In Search of Hope by annie

[annie]

Chapter 14

June 2006, Wimbledon, England


Marat was getting his stuff ready for his morning session practice. He got past the first round already, beating Greg Rusedski in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. And although he has told himself a lot of times that he doesn’t like playing on grass, he felt good getting the first match out of the way.

He was munching on a bagel, in a hurry, and gulping down the rest of his orange juice. Sasha was waiting for him at the couch near the door. He’s accompanying Marat as of the moment as his coach.

“C’mon man, let’s go!” Sasha hollered, “The car will be here any minute.”

“I’m almost done.” Marat said. He went to his room to get his bags. “The car will wait anyway.”

“Yeah, but the court won’t. You get there late, they won’t adjust the schedule for you.”

“All right, all right, mother.”

Sasha stood up and let Marat get to the door first, following behind him. When Marat opened the door, there were two men in black suits standing there, about to knock.

“Oh, good.” The blonde guy said when he saw him, “Just who we’re looking for.”

“Who are you?” Marat asked, a bit surprised.

The usual guys who do the routine tests never looked this sophisticated. But he asked them still, anyway.

“Are you gonna take my urine sample?”

“No, no, we’re not from the ATP.” Blondie said, “We’re from a…more elite organization than the ATP. I’m Detective Collins, this is Detective McCallum. We’d like to ask you a couple of questions. Privately. If we may.” Det. Collins said, gesturing towards Sasha.

Sasha got the hint and volunteered to take a walk. After Sasha left, Marat let the men in to the living room.

“So, detectives, how may I help you?” Marat asked.

He sat down at the couch opposite the two men.

“It has come to our attention that you may have possibly crossed paths with someone we’re looking for.” Det. Collins said.

Det. McCallum brought out an envelope from his coat pocket, and slid it on the table over to Marat. Marat picked up the envelope, opened it, and took out what was inside.

It was a picture of Hal. He almost didn’t recognize her if it wasn’t for the self-assured smile she had on and that unmistakable clear blue-gray steel eyes.

She had long flowing dark wavy hair, and sunkissed skin with a soft blush on the cheeks. She was probably just two or three years younger in the photo.

Marat hesitated for a moment. Should he tell these guys the truth, that not only has he crossed paths with this girl they were looking for but that he knows her and is even employing her?

“What’s her name?” He asked.

He wants to make sure they were looking for Hal and not just someone who happens to look like her. But then again, how well does he know Hal? Was that even her real name?

“Her name is Hallie.” Det. Collins said.

At least she told me her real first name. He thought. But why are they looking for her?

“So do you know her?” Det. McCallum asked.

“No. No, I’m sorry I don’t believe I do.” Marat said.

He placed the photo back in the envelope and slid it back to Det. McCallum.

“But we were informed that she was seen with you! We have a picture…” Det. McCallum started to say, rather irked that Marat did not admit he knew her.

But, Det. Collins stopped him from divulging the information they have, however little.

“Gentlemen, I’m a popular guy. People take pictures with me all the time.” Marat said, “It doesn’t mean I know them personally or I’m friends with them.”

Damn it, what are you doing Marat? Why don’t you just tell them what you know and get it over with? He thought to himself. No, I can’t just tell them where she is! I don’t even know these guys or why they’re looking for her. What if I tell them and they find her…what will they do to her? What if they hurt her or worse? I can’t let that happen.

“All right Mr. Safin, you’re right.” Det. Collins said, “Thank you for your time. I hope we didn’t inconvenienced you too much.” He stood up. Det. McCallum followed and then Marat.

“No, it’s fine.” Marat said, offering his hand.

Det. Collins shook his hand and so did Det. McCallum. Then they walked towards the door. Marat opened it for them, and they stepped out. He followed carrying his bag, and closed the door behind him.

“Can I ask why you’re looking for…this woman?” Marat asked.

Det. Collins turned around, taking out his sunglasses, “Sorry. It’s in a need to know basis.”

“What does that mean?”

Det. Collins put his glasses on, “It means if I tell you, I’d have to kill you.” He said seriously.

Marat was surprised by the answer and it showed on his face. Is it really that top secret? What is Hallie involved in?

Then Det. Collins laughed, “I’m just joking!” Then he turned back around and walked off.

“Whew!” Marat sighed when the two agents got in their car and droved off. “What a rotten sense of humor.” He said, relieved.

But he still didn’t know why those people were looking for Hallie. He’s gonna have to just ask her, he supposed.

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Marat just lost in the second round of Wimbledon against Fernando Gonzales in five sets. He could feel the exhaustion burying him on the bed as he was lying down.

He hasn’t told Sasha about what the detectives had asked him about. But it was obvious that he was bothered by it.

Sasha asked him if he wanted to come with other Russian players to some club, but he declined. He told him he just wanted to rest, and be by himself, so Sasha left without him.

He just lay down still, staring at the ceiling. He thought about the possible reasons why those two strange men were looking for Hallie. Is she involved in something illegal? Did she kill somebody maybe?

He slapped his forehead. “C’mon, she is not capable of that!” He told himself. Then what the hell is it? The more logical part of his brain asked him.

Another thing that bothered him was how those men were able to connect him to her. Even though he said he did not know her, the men didn’t seem to buy it. Especially that Det. Collins. He didn’t say anything to that effect, but he can tell he didn’t believe what he said. If so, then they knew more than they led on. And they were closer to getting to Hallie too. Now he’s really worried.

He reached for his bag and looked for his mobile, and made a call to Hallie. She was sleeping when he called since it was just around 4:00 in the morning in Moscow. She answered the call on his third try.

“Yeah, boss?” She said, grumpily.

“Why weren’t you picking up?!” Marat said, obviously agitated.

“I was sleeping!” She said. She took her watch from the table beside her bed. “It’s 3:48 in the morning, why are you calling me?”

“Oh yeah.” He said, realizing she was right. “Sorry.”

“Forget it, I’m up now. Would you like to tell me why you’re calling me at this hour?”

“Right. There were men asking me about you.”

“What?” That came with a jolt to her and she suddenly sat up on the bed. “What men?”

“They said they were detectives.” He sighed. He needs to be stern with the next thing he was gonna say.

“Hallie, tell me the truth. Why are they looking for you? Are you in trouble? Did you do something against the law or something?”

“What? No!”

“Then why are they looking for you?” Marat said, “Hallie, if there’s something you need to tell me, tell me now!”

“I don’t know.” She said. But in her mind she was arguing with herself. Who were these men they sent after Marat? And why?

“I am involved in this now! They know that I know you, that’s why they came to me.” Marat said.

“I don’t know…” She was confused. Would Jeff have told them about Marat? Why would he?

“Listen to me!" Marat said, his voice raised a bit. "I denied I know you, but if they knew as much as to ask me about you they must be close to finding you!

“I don’t know!” She screamed. She didn’t expect things to go out of proportion as to get Marat involved.

“Look, like I told you, I am involved in this now.” He said firmly. “I think I deserve to know what kind of mess I just put my a$$ out for you!” Marat said.

“I’m sorry.” That was all she could muster to say to him right then.

“Don’t be sorry.” Marat said, “I had the choice to give you up or not. I made my choice. I chose not to. But I want the truth.”

“It’s complicated.” She said.

She figured she does need to tell him now, but she was just not in the right frame of mind to do it at that moment. She was confused by this sudden incidence.

Marat sighed. She was probably dazed and confused with what he just told her.

“Okay. You don’t have to tell me now. When I get back, we’ll talk. You’ll tell me the truth then. Can you promise that?”

She was silent for a moment.

“Hal? Even if you don’t tell me, I’m already involved.” He said, his voice more calm, soothing even. “Don’t you think I deserve to know the truth?”

“Okay. When you get back, we’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Everything.” She told him. For the meantime, I am going to do something about this situation first.

That was the first solid thought she had, and she was going to do it too.

“Okay. Go on, go back to sleep.” Marat said, “Hallie?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.” He said, “Just…just be careful.”

“I will.” She replied. She didn’t even recognize the concern in his voice. “Thank you.”

Then she clicked the phone off. How could this have happened? She wondered. Who could have sent those detectives to interrogate Marat? How dare they get him involved in this? The more she thought about it, the angrier she felt.

“You are so dead, Jeff!” She screamed irritably. Which caused Sima to knock on her door.

“Hallie, are you okay?” Sima called from outside. “I heard you screaming, is everything all right?”

“Uh…yeah!” She said, “I was just having a nightmare. Sorry.”

“Are you sure? I thought you were talking to someone…”

“No, no….ahm…I must’ve been talking in my sleep.” She lay down back on the bed, and covered herself with the blanket. “I’m fine really. I’m going back to sleep, you should do the same.”

“Okay.” Sima said.

Hallie listened for her footsteps as she walked back to hers and Yuri’s room, and closed the door.

“You’re lucky you’ll get your sleep tonight, Jeffy.” She whispered, “But you’re gonna get it first thing tomorrow! I swear.”

Keith and Jeff’s apartment, 7:00 am

Keith has just stepped out of the shower. There was nothing like a good bath after his morning run to start his day. Feeling the water on his skin soothes him.

He loves taking baths. It’s his way of relaxing, winding down, and of course, keeping himself smelling good and clean. He does it twice a day, or more if need be.

The bathroom was one of the best feature in the two-bedroom apartment that he and his brother Jeff has been renting for the last eight months that they have been assigned in Moscow.

The first time he set his eyes on that flat he liked it so much, he didn’t even ask for Jeff’s opinion.

He grabbed the towel, wrapped it around his waist, and stood in front of the mirror. He wiped the moist off and looked at his reflection with pride

“Good morning, you handsome devil!” He told his reflection, flashing his smile with a wink.

Then he shook his head at how silly that was. Damn, if anyone would have seen me do that! He thought.

He opened the cabinet and took out his toothbrush and his own toothpaste. That’s right, his own toothpaste. He and Jeff don’t like to share anything. Except of course for the flat. It was more economical to just share.

He was brushing his teeth when he heard Jeff’s phone ringing. It rang for a while and then stopped. After a few seconds, it rang again. It kept happening for a couple more times.

“That lazy idiot’s still sleeping!?” He gargled and spat, and wiped his lips and stormed out of the bathroom to go to Jeff’s room.

When he was about to knock on the door, he heard the ringing stop and Jeff sounding off.

“Don’t scream!” Jeff said, “What are you talking about?”

It was Hallie on the other end. She was nagging at Jeff for getting Marat involved. Jeff being not a morning person as he is couldn’t help himself but to scream back at her.

Keith immediately suspected that it was Hallie he was talking to, so he stood outside the door and listened for anything he could pick up.

“Look, it wasn’t me, I swear!” Jeff said, “Think about it! Why would I send someone to do that when I’ve already found you!”

He was right all along, then. His brother has indeed found Hallie just as he thought. He wanted to confront Jeff right then but he controlled himself.

He figured if Jeff wants to play, he’d play. It’s only a matter of time before he figures everything out and beat him in his own game. Just the same as always. He listened on.

“I’m telling you, I did not send anyone to Safin!” Jeff insisted.

On the other end, Hallie was telling him if he or anyone else would do even as much as to approach Marat that they were never going to ever see her again.

“Hallie!” Jeff said, “Will you calm down! Just think about what you’re saying!”

He was so intent on convincing her that he didn’t do what she was accusing him that he inadvertently dropped her name.

“I wouldn’t do it coz I’ve already found you! What reason would I have to send, what, the MI-6 to him? I don’t even know anyone from the MI-6!”

Keith now has it confirmed. Jeff does know where she is. Now he just has to make Jeff tell him. Usually, squeezing out information from someone is a simple job for him. He can intimidate most men into divulging anything by just glaring at them.

But it’s not going to be easy, especially with Jeff. Simple intimidation won’t work on him. He has to outwit him. And it’s not always so easy.

“Oh shit!” Jeff suddenly realized who could have sent those men to Marat.

It could only be Keith. He’s the only one involved in the case, which was a secret to begin with, who knew somebody at the MI-5 and MI-6, since he’s worked closely with them a couple of times.

“Look, let’s talk about this. Let’s meet. I think I know who send those guys to Safin.”

Hallie declined. She was so pissed off that she wasn’t accepting anything that Jeff was telling her. She told him she didn’t want to see him today, maybe some other time, but not today.

She told him though that if she ever learned that they sent someone to interrogate Marat that, she was going to stick true to her words and they’d never ever see her again.

And then she cut the line off.

Jeff knows that she meant what she says. She always had. She wouldn’t have gone missing in the first place if she weren’t so. She never bluffs. She’s built tough like that.

He tapped his mobile on his forehead several times in frustration.

“What am I gonna do with you?” He said to himself.

Suddenly he heard Helios, Hallie’s pet Labrador, barked outside his door. Just once. But that was enough to alert him, and make him nervous.

He listened for anything else, but there was nothing, so he relaxed.

“Shh! Helios.” Keith whispered to Helios when he barked.

The dog stopped barking and went to him, it wants him to pet it.

“I just took a bath, I’m still wet. Later. Go to the living room.” Helios followed his command immediately.

Keith felt he has heard enough information to tag Jeff, so he quietly went to his room and dressed up. He has to plan for it. He cannot jump on Jeff and make him confess, it just doesn’t happen like that.

But one thing is clear, he wasn’t gonna tell the Commander about it. Not yet anyway. He wants to do things his way. He didn’t get in his rank at such a young age if he had always asked permission or opinion from everyone else all the time.

