Even Death Can't Keep Us Apart

Chapter 6

James was looking around room 16 at L'Americain in Tangier. He stopped suddenly, noticing a loose tile. He pried off the tile and a hole in the wall. He plunged his hand into the hole and pulled out a dusty glass bottle.
"What did you find?" Vesper asked from the foot of the bed, a glass of wine in her hand.
"Liquor. Want some?" James asked her, taking a swig.

"I'll take some." She said, holding out her hand for the bottle. James obliged and passed her the bottle, before sitting down on the wicker chair beside her. She took a long pull from the old bottle.

"Careful. That stuff is strong." James warned.

She put the bottle down, and glared at him for a moment before taking another long pull from the bottle. She took one last drink, then passed the bottle back to James.

"This can't be it." He said standing up and looking around. "So, this is your first time leaving Italy in almost a decade. How is it?" He said after sitting back down in the chair.

"I told you. I left for a few days about 8 years ago." She said, her words slurred slightly by the strong alcohol she'd just drunken and the three glasses of wine she'd had before that.

"And is this better than that?" He said.

"Well the first occasion was rather sad, but so far it's been better."She said.

"And that occasion? Just so I know what the bar is." He asked.

"A funeral." Vesper stated before taking another sip of wine. James had not been expecting that answer and was rather unprepared on how to answer.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said.

"Thank you." She said.

"Who was it for?" He said.

"My daughter." She said quietly.

"You had a daughter?"

Vesper nodded, "Once. Her name was Addison James, I called her Addie, she had my eyes. She was born on May 9th, 2007 at 11:11 in the morning."

"She was mine?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded taking another sip of her wine, "she was such a happy baby. Always smiling, barely cried. Christ, I was so happy with her. So excited to see her grow up, so excited to see who she'd become." She said, seeming to be mad at herself.

James could tell that this was something she hadn't talked about in years. Something she'd intentionally taught herself not to talk about or think about. "What happened to her?" James asked quietly.

"She died three months after she was born, on August 4th, ironically. It was completely random, the doctors said that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I'm glad that I at least had a few months with her. She's buried in London, with my parents. It's the one time M let me leave Italy, to bury my daughter. She really never told you?" Vesper asked, looking over at him.

"No. She knew?" He said.

"She knew. She came to her funeral. It was just her and I." She said.

"I wish I could have been there." He said sincerely.

"I wish you could've too. She made me start training to be a 00 right after Addie died." She took another sip of her wine, "Said it was, "punishment for my mistake"."

"She called our daughter a "mistake"?" He asked.

"She called you and I, and by association, our daughter, a mistake. She even said it at Addie's funeral, the bitch." She said, words slurring slightly again.

"She was a bitch. I wish I could've met our daughter, maybe it would've been different." James wondered.

"Maybe. But it's too late now. All we can do is move on. Now, I'm going to bed." She said, putting her now empty glass of wine down.

Vesper stood up, and wavered a little. The alcohol she'd drunken that night had caught up with her. James went over and caught her.
"Don't you think for a moment that this is when I fall into your arms, and we go back to how we were. Stay there and keep watch. If you come near me, I won't hesitate to kill you." She said, clearly not entirely aware of her surroundings.

"I don't doubt that." James said with a small smile.

"This time I won't save you."

She fell into the bed and pulled the curtains around the bed.