Authors: Veronica Melan
“Come on, buddy!” Ren hurried him, intrigued by the Chaser’s tone, “What exactly did she confess to you?”
“Maybe that she liked him more than our brother Conrad?” Dane laughed, sipping on the second beer, but almost choked on it after Ren poked him in the side. El’Conto hissed, "You have to improve your sense of humour, not the physical shape, mate...”
“No, not that.” Mac replied, “Although, I don’t think I’d mind if she did.”
He caught Hulk’s narrowed eyes and smiled.
“Calm down. Even if I was to lock her up in the basement and didn’t feed her for weeks, she still wouldn’t swap you for the world. It is clear to everyone.”
Hulk instantly relaxed and Chaser became serious.
“No, she told me that the day before calling me, she’d met Drake.”
It took a good few seconds for this information to penetrate into the minds.
“What?!” a chorus of surprised voices aroused, “Are you kidding?”
Hulk froze, afraid to assume any continuation. Despite the fact that his face was tanned, it still turned pale, and his lips pressed tightly. His jaw line became stubborn, showing tension and determination.
“Why would she do that?” the words didn’t come easy. No, he wasn’t afraid to hear any bad news regarding his own future - he was kind of ready for it - but thinking about Drake’s response to some strange girl, who tried to have a conversation about something she wasn’t even supposed to know about, Hulk suddenly was covered in sweat.
“Why? To talk about you, of course.” Mac shook his head, “believe me, when I heard about it, I reacted exactly the same way, I was shocked.”
Dell was looking at him in disbelief, Ren had an unreadable expression and Dane nervously ran his fingers through his short hair.
“Gee,” said the sniper, “Is she nuts?”
“Apparently, not. She just proved once again how strongly she feels about this guy.” Mac looked at Hulk, “I envy you. So, this beauty found the informant and asked him how to contact the Commission. He advised her to "call" Drake, which she did, not forgetting to go to an open field first.”
The tension and interest grew to such an extent that it became hot in the room. Hulk realised that his own heart began beating extremely fast, which had not happened for a long time, and it appeared damn hard to calm it down.
“She shouted Drake’s name into the sky, at least that's how I understood her story, and he came. The car sprang up out of nowhere in front of her. And what do you think she said to our boss?”
“I can’t even imagine.” Hulk said dumbfounded.
The others were waiting for him to carry on in silence, holding their breath - after all, it wasn’t just about Conrad - it concerned all of them.
“My arse is gonna be damp from the worrying now!” Dane complained, “Tell us how deep is the shit we got in?”
Chaser looked at Shereen and shook his head, remembering their conversation in the car.
“She told him that you had already realised your mistakes and that you needed to be released, or at least Drake should think about it. That’s what she told him.”
He stopped because the girl sleeping on the couch moved, as if feeling the tensed atmosphere in the room, rubbed her cheek, and then began snorting again peacefully.
She didn’t wake up and Mac continued.
“So, Drake listened to her and at first scared her by asking if she knew about the possible consequences of such a conversation? But your lady appeared to be quite brave and said that you were worth any consequences. And then, you won’t believe it - Drake just tossed a coin, caught it and said "Today is your day. Tell him that he is free”. He disappeared, leaving her standing in the field.
Hulk couldn’t breathe - the air was stuck in his lungs. Judging by long faces of his friends, they were experiencing something similar.
“Tell me you're not kidding, man?” Dell said, staring into Chaser’s eye, “because it sounds... erm-r-r... too incredible, I suppose.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me...” Mac rubbed his neck, “I don’t really believe it myself. She also said (he nodded toward Shereen) that before Drake left, he stopped and said, "Ask him to visit me when he is around." That's it - so no shit for us, guys, we had a legal right to help our friend, who is also legally free.”
The last sentence was addressed to Hulk, who at this very moment was looking at Shereen with a strange expression in his eyes, and no one knew how tenderly his heart was aching inside.
He will digest everything that had been said later - that there is no more fear for the future; that everything had been resolved without his involvement and resolved in a good way, but all this will come later. Now he was looking at her, sleeping peacefully on the couch, and felt that love, affection, appreciation, and the desire to protect entwined into a new strong feeling, its roots had already sprouted through every cell of his body and mind, filling him wholly.
His Shereen, who came to the ranch to scrub the floors, who was stealing food and buying medication for the quarry workers using her own points. His Shereen, who had thrust herself into hell, in order to help the one she loved - that’s just how she is. And he couldn’t, just didn’t, have the right to let her go away. He had to give her everything she deserved and much more...
Someone touched his shoulder. It took great effort for Hulk to take his eyes off the reddish curls.
“Don’t ever lose her.” Mac whispered.
“Yep”. Ren agreed and Dell just nodded.
Only Dane sighed in annoyance. He wasn’t annoyed with Shereen, but with the destiny that still didn’t present him with such a lovely gift - his own woman.
Hulk sat down on the carpet. For three years he was carrying this desperation inside, not knowing what would happen next, he was holding himself back from howling like a locked in a cage wolf, without the chance of a way out. For three years he had his hands, aching from inaction. And for the first time he could put an invisible axe and the desire to fight for his life, happiness and freedom aside, because none of that had to be fought for anymore.
