She kept seeing Tala on and off through the next two months, keeping it secret from Alex and the public. Late one afternoon she was particularly distracted from her beyblading lesson.
"Charlie…" Alex called to her.
She didn't respond. She was thinking about what Tala had said to her earlier that morning.
She had gone to buy a new book from the book store and he had followed her in. As she was scanning through the rack, looking for the book, she saw the flash of red hair. She jumped in fright and sighed in relief.
"Tala, it's you. You scared me." She said, holding the book to her blushing face.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to. Listen, can we move our date to this afternoon, I have to… leave France for a while." He asked her, leaning over the book rack.
She looked around and saw that no one was watching. She put the book down and walked around the rack to him.
"Where to?" she asked him.
"Ah, just Egypt. Boris has moved operations for Biovault there." He said, looking at her.
She scanned the room and sighed.
"Just, Egypt." She smiled and turned away from him.
He walked around her and came back into her line of vision.
"Yeah, something wrong with Egypt?" he asked.
She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.
"I've just always wanted to go there. That's all." She said, walking around to her book again.
He walked up behind her and took hold of her hand at her side.
"Come with me." He said, putting his free hand around her waist and pulling her back towards him.
She leant against his chest and then remembered they were in public. She stood up and stepped away from him. She turned around and looked at him.
"Not here." She hissed at him.
He shrugged and took hold of her hand.
"We've been dating for two months, not counting the time in Russia, don't you think it's time to make it public?" he asked, kissing her hand.
She blushed and when she saw that people were watching, she pulled it away.
"No, they won't understand, me dating the same man who held me hostage for nearly a month. Anyway, Biovault is up and running again. Ad you're going back to them. Are they going after, you know who." She said to him.
She turned around and began to fiddle with the books. He came up next to her and leaned against the rack.
"You mean Kai." He said to her.
She looked at him and he knew he was right.
"Um, probably. Other than me, he's the best." He said, touching the book spines with his finger.
"Anyway, about our date? I really have to get an answer." He reminded her.
She looked around for any listening ears.
"I'll be home in about half an hour. I'll meet you there. When is your flight?" she asked him.
She took out her book and walked to the counter.
"Tonight, eight." He said, looking at his watch.
"I'll pack, meet you at yours and then go straight to the airport." He said, as she reached the counter.
"Yeah, sure. See you then." She said, looking in her purse for some money.
As she looked up at the teller, Tala pulled her towards him and kissed her. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He broke the kiss and smiled.
"Can't wait." He said, letting her go and walking away.
She blushed and looked at the teller, who had kept quiet but was clearly shocked.
"Just a friend, you know Paris, magic." She said, taking out the money and blushing profusely.
She met him at her apartment half an hour later and they proceeded up to her suite.
"You'll let me know if they find Kai, right?" she asked him as they arrived and she put her shopping away.
"Yeah, but I'll think he'll be a slippery one, and besides, there might not be telephones, and any kind of communication in that place." He said, taking of his shirt. She caught a glimpse of him and felt her heart skip and her skin go cold. He saw her shaking her head.
"What?" he asked her, undoing his belt buckle.
"I'll never get used to that." She said, walking up to him and placing her hands on his stomach.
She remembered how hot his skin felt in Russia, and it was still just as hot.
"Why are you Russian guy's skin so hot?" she asked him, looking into his blue eyes.
"I suppose we've had to adapt to stay alive. It's really cold there, you know." He smiled and kissed her.
She locked her arms around his waist and kissed him back. He broke the kiss and smiled at her.
"Don't remind me." She said as he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the couch.
She lay her down and he knelt on the floor and lifted her leg and started kissing her shin. She reveled in the touch of his lips to her skin. She closed her eyes and savored every second. She felt him running his hands up her sides to her hands. He grabbed them and held them tightly as he slipped in under her legs and came up to her stomach.
"Oh, Tala, that tickles," she squealed as he worked his way up to her ribs.
He softly licked up to her neck and to her ear lobe, kissed down her cheek and met her quivering lips with his. He pulled her hips towards his and she kissed him deeper.