It was something his dad had taught him.

Jeff stormed out of his room, still fuming with his fight with Hallie, and almost slipped at the puddle of water outside his room.

He also saw the trail of water droplets leading to Keith’s room. And that worried him.

Was Keith standing outside the door while he was talking to Hallie? He had a feeling he was when Helios barked.

He knows he needs to be extra careful if he was.

[annie]

Chapter 15

Hallie came from a long line of family of soldiers. Her grandfather was an American who was stationed in Germany during the World War. He married a German woman and had lived there even after the war was over.

Their son Harlan, Hallie’s dad, was brought up in the military base camp, and of course grew up to be a soldier himself. He met Hallie’s mom, Nadya, when he was injured in one of their missions.

She was a Greek nurse volunteer, and it was love at first sight. She nursed him back to health, and got married right after he was discharged from the hospital.

The couple bore three children. Two boys, Keith and Jeff, and a girl, Hallie. Hallie was especially close to her eldest brother, Keith. Keith was her protector and mentor, especially because their father was always away on assignments.

She had always been kind of a tomboy, and she would play all the sports and games her brothers would play. Keith taught her how to fight and defend herself, teaching her what their father taught him. And in those times where she can’t, he’d fight her fight. And she got in a lot of fights. Mostly with boys who blew their tops off every time she beats them in something. And also, especially, with those who bully kids who were much smaller and defenseless. She just couldn’t help it.

Jeff was more of a friend and confidant for her, the one she talked about her feelings with, and do fun stuff with. The children grew up close with each other until their parents got divorced when she was ten. Keith chose to stay with their dad in Germany, while Jeff and Hallie went with their mom to live in Greece.

Their parents never married anyone else. They never made their children feel like it was their fault that they divorced either. It was simply a lack of time with each other that drew them apart. Her father would come and visit them during occasions and vacations, and she would always stick to him like glue when he comes over. Sometimes she would even sneak out of her room so she can sleep beside her dad in the guest room. She treasured the moments that they spent together, however short they were.

When she was fourteen, her mom died in a freak accident. She was coming home from the market when the basket she was carrying gave out. She was picking up the tomatoes she bought when a donkey driven carriage separated from its donkey and came rushing down towards her in an alley way and crashed into her. She was dead when she got to the hospital.

Hallie and Jeff waited for their father to come home during the funeral, but only Keith came. He told them their dad was somewhere in Somalia and couldn’t come. They buried their mother without ever seeing their father, and that was something she couldn’t understand back then. She was so disappointed by her father not showing up during the last moments of the woman he supposedly loved so much.

But her reaction was not typical. Instead of being angry or sad, she became cold, unfeeling even. She loved her father, but she just didn’t think she wanted to be close to him anymore. She was afraid she was going to be disappointed again.

After her dad’s stint in Somalia, he took Jeff and Hallie with him to Germany as well, and they stayed in the military camp for a while. Keith and Jeff also got into the family business, being marines themselves. Keith had already been training since he stayed with his dad after the divorce, and was more focused, so he excelled. Nonetheless, Jeff also showed some skills and had his own success.

Hallie also acquiesced herself with all the training a normal marine soldier would undergo, and much more. Her father personally trained the two boys, and taught them everything he knows.

Keith taught Hallie everything he learned. He was a very good teacher. She was a very good student. She never showed emotion even when she was struggling. She endured all the injuries, all the cuts and bruises, all the hardships. And everything you can throw at her, she was taught to throw back but much harder. It’s how she was brought up. It’s in her blood.

Her dad didn’t let her get into the army, though. He said it was no place for a girl.

After a while, the Interpol offered their father a lateral entry position. One of his former senior officers, who was then working for the Interpol as Secretary General, had recommended him for the position and they were impressed by all his accomplishments, accolades and skills that they agreed to hire him.

He accepted the position, since it would mean less fieldwork and more intelligence work, which also means he could spend more time with his three children. Although that was true, Hallie didn’t feel it was enough. She never told him anything though, and so that went on for a while and father and daughter drifted further apart.

The boys were much closer to their dad, and even got acquired by the Interpol themselves through recommendations from their father which was then already the Commander of a unit, with connections to those in the higher up.

Then she met Ivan when she was eighteen. He was four years older than her. He had boyish charm and good looks. He paid attention to her exactly as how any man should pay attention to a woman.

To say that he broke down her walls is an understatement. He turned her walls to ash. In record time. She fell in love with him, and he fell in love with her. At least that’s what he told her.

Her family didn’t approve of Ivan. But she loved him. She was young, crazy, stupid, and desperate for love and affection. So she stuck with him and they kept their relationship a secret. And that’s where all the trouble started.


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A couple of days after being eliminated in Wimbledon, Marat and Sasha flew back to Moscow. It was Friday and he knew it was Hallie’s day off so he just told her to drop by that Sunday. Hallie agreed to meet him at the restaurant in the afternoon.

So that Sunday afternoon, he went to the restaurant. He told Hal to be there at around three in the afternoon. It was still fifteen minutes before three, but when he arrived she was already there, reading a book at a table in a corner.

He didn’t approach her immediately. He’s suddenly hesitant about talking to her. What would she tell him? That she’s involved in some criminal activity? That she killed somebody? That she’s a member of a Mafia family?

More than the truth, he was more hesitant to know how he would react if she does confess something to that effect. What does he care if the authorities catch her if she did something illegal? When he thinks about it, he shouldn’t really care, should he? But he does. Somehow he feels some attachment to her. Even so much as to feel protective of her.

Hallie lifted her eyes from her book and saw him.

Well, it’s too late to back out now, he thought. So he approached her.

“Hey.” She closed the book and put it aside. “You cut your hair. It looks great.”

“Thanks.” He sat down next to her, but she moved a bit farther from him. “Hmm.” He nodded. “catching up on your reading?” He motioned to the book.

“Yeah, it’s the only time I get to…”

He read the title. “That’s a very intricate book.” He acknowledged.

He wasn’t being condescending, but that was kind of how she took that comment.

“Yeah, for a gnat, maybe.” She snapped at him.

She saw that it surprised Marat, and she suddenly felt guilty. “Sorry.”

“That’s twice you’ve said sorry in thirty seconds.” Marat said. “Well…” His voice trailed off.

He didn’t know how to begin to talk about what they were there to discuss. Should he ask her? Should he wait? Luckily for him, Hallie was already decided on telling him the truth.

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Jeff went to the building Hallie was staying. He wanted to see her and talk to her regarding the recent incidence involving the agents at MI-6. His gut was telling him that it was Keith who sent the agents out, and he wanted to clear his name.

He knew why she was so mad. They’ve done this to her before. Or rather, their dad has.

A year or so ago, their dad sent CIA agents after Ivan, the guy she ran away with. The agents were instructed to threaten to beat him up if he doesn’t give up Hallie. It was a bluff of course, and they didn’t expect Ivan to just pack up and leave. They were hoping he would talk Hallie into coming back. But it backfired, and he just left her. And because she was probably fuming mad, she didn’t come home, but chose to hide instead.

When he was coming around the bend from Hallie’s apartment he saw there was a commotion going on. The building she lives in was on fire, and people were running out of it with what little they had. His first instinct was to call up Hallie to see if she was one of the people running out of the building. She wasn’t answering her mobile, and he got worried.

Luckily he had the mobile’s locator with him. He had programmed his phone to be able to locate Hal’s mobile using satellite technology. It showed that she wasn’t there. She was at the restaurant she was working in. So he called up the restaurant.


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“Okay, enough small talk…let’s do this thing…” Hallie said, “I’ll tell you everything you want to know so…if you have questions, ask them…I want to get this over with.’ She looked at him intently.

“All right.” Marat said, “Who are those people looking for you? And why?”

“My family. They sent those men who approached you in London, asking you about me.”

“Your family? Yuri and Sima?”

“They’re not my real parents. I’ve only been with them for over a year… year and a half.”

“Why are they looking for you?” He could see she was having difficulty talking about it. But he wants to get to the root of all this. He wants to know her.

“Well…” She smiled a little. It wasn’t her usual happy smile. It was a sad smile, a smile of regret. “There was this guy…Ivan. I fell in love with him…he fell in love with me. At least that’s what he said then. But my family was against him. They said he’s not the right guy for me and all those stuff your family tells you when they don’t like the person you’re dating.“ She looked at him. “But I loved him. And I was young, crazy and stupid. So, I stuck with him. We hid our relationship.” She paused.

“Then what happened?” He asked.

“One night, when I thought we were alone at my house, we…we fooled around.” She continued,

“But my brother came home and caught us in bed together.”

“Oh.” Marat reacted. He was surprised that she can be so open like that to him.

“My brother was going to beat him to death, but I helped him escape…with minor bruises.” She said, “I asked my brother not to tell my dad, because I know what my dad is going to do to him if he finds out. He promised, but he didn’t keep his promise. He told our dad. He was so mad at me, and more so at him. They planned to send me away. I told Ivan about their plans, and he asked me to run away with him.”

“And you did?”

She nodded. “He was from Ukraine so we went there… I loved him. I would’ve given everything up for him.”

He noticed that her eyes lit up as she was talking, and somehow, he was envious of that man she was talking about.

“Everything was great in the beginning. It was hard, I mean, we didn’t have anything. I wasn’t used to it. But, we worked together. He took jobs, I did too. What mattered was that we were together…and we were happy.”

Then she stopped for a while and her eyes went all quiet.

“Then what happened?” Marat asked.

“Then he left me.” She said, suddenly finding a spot on the table a bit more interesting as she stared on it.

She was trying to abate her tears. He saw another side of her that he’s never seen before. She was so open, so vulnerable. He wanted to reach out and hold her hands. And he almost did when suddenly, Rose came to their table.

“Hallie, oh my god!” Rose said, “You have to go home quick!”

[annie]

Chapter 16

“C’mon boss, hurry!” Hallie screamed.

She and Marat were at his car, rushing to get to her home. When Rose told her that their building was on fire, she hurried out the restaurant only to remember that she had only a bike for transportation. Luckily, Marat followed her and offered to drive for her. They brought her bike to his apartment’s parking and took his car.

“I’m driving as fast as I could go!” He screamed back, but felt guilty afterward. He knew she was just really worried. “Sorry…just calm down, okay?”

“Okay.” She said, but obviously not doing it.

When they finally got there, she literally jumped out of the car. She looked around to see if Yuri and Sima was around with the other people. She didn’t see them. She saw the building’s top two floors were ablazed and Yuri and Sima’s place was at the top most floor.

“I’ve gotta go up!” She hollered at Marat.

“What?!” He said, “You can’t go there!”

But before he was able to say another word, she’d already run towards the building.

Jeff saw the car came. He’s followed Marat’s car enough to know it when he sees it, and he knew Hallie must be with him. He approached them, but it was only Marat who was there.

“Where is she?” He asked him, “Where’s Hallie?”

“She went inside the building, I couldn’t stop her.” He said, without looking at whom he was talking to.

He obviously looked tensed.

“What?!” Jeff said, “Why’d you let her go?”

“I told you I couldn’t stop her!” He answered, shouting.

He looked at Jeff, and recognized him as the stranger he saw sharing an embrace with Hallie that one time, after they went to Gorky Park with Elena and her son. He was gonna ask him who he was, but then, just like Hallie, he ran off before he could say another word.

Jeff went inside the building after Hallie, but the smoke made it hard to see anything. He called out her name hoping she would hear him.

“Hallie! Hallie, where are you?” He shouted, “Hallie! Can you hear me? It’s Jeff! Hallie! Answer me!” Nobody answered him for a several minutes, so he continued to go up the stairs. “Hallie! Hallie!!”

When he got to the third floor, Hallie finally answered. He was just so relieved to hear her voice as it meant that she was okay. He followed her voice up to the fourth floor.

“Jeff! I’m up here!” Hallie replied, “Jeff! Help me!”

She was going down the stairs with Yuri and Sima on either arm. Sima was unconscious due to the smoke she’s inhaled, but Yuri can walk on his own. Still it was hard to go along with the smoke.

“Jeff!! Help us!! We’re over here!!” She screamed.

“I’m coming, hold on!!” Jeff said, “Just keep talking so I can hear where you are!”

She did as he said, calling his name over and over until he was able to find them. He took Sima and carried her on a fireman’s lift position. When they got back down to the second floor, the saw Marat talking to some firemen. He was arguing with them to let him through because his friend was in the building but the firemen won’t let him. Then he saw Hallie and the others and moved towards them.

“What are you doing here?” Hallie asked him, “You shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe!”

“Yeah? Tell yourself that!” He told her.

He sounded mad, perhaps worried with what she just done. Then he took Yuri from her. After several minutes, they were able to get out of the building.

Outside, the ambulances and fire trucks were all over the street, some paramedics met them, and escorted both Yuri and Sima to the ambulance. Jeff volunteered to ride with the couple, and Hallie rode with Marat as they followed the ambulance to the hospital.

At the car, Hallie was so quiet. She was clutching a small red metal box, which Yuri handed to her before getting inside the ambulance. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind about what she just did, running into the building. When they stopped at the traffic light, he couldn’t contain himself anymore and sounded off.

“What is wrong with you?” He sounded angry. “You have some kind of superhero mentality or something?! Do you have a death wish?! You’re not Supergirl, you know?!” He was just really so pissed at her making him worry so much.

