BIG FIRES

Chapter 3/3

EPILOGUE

It was around nine in the morning when Victor Sullivan concluded that he was probably not going to see his partner until the later parts of the day. If the kid was even going to show up at all. After all, he was with Elena Fisher again – so that could only mean he was as good as gone for a while.

So Victor owed the whole day ahead to nobody but himself.

Whistling a cheery tune, he pushed the button on the remote until it came upon a western. Watching Clint Eastwood gallop a horse down dust-smudged prairie with the corner of his eye, Sully got a flimsy hotel coffee maker from one of the shelves and crossed his fingers that this one would actually work. He'd had a bad run with coffee makers in the past.

"Ah, you rickety old thing," Sully warned the stupid machine as he poured a cupful of water into the tank, "You better work now or I've got something for ya."

He plugged the thing into the wall and watched as the light indeed failed to come on.

"How about that…"

If it wasn't going to be coffee, then it was meant to be a cigar.

Sully fumbled for one in the pocket of his striped Havana shirt, all the while mean-mugging the smoke alarm on the ceiling. Ah – it was gonna be fine.

He struck the Zippo and lowered the cigar in his mouth toward the flame, when the door into the room suddenly beeped open and in walked none other than the kid.

"Hey," Nate greeted Sully with a quick glance and, dark as a brooding storm cloud, walked toward the sofa where he shook off his suite jacket and plopped down, throwing his head tiredly on the back of the sofa.

"Why hey there," Sully replied and, watching Nate's solemn petrified face, tucked the cigar back into the pocket of his shirt, "Didn't expect to see you so soon."

The expression on Nate's face didn't change; his eyes were looking inward as he absently stared at the cowboy chase transpiring on the TV.

"Did we get the job?"

"Yeah, it's all good. Five grand a piece. She needs the necklace by the end of next week. Easy money"

"Hmpf," Sully gave a small satisfied grunt, "Nicely done."

He pretended to be messing with the coffee machine again, while Nate stayed silent, sitting on the couch with his eyes now transfixed on a large stain of unknown nature that was poorly hidden inside a geometrical pattern of the carpet.

"Were you with the girl all night?" Sully probed carefully, his tone unmistakably denoting exactly which girl he meant.

"Yeah...," Nate responded with a blank expression.

"Hmm," Sully hummed to himself thoughtfully and after a short pause added, "Well - did you have a good time?"

"Yeah..."

The silence and the empty look on Nate's face candidly filled in the blanks.

"You're not back together, are you?"

"Nope."

Sully nodded and his mustache twitched with understanding. He stood up and gave his protégé a fatherly pat on the back.

"It's gonna be all right, kid."

Nate sighed and tiredly rubbed his forehead, "Yeah... I know. I guess it's time I finally let that train go," he grunted and stood up from the couch, plopping down face-forward on his bed instead.

"Well, I'm gonna go get some coffee from the lobby - you need anything?"

There was negative grunting and, as Sully headed for the door, he could discern muffled words that followed from the bed, "... but it was such a good train... one in a million…"

Sully shook his head as the door closed behind him and he headed for the elevator - poor kid. But who could blame Elena? Nate's life wasn't exactly conducive to maintaining prolonged romantic relationships. Not those of a healthy kind anyway. Not of the kind a girl like her deserves.

Yet, as the doors of the elevator closed and it beeped shortly, starting to make its descent, Sully had a faint feeling that this love story might not be over just yet. And that, even if it stayed unbeknownst to its two main characters, it might still be too early to write

THE END.