She brought it to him. It was as simple as that.
No, it probably wasn’t that simple at all, but she did it - without asking anything in return, she’d just gathered the strength and joined the battle, and he became free, without fear of retribution for another mistake, without fear to be separated again.
His curly “toy” took care of everything. Hulk still couldn’t believe that she’d done it; he was sitting on the carpet, looking at her curly hair, long eyelashes, hiding her bright green eyes; looking at her pouting lips, and shook his head.
*****
Waking up the next morning, I felt like I was in paradise. I was lying on soft sheets, pondering whether I should open my eyes now, or spend another minute or two enjoying the bright sun flares coming through my closed eyelids. A warm breeze was rustling through the curtains, and the birds were whistling joyfully, like it was blooming spring outside, not an early autumn.
One word - paradise.
I smiled and slowly opened my eyes.
For a moment, I felt a bit disappointed by the fact that the bed which I apparently slept on all night was empty. As well as the room.
I looked around and found myself in an unfamiliar, but cosy bedroom with beige wallpaper. Thinking about what happened to my beloved, I discovered a note attached to the pillow.
My love, I decided not to wake you up, because I knew how tired you were, and my passionate outbursts can wait until the evening (but no longer).
All my worries disappeared straight away, and my cheeks blushed. I smiled happily - everything was all right and that was the most important thing. Hulk must be having a busy morning, which means we’ll meet a little later, when he returns.
I looked at the note and found a postscript, written in small letters, which read that the bathroom is down the hall on the left.
Excellent! I have time to take a shower and freshen myself up. Of course, I didn’t have any makeup or toiletries with me, but why would I worry about it after Hulk saw me as a complete ragamuffin in Tally? I cheerfully threw the blanket away, touched the fluffy carpet with my bare feet and looked around for my clothes. There wasn’t any. Hm-m-m...
I still had my underwear on, but the rest of my clothes had disappeared. I remembered that last night I fell asleep right in the middle of the room on a sofa at Chaser’s, and felt embarrassed, but I quickly got over it. OK, I didn’t have that fantastic stamina inherent to these guys, but I’m a lady and my mission is quite different to theirs, therefore why should I worry? Yes, I fell asleep, it could happen to anyone.
I giggled.
Anyway, where are my clothes? After a brief examination, instead of my clothes I found a white fluffy bathrobe, lying on the edge of the bed with another note pinned to its collar. I reached out to get it.
It didn’t belong to anyone before. It was ordered this morning from the shop, so no wild assumptions.
”
I smiled reading this. To be honest, I wasn’t about to start building any wild assumptions anyway. After I saw his face yesterday and felt his embrace, I was totally convinced that Hulk was mine - I knew it with my heart. I put the white soft robe on and headed to the bathroom where I spent half the morning, soaping myself with everything I could find.
After the bath, I saw another note hanging on the bedroom’s door that informed me that breakfast would be served somewhere in the conservatory. Since I had no clue where this conservatory was located, I decided to try my luck by exploring every single room in the house.
The served breakfast was eventually found, but not before I spent thirty minutes admiring the number of rooms - one better than another. Living rooms, bedrooms, studies, dining room, gym, library, reading places and lounges - it appeared that Hulk enjoyed a bit of luxury not only in Tally.
The view from the window told me that Hulk’s mansion was located somewhere in the eastern part of the city, I could still see the blue skyscrapers in the distance, but they were seen from a different angle as opposed to my apartment at West Barton Avenue.
The conservatory drowned in greenery and flowers; the white wicker furniture stood on the porch. The trees were rustling, touched by the warm breeze. I noticed a blue shimmering surface of the swimming pool In the distance.
And the silence all around.
It seemed that the house was empty. Whoever looked after the garden and the pool was not here at the moment. I looked around, breathed in the fresh morning air, let lose my wet hair, and sat on one of the wicker chairs.
It was a pity that Hulk wasn’t here with me now - I was missing him a lot. The time we’d spent together yesterday was not enough to hug, to hold, to enjoy our newfound presence in each other's lives. On a table, there were plates with cheese, ham, jam, yogurts (as soon as I glanced at them I recalled my “blind” breakfast in Tally), a jug with juice, and a slightly cooled, but still tasty omelette.
One more note was lurking under the cutlery.
I hope you enjoyed the bath. After you finish with breakfast just ring the bell that you’ll find in the middle of the table - your clothes will be brought to you. The car and the driver are already waiting for you – your task is to go shopping and be ready to meet me at the “Plaza” restaurant by six o’clock. Do not worry about the money - the driver will provide you with a credit card and he’ll take you anywhere you ask him to. I’ll be waiting for you at the restaurant at 6pm.
See you soon.
Hulk.
PS. You’ll find your set of keys to our house next to the bell.
I read this note several times, then slowly put it aside and looked at the keys. Overloaded with feelings I could hardly sit still. My house keys! My Hulk! My new life. He took care of every single detail! I finally understood why he wasn’t in bed with me, why he’d disappeared before I opened my eyes. Something was telling me that my beloved belonged to the type of men who’d always try and keep a touch of novelty in a relationship (no matter how long it lasts) as well as some interest, passion and mystery; he’d always find time for a surprise, pleasant gift, or simply a sign of attention.