Normally, she would be raising her voice in rebuttal but this time, she didn’t even look at him.

“You okay?” He asked.

She looked exhausted and dirty from the smoke and sweat. She just nodded in reply. For the rest of the drive to the hospital, neither of them said a word.

When they got to the hospital, she went straight to the emergency room. Jeff was waiting for them. He accompanied them to where the old couple was. Marat didn’t follow her to the room he just sat at a bench across from where they were and watched. Jeff stayed with him, and sat beside him with his hands over his face.

“What a day…” Jeff sighed.

When Jeff said that, Marat felt weary as well. “You said it, man…” He said, “How are they, anyway?”

“They’re all right.” Jeff told him, “The doc said she’ll be fine, she didn’t inhale that much carbon dioxide. They’ll just give her some O2, and she can be discharged tomorrow.”

“That’s good to hear.” He said, “She’s really worried about them.”

Then he remembered he was going to ask who this guy he was talking to was. “Who are you again?”

“I haven’t said.” Jeff said, looking at him. “I’m Jeff. Lt. Jeff Hunter. I’m Hal’s brother.”

“Oh! You’re her brother!” He said, sounding more relieved than surprised.

“Yeah…so, she’s told you about me?”

“Yeah. Just a bit…” He said.

He remembered Hallie told him her brother beat her boyfriend up when they found them in bed. He thought he would have probably done the same thing if it were Dinara. But, it wasn’t Jeff she was talking about it was Keith.

“Great. Look man, maybe you can help me.”

“Sure, how can I help?”

“Let’s take a walk.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they were walking around, Jeff told him why he happened to be in Hallie’s neighborhood. He told him he came to see Hallie to explain to her that he has nothing to do with the MI-6 agents approaching Marat in London, to ask him where she was. Jeff said she was so mad at him when she learned about it, that she even threatened to run away and hide again if it ever happens again.

“It’s happen to her before, with Ivan.” Jeff explained, “I suppose she’s told you about him?”

“Yeah, she has.”

“Well, see…when the two of them ran off, our dad got some agents, from the CIA, to locate them. He ordered them to scare him into giving Hallie up.” Jeff said, “The idiot cracked, but instead of giving her up, he ran away and left her…to fend for her own. She was so mad at us, that instead of coming home…she ran farther away and hid. Maybe, she’s afraid it’ll happen again…sort of. That’s why she was so mad at me coz she thinks I did it. But, I didn’t do it man. I swear. That’s what I came to talk to her about.”

“I’ll do what I can.” Marat said. “But, I don’t think now is a good time to talk to her about it. She looks really shaken up.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Jeff said, “Let’s go back.”

On their walk back, Marat was quiet. He was thinking about what Jeff just told her. Why would she do such a thing as to run away and hide again just because of me? He wondered. Does that mean she cares about me that much? That she’s willing to leave everything behind so I wouldn’t get into another situation like I did in London?

When they got to the hallway they saw Hallie sitting at the bench outside the room where they were earlier. She looked really beat, staring into a blank spot on the wall in front of her. She was still clutching the red metal box. Marat felt so sorry for her. He wanted to do something to comfort her, but he didn’t know what. Then Jeff sort of gave him an ultimatum.

“It will probably cause a commotion at home, and she’d probably put up a resistance but…” Jeff said, “If you don’t take her home, I will.” Then he went and sat next to Hallie.

He was surprised at what Jeff said, seeming as though he knew what he was thinking. He followed Jeff and sat on her other side.

“How are they?” Jeff asked.

“They’re fine. She’s sleeping.” Hallie said softly.

She was still staring blankly on the wall even when she spoke.

“Good.” Jeff said, “Now, you need to go and rest. You look awful and you smell like the inside of a smoking pipe.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go.” She said.

Jeff gave Marat a look as if telling him “Well, this is where you come in!”.

He was caught off guard and the first thing he said was, “You can stay with me for the night.”

It was Jeff’s turn to be surprised, and he showed it. His eyes grew wide. Marat realized how what he said sounded and recanted. Unfortunately he just made it worse.

“I mean, at the apartment! Not with me, of course not with me!” He said, more to Jeff than to Hallie. “I mean, in my apartment…but not on my bed. Well, you can sleep on my bed, but not with me on it. Of course.”

“Yeah.” Jeff said, trying not to laugh. “I know.”

“What am I saying?” Marat whispered to himself.

“So you’ll stay at his apartment, okay?” Jeff told Hallie, “I can’t bring you home. All right?”

“All right…” Hallie said.

“Wow, no resistance.” He looked at his watch and saw that it was already half past seven.

He stood up and kneeled in front of Hallie. “I gotta go. I’ll come back tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Well, all right then. I’ll leave her to you!” Jeff said to Marat. He stood up and so did Marat. “Take care of my baby sister, all right?”

“Yeah, I will.” Marat said, firmly.

Jeff looked at him, as if trying to see if he can actually do what he says. When he seems to have made up his mind about Marat, he turned and left.

Marat and Hallie were quiet for a while after Jeff left. It was awkward and he didn’t know how to start talking to her. He’s just not used to seeing her that way. He was used to seeing her bubbly and talkative, and full of moxie. It was a good thirty minutes, before he finally said something. He figured, he had to since he was also tired, and not to mention hungry.

“You wanna go?” He asked.

She looked at him, and nodded. Her eyes were a soft blue now, like she doesn’t have any energy left. He felt so sick that there was nothing he can do to change that. He was going to reach out and hold her hand, but she stood up suddenly.

“I’ll just…take a look at them, before we go.” She said, before going inside Sima’s room.

While waiting for her, Marat realized that was the second time he attempted to hold her hands that day. I’m getting soft in my old age, he thought and laughed in his head about it.

[annie]

Chapter 17

Elena has been trying to reach Marat. He was supposed to show up at her house around 6 p.m. and then they were supposed to go out for dinner, but he didn’t come.

She tried calling his apartment earlier but no one was answering so she figured he must be out.

So she tried his mobile phone but he wasn’t answering, and after a while, it was already turned off.

That was two hours ago and she was getting worried. Finally she decided to go to his apartment to wait for him and see if he’s all right.

So she took her car and drove to his apartment.

As she was turning towards his street, when she stopped for the light, she saw his car coming from the intersection. She waved and used the horn to get his attention but he didn’t notice her, and just drove past her car.

She noticed there was someone in the car with him when he passed, and got curious…or suspicious.

She followed his car to the parking, but was careful not to be seen. She killed the engine and watched.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

After he killed the engine, Marat got out of his car. He’s already taken several steps away from the car when he looked behind him and saw that Hallie wasn’t following him.

Usually, she just opens the door herself. He’s told her a few times to wait till he opens the door for her to come out but she just won’t listen, so he’s gotten used to not doing it at least for her.

He turned around and went to the passenger side of the car. When he opened it, Hallie was just staring blankly on the dashboard.

“Hallie, c’mon.” He offered his hand, “We’re here.”

She looked at him, and then on his hand, and with a loud sigh she took his hand and got out of the car. Marat locked the car and activated the alarm. He led her to the apartment, all the while holding her hand.

She was like a child who got lost, and he felt a little bit responsible for her.

Elena saw all this. She was both curious and surprised. She knew how Marat and Hallie treated each other. They were like buddies, especially because she always acted like a boy around him.

And he always says he just finds her amusing. So amusing that whenever they talk, he always has something to say about Hallie.

She didn’t like being suspicious. She shook it out of her head and decided to go home. She’ll ask him about it, she thought. No

point in pointing an accusing finger at them without basis.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marat opened the door to his apartment an allowed Hallie to step inside before him. She stood there just near the entrance.

He ushered her towards the couch, and told her to sit down. He’s starting to get annoyed, actually. It’s like she was so out in space, and he feels annoyed that he has to tell her what to do. It’s just so not her.

Finally, he let out his frustration.

“Okay, this has gone long enough. You’ve got to snap out of it!” Marat said, grabbing her shoulders as she was seated on the couch.

“You’re driving me crazy! You’re supposed to be a tough girl, right? So toughen up!”

She just looked at him wide-eyed, perhaps in shock that he raised his voice at her. They looked at each other eye to eye for a moment, but then he felt bad about what he just done. He noticed she was still clutching the red metal box, and grew curious about what is in it.

“What’s that you’re holding?”

She looked at the box, and sighed. “Sima came back for it, that’s why she was still there…and Yuri followed her.” She said, her voice shaky.

“What’s in it?” Marat asked.

She looked at him, her eyes moist with tears building up. “It’s my life. Everything I have left is in here.” She said, “She didn’t have to go back for it! She didn’t have to save it!”

Her lips quivered, and her eyes mellowed out. She looked as if she’s about to cry, but was trying not to.

“You can cry if you want.” He told her, softly now. He kneeled in front of her. “There’s nothing wrong with crying.”

“Okay.” She said, “But you can’t look.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want you to see me cry.”

“All right.” He stood up and started to walk away, but she grabbed his hand.

“Wait.” She said, “I didn’t say you should go…just…just don’t look.”

He understood what she meant. She didn’t want to be alone. She needed a shoulder she can cry on, figuratively and literally. He realized then, that beneath the tough and rough exterior, that she has a really big heart.

He sat down beside her on her left side and just looked at the ceiling, without dropping her hand. He thought she needed the
security. She sat back and stared at the ceiling too. Maybe she thought it would keep her tears from falling too much, but it didn’t really help at all. He could hear her whimper, just softly, and wished he could do something more for her. Anything.

So, he placed her head on his shoulder so that she’s leaning on him. It was all he could do.

Keith and Jeff’s apartment, 9:00 p.m.

“Where have you been?” Keith asked Jeff the moment he stepped inside the apartment. He was sitting on the couch

Jeff was surprised because he didn’t expect Keith to be there already. Usually, he’d be home around 10:00 in the evening since he likes to work late. But Jeff, didn’t allow his surprise to show. Of course, Keith still saw through it.

“I don’t think I have to tell you everything, mother!”

“Okay.” Keith said. “Then just answer this one.” He stood up and walked up to Jeff until they were face-to-face. “Since when did you become a fireman?”

When Keith said that, Jeff knew he was caught. But he still didn’t crack and played dumb.

“What are you talking about?” He said, defiantly.

“Tracking device, Jeff.” Keith said, “You’ve heard of it. You’ve used it several times before. You know how it works.”

“Yeah so?”

“So, that’s how I know you were there during the fire at the old Admin District!” Keith yelled. “C’mon Jeff, give it up! You can’t fool me!”

“I’m not trying to fool anybody.” Jeff said, “So, I was there. I was passing by and saw the fire and I helped out! Is that a crime?”

“Oh, you helped out? You helped out, huh?” Keith said, pacing around, obviously annoyed. “You must know the people you helped out since you even stayed at the hospital to watch them!”

In his head, Jeff was saying "oh sh!t!" over and over.

How could he have known even that detail? Has he been tailing me? How come I didn’t have the slightest idea that someone was

following me? He couldn’t have known the smallest details just by looking at a screen with blinking lights to monitor where I was!

“I’m not stupid, Jeff! I didn’t follow you myself!” Keith said, as if answering his unspoken question.

“You know, I thought that you would at least try to be honest about the assignment given to you even though it involves Hallie. But I guess when it comes to integrity, I can’t really depend on you, can I, Jeff?” He stood across him, with his hands on his hips.

He was a tall man, and he has a commanding presence, especially when he wants to project it. He looked like he owned the room.

Hell, he looked like he owned the universe when he tries.

He looked disapprovingly at Jeff. “Disappointing.” He said, “I suppose I should just take back my recommendation for your promotion because you clearly, you clearly do not have what it takes.” He gave Jeff a little shake of the head just to emphasize his disapproval, and turned his back on him.

When Keith starts getting like that, it really gets to Jeff. He does not say it, but he actually idolizes his older brother. His being competitive against Keith was more like him showing that he can be like him, rather than because he was jealous or angry with him.

Next to their dad, Keith was the person he looked up to the most. Even though he’s only two and a half years older than him. And when he sees that Keith was disappointed at him, it has an utmost effect on him.

“Okay. Fine.” Jeff said, “I was there because I went to see Hal.”

Keith stopped walking, and turned back around. “So she lives there?”

“Yeah.” Jeff put his head down.

He knows Hal’s gonna be mad at him for cracking, but it’s too late to take it back now. Besides, it will be of no use to do so. Keith seems to already know anyway, he just needed the confirmation.

“And the old couple you were at the hospital with?”

“She lives with them.”

“Good. Very good, Jeff. There may be hope for you yet.” Keith said, putting a hand on top of Jeff’s head.

Then he turned and walked back to his room. He stopped just before he opened the door, and smiled a satisfied smile.

“By the way, the recommendation’s already been acknowledged. You already have orders to report to HQ for training.”

Keith’s played Jeff, and he succeeded. Jeff knows once a recommendation has been received and acknowledged, that it cannot be taken back.

Jeff just couldn’t believe it. “What?!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her you told me.” Keith said, “Besides, you won’t be here when she finds out. You’d be in France. You’re to report there in two days.” And he went inside his room with a smirk.

Jeff was left in the living area in disbelief of what just happened. He put his hands over his face and looked up at the ceiling, as if praying to the heaven or maybe to the person living above their apartment to just send something down to crush him right where he’s standing. He just couldn’t believe what just happened.

But what did happen? How did Keith know up to the smallest details of his whereabouts?


