BIG FIRES
Chapter 1/3
FREE FALLING
" - Aaaaw – she broke your heart!
- Y'know what? Maybe I broke hers. "
Late Friday night. Michelin star restaurant. Impeccably trained waiters sailed about the room importantly, polished serving trays in their hands glimmered with silver as they navigated their ways around the tables clad in snow-white tablecloths. Pleasant piano music murmured softly. Small fires danced on the tips of thin candles and, in the middle of each table, a clipped rose sat inside a short glass vase.
Stuffed quail with blueberry glaze… Lobster tail on the bed of risotto… Steamed mussels in white wine… Shrimp ceviche… Wagyu Garlic Butter Rib-eye Steak… Roasted rack of lamb…
Nathan Drake sat scanning through the menu, his interest hovering over the most expensive of its items. It was a business meeting, which meant - the client was paying.
The client – a pretty brunette in her mid-thirties, concurrently a wealthy heiress of a recently deceased financial tycoon – kept shooting intrigued glances at Nate from under the velvety card of her menu, tapping her manicured nails meaningfully on its side. She obviously didn't mind mixing business with a little bit of pleasure now that she met her potential hiree in person. And – oh, well – let's just say Nate was quite used to going with the flow of whatever surprises life threw at him. Who was he to turn down a pleasant one for a change?
"…this is quite a delicate matter. You see, my Papá-" the brunette murmured in attempt to begin the extended story that would explain why exactly an impeccably lawful citizen like her would employ the services of two experienced thieves. However, a server quietly materialized behind her right shoulder and she stopped herself mid-word.
"Sir. Madam," the server smiled an adulatory smile, holding a sweaty glass bottle in his hands, "Are you ready to make an order? Would you like to start with a glass of triple-filtered water, perhaps?"
"Chardonnay for me, please," said the brunette, "And Festoni with a side of arugula."
The server nodded agreeably.
"And for the gentleman?"
"I'll have the water, please."
"Certainly."
Ice clinked as the overpriced water poured into his glass - Nate used the borrowed time to give the menu another scrutinizing squint.
"And for the entrée?"
"I-," still trying to make a decision that could possibly leave him with leftovers for breakfast, Nate briefly glanced at the server. His gaze was just about to plunge back into the intricate labyrinth of the menu choices when, in his peripheral vision, he caught an elusive sight of something…someone…that made his mouth freeze halfway open.
"What the he-…"
There, two tables down, on the other side of the room, previously hidden by a group of patrons who were now heading for the exit, sat none other than… Elena Fisher! In all of her Elena-Fisher glory.
Nate blinked but the sight did not fade. Quite the opposite actually - it started to acquire additional details, like a form-fitting sage green top (a dress?!) and bare ankles completed with a dainty pair of nude heels. Then – wait for it! – Nate picked up an even crazier observation - her dirty blond hair was shamelessly curled into effortless waves that gently washed down her shoulders and her face glowed with a tasteful amount of makeup. The last detail sent Nate into a complete knockout – across from her sat a… a GUY! A seemingly good-looking guy at that too - Nate had to admit.
Nate's mouth tightened sternly – she NEVER dressed up like that for a date with him! And what is she doing on a date anyway mere six months since she so resolutely broke up with him?! The stunned shock was replaced with gnawing indignation that was eerily similar to what Nate felt whenever someone snatched a coveted artifact from right under his nose.
And there he sat with seething, helpless incomprehension of the sheer injustice that was going on in front of his eyes.
"Nate?" the brunette's voice brought him back to the matter at hand, "What are you going to order?"
"Ehm," Nate gave a small cough and returned his gaze to the menu, "Ehm - Steak," he gulped down and added with a little more confidence, "Steak it is. With…garlic butter. And some… red wine… merlot," he picked randomly.
"Yes, sir," the server disappeared just as he appeared – quickly, in a puff of neon-white towel, dangling from his arm.
Nate took a hurried sip of water - to wash bitterness down with. The brunette, having received her wine, resumed her tale that was overly-seasoned with unnecessary emotional intermissions and coquettish mannerism that was supposed to charm him, but, while still managing to somewhat keep up with the unraveling thread of the narration, Nate himself was too busy spying on the table across the room with a corner of his eye.
Elena seemed as if she was well aware of his presence. While she still froze like deer in headlights when their eyes met for the first time, she didn't seem nearly as shocked as he was, and quickly averted his gaze by looking at the man sitting across from her and replying to something that was said. Periodically, she threw arrow-sharp glances at the brunette across from Nate. With concern, Nate noted that Elena's plate was already well-worked on and soon after, a waiter brought dessert, which meant – she would be leaving soon!
Inserting polite nods and hums to keep up the air of interest, Nate suddenly felt stirrings of a crazy, mad - simply sick idea – and began working on his steak with increased effort.
"…I just want to make sure that you understand how important and extremely personal this is," the brunette repeated importantly.
"Of course – confidentiality and discretion are our topmost priorities," Nate responded smoothly. What was there to understand? Daddy died – passed an expensive trinket to her sister instead of her through his will. And now, being the spoiled princess that she was, she decided to steal it. To have it stolen, technically speaking - rich people problems. The job was a piece of cake!
Nate entertained the brunette for a bit longer, even managing to bargain himself and Sully some unusually favorable terms, all the while keeping tabs on the table across the room. When the jackass - pardon, the guy - paid the bill and stood up to gallantly offer Elena his hand, Nate too begun to prepare to leave.
