"Episode 22 - Date with the princess."
Funny truth about pain is that when you're basking in it, the feeling becomes so dominant that nothing else can reach you. It creates an impenetrable bubble around you and nothing can get through that.
So, in order to survive we suck in that pain, allowing the numbness to take over. The bubble solidifies, the numbness becomes permanent.
It prevented me from feeling anything until her.
The buzzing city, beeping horns drowned out her husky voice. I lowered my head towards her, she got on her tiptoes to meet me half way.
"This is so pretty." When she told me she'd never been to china town, I asked the cab driver to change his course. The elder man with a thick south Asian accent was a very happy man with his large sum of tip on top of the big fee.
I watched the sun hit the lower part of her pretty face, pink pulped lips gleamed in the sun. Sighing in content, hooked an arm around her shoulders, turned on that she was carrying my gun in her backpack.
"By the way, you look cute as hell." She laughed at me complement. It was the sweetest sound among the loud noises of the city.
"I got a bit too excited when you said secret mission." She wrapped her arm around my back.
To everyone around us, we looked like a normal couple. Surprisingly enough, that thought didn't frighten me. What frightened me the most was not being able to see her, be near her or touch her.
Bringing her body closer to mine, I inhaled her scent that the aroma of food around us tried to mask. Red and yellow colours surrounded us with green specks. The roar and rush of people always astounded me.
"So, you hungry?"
"YES. Spicier the better."
We strolled through the endless line restaurants and Elena ended up picking hot pot special restaurant. I ordered almost everything on the list. She'd never experienced such cultures. I'd thought that she would have been so spoiled that she'd be snobby but she was far from it. The way her face lit up when she ate something new was or she heard a different language.
Something told me that she was hardly allowed out. The cruel through wiggled a shiver up my spine, I had to grind my teeth, cracked my neck from side to side like psycho. When the urge left my body, I picked up my chopsticks and carried up dunking all the meat slices in the spicy broth. She kept moaning every time she put them in her mouth and I liked feeding her.
"Can I tell you something?" I stared at her mouth like an idiot as th.
"Of course."
"I've never had Chinese hot pot before." I knew that already. Something flared at the bottom of my stomach. I wanted to give her the world yet she was kept so far away, it gutted me.
"Do you like it?" I asked, picking up some more meat dropping it in her bowl.
"I LOVE it. I want to try Korean barbeque later."
I wanted to pick her small body up and hold it so tightly that no one could separate us.
"Anything you want princess." She looked happy for the first time since I've known her. The permanent smile on her face made me ache to run my thumb across her lips. So anything to keep her that way.
"Thanks for brining me out today."
The frog in my throat prevented me from replying to her.
After we had finished, she wanted to go shopping. We walked among the bustling streets, weaving through the thick crowd. The mid-day heat scorched our skin but I had no trouble with it. Her sea through t-shirt attracted some attention but I had my thick arm wrapped around her shoulders, my ruined face under the ball cap scared them away.
It pleased me to see their eyes widen at my demeanour. They could look all they want but she was all mine.
"What do you want to buy?" I always had to lower my head to speak to her.
"I don't know." She replied in awe. We walked for a while until we reached the water fountain of the dancing dragons with wide open mouths. Water poured out into the pit. "I just want..." She stopped speaking before turning away.
"What?" Turning her towards, I found a blank expression. "What? Elena, tell me."
"I just want to have some fun that's all." She leaned towards me with her trade mark seductive smirk I was familiar with. She used that smile to distract people but I knew better. Shaking my head, I chuckled.
"That seductive smirk won't stop me from wondering, so you might as well just tell me." Her expression fell, a shy sort of insecurity seeped into her body language and I grabbed her by her shoulders so bring her chest to me. My heartbeat sped up.
"I'm just having crazy thoughts." She gave a nervous laugh without meeting my eyes.
"You're one of the most straight forward people I know. So just tell me Elena. Say it like it is." I wanted her to tell me that she needed me like I needed her. I needed her to tell me that she was obsessed me with like I was with her.
"I like spending time with you." Her 5'2 height stared me down. She looked unbreakable but I knew better. Grabbing the back of her neck I brought my head down to her before capturing her lips with mine. It was a deep punishing kiss, a kiss that dowsed the burning fire inside me. My stomach flipped at the intensity of her kiss. Her hands clawed at my shirt, the crowd around us disappeared.
It was just me and her.
When we broke apart, gasping for air, she stroked my cheeks with her soft palms in a comforting manner. The genuine smile on her face made my chest ache.
"I'm obsessed with you." My breath fanned her hair back.
Some people coughed around us as they passed by, some groaned, making her hide her forehead onto my chest. I smiled taking her into my arms. Over her head, I saw the man I'd been waiting for.
He blended in perfectly here and his eyes met mine before they quickly skirted away. He dug into his take away box and carried on eating.
"I need to check in with my men. You want to take some pictures?" I wanted to distract her. Guilt washed over me. I didn't want her to know that there was a hidden agenda behind me taking her out. Sighing, I gulped the guilt down. I was doing this for her. The need to know about her past clawed at my chest.
"Yeah okay." She bounced in joy before taking out her phone to snap some photos of out surroundings. When I turned my head, the man was gone. Before anyone could replace him, I sat down in the same spot, gripped the sides and leaned forward to watch my girl capture the artistic surroundings with her iPhone.
She loved painting but I had yet to see them. The more I spent time with her, the more my sixth sense nagged at me. I needed to know what was going on with her. When the realisation hit me that I care more about her than the power I thrived for, I knew I was fucked.
Sighing heavily, I used both my hands to rub my face in frustration. An anxious energy bubbled in my stomach, my eyes found Elena's soft curves. The way the sun kissed her golden skin, hair swayed with the wind and the tilt of her hip and the curve of her butt. A cool sense of relief washed over me.
I never sat around and thought about a girl before. It was usually logistics and statistics but Elena was different. Her touched halted all my thoughts, allowed me soak in my surroundings.
The pale blue sky with bright white fluffs of clouds. The sweet smell of barbeque and aroma of spices lingered in the air. I noticed it all. Unlike before.
Before I would only calculate the entries and exits. Where a blind spot was to remain invisible, I'd use counter surveillance tactics to determine if anyone was following me. Watch everyone's movement, see if they were a threat or not.
Keeping my eyes on her, I gripped the stone surface I was sitting on and felt around with my fingers until it hit the small device left for me. I pocketed the USB and then took out the gum from my mouth and stuck it down with my own USB device.
Ross could have all the fun with it he wanted. It was filled with information about the shipment of guns coming into the city in a couple of weeks.
Capone wasn't part of the deal anymore. He didn't know who to trust and it made my betrayal a lot easier. Elena turned with a pretty smile on her face and everything snapped into place.
My loyalty was to her. Only her.