Days ago, after Keith heard Jeff’s shouting match on the phone with who he presumed was Hallie, he had indeed planted a tracking device on Jeff, placing it inside his mobile phone. It was undetectable since it only looked like a sticker that was nail-clipping small.

He wasn’t to keen on using a bug since he knows Jeff would be able to sense if his phone were subject to bugging. The tracking device keeps a log of Jeff’s whereabouts and Keith would check it at the end of the day, to see if he’s been anywhere he’s not supposed to.

Jeff’s movements weren’t enough to raise suspicions in the next few days.

That day was just like any other day, and Jeff’s activities wouldn’t even have raised a suspicion even when he was in the Admin. District during the fire.

That is until he got to the hospital with Yuri and Sima. Keith being the older brother was worried that he might have been hurt in the fire. He knew Jeff can be brash and it was not unlikely that he would rush into a building engulfed in flames to help out.

But being the man that he is, he did not want to seem overly concerned, so instead of going to the hospital he decided to make a call.

“Privet, Marina.”

“Keith?” Marina said on the other end of the line, her voice suddenly tensed. “Wow, I mean, hello! It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”

“Yeah, I’ve been...kind of busy.” Keith said, awkwardly.

She was actually one of the many girls he’s dated before. He stopped seeing her because she was…too clingy.

“Listen, Marina…I just want to verify if my brother is there?”

“Oh, that’s right! I thought it was him I saw earlier.” Marina said, “He came in with an old couple in an ambulance.

They’re from the fire at the Admin District. The old woman was unconscious, probably from the smoke, the old man wasn’t hurt.”

“How about him? Was he hurt?”

“No, he seems fine.”

“I see.” Keith said, relieved. “Was there anyone else with them?”

“Not when they came in.” Marina answered, “But there was a woman who came in afterwards, looking for them. And also someone else was with her. Marat Safin, you know him?”

“Yes, the tennis player.” Keith said. Bingo! He thought, doing a fist pump. I got you, Jeff! And you too,

Hal.[/b] “Alright, thanks Marina.”

“You know you’re always welcome.” Marina said, “Maybe you can come and see me sometime, if you want to really thank me?”

“Actually, I’m really busy. But really, thanks!” But no thanks! He thought. “Bye!” And he put the phone down with a sigh of relief.

[annie]

Chapter 18

Marat’s apartment, 10:30 p.m.

After a while, Hallie has stopped crying. She felt better now, that she has let her cooped up emotions out. Having a shoulder to lean, literally and metaphorically, was especially helpful too.

“Boss…” She whispered softly, still leaning on Marat’s shoulder. “Thanks. For being here.”

“Forget about it. It’s the least I can do.” He said.

His eyes were still closed, and he was still holding her right hand on top of his thigh, their fingers intertwined, her arms tucked under his.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

He opened his eyes. “How did you end up with Sima and Yuri?” Marat asked, a bit unsure if he should try to dig into her past again, but he figured he had to at least try.

She sighed, “What have I told you so far?”

“You ahm…you said, Ivan left you while you were in Kiev.” He said, “Your brother told me your dad sent some CIA agents after the two of you and they scared him off.”

He looked at her and saw she still had her eyes closed.

She sighed, “That’s right…my dad found out where we were and sent some agents to look for us.” She continued, “They found him, and they threatened to beat him up if he doesn’t give me up. It was a bluff. I should know, because I know my dad. He won’t step over the boundaries. But he left me. I was so mad.”

She looked up at him. Their faces were so close to each other. She paused for a moment when she realized something.

Was that why I was so mad at Jeff when I thought it was him who sent agents to Marat? She asked herself, because I was afraid he’d stay away from me? She turned her face away, and shook the thought off. It was neither the time nor place to be entertaining such thoughts.

Then she continued. “I was mad at my dad for threatening him. And I was mad at Ivan for leaving me. So I ran away, again. I was angry and confused. I didn’t have anywhere to go.”

“How did you end up here? And Sima and Yuri?” He asked, “How did you end up with them?”

“They’re immigrants from Voronezh.” She told him, “They found me on the street one winter night on their way here. I didn’t have anything. No food, no money…no hope. I thought I was going to die. It was so cold. Then they found me. They had next to nothing, but they still took me in. They fed me, cleaned me up, and kept me warm. I was sick, and they gave me medicine, took care of me. I was supposed to leave when I got better, but then, Yuri got sick.”

“And you decided to stay…and help them?”

“Yes.” She sat up. “I’ve stayed with them ever since. It’s my way of paying them back for all they’ve done for me. They loved me, took me in, even though they didn’t know me. They gave me hope.” She smiled.

They both jumped when the phone suddenly rang, because they were so caught in the melancholy of the moment. He realized he was still holding her hand, and so he let go. She took her hand back and told him he should answer the phone because it could be important.

It was Oleg. He was calling Marat because his staff has told him that Hallie was with him when they received a call about the fire, and he wanted to know if she was all right.

“So where is she now?”

“She’s here.” He looked at Hallie sitting on the couch.

Her eyes were lively again and she obviously feels better. It made him feel better too.

“At this hour of the night?” Oleg asked.

Marat sensed there was something within Oleg’s question. And he just felt his head heat up. He turned around so she won’t see his reactions.

“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, no, of course not.” Oleg said, sensing Marat’s temper. “You’re helping her out, it’s all good. Nothing wrong with it at all.”

“I know that.”

“Well, okay, nothing to be mad at me about.” Oleg said. “I wasn’t insinuating anything. After all, it's notlike you're interested in her. Right?”

Bam! That hit the spot right there! He looked at Hallie, she wasn’t at the couch anymore. She was standing near the window, holding her hands on her chest, looking at the night sky, and the moonlight shining in on her. Her clothes were dirty from the smoke,

and her hair was stringy. But at that moment, he thought she just looked like an…angel. Just fallen from the sky, with dirty wings and all, but nevertheless…an angel. His Angel.

“Hey, Marat! You still there, man?” Oleg’s voice woke him up from his thoughts.

“Huh, what?”

“I said: After all, it's not like you're interested in her. Right?”

“No. Of course, I'm not.” Although he said that, he felt something like a prick in his heart, which made it actually difficult to say.

Hallie turned around and looked at him. But in Marat’s eyes, it was like he was seeing Angela in a vision.

“Well, just tell her she doesn’t have to come to work tomorrow if she can’t yet.”

“Sure. I gotta go, Oleg.” He turned around and closed his eyes as he put the phone down, trying to shake his illusion away.

He was jumpy when Hallie walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, and he walked away making more space between them.

“You okay, boss?” She could feel his apprehension and could not understand what suddenly came over him.

They went from being huddled so close together to him putting himself in an impenetrable sphere.

“I’m fine.” He said. “You ahm…you should clean up. It’s getting late. There are some towels at the bathroom. Soap and shampoo if you want. Just take some clothes in my closet; you know where to find them. You can sleep at the couch or the bed, wherever you want. I gotta go.” He took his keys and left in a hurry.

“What was that all about?” Hallie asked aloud, although nobody was there to answer her anymore.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marat just went to take a drive to sort of take his mind off of what just happened to him. Why did he suddenly remember Angela
when he looked at Hallie? He wondered. They weren’t alike at all. Angela was soft-spoken, demure, and very feminine. Hallie was the exact opposite.

He didn’t understand what just happened, and didn’t really want to think of it any further either. After a while he realized where he was. He was near his parents’ house, but it was late and he didn’t think anyone would be up, but he still decided to drop by.

He knew his mom and Dinara weren’t there, only his dad was. He rang the bell, and after a few minutes, Mikhail opened the door and was surprised to see Marat.

“Marat, what are you doing here at this hour?” Mikhail asked, as he let Marat in. “Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m not drunk dad.” He answered, “I haven’t had any alcohol to drink at all.”

When Marat walked past him he had a whiff of the smoke that stuck on his shirt, and got curious. “What’s that smell? You’ve been in a barbecue?”

“Huh?” He smelled his shirt, “Oh, no, not a barbecue…It was a fire.” He flopped on the sofa, and Mikhail sat on the couch opposite him.

“Fire? There was a fire in your apartment? Is that why you’re here?”

“No, no, not my apartment.” Marat said, “You know Hallie, right?” Mikhail nodded. “The building she lives in burned down
earlier.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s staying in my apartment for tonight.”

“What are you doing here then?” Mikhail said, “You have a guest, you should be there.”

“I’ll come back later. I just…I was just driving around and I ended up here.” Marat said. Then he stood up. “All right, I guess I should go.”

“Hold on. Sit down.” Mikhail told him. He sensed something was bothering Marat. “You want to talk about something?”

“No…not really.” He said. But he sat back down anyway.

“So what’s it about?” Mikhail asked.

He knows his son. Even though he says one thing, his action speaks louder.

“Was mom your…first love?” He felt uncomfortable asking, especially when it has anything to do with that subject, and he looks all of it.

Because of that, Mikhail knew he was serious.

“Well…actually, no.” Mikhail said. “There was a woman in my hometown when I was still a teen. She was very beautiful and very sweet. If I remember correctly, I think her name was Evgeniya. But I don’t remember the surname. Why are you asking?”

“Nothing.” Marat said. “How did you…?”

“How did I get over her?” Mikhail offered.

Marat nodded. It was exactly what he wanted to ask put into words.

“Well, it wasn’t instantly, that’s for sure. It took time. At first, it was hard. Like every time I close my eyes I think of her, everywhere I look, everything I see reminded me of her.” He stared thoughtfully into space. “I started to forget how she looked, how her voice sounds, how her skin felt. And then I moved on. It just happens.” He looked at Marat.

They didn’t have too many moments like this, where he imparts knowledge about life to his son, since they sent him to Spain at such a young age. So every time he gets the chance to talk to Marat like this, he takes that opportunity.

“You don’t have to force it.” He said/

“How do you know if you have truly moved on?”

“You won’t know. But, you’ll feel it.” He told him, “To tell you the truth, you’ll never really forget. You will always remember. You

know you’ve moved on when you remember the person and you don’t feel sad or regret. Your heart will tell you, not your mind.”

Marat took a moment to take in the wisdom his father has imparted on him. He wondered how long it would take him to fully move on. But what really makes him think is if he really wants to move on. He has been with Elena for several months now, but it just feels different from when he was with Angela.

He often catches himself comparing Elena with Angela. Like how Angela was the jealous type, and Elena isn’t. Or how it takes an hour to a couple for Elena to get dressed, whereas it takes only fifteen to thirty minutes for Angela, and other simple stuff like that.

And just earlier, he sort of saw Angela in Hallie even though there wasn’t really a basis for comparison.

Finally, he relented to the thought that maybe he just really misses Angela. He imprinted what his father has told him in his mind.

He doesn’t need to force it. It will happen. But then he’s back to square one: How long before it does?

After a while, he decided to go home to his apartment and said goodnight to his dad. Before he left though, Mikhail told him that he would appreciate if he doesn’t mention to Rauza that he still remembers Evgeniya. He smiled and crossed his heart in promise to not let the conversation they had ever to come out.

When he arrived at his apartment, the lights were already out. He thought that Hallie would take his bed, but when he turned the light on at the living area, he saw her sleeping on the couch.

She has cleaned herself up and had helped herself to one of his boxers short and t-shirt. Her left arm was hanging over the edge of the seat, and she didn’t have a blanket on. She didn’t even take a pillow from his room, but used one of the small square pillows that were on the couch, which weren’t really all that comfortable to sleep on.

Marat shook his head, “Do I have to do everything for you?” he whispered.

He smiled. It was a joke, of course. He knows he’ll never really be able to tell Hallie that. She’s a very independent girl, who likes to do everything by herself. He went to his room and took a pillow from his bed and a clean blanket, and went back to Hallie.

As he leaned over to lift her head up to put the bigger pillow under her head, he noticed her left hand. They had what looked like burns, but he wasn’t sure because it was dark.

So he placed the pillow under her head first, then turned the lampshade on. He took her hand and that was when he saw it clearly as he hunkered down beside the couch. She indeed has burns on her left hand palm.

From the looks of it, it was second-degree burns. She had a couple of blisters, small ones but they look really painful. The rest of the circular burned area was red.

Why didn’t she say anything? They were in the hospital earlier and she didn’t even complain the whole time. He tried to recall everything that happened that day, to see if he missed anything that might have told him she was suffering or hurting from the burns but there wasn’t. Hallie just never really warrant any attention to herself regarding her injury, and it annoyed him.

Who does she think she is? Superwoman? Marat thought, irritatingly.

He dropped her hand gently and went to his bathroom, and opened his medicine cabinet. Luckily there were some things he could use, like aloe vera gel, gauze and some tape.

Then he went to his drawer and took a clean towel. He set that on top of the living room table and went to the kitchen. He took a bowl from the cabinet and filled that with cold water. He sat on the table across the couch, took the towel and dipped it on the bowl of cold water. He took out the excess water, but kept the towel a bit wet.

Then he took her hand again and dabbed the towel gently on her palm. As soon as the towel touched her though, Hallie woke up. Surprised with how cold the water was.

She sat up suddenly. “Huh!? What was that?!” He looked at Marat, and pulled her hand away from his. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing?” He pulled her hand back, holding it by the wrist a bit tight so she can’t pull it away again. “I’m giving you first aide for the burn in your hand. Which you should have had earlier if you only said something sooner!” He looked at her sternly. “Now sit back and be quiet!”

“Okay.” She said, following his order.

