, well-trained dog that I had since she was a puppy, but she was blind. You can't really tell from in the picture but she was," Odd began, showing Yumi the picture before starting again, "I got her onto the force because of her sharp, distinct hearing. She was able to follow and complete ever command although it took her a bit longer than the rest of the K-9 unit dogs. But she did it just as well as any other police dog out there would have.

"She helped find some of the best, most difficult drug busts, illegal parties and druggies, pulled every thing in order when the other dogs and their owners got out of line, tracked down runaways and abductees, and overall made a great friend and companion," Odd seemed to stop and swallow before continuing on, "But then on her third year of being alive we got called about another abduction. A little girl and her brother were taken after school that afternoon. So me and Calais got their scent from other clothing of theirs and took off.

"Calais picked up the children's scent almost instantly and she brought us up to an old shipment building that had been abandoned ten years ago. She started going up the lumber side and soon found an open window we could get through to search inside. Obviously the person had taken the kids through the window on purpose to try and trick us because as soon as I got in, a net fell right over me. It wasn't very durable so I got out easily with my switch blade pocket knife. When I got back up, I had my gun and flashlight out, searching in the dark.

"We searched that building for half an hour before we found the part of the lot they were at. I was right about them taking the kids through the window to bring us to a trap, because we came to another window and found another small building a hundred yards away. The lights were on so we crawled through another window that we were at and snuck up to the small house-like building and found the two kids blind-folded and tied up. I burst through the door and Calais quickly smelled the kids to make sure they were OK and then went to attack the man. While I was rescuing the kids, the man was setting a detonator. I got out and then called to Calais but she couldn't hear me or didn't pay attention to me at the time because she was too busy trying to get the kidnapper to surrender.

"The building exploded and I covered the kids to protect them from flying debris. When I turned around, all I found of Calais was her studded collar hanging off a piece of metal.

"I returned the kids back home to their parents but they couldn't thank Calais for tracking them down. The next day I had set up a small cross in the back yard with her collar. After that I vowed to become and regular officer and quit the K-9 unit. I couldn't handle getting another dog and losing that one the same way I lost Calais," Odd finished, looking at him and Calais in the picture again.

Yumi was speechless. She knew Odd had had feelings but he was really hurting at this point. Calais would have died sometime recently or Odd would have moved on by now. No wonder he was so involved with Cadence and no wonder he said it got lonely. When Cadence was away, Calais had been there to keep him company. He didn't want to lose Cadence because he didn't like being alone. Now he was going to be alone again because Cadence left Odd because of Yumi. Yumi was lost in thought until she felt Odd get up off the bed. Yumi looked up at him as he walked to put the picture back in its original place. He then started to speak.

"We should finish getting you packed. Your taxi will be here at about 4:30," he said before getting back to packing her things.

Yumi only nodded and got up, walking into the bathroom to gather her personal items and place them in a plastic shopping bag. Odd had folded and packed her clothes neatly and then went to go get her other laundry that had just been cleaned and packed those neatly in the bag as well.

All that time he kept thinking about Calais, Cadence and Yumi. Odd missed Cadence but he knew the only reason why he missed her so much and wanted to be with her is because Calais had died. If Calais was still around Odd would have left Cadence a long time ago. When he thought of Yumi he thought of Ulrich, the bastard who did this to her and caused her so much pain. He wanted Yumi to stay because since he moved here he always had someone or something there with him to keep him company but Yumi was in trouble and Ulrich was looking for her. The first place Ulrich might ever look is here and Odd was surprised he hadn't yet. But then again Odd moved after Yumi and Ulrich had been married for a year.

So Ulrich had no idea of where Odd was. But what kept him from hiding Yumi here?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the horn of the taxi honk outside. He called to Yumi and grabbed the blue duffel bag containing all of her things and slung the bag over his shoulder, heading out of his room and down the stairs. Yumi followed solemnly behind him to the front door and out onto the front lawn where he had first found her a week ago.

Odd dropped the bag on the sidewalk for the cab driver and turned to Yumi.

"Well I guess this is goodbye," Yumi said, starting to tear up.

"This isn't goodbye. It's just a see-you-soon. I'll see you around here and there," Odd corrected her, not wanting to see her cry.

"And what if I don't?" she tested.

"Then know that you're a new girl. You'll have all the time you need to get back on your feet, meet more potential husbands, and raise a wonderful family," Odd said, although what he said pierced his heart with a strong blow.

Yumi nodded and sniffled a bit, "I hope you take care of yourself, Odd."

"Don't worry. I will," he hugged her; "I'll talk to you some other time. You better get going."

She hugged him back, thanked him, and turned towards the cab. Odd headed back to the house and closed the front door behind him, heading to the living room and sitting on the couch. His thoughts carried him back through the week up to now.

When he saw her, looked at her, he felt his heart fill up but that feeling dissolved because of what Ulrich had done to her. He thought that feeling was forever gone but obviously it wasn't. He thought of why he broke up with Cadence and it wasn't only because he couldn't stand to throw Yumi out on the streets but because he still had feelings for Yumi. The day at the theatre was even the strangest place when he couldn't stop looking away from her. She had looked so beautiful there and even before that day she looked beautiful and even innocent.

Immediately Odd got to his feet and ran to the front door, looking out the plaited glass. He opened the door and ran to and down the stairs right when the cab was about ready to pull away. He raced to the cab and waved to Yumi who saw him, told the driver to stop and she got out to meet him. She waited for him to start talking as she sat in the warm sun by the back door of the cab.

"Yumi, you can't go," Odd said first, finally reaching Yumi.

"What?" Yumi asked a bit confused. "You were the one who wanted me to go to this home."

"I know but during the events of this past week I grew used to you again. Calais was my company and kept me feeling at home. Yes, I admit I was also dating Cadence but I only got so involved and clingy to her because I needed someone to be there. Then you showed up and that all changed with Cadence. I love her, yes, but not like how I love you," Odd explained to her as fast as he could.

Yumi was stunned and could hardly speak at the sudden outburst of truth that Odd was throwing at her all at once.

"But I thought you didn't love me anymore and that you were afraid of losing me again like before," she asked, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Yes, I did say that, but I realized that this is my chance to get the girl that I've always wanted and always been searching for and if I let this chance go now then I will have made my worst dream come true," Odd said, walking to her and taking Yumi's face in his hands. "You're the girl I've always wanted and this is my one and only chance to get you to be mine. If I let you go now then I would lose it and I'm not going to let that happen."

Yumi was shocked but looked up into his deep, sparkling blue eyes and for once she wasn't afraid to look up at someone of higher authority. His face kept its same, soft expression and at once she knew that Odd really and truly wanted her to stay here with him. Her eyes were moist and she almost regretted asking him her next question but his answer surprised her.

"But what if Ulrich finds me here with you and tries to kill me?" Yumi asked, diverting her eyes for a second before bringing them to lie back on his eyes.

Odd laid his forehead down on hers so he could look more closely and deeply into her dark, hazel eyes and replied, "I would kill him before he even tried."

Yumi smiled and heard the cab driver honk the horn impatiently, then get out of the cab.

"Are you coming or not?" the driver asked impatiently.

"No she's not. I'll pay you for the trouble but this girl is staying here with me," Odd answered him, handing the driver a twenty dollar bill before retrieving the blue duffel bag containing all of Yumi's things from the backseat of the cab.

The taxi drove off down the street and Yumi and Odd walked up to the house. Their house.