Chapter 2: The mission
In the year 2010, the day after the prom…
"Come on, open it! Hurry up!" Charlie whined.
"Calm down. I almost got it." I tried to calm her down as I turned the key of the lock and slowly opened the box. Slowly we looked over the edge of the box expecting to see something spectacular, only to see the box (which was at least one by one meter long) empty with the exception of a little note on the bottom of the container. Charlie picked up the note and slowly unfolded it and began to read it.
"Dear Charlie, if you are reading this I am probably dead, and even though I want nothing more than for you to continue your life, you can't. There are things you don't know about me. The trips I've been going to in the past year, they are not really business trips. I am finishing missions. What missions? You might ask. The missions you are about to start. The missions that will lead you through your new life. The missions that you have to accomplish, if not thousands of innocent people will die. I am so sorry to put such a burden on you, my child but I have no other choice. I do not know if you are still friends with that boy, Max. If you are not you have to go find him. You two are meant to be together. You two have to go through the missions together. Attached to this letter you will find another one. You will not be able to open it. Only Max can. Tell him to read it, and he will help you. Charlie, do not read that letter. That is not meant for you. Please. Do. Not. Read. The. Letter. I love you, and I am so sorry. Love, Dad." Slowly her voice faded. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Here", she said quietly "read the letter, but do not show it to me." I gently took the letter from her hands and opened the letter attached.
'Dear Max', it read 'As you may or may not know, Charlie has to accomplish some missions finishing of my duty. You have to go with her and protect her. You have to do anything you can to protect her do, you understand? Even if you don't do anything else. I am trusting you here chief. The first mission is where the wonder ends, in a little drawer by the sink. Protect her!'
"Charlie," I said quietly laying my hand on her shoulder.
"I miss him so much." She whispered, her voice cracking, "He was too young to die. He shouldn't have died." Tears were rolling down her face. Even though I barely knew the guy compared to Charlie, I felt the same way. He was such an inspiring, wise and amazing person. I watched as Charlie's tears rolled down her face, slowly dripping onto the letter, unable to move. We just sat there for a while. I wanted to go to her, hug her and tell her that everything is going to be alright, but I was unable to move. Finally I slowly slid towards her and hugged her. She turned around so that she was facing me and leaned her head against my chest.
"Even if it doesn't seem like it right now, everything is going to be alright." I managed to say.
With tears still rolling down her face she looked at me and asked, "What did he say in the letter to you?" I wondered if I should lie, but then decided she should know the truth since she would figure it out sooner or later. Maybe getting started on the missions will also help her to forget about her father for a little while.
"He gave me a hint to the first mission." I answered hesitating, wondering how her reaction would be, "but I was unable to figure it out."
"What was the hint?"
"Charlie, are you sure you want to start now? We can also take some time off and start in a while."
"No!" She answered quickly "No, I do not want to start later. I want to start now. It was his last wish. Maybe it will also take my mind of things for a while. Max, what was the first hint?"
Convinced I replied, "He only said 'where the wonder ends, in a little drawer by the sink."
"That's a bar." Charlie almost shouted out.
"What? Why would he want us to go to a bar?"
"When I was smaller he used to always go out to this little bar. I always asked him where was going, and the only thing he would say is 'where the wonder ends'. Which was meant to stop my constant asking." She smiled remembering her childhood.
"Charlie? Do you know where the bar is?" I asked.
"Yeah, he took me there once to pick up his friend. It's about half an hour away from here." She said the looked at me and added "We should go now."
"Are you sure? I mean we can also take the day off and start tomorrow or this evening and spend today somewhere. Together." I was scared that she would feel down if we left to see the place her Father always went to.
"That does sound tempting" She said quickly, but after a pause added "But we have to go."
"I'll tell you what, we spend the day together and then at around seven we go to the bar."
"I can live with that." She smiled as I pulled her towards me and placed my lips on hers.