Marat worked quietly on her hand. After dabbing the cold water, he took the aloe vera gel and applied some, massaging it gently over her palm.

“How did you get this anyway?” He asked her, without looking up. He looks really serious.

“When I ran up the building to our unit, I saw Yuri. He was calling out Sima’s name. She’s inside my room because she came back for the box. She couldn’t open the door and neither could Yuri. It was a tough door, couldn’t have kicked it open.” She told him.

“When I touched it, it was hot and I knew I’d get burned. But I had to open it. So I used my left hand instead. I figured at least, I could still work with my right hand.”

“You can still think of that at that time?” Marat asked.

He looked at her, surprised and amazed at how she could have possibly kept her wits about her during a crisis like that.

“Well, I have to work, don’t I?” She said simply. “And I had to save them. It may be hard to understand, given that I’ve only been with them for more than a year, but I love them. Like they were my own. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.” She added, looking away, so he won’t have to see her eyes moist up.

Marat wondered how this woman who’s been through a lot, could sacrifice so much, even risk her own life or limb, for people she barely knew. How she could love these people without reservations at all.

And then he remembered what her brother, Jeff, told him earlier. He said Hallie threatened to hide again if they ever sent anyone else to him again.

Would she really have done so, he wondered. Would she run the risk of never getting back with her family, even though she obviously wants to, just for his sake?

Then he realized, maybe that’s just how she really is. That beneath the seemingly tough exterior lays a really big heart that could love with all she has. And what’s even more revealing to him was to realize that maybe; just maybe, he was one of those
beneficiaries, somehow at least. He would be extremely lucky if it was so, he thought. Thinking of it made him feel so light inside.

Until Hallie burst his bubble so to speak.

“That’s still gonna take long?” Hallie snorted, “I’m tired.”

She was out of the melancholic state and was back to her tomboyish manner. He just had to smile.

“No, just have to cover it with gauze and I’m done. Why didn’t you say anything about this when we were at the hospital?”

“It didn’t really hurt at that time.” She said, “I suppose the adrenaline sort of made me numb.”

“Pffft. Fine.” Marat said, still working on her hand, not looking up. “Next time this sort of thing happens, you have to tell me, you understand? How am I gonna help you if you don’t say anything?”

She looked at him as he wrapped her hand in gauze. She smiled at the thought that he was worried about her. That he cared.

Then he finished wrapping her hand in gauze, and stood up.

“There you go.” He said, “When we go back to the hospital tomorrow you’ll have that checked by a doctor, alright?”

“Okay.”

He pushed her forehead playfully back with the base of his palm, “Now, go back to sleep!”

She lay down back on the couch, and went back to her sleeping position. “Good night, boss….and ah…thanks.”

“Sure.” He said, walking back to his room. “There’s a blanket on the other couch if you want it, by the way.”

“Okay!”

Marat went in his room, changed his clothes and lay on his bed, until he fell asleep too.




Around four or five in the morning, the phone suddenly rang. Marat was still asleep and didn’t hear the phone at all. But Hallie did, and however reluctant she was to answer the phone she had to answer it so she can go back to sleep.

She got up from the couch grumpily, walked towards the phone, and picked it up. “Hello?”

It was Elena. She didn’t answer immediately when she heard Hallie’s voice. She wondered what she was still doing in Marat’s

apartment at that hour, and even picking up his phone.

“Hel-looow?” Hallie said again. She’s annoyed that the caller didn’t answer. “Man, who is this? You woke me up and now you

won’t even talk!”

So she was sleeping there? Was she sleeping with him? Elena thought.

“Look, if you’re looking for Safin, he’s still sleeping in his room and I doubt he’ll get up even if I call him. So you better just call him tomorrow. All right?” She asked, but not really waiting for a reply. “All right! Bye!” And she placed the receiver down.

Elena, although she was wondering why Hallie was there, didn’t want to jump to conclusions and decided it might be better to ask Marat himself.

[annie]

Chapter 19

The next day…

When Marat woke up, he looked for his mobile phone. It was still in his pants pocket that he took off last night. When he found it, it was turned off so he turned it on and all the messages from yesterday since he turned it off during the fire came rushing in. Most were from Elena.

That was only when he remembered he was so supposed to have dinner with her last night. He tried to call her, but cut the call when he heard the ring. What was he going to tell her? That he was with Hallie the whole day because there was a fire, and so she wound up sleeping in his apartment and he forgot all about their dinner?

He went out of his room, and found Hallie still sleeping. She must’ve been so tired from all that she had to endure physically and emotionally. She looked so serene now. And then the little devil inside of him kicked in. He went to the kitchen. He took the frying pan and made some omelets. He made some fresh orange juice and put them on the counter. After he washed the frying pan, he took another one and walked back to where Hal was sleeping.

He sat on the couch opposite hers and with a snicker, banged the two pans repeatedly on each other. “Breakfast is served!”

Hallie fell off the couch and on her butt, and then scrambled to her feet. But then she realized immediately where she was. With the help of Marat, laughing his butt off.

“How dare you!” She screamed angrily.

She grabbed the pillow and started pummeling him with it.

“Arrrggghhh!!!” She roared. “You are insufferable! I hate you! Why’d you do that?! You really like wounding me up, huh? Raaarrrrrgh!”

“Whoa! Take it easy tiger!” He laughed.

He has dropped the pans to the floor and was just shielding himself with his arms, but it wasn’t much help. She was coming with it from all angles. Nonetheless, he was laughing and having fun.

“Ow! Hahaha! Stop it!” Marat said, “Hey, c’mon that’s starting to hurt now! Ow!”

But she wouldn’t stop, so there was no other way but to return fire. He grabbed two small pillows, one on each hand, and swung at Hallie with them while attempting to escape. She still went after him, wherever he went.

“I’m gonna get you! Stop moving around!” Hallie said.

She wasn’t really angry anymore, she was already kind of having fun. It’s been a while since she had this kind of game with her brothers. She used to team up with Keith against Jeff when they were kids. Keith would be holding up Jeff as she pummeled him with a pillow.

They went around the couches, stepping over the table, and around the furniture. Marat headed towards the door to try and escape, but Hal’s attacks were overwhelming. He couldn’t see where he was going anymore and used his instincts alone. He dropped one of his pillows and held the other one with both hands for maximum hitting power.

But Hallie accidentally stepped on the pillow he dropped as she was swinging the one she was holding overhead, and slipped forward over to him. He tried to catch her, holding her around the waist with his free arm, but lost his balance. His head was gonna hit the floor according to their trajectory, and Hal was alert enough to slip the pillow she was holding under his head. So when Marat hit ground, his head hit the pillow instead.

Hallie on the other hand, didn’t have enough time to support herself since she tried to place the pillow behind his head, and so she fell on top of him, arms extended over his shoulders, still holding the pillow, legs propped between his legs with his knees up, and face next to his face.

When they recovered, they felt how uncomfortable their position was. But they didn’t move. Probably for fear they might make it worse. He could already feel her chest pressing against his. And she could feel under her thighs what she shouldn’t. Marat knew that, and tried to take his mind back to his head out from his pants. Then he noticed he had a pillow under his head.

“Wow! Ahm…that’s some reflex you have.” He remarked. Jesus, she’s not wearing anything under my shirt! Okay, keep calm Mikhailovic! Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts!

“Yeah…result of years of training in martial arts, I guess.” She said, uneasily. “I think we should get up…” Okay, no pun intended! I hope he didn’t catch that! Sh!t![/]

“Yeah.” He said, his face becoming red. He knows what was happening with him. “O-kay, this is awkward.”

“You bet!” Hallie agreed.

She started to get up from her position by pushing herself up, and he started to sit up, pushing her up as he did, allowing her to slide down so her knees could touch the floor…without crushing anything.

Then the door swung open. It was Elena. And what she saw was Hallie crouching over Marat like a tiger crawling. And Marat, a bit leaned back, with one arm behind him propping himself up and the other on Hallie’s arm. His left leg sprawled on the floor and the other with his knee up, looking like he was welcoming the attack. And the living area, was in total disarray since the two toppled over everything on their path. She was very surprised. Very.

“Marat?” Elena said, wide-eyed and mouth in the shape of a small ‘o’.

Marat was shocked too, and couldn’t move further. “Elena!”

Hallie jumped to her feet, grabbed a pillow and hugged it to cover her chest. Even though she’s wearing a shirt, she knows that with the right lighting, one can see underneath.

“Okay, I know this looks like what you think but it’s not! Really! He banged the two frying pan to woke me up, and I got angry and I went after him pummeled him around with the pillow.”

“Yeah, and then she slipped on the pillow and fell on top of me. And that’s what you saw. Really.” He added.

Then Marat stood up too, but looked uncomfortable due to the state of his pants. Hallie took another pillow and placed it in front of him. He got the idea and held it in place.

“That’s it, I swear!” He told Elena.

Then Elena just laughed to their surprise. Hallie and Marat looked at each other as if asking each other whether Elena has lost her mind or something.

“Are you okay?” Marat asked Elena. He wasn’t sure what to expect as an answer though.

“Yes, I’m okay.” Elena said, “It’s just…you two look funny! I mean, look at this place! It looks like a warzone!”

She walked towards the couch and dropped the big bag she was carrying on it. “Listen, I know why Hal’s here.”

“You do?” Marat and Hallie said in unison.

“Yes. I read in the paper today there was a fire where she lives. So I thought, you being the caring guy that you are, you must’ve let her stay here for the night.” She told Marat.

“Wait a minute, so you know I’ve been here since last night? That’s why you’re not really surprised to see me here?” Hallie asked.

“Uh yeah.” Elena sighed, “I’m sorry, I feel so ashamed. I was here last night.”

“You were?” Marat asked.

“Yes. I was going to see why you didn’t come over for dinner, and you weren’t picking up my call. And then I saw you came home with Hal.”

After a pretty long moment of silence…

“Okay, I think I should get dressed now.” Hallie said, “I’ve to go back to the hospital, pick Sima and Yuri up.”

“Oh, your parents are at the hospital?” Elena asked, “Are they okay?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. Just inhaled a lot of smoke, but they’re doing okay. They will be discharged today. And…they aren’t my parents.”

Elena looked at Marat, “But Yuri and Sima are your parents’ name, right Marat?”

“They’re not her real parents.” Marat said, “They kind of…adopted each other. It’s a long story.”

“Yeah, real long.” said Hallie.

“Very long.” Marat concurred. “In fact it took almost a whole day for her to tell me.”

“Uh-huh, and that wasn’t even all of it yet.”

“Okay.” Elena said, “Anyway, I brought you some of my clothes. I thought you might need some if your clothes were in the fire.” She handed the huge bag she had to Hallie.

“Thanks, that’s very thoughtful of you.”

“No big deal. It’s the least I can do.”

“Hey, c’mon let’s have breakfast! I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.”

“You made breakfast?!” Hallie and Elena exclaimed.

“Yes. Don’t act so surprised. I didn’t grow up not knowing how to make myself breakfast, you know.” He said.

Elena and Hallie chuckled. “And that’s all he can make, actually.” Elena whispered to Hal.

After they had breakfast, Hallie excused herself to dress up. Marat took the opportunity to really talk to Elena and know what she was really thinking.

“So…you’re really not mad? I mean, about what you saw…how you found me and Hal…”

“I’m really not mad.” She touched his face. “There’s nothing to be mad about.”

She’s really different from Angela. Marat thought. If it was her, she’d be tearing my head off right about now. He chuckled inside his head.

“Okay, I admit, last night I wasn’t so rational.” Elena interrupted his thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“Last night when I saw you come home with her, I was kind of suspicious. I mean, you didn’t show up at my house, you weren’t answering my calls, and then I came to see you and then I saw you coming home with her at such a late hour. What’s a girl to think, right?” She explained, “But I thought, no, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions without talking to you first. Besides, I know you and Hal are just friends. You practically treat her like she’s one of the boys. And you’re like cats and dogs when you’re left alone with each other.”

Marat just smiled. It’s true he’s been treating Hal like one of the boys, but he never felt like how he had earlier when Hal was on top of him. Lose the thought, Safin! You’re in front of your girlfriend! He nagged at himself, and shook his head as if the thought would disappear.

“Are you okay?” Elena asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just a little groggy, you know, I’m still tired from all the activities yesterday.”

“Uh…I’m gonna go now.” Hallie came back.

She was wearing some of Elena’s clothes now. Hip hugging skin tight black pants and a plain white blouse under her own hooded jacket. The blouse was kind of short since she was taller than Elena and she hasn’t zipped up her jacket, so her abs was showing a little bit. And her thighs looked really nice and toned in the pants. She was always wearing baggy clothes so this was a new look for her.

“Wow!” Elena exclaimed, “Girl, you should wear more of those kinds of pants to show off your legs. You have a really nice set! What have you been hiding them for in those baggy jeans of yours?”

She walked towards and around Hallie, checking her out.

“Yeah...” Was all Marat could muster to say, as he fanned his shirt’s collar. His mind had officially gone to the drain.

“I just feel more comfortable wearing baggy jeans. You know, less restricted…and the pockets are more practical…I don’t need to bring any bags.” Then she noticed Marat. “You okay, boss?”

“Uh-huh.” Marat said, “Look, am…why don’t we drive you to the hospital?”

Hal looked at Elena, “No, it’s okay. I don’t want to bother you anymore than I already have.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay! We can just drop you at the hospital on our way to the mall.” Elena said.

“Mall?” Marat asked.

“Yes, we’re supposed to shop for gift for my friend’s new baby, remember?”

“Oh, right…”

“Well, go on! Hal and I will wait.” Elena said, “Go take a shower.”

“Yeah, alright…I think I need a cold one, anyway.”


While Marat was taking a shower, the girls went through the clothes Elena brought for Hallie. Elena wanted to see how the clothes looked on Hal so she insisted she try them on. She’s only tried a few on though, coz Marat finished his bath and dressed up quickly.

In the car, on the way to the hospital, Hallie sat at the back seat. They were all just pretty quiet until the radio started playing “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. Marat remembered the time he caught Hallie dancing to that same music one night at Oleg’s restaurant. He looked at Hallie through the rearview mirror and she caught his gaze and knew exactly what he was thinking. Suddenly the two of them just burst out laughing. Elena was clueless about what was so funny, so she asked them. Using eye contact by way of the mirror, Marat asked Hallie if he could tell Elena. She shook her head to signal no. He pursed his lips, as if to say his lips are sealed, and then laughed again. His laugh was so infectious that it made Hallie giggle. Elena relented and just smiled along, even though she kind of felt out of place.

Finally, they got to the hospital and Hallie got off the car. She went straight to Sima’s room and saw that she was already feeling strong. She was happy to see Hallie. They told her they have been discharged and that Jeff came earlier to pay for their bills. They were just waiting for her so they can go, and also to tell them about their plans.

“Listen, Hal, Sima and I have something important to tell you.” Yuri said.

“What is it?”

“We’ve been talking about it for a while, it’s just we never got the opportunity to tell you, and we didn’t really have enough reason to really consider it until now.”

“What are you talking about? What is it?”

“We’ve been thinking about moving to Arkangelsk.” Sima said finally, “We have relatives there, old ones like us, and they’ve invited us to stay with them.”

“Oh.” Hallie said.

She couldn’t find the words to express how shock and sad she felt about what they just told her. She knew of course, that one day they will have to go on their separate ways, but she didn’t expect that it would have this kind of impact on her. She felt like someone was squeezing her heart. But she knows too that she didn’t have the right to object at all.

“I…don’t know what to say.”

“Hallie, dear, I know it’s hard.” Sima said, “It’s hard for us too. We’ve been through a lot together and we care for you like you were our own child. And honestly, we wouldn’t have considered it seriously had there not been a fire. And besides, you have your brother now, that’s why were not too worried about you.”

“We’re old, and life in Moscow is hard. We can’t keep up anymore.” Yuri said.

“I understand.” Hallie tried to smile, but you can see in her eyes that she was really sad.

“Why don’t you go back to your family?” Sima said. “They’ll take care of you.”

“It’s…kind of complicated.” She said, “But, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. Just worry about yourselves and do what you have to. I support your decision.”

“Thank you.” Sima said, and opened her arms for Hallie to come in and give her a hug. “We are going to miss you.”

“Me too.” Hal said, a tear falling from her eyes. But she didn’t let them see it. “I’ll never forget you and Yuri. You’ll always, always be in my heart.”

“As you on ours, my dear.” Sima said.


As they were preparing to leave, Hallie called up Jeff. She asked him if he could help her get Yuri and Sima on the train to Arkangelsk, but he declined. He said he had something important he’s got to do and that he won’t be around for a while since he has to undergo some training in France. He sounded a little nervous talking to her, and that made her a bit suspicious but she figured maybe it’s just because of the training he’s supposed to undergo. She thought about calling Marat to ask for his help, but decided against it since he might be busy with Elena. In the end, she just took them herself and hired a cab.

At the station, she helped them get on the train. She even paid for their tickets since they didn’t enough money to pay for the more comfortable accommodations in the train. She stayed with them until the last call to board was announced. She watched the train until it disappeared from view.

She didn’t notice that someone was watching her. It was the bald guy she beat up down at Oleg’s restaurant. And what he was thinking was revenge. He took out a small mirror from his pocket and opened his mouth to look at his teeth. Or what was supposed to be his teeth. His two front teeth are just false teeth now thanks to Hal. He licked his lips and thought about how sweet his revenge was going to be.

Meanwhile, at the Interpol Building…

“You’re sure this is where she works?” Keith asked, “You’re not just leading me off of her?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Jeff said without the aggressive tone he usually have when taking to Keith. “Can I ask what you’re planning to do?”

Keith gave a little laugh. A sarcastic one. “What always was the plan: to take her home.” He said, “If you had only stuck to it, it wouldn’t have to be like this. You wouldn’t have had to lie to me or to dad.”

“I know. But, I was only trying to be respectful of what she wants. And I planned to convince her little by little to come home.”

“She doesn’t know what she wants! She’s too angry to know what’s good for her.” Keith said, “Listen, if you’re worried she’ll be mad at you, you can take my word for it, she won’t know you told me anything. And even if she did I promise I’m going to do what I can so she won’t be mad at you. I’ll tell her I forced you, I tricked you, whatever, anything. All right?”

“Okay.” Jeff said.

“Okay. Go on, you’re dismissed.”

“Sir.” Jeff gave a salute, Keith saluted back and then he left.

After Jeff left, Keith was left thinking about what approach he was going to take on the matter at hand. He doesn’t want to just show up in front of Hallie. He doesn’t know how she will react. He fears she might be angry with him still for telling their dad about her boyfriend, which ultimately lead to her running away. He really needs to consider his next move.

[annie]

Chapter 20


A few days after the fire…


“Thanks a lot for letting me move in.” Hallie said, as she was unpacking her clothes and transferring them to the cabinet.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for, no? I can’t let you just sleep in the restaurant.” Rose said.

She invited Hallie to stay with her since she didn’t have anywhere to go. She caught Hal sleeping in the restaurant when she came back to get her wallet in her locker.

“Besides, I can use the help with the rent.”

“Yeah, this is a pretty nice place. It must cost a lot for you.”

“I used to share rent with my boyfriend, but I just recently kicked him to the curb.”

Hallie was surprised at what Rose revealed. She never figured her out to be anything like it. “Why? What happened?”

“He brought another woman in here, when I was working at the restaurant.”

“I’m sorry.” Hallie said.

“Don’t be. Actually, when I learned that I thought about you.”

“Me? Why?”

“I thought: What would Hallie do in this situation?” Rose said, “And I know you would’ve beaten him up before kicking him to the curb. Of course, I didn’t beat him up. But it still felt good.”

Hallie smiled, “Good for you! I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you.” Rose smiled back. “Well, I’ll leave you. I’ve gotta go to the restaurant. I’ll see you there later?”

“Yep. See you.”

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[/center]


Monte Carlo, Monaco

As has been his routine before the US tennis season, Marat went to Monte Carlo to get some practice and prepare. With him are his coach and friend, Sasha and the other members of his entourage.

“If you’re not watching that, why don’t you just turn it of?” Sasha told Marat. “Or better yet, why don’t you give me the remote?”

“Here.” Marat tossed him the remote control, and then he lay down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, arms tucked under his head.

Sasha caught it and changed the channel. He noticed Marat was kind of deep in thought, though. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah.”

He didn’t believe him. They’ve been friends for a long time and he know him well to see if something was bothering Marat. “You want to talk to me about it?”

“No, not really.” Marat said, turning his back at Sasha. “It’s about Hal.”

“Hallie? She’s fine, don’t worry about her.” Sasha said, still watching the TV “She’s a tough chick, remember? She’ll survive. She’s staying at Rose’s flat, I think.”

“I know.” Marat said, turning to lie on his back again. “It’s not that I’m worried.” Then he sat down.

Sasha started to pay more attention to him. He felt it’s about to get serious. “Then what, man?”

“I don’t know…I can’t explain it man…It’s just…I felt something when we were together in my apartment…I didn’t sleep with her, let’s get that straight! We didn’t do anything, I just let her stay for the night.” He said, “Anyway, I don’t know…It was…different. And I feel…I feel guilty. Like I’m unfaithful. Like I’m cheating.”

Cheating on whom was what he didn’t know. He wasn’t sure if he felt like he was cheating on Elena, or cheating himself. Or maybe cheating on Angela, which was so irrational, thinking about it.

“Man, lusting after someone doesn’t mean cheating. Unless you take her to bed, then that’s cheating.” Sasha said, laughing a little. “Stop worrying about it. Believe me, it’s not being unfaithful.”

“No, I guess not.” He said.

But he wasn’t contented with that answer. It wasn’t just lust. There was still something that bothers him that he couldn’t put a finger on. What he felt that time with her was something he’s not felt a long time. He felt like he wanted to reach out and hold her. Not in a sexual way, like he did that morning when she was on top of him, but something else. He felt drawn to her. He supposed he had that feeling for a while now, but it just wasn’t as strong like it was that night, that he wasn’t able to deny it. It’s been there, from the beginning, he just never addressed it. So maybe that’s why he was felt like he was cheating.

“Look, I’m not really the guy to come to for this. I mean I’m a divorced guy. I can’t even make my relationship work myself. But, if it means so much to you then I suggest you just quit on Hallie for a while.”

“What do you mean?”

“Avoid her.” Sasha said, “And now is a good time to start since we won’t be back to Moscow for a while. Just stop. You know, keep your distance. I’m sure that feeling, whatever that is, it will fade away if you just keep your distance for a while and stop thinking about it.” He laughed. “You know, if I didn’t know better I’d say you’re addicted to this girl.”

Was that it? Marat thought. Was he addicted to Hallie? She makes him feel good when they are together, when he talks with her, and just generally really. He couldn’t use a word to describe it, but ever since they met, she’s been constantly on his mind at some level or another, more and more. If that’s true, then Sasha was right. He needs to stay away from her.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I should stay away.” Marat said.

“Good.” Sasha said, “Now, can I watch the TV?”

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Moscow, Russia - Outside Oleg’s restaurant.


Keith parked his car right in front of Oleg’s restaurant. Jeff had given him the address before he left for his training in France. He’s passed by it a couple of times already but he’s never seen Hallie there. Probably because he passes there before he goes to the office and only just park for five minutes, across the street, within the first hour the restaurant opens. So he decided this time, maybe he should stay a while longer.

He got out of his car and went inside the restaurant. The staff were mostly women, but there were a few men coming in too, probably kitchen staff, he figured. It was still early and there were only a couple people having breakfast on one table near the window.

He looked around to see where a good place to seat would be if he didn’t want Hallie to see him first before he sees her. He picked a corner table, left of the entrance with a good view of the whole place but not very visible to anyone just coming in. He didn’t want to be notice or attract any attention. Unfortunately for him, he’s the kind of guy who gets attention wherever he went, especially from women. The girls noticed him the moment he stepped in.

When he sat down, one of them immediately came.

“Hi, what would you like to have?” Avril asked, all too happily.

“Ahm, I’ll have some coffee.” Keith said, as he looked up at Avril, flashing his aqua blue eyes. “And those…what do you call them? The sour cream biscuits…?”

“Lepeshki?” Avril answered. He noticed her voice just became shaky.

“Yeah, that’s it.” He said, with just the slightest smile.

But as usual, his crystal clear blue eyes have already done the damage, and the smile was just icing on the cake.

“Okay…I’ll…be back…I’ll just…be a minute…don’t go anywhere!” Said Avril. Then she went to the kitchen to get his order.

When Rose got to the restaurant, she noticed a heavily tinted gray Audi parked in front of the restaurant. She’s seen it two days ago and again yesterday but never parked in front of their restaurant. When she went in, she saw the other girls gathered at one corner. They were whispering and giggling amongst each other. She walked towards them to ask what it was all about but then she saw for herself. It was pretty obvious since no one else was in the restaurant.

They were checking out the sole customer, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee at one corner. The man was wearing a snug fitting gray shirt, which showed off his broad shoulders, and long lean muscular arms. He’s got the strong/silent aura going on, and there was something about him that makes him seem…mysterious.

She suddenly realized she’s stopped breathing, so she took a deep breath.

“Wow.” She said under her breath.

She went to the locker room to change to her uniform, and Oxana followed her.

“Oh. My. God.” Oxana said, “Did you see that guy? He’s like, sooo hot! I’m literally baking in my uniform looking at him!”

“I know! Ay, Dios!” She said, fanning her hand on her face. “Who was that?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him before. But you should have seen him when he entered so you could see the wholeness of how sexy he is, O.M.G! He’s like a Greek god bronze statue or something.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes! He has like those broad shoulders, and tight waist. I mean if you really like, really look, you could see the silhouette of his abs! And his skin tone, oh god, he is a bronze god! His tan is perrrfect! And don’t even get me started on his lips, oh girl, they’re so, so sexy!” Oxana said, trying to loosen her collar. “Hurry up! Let’s go.”

“Go on ahead, I’ll be out in a second.”

“Okay.” Oxana walked towards the door. But before she went out, she turned around. “By the way, Rose my dear, he’s mine!”

“In your dreams!”

She dressed up in a hurry and joined the other girls as they marvel at the guy as if he was a newfound species. A really sexy newfound male species. This was nothing new for Keith though. He knows he has that effect especially when he wants to. And though right now wasn’t exactly the best time for it, there was nothing he can do so he just minded his own business and continued reading the newspaper.

He lifted his cup of coffee for a sip, but it was already empty. Hallie hasn’t arrived so he couldn’t leave yet. He looked up to call a waitress, but before he could, Avril was already approaching him.