"I'm sorry, I need to take this," Nate told the brunette apologetically and, producing a phone from the pocket of his suit jacket, pretended to take a call, his eyes following the couple to the doors, "What do you mean it disappeared?! I put it in the safe this morning! Who else went into the room?!" Nate proclaimed theatrically and the brunette's eyes went round as saucers, "Don't touch anything," Nate instructed the phone in the same manner and wrapped up the act, "I'll be right over!" he dropped the fake call and rose his eyes at the woman across the table, "I'm really sorry, I have to go – something happened that needs my immediate attention."
"But-"
"I'll call you with the results and we'll arrange the meet-up then," Nate cut her protest short, "Don't worry – the necklace will finally be yours in no time now," he added with a wink and a disarming smile and headed for the exit, leaving the quite perplexed brunette alone with a freshly-delivered plate of tiramisu.
Nate picked up his steps, fearing he took too long to leave, walked through the revolving doors and out into the muggy Florida night. He looked left and right and then, to his relief, on the other side of the street, he spotted Elena's blond hair that slowly lowered inside a sporty grey Infinity coupe. Nate hurriedly jumped into his car – for once he was happy Sully insisted on taking his gas-efficient sedan on this trip instead of Nate's truck – she doesn't know what Sully's car looks like – he thought madly.
In a state of delirium (the only logical way to justify his actions) Nate followed the grey Infinity down the route that grew increasingly more recognizable – back to Elena's apartment – making sure to keep a secretive, not at all creepy distance of two cars behind. Street lights crawled and flashed, every once in a while illuminating the sharp lines of Nate's profile and his eyes, firmly fixated on the road. At last, the Infinity turned into a painfully familiar apartment complex and parked by the brightly-lit entrance. Sheepishly Nate parked in the shadow of a large oak tree on the opposite side of the parking lot and killed the ignition. He watched the Infinity through the rearview mirror in demoralized silence. The jackass opened the passenger door and Elena emerged from the car; heels clicked on concrete and the pair walked a few paces toward the building where they stopped by the street light. Nate wished he could hear what was being spoken, but couldn't make anything out of illegible humming that permeated inside his car.
He will leave, she will send him off, of course she will…
But, to Nate's disappointment, when Elena walked toward the short stairway that led to her apartment, she didn't walk there alone.
"Crap," Nate gave the steering wheel a frustrated push, "What now genius?!" he asked himself, but the logical, rational part of his brain barely kept up with the events of the night, "Argh..." tortured by sharp-clawed flocks of conflicting thoughts and emotions, he stared at the now empty stairway. In the end, the rationality went completely offline. Nate tore the bowtie off, loosening the collar, decisively snapped the seatbelt off and got out of the car.
"What am I doing..." Nate muttered in disbelief, walking across the empty parking lot, "this is crazy..." he reached the stairs, but instead of walking up, followed the wall and went around and to the back of the building.
Even if Nate didn't remember which of the balconies corresponded to Elena's apartment, he could easily guess and be correct - it was effortlessly identifiable by a small jungle of tropical plants that were nestled on each side of the balcony door.
"…you just completely lost your marbles," Nate admonished himself, yet, the next moment he was already scaling the wall, grasping for miniscule footholds and hugging onto a gutter, "absolutely...insane... out of your mind," he huffed, wishing he left the suit jacket back in the car. Finally, not without a struggle, he reached the balcony and uncomfortably hung off its side, trying to remain undetected. Once he found better footing, he swallowed heavily, pulled himself slightly up and...
…peeked in…
The leaving room inside was hoarded with cardboard boxes; all surfaces looked unusually decluttered; a big rolling suitcase stood ready by the door. Elena sat on the couch with unenthusiastic impression and impatiently tapped her finger on her knee. The next moment, the jackass emerged from the bathroom and walked in dangerous proximity to Nate's look-out point, making him consciously dip for cover. The door was closed, but one of the windows was cracked open and, this time, Nate could hear everything loud and clear.
"Well, thank you for the date," Elena said with undoubted goodbye in her voice.
"No, thank you – the pleasure was all mine," answered seemingly oblivious jackass.
"So, I guess now you must be-"
"Can I get some water, please, if that's not too much to ask?" the guy smoothed the interruption with a smile.
"Ahm…sure."
Instead of pouring water into a glass, Elena grabbed a plastic bottle from the fridge and offered it to the guy – water to-go.
She clearly doesn't want him here…Nate thought with pleasant satisfaction.
For a while longer he listened to their conversation that consisted mainly of small talk on general topics and of the guy's fruitless attempts to win extended clearance to stay. But then, just as Nate's mental state begun to recover (more or less) and he started to strongly consider climbing down and heading back to the hotel, the jackass suddenly leaned suspiciously close to Elena and a split-second later he was…kissing her!
Nate's knuckles turned white and burned like hot iron and, before he could stop himself, he swung over the railing and stood tall in front of the balcony door.
A/N: The story was largely inspired by two songs from my playlist: Audio Bullys - Only Man...and...R.E.M. - Losing my Religion (one of the best songs of all time if you ask me!).
The second chapter will probably be out in the next couple of days (to a week), I'm already in the middle of writing it, but wanted to get the first one out since it was ready and it's been a while since I posted anything.