Master's Apprentice (Completed) Undergoing Edits

Now Comes the Night

Author's note: Thanks for adding MA to your reading list!

The feels in this chapter are just....I'm going to go sob some more now.

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"Why? Why Lord?"

Tomas wailed aloud in pain as the grief of Aila's death set in.

She may have been lying from the start about who she was, but she did not deserve this end.

He remembered when they had just started out as a married couple on the day after they had come back from their honeymoon.

Aila had been so happy about starting a life together with him.

On the other hand, he had only wanted to start working right away...

"Won't it be grand, Tomas? Now that our honeymoon is over, we have our whole lives ahead of us!", she had exclaimed as she jumped up and down on the bed they shared in the hotel.

Apparently, the fact that it was 6 am in the morning didn't bother her from waking him up from sleep. They didn't have to check out 'til 10 am in the morning. Why did he have to marry this early riser again?

He loved her, that's why.

As Tomas placed his blanket even higher on his head and wished for earplugs to give him relief, he heard a thud and sprang from the bed instantly.

"Are you ok? Did you get hurt? Should I..."

The thud was the sound of Aila hopping from the bed and landing on the carpet.

"Ta-da!", she sang to Tomas as he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Can you be a bit more careful next time, honey? There are people below us you know. The floors are not that thick and they can probably hear your incessant jumping."

"Come on Tomas! It's fun! You can join me if you want.", she said as she threw a kiss his way.

His wife flirting with him was not a new thing, but whenever she did it, he would blush. It had only been 3 weeks since the wedding and he still felt lucky to be by her side.

"One of us here has to be the mature and responsible one."

"Wow. I married such a stick-in-the-mud. We're going to have to change that real quick.", she told him as she tried to chase him around the room to no avail. He was not playing that game with her right now. A serious discussion was in order.

Changing the subject, he addressed her earlier statement by saying,

"Our whole lives? Aren't you getting way ahead of yourself there? We still haven't figured out where we are going to live."

Suddenly, Aila stopped what she was doing and thought for a moment.

"Wait, we haven't? How is that possible?"

"Last time I asked, you told me to wait until after the honeymoon to think about it and 'have fun while we still can'. However, reality is now upon us and I need to know where you want to go."

She sat down on the bed and stayed quiet for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"I've never been to New York City. From what I've heard, it seems to be a wonderful place full of opportunity and lots of things to do there."

"You're just saying this because you love seeing musicals and Broadway is in New York, right?"

"Tomas! I'm not that shallow...Maybe I am, but living in New York would be an adventure. Can you just imagine? We don't have to live in the city because it's a bit pricey and all..."

"Alright. I'm convinced," he responded back.

Tomas put his hands up in mock surrender and laughed at his darling wife's attempts to persuade him to move to New York.

"Thank you. Thank you! You won't regret this, Tomas!"

"Anything for my fluffy bunny.", he teased.

"Even....chocolate?"

"What is with you and chocolate? You've gone through 2 boxes already and not gained a pound! How do you do it?"

"First of all, never mention a woman's weight. Sensitive subject right there. Secondly, before you wake up in the morning, I take a light jog around the neighborhood and then eat breakfast."

"You amaze me, do you know that?"

He kissed her recently-shaved legs and tickled her arms until she screeched.

"Who's the child now? Get off me!", she shouted.

"I'd expected you would want to live in a big city so I applied to different positions and guess who was hired as an accountant in NYC?"

"Oh my God, Tomas! We're moving to New York!"

"I still have to accept formally, but yes. Yes, we are."

"When are you going to tell your parents? West Coast to East Coast is quite a big move."

"Alexander is also moving to NYC so I'll just tell them over the phone. They'll help with our things and meet up with us at the airport before we leave."

"That's great news!", she yelled before coming to a stop before Tomas and whispering,

"Tomas, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, pumpkin?"

"Can I also work too? I know some men don't like it when their wives have a job and..."

"Of course! Who am I to say no to you?"

She replied with, "Good, because I found a non-profit that I'm thinking of working for as a communications assistant. If I get the job, it doesn't pay much so...we'd both have to work."

"That takes cares of my initial concern. I'd be starting at the bottom of the totem pole so to speak. As a result, money might be tight if one of us doesn't work."

"I wish we didn't have to care about money...", she muttered as she embraced Tomas.

"There, there. We'll find an apartment in New Jersey and figure things out, ok?"

"Aye right."

"That's the spirit! Now let's go downstairs to chow down some breakfast..."

The memory faded as Tomas stumbled his way from the hallway into the nearest bathroom.

Picking a toilet, he vomited his stomach's contents and set himself down on the floor.

Why had he taken those moments for granted? If he could go back, he would have spent more time having fun instead of acting like an adult all the time. Aila's death made him see how short life really was.

He wished he had been shot in place of her. It was his fault she was gone.

Standing up, he went over to the sink and washed his face several times to make sure he was awake.

The last hour had been a living nightmare for him up 'til now.

If he had been paying attention instead of mourning, maybe what would have happened next could have been averted. Alas, he was caught unawares when he realized that several men had come into the bathroom while he was grieving and unfortunately recognized his face in the mirror.

"Hey Anatoly, isn't that the doofus that got us fired?"

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Author's note: Coming up next is the climax of the story so...it's going to be something alright.