“Hi, could you get me another cup of coffee please?” He said.

“Anything for you…I mean, oui, of course.” She grinned and walked off. “Agh, Avril, come on! Keep it together!” She told herself as she went.

Then Oleg arrived and saw the girls, all five of them, clustered in one place.

“What are you all doing there?”

Keith looked up to see who it was, then turned back to his paper and just pretended not to listen but kept his ears open. The girls dispersed, but Oleg called Rose back.

“Rose, where’s Hallie? Is she coming in today?”

When Keith heard Hallie’s name, he became even more alert.

“Yes, she’ll just be a little late.” Rose answered, “She just moved in with me, and she’s just unpacking. But she’ll be here later.”

So, she’s staying at this woman’s place. He thought. Where would that be?

“Okay, that’s good.” Oleg said, “Is she all right though? I heard her folks went to Arkangelsk.”

“She’s fine. You know her, she’s tough.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Oleg said, “All right, go back to work.”

Finally Keith’s second cup of coffee arrived. “Here you are.” Avril said, “Would there be anything else?”

“Yes, actually. What’s that woman’s name?” He said, referring to Rose.

Avril was kind of disappointed, because she thought Keith might be interested in Rose instead of her. “Oh, that’s…Rose.”

“Rose, huh?” Keith said, “Does she have a last name?”

“Fernandez.” Avril said, without the cheerfulness she had earlier, “She’s Rose Fernandez.”

“Rose Fernandez.” Keith repeated, taking a mental note in his head.

Then he stood up, took his wallet from his back pocket, took some bills enough to pay for his tab plus tip and placed it on Avril’s hand.

“Here. Thanks. Keep the change.” He told her.

There was no reason to stay longer, so he decided to leave.

“He didn’t even touch the second cup of coffee he ordered.” Avril said to herself as she watched him get out of the restaurant.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[/center]

Interpol Building 9:55 p.m. Moscow, Russia.

In the last several days after he visited the restaurant Hallie was supposed to be working in, Keith has been doing a background check on Rose Fernandez. He even looked for her criminal record, which fortunately she didn’t have. He just wanted to make sure his sister was staying with a person of good moral standing. Some may think it’s too much, but he’s just really protective of his baby sister. And so far, the system hasn’t failed. Until Ivan, that is.

Some of the employees at the restaurant had kind of gotten the idea that he must have his eyes on one of them, Rose, in particular, since he did ask about her and he also drops by the restaurant almost everyday. But he didn’t want Hallie to see him so he leaves just as she’s about to come in. He just sits around and eats, listening to conversations from the staff to try and pick up any new information.

He now knows where Hallie lives, and has actually gone as far as staking out outside the apartment, just to see if she got home safe. If you had a personal Batman watching over you, that would be what he was like to Hallie. He wanted so much to just go and talk to her, but that little voice inside his head just won’t shut up about the what ifs. What if she’s still mad at you for tattling to your dad about Ivan? What if she’s mad at you about sending the MI-6 agents to Safin? Jeff said she was really mad when she found out about it!

Now, though he’s just staying in the office gym, with Helios, playing basketball by himself, thinking about his next move.

Oleg’s Restaurant 10:40 pm

“You always forget your wallet.” Hallie said, following Rose back into the restaurant through the back door, to the locker room.

“I’m sorry.” Rose said, “How many times do you want me to apologize?”

Hallie sighed, “I’m sorry.” She said, “I’m just really tired.”

“It’s okay. I got it.” She waved her wallet, and smiled. “Let’s go, I’ll pay for the ticket.”

“You should!” Hallie said, smiling back.

They locked the door again, and left. As they were walking along the now deserted street, they didn’t notice the men following them from behind. There were six of them, led by the bald guy who lost his two front teeth because of Hallie. He’s been plotting his revenge for weeks now. He knows that if he went in alone Hallie could just do what she did to him again, so now he’s brought some backup. He thought it was a good sign that Rose was even with her, since she was the reason he got in a fight with Hallie in the first place.

He’s just waiting for the right time to give his signal to his guys.

[annie]

PART II: Cats and Dogs

Chapter 21

After sweating it out in the gym, Keith decided to go to the restaurant to see Hallie. He couldn’t explain it, but he suddenly got a bad feeling that something bad was going to happen, and that she might need him.

So he took his car and drove to the restaurant. Hallie might still be there since she usually is tasked to help in closing the place. If he hurries he might still catch her.

When Keith got to the restaurant, it was already closed. So he went back to his car, and was about to get in when Helios suddenly scampered out of the car and ran. He tried to call him back but he didn’t come, so he followed him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Hallie and Rose walked into a dark alley, the men following them moved in.

Hallie’s first concern was Rose. She knew Rose couldn’t fight like she could, so she told her to stay behind her. The men surrounded them. Then she recognized the bald guy she beat up months ago.

“What do you want?” She asked him.

“What I want? I want revenge!” The bald guy said, “You broke my teeth!”

“It’s not my fault if you didn’t have enough calcium growing and you have weak teeth! That’s your momma’s fault!” She said, tauntingly.

“Hal, I don’t think being sarcastic is the best way to go.” Rose told her.

“I’m not being sarcastic, I’m being honest.” Hal said, “So, what are these guys for? You afraid I’m just gonna kick your butt again so you have to get backup?”

“Why you! Get her!” The bald guy commanded the other thugs, and they moved in to grab Hal.

“Rose, run! Run!” She told Rose as she tried to fight them off, and she did as she said.

She got in at least two punches, but she was outnumbered so they caught her.

Hallie received a punch in the gut from one of the men and got the wind taken out of her. She felt completely drained all of a sudden. Her legs were like spaghetti, and she couldn’t breathe. She was gasping for air as two men held her up by the arms.

“Not so tough now are you?” Baldie said.

“Yeah? Well…you’re only tough coz…you have these guys around.” She answered.

One of the guys laughed, “You’re right, Ruzhyo! She has fight in her! Now I don’t doubt she has beaten you up!”

“Shut your mouth!” Baldie said, obviously offended.

Then a dog came, and barked at them. It was Helios. Hallie didn’t recognize him though because he’s grown up a lot. And it was very dark. Helios just kept barking.

“Where did that dog come from?” The guy holding Hal’s right arm asked.

“Never mind the dog!” Baldie told him.

“Fine, so what do you want us to do with this one now?”

“I think you should let her go.” A voice behind them said,

All of them turned to look at who it was, especially Hallie. She can recognize that deep voice anywhere.

It was Keith.

He was just standing in the dark, arms on his hip, looking down on the pavement.

“And what makes you think were going to do what you’re telling us?” One guy said.

“If you know what’s good for you, you will.” Keith said simply.

Baldie was pissed off by his intrusion, “What I hate the most are people who can’t mind they’re own business!” He said, cracking his fist.

Hallie knew he was going to go after Keith, “No, no, no, you don’t want to do that! Don’t hit him!” She shouted, “Not on the face!”

But baldie wasn’t listening to her, and he walked up to Keith and punched him square on the mouth once. It didn’t knock him out, but it cut his lip.

“Hah, that’ll teach you to meddle in our business.”

But that only made Keith really mad, he closed his eyes as he looked to the ground. “You know the second thing I hate the most is getting hit in the face.”

He spat the blood out of his mouth and looked up at baldie. His eyes were different now. It had a gleam that would probably frighten even the most savage of beasts. And it very much did frighten baldie. He was really, really mad.

“I warned you. I told you not to hit him in the face.” Hallie said.

Keith grabbed baldie by the collar and the crotch of his pants, lifted him over his head and threw him to the ground. Luckily for baldie his head didn’t hit the pavement, but actually, Keith made sure that doesn’t happen. He doesn’t want to kill anyone, just shake them scared.

Baldie was shocked of course, but he was still alert enough to call on his thugs. “Get him!”

They did, and all hell broke loose. The two guys holding Hallie lifted her up and dumped her into the trash bin so they can help the others.

“Oh, nobody throws me in the trash bin and not pay for it!” She jumped out of the trash bin and joined the melee.

Keith tried to tell her to stay out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. She went after one of the guys who dumped her in the trash and knocked him out, while Keith kicked one in the gut and threw him in the dumpster.

Helios got in the action too. He was growling and baring his teeth at one of the thugs sitting on the ground, but he wasn’t intimidated. He slapped the dog right on the nose. Keith saw that and went after him.

“Nobody touches my dog!” He said, he lifted the guy up by his collar with both hands so they were eye to eye.

The guy was around 5-feet 9-inches tall and Keith was 6-feet-4, so it was a good 6 or 7 inches off the ground.

“That’s the third thing I hate the most!” He said, and gave the guy a huge right hook, which knock the guy out.

3 down, 3 to go.

Two guys went after Keith, holding each his arms. But he easily got lose. He grabbed them by the head like basketballs and knocked them together and out into the land of dreams.

Keith and Hallie thought it was over but they forgot about baldie.

Unfortunately he has a gun.

As Keith was approaching Hal, baldie grabbed her and put his arm around her neck and pointed the gun next to her head.

“You come any closer and her head blows up!” Baldie shrieked.

“Man, your screaming is already blowing my head up!” Hallie said. She wasn’t afraid at all.

“Shut up!” Baldie told her, “I am going to do it! I’m serious!”

Hal looked at Keith and she could see he was trembling. Not because he was nervous or anything. He was just plain angry, like a volcano that will erupt any second. He was gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, and his eyes really was gleaming now.

“You just did first thing I hate the most!”

He gave Hallie direction to get out of the way with his eyes. She got it, but signaled to him not to do it. Baldie had a gun and she didn’t want him getting shot at.

But his mind was already set in attacking. He ran towards the guy like a bull. Hallie had no choice but to follow his order and get out of the way as Keith delivered a clothesline to baldie with his long mascular arm. It turned baldie over as if he belonged to the Cirque de Soleil, and knocked him unconscious to the ground.

And then it was really over.

Keith was breathing pretty hard trying to calm himself as he was still seething with anger. Hal just stood beside him. After a while he turned and looked at her. His eyes weren’t that scary anymore, but he still looked a bit mad, and his lips were pursed.

“Keith…” Hallie started saying. “You’re mouth’s bleeding.”

“Shut up!” Keith said. “Get in the car. We’ll talk about this later.” He wiped the blood off his lips. “Helios, get in the car now!”

Helios followed his order without any sound of protest.

Then they heard the police sirens blasting from a few blocks away, and they waited for them to arrive. Keith had called the police station before he got himself involved in the fight.

He told the cops what happened and also showed them his I.D. He didn’t want to answer any more questions than what he had already told them so he just said he’ll drop by the station the next day and that he wanted to take his sister home because she’s traumatized.

She was going to protest but he shot her a look so she kept quiet. When the thugs were taken in and driven off only Keith, Hallie and Helios were left.

“Come on, get in the car.” Keith said.

Hallie didn’t say anything and just followed Keith’s order. She knew better than to go against his brother when he’s not yet through erupting.

In the car, there was an awkward silence. Hallie tried to turn the radio on but Keith turned it off again. She asked him what the matter was but he just told her to be quiet and not to distract him while he was driving,

Finally they got to his apartment. He didn’t look angry anymore. He didn’t have any expression at all. When they got in, Helios ran and sat by the couch near the t.v.

“Sit down.” Keith told her.

She did as he said. He was walking around slowly as if thinking about what to say.

“What the hell was that?” He said finally.

“What do you mean?”

“Who were those men? Why were they after you?”

“I don’t know them. I think I beat up that bald guy once, but that’s about it.” Hal said.

“Why do you always get in trouble?” Keith said.

He’s mad again. Not raging mad like how he was during the fight, he’s more of concerned mad. But he was still raising his voice.

“What if I wasn’t there? Something could have happened to you! You’re always getting yourself involved in situations like that!”

Hallie has had about enough of his shouting, and lost her cool.

“You think I want to get in trouble?” She stood up and got in his face. “I don’t! That guy was harassing my friend! What was I suppose to do? Close my eyes and pretend I didn’t see anything?”

He didn’t back down, and so it was a shouting match from then on.

“That’s not what I’m saying! I’m saying you should choose who you deal with! Those are hardened criminals you just messed with! That bald guy even had a gun! I told you to stay out of it, and what do you do? You jump in, anyway! What if I wasn’t there to protect you? You could have gotten seriously hurt or worse!”

“Well, then, it’s gonna be my fault! You didn’t have to be there! Nobody asked you to be there!” Hallie said, “Don’t talk to me about being brash with my actions because you’re the same way! Why did you jump at him when he had the gun? You know you could’ve gotten shot! Bullets don’t bounce off of your skin! You’re not Superman, you know!” She paused.

That last thing she said reminded her of something Marat told her after the fire while he was caring for her hand that got burned.
Heh, I guess I know where I got that attitude.

“Oh and what was I supposed to do? Let you get shot?” Keith said, “You know, you should be thankful I came!”

Then he paused. He was breathing heavily and so was she. They were staring down each other, until Hallie blinked.

“You’re right.” She sighed.

She didn’t want to fight with him. And she knew if she continued to defy him would be like adding fuel to the fire, and nothing good is gonna come out of it.

“I’m sorry. Thank you for saving me.”

Keith was surprised that Hallie gave up the fight so easily. But he was more relieved, he didn’t really want to fight either. It seems his sister has mellowed down quite a bit since she left. So he let it go with a sigh.

To Hallie’s surprise, Keith grabbed her and embraced her really tight. He was never much for showing his softer side.

“Whoa!”

“Don’t get used to this.” Keith said, “I’m still mad at you.”

Hallie smiled, “I missed you too.”

She told him, hugging him back as tight as she could. And she cried.

When they were kids she always ran to him for protection when she gets in trouble with the bullies she crosses at school. He was her protector since their dad wasn’t around most of the time. He sort of took the role as the man of the house, and she has the utmost respect for her eldest brother.

She was heartbroken when he decided to stay with their dad after their parents divorced. And even after all that’s happened, she could not make herself hate him. Perhaps it’s why she didn’t want Jeff to tell Keith that he found her already, because she knew if she sees him she’s gonna break.

Keith felt her tears making his shirt wet. “Are you crying?”

“Hell, no!” She let go of him, turned around and wiped her tears away.

He put his arm around her shoulder, “Good. I thought you’ve become soft.”

She elbowed him gently on the rib but he acted like it was a hard blow.

“Helios, come here boy!” She kneeled and called the dog, but he won’t come to her. “Come on, come to mommy!” She looked up at Keith. “Why won’t he come to me?”

“What did you expect? You left him for Ivan.” Keith smirked. He turned to Helios. “Helios, come here!”

Helios ran to Keith and wants him to pet him.

“So, he’s your dog now? Just like that? He’s forgotten about me? Won’t even come to me?”

“You can’t blame him, you were gone for two years. That’s fourteen dog years for him.” He said, standing up. “Besides…” He looked at Hallie, and wrinkled his nose. “You stink! Right Helios?”

Helios barked in agreement.

“Ugh!” She sniffed her clothes and realized she did smell bad. “They threw me in the garbage bin! It’s not my fault. I smelled good earlier before they did that!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just take a bath.” Keith said, obviously poking fun at her. ”Oh wait, on second thought, I’ll go first. You hugged me and now I stink too.”

“You hugged me first!”

While Keith was taking a bath, Hallie called Rose to tell her she wasn’t gonna come home and that she was alright so she didn’t need to worry.

Rose was very worried about her that she was just so relieved to know she was okay that she didn’t even ask her where she was.

Then she remembered to call Marat. She wanted to tell him about this new event that occurred in her life. She was so excited to tell him that she’s reunited with her other brother. She hasn’t talked to him for weeks now, and she figured he might want to know about this. So she dialed his number and waited for him to pick up.

“Yeah?” Marat said on the other end.

“Hey boss, it’s me!” She said, excitedly.

“Why are you calling? Do you need something?” He didn’t sound happy at all to hear from her and she sensed it.

“No, I just…thought you might want to hear…”

“Ah…you know what, I’m really busy right now.” Marat said, “I can’t talk.”

“Oh, of course, I’ll just call later then. It is pretty late here in Moscow too.”

“You know what, actually, don’t…” He sighed, “Don’t call me. Just don’t call me again.” He grimaced.

He didn’t want to tell her that, and it sure didn’t feel good to do it. He felt sick doing it. But it was something he had to do. Sasha was right, he needed to distance himself from her to actually figure out what it was he felt for her.

“Oh. Okay.” She said. “Sorry.” She cut the call.

She was a bit shocked at what Marat told her. She didn’t understand why he would be mad at her as to tell her not to call him again. More so, she didn’t understand how that simple gesture could hurt her so much.


When Keith came out of the bathroom she didn’t want him to see how disappointed she looked. He could always read her mood and she didn’t want that to happen so she got in the bathroom quickly. Keith waited for her at the sofa, so they could continue their talk. But he was tired and almost fell asleep until she lifted his arm up so she could rest her head on his chest as she curled up beside him.

They were close siblings, the two of them and Jeff. And although she come to Jeff when she wants to talk about her problems, she had always come to him for support when words aren’t needed and she just wants to be held and feel safe.

He knew that so he just held her tight under his arm, and let her stay that way until she felt better, and closed his eyes. He was tired, and it has been a long night so he thought the talking would have to wait till tomorrow.

She finally decided to stop thinking about how Marat reacted and what he told her. She just figured he must just be really busy. But that she was not going to call him again was a given. She wasn’t going to look as if she was desperately going after him.

Who does he think he is? She thought. Then she fell asleep too.

5:30 am, the next morning.

Keith stirred and inadvertently woke Hallie up. For a second she forgot where she was, but remembered everything when she heard his voice.

“Oh, sorry.” He whispered.

He went to his room, and emerged seconds later in his jogging pants, and running shoes on hand. He sat at another couch while he put his socks and shoes on.

“Where are you going? It’s only five-thirty.” She sat up, rubbing her eyes with the base of her palm.

“I’m going for a jog. You can sleep some more if you want, I’ll be back in about an hour.”

She suddenly felt pain in her stomach, and winced. Keith saw and thought she might be hungry.

“There’s milk, bread, peanut butter, and juice in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

“I’m not hungry.” She lay down back on the sofa. “I think it’s that punch I got last night.”

“You gonna be okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’ll just…rest some more.”

“All right.” Keith said.

He’s definitely going down the station later. No one hurts his sister and not pay for it.

When he returned more than an hour later, they had breakfast together and he tried to convince her to stay in the apartment by telling her she didn’t have to pay rent. She refused because she was worried their dad would find out but said she’d think about it. The money she can save not having to pay rent is extra money she can send to Yuri and Sima, and also to pay Marat.

She asked him not to tell their father about her too, like she asked Jeff. If she was afraid she was gonna break upon seeing Keith, it was whole other story with their dad. She was mad at him. And she was not at all ready to face him feeling that way.

Keith understood and promised not to tell their dad as long as he could but told her that she should see their dad so they could patch things up. She didn’t say anything, and Keith didn’t force the issue. He had just found his sister and he didn’t want to push her into something she didn’t want to do.

They also talked about her finishing her studies. When she ran away with Ivan, she had just a year left to finish her course. She didn’t give an answer but Keith made a very good argument about getting a better job and all the benefits of having a diploma. He offered to ask some friends of his in the University to help her get admitted, and offered to pay for it too. She smiled and said she’d think about it.

Keith gave up trying to convince her to do anything he asks. And she kind of felt his disappointment. She knows he just really cares about her, but there were other things she needed to consider before accepting his offer.

He became silent, just eating his omelet, and she knew she had to do something to break the awful silence. Then she remembered the question she had wanted to ask him in the car last night but he wasn’t in a conversing mood.

“So…I’ve been meaning to ask…” She said, “What was the first thing you hated the most?”

He gave her a look, like he was saying ‘really, you don’t know?’ with a raised eyebrow, but that quickly changed when she smiled, and he just had to smile too.

“He hurt my sister.” He said. “You’re really lucky I was there.”

She didn’t argue with that, but then realized something else.

“What were you doing there? The Interpol building is not close, and so is this apartment…You didn’t just happened to be there, did you?”

Keith couldn’t look at her. He promised Jeff he wouldn’t tell Hal that he told him where she worked, neither could she tell her that he’s known for weeks now where she lived and had actually done some investigating on her friend’s background.

“Jeff told you, didn’t he?”

“No.”

“Yes, he did.”

“What if he did? He didn’t, though, I’m just asking what you’re gonna do if he did.”

She gave him the same look he gave her at her first question. But then she smiled, “Nothing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. It won’t change anything if he did or did not. You found me, you saved me, and we’re good. I’d forgive him, and I’d forgive you.”

“Good. Well, then, he did tell me. I forced him to.”

He stood up and carried their plates to the sink. Then she tossed his slippers that she was wearing at his butt.

“Hey!”

“I said I’d forgive you, but I didn’t say I wasn’t gonna do anything before I actually do forgive you!” She said, “Now, I really do forgive you.”

He just shook his head, turned around and smiled. She’s back like she’s never gone. Just the way she always has been. Just the way he loves his baby sister.


After breakfast, they dressed up and Keith drove Hallie to work. A couple of her co-workers saw her come out of his car. They were familiar with the car and knew who owned it so they wondered why Hallie would have been with him.

[annie]

Just to help you picture how Keith's eyes looked like when he standing in the dark becoming really angry...here's a link to a picture. LOL

i.friendfeed.com/d63a38339ce096fe4701e22eec77d3e65cdf6a2b

[annie]

Chapter 22

In the whole month that passed after the fire, a lot of things have changed. Hallie was now living with her brother, because she and Rose had a misunderstanding.

She had also quit working at Oleg’s restaurant recently because according to her, she didn’t want to work with people who didn’t respect other people’s privacy and who makes their own conclusions without asking questions.

Keith still hasn’t succeeded in convincing her to finish her studies, but at least there was a bit of development. She told him she’d go if she could find a job that will suit the schedule. She wanted to earn money so she can continue to help Sima and Yuri as much as she can and also to save enough money to pay back her loan to Marat. It has been stagnant since he never calls her to do some errands for him anymore. He offered to pay off her debt but she wouldn’t hear it. She told him it was her debt and she’ll pay it.

She didn’t try calling Marat either. She really took offense at how he talked to her that last time she called. Her resolve about that decision has been solid until Keith told her that Marat got in an accident in Cincinnati. He found out about it through his website, which he still has been keeping a tag on.

She still didn’t call him, at least not directly. She called Dinara. They don't really talk to each other much, they just send text messages to each other a few times, so Dina was surprised to receive a call from Hallie. Hallie told her about the accident and asked her to contact Marat. She just wanted to know how he was.

Dina was intrigued why Hallie couldn’t just call Marat herself, but Hallie gave her the old "it's a long story" line. So Dina called Marat.* (read epilogue of My Angel's watching over me for the first half of the conversation.)

“How did you know about the accident, anyway?” Marat asked.

“Hallie called me, told me about your accident and then asked me to call you to see how you are.” Dina said, “Speaking of that…I know she has your number, so why didn’t she just call you instead of going through me?”

Marat considered her question for a while, and figured it would probably be all right if he told her what he did.

“I told her not to call me.” He said, “That was a month or so ago.”

“And you haven’t talked to her since?”

“No.”

“Why?” Dina asked.

There were more questions in her head than before, and was really intrigued with the situation.

“I…” Marat tried to come up with the reason, but when he tried to remember what Sasha told him it just didn’t make sense to him at that moment any longer. “I…don’t know. I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? There must be a reason why you told her not to call you.”

“I know, but…I don’t know.”

“You’re talking weird.” Dina said, getting tired of the way their conversation was going.

“Well, if you don’t know then you don’t know. I’ll wait for her to call back and tell her you’re okay but you seem to have hit your head coz you’re not making any sense.”

“Yeah, tell her that.” Marat said. He wasn’t in the mood at all to argue.

“You’re an asshole.” Dina said.

She was a bit surprised at herself for saying that but that’s just what she felt like saying. “You take people who care about you for granted. She was worried about you, you know.”

What Dina said felt like a slap in the face for him, and he suddenly realized the error of his ways. Here was this girl, Hallie, who did nothing but be a friend to him, supporting him, doing things for him. So she kind of gets paid for the work she does for him, but still. He felt guilty just shutting her out like he did.

“She was worried?” He asked Dina.

“Yes, she was.” Dina said, “You know what, I think you should call her.”

“Yeah. Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

Dina knew she couldn’t tell her brother what to do, so she didn’t argue. If he said he’d think about it, then he would. That was probably the best she can get him to do.

“Fine. I gotta go.” She said


That conversation kept repeating in Marat’s mind the whole day that day. Days passed and he got even more restless about it. He did try to call Hallie, but didn’t get to speak to her because apparently she has changed her number. He wondered why she did. Was it because of him? What has happened to her? He just really wants to hear from her. He had even went as to tell Sasha that his suggestion was the worst thing he ever said. Sasha rebutted, of course, telling him that he did say he was not the person to go to for an advice since he was divorced.

September 2006, Moscow, Russia

After losing in the fourth round of the US Open, more than a month of touring, and a quick stop in Monte Carlo, Marat finally came home to Moscow. Soon after he landed and had sufficient rest, he went straight to business. He went to Oleg’s restaurant to see Hallie. But when he got there, he didn’t see her.

He approached Rose who was at the counter, waiting for an order, to ask her where Hallie was.

“Excuse me. Hi. Rose, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Safin.” Rose said. She looked at him. “What can I do for you?”

“I just want to ask…Where’s Hallie? Is it her day off?”

Rose turned to look at the counter again. “No. It’s not her day off. She doesn’t work here anymore.”

“What? Since when?” He asked, surprised by the news. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“Probably coz she was ashamed.” She said. There seem to be a bit of resentment in her voice.

“What do you mean?”

She turned to face him. “I really don’t want to talk about it. If you want to know, you can talk to our boss.”

Marat was perplexed at how Rose had acted. He thought she was supposed to be Hallie’s friend among the staff in the restaurant, and now she sounded like she hated her. What could Hallie have done to get this kind of heat?

He decided the only way to find out was indeed to talk to Oleg. So he waited for him at his office since Oleg would probably be there soon and he didn’t have anywhere to go to anyway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Five weeks ago, Hallie wasn’t staying at her brother’s apartment yet. The problem started when Keith dropped by in the restaurant when Hallie was there. Keith sat at his usual table, which Hallie wasn’t supposed to serve since they were assigned which tables to attend to.

But when Avril was about to bring in his order, Hallie took the tray from her and served Keith herself. The other girls witnessed how they interacted, which for the siblings were quite normal; just the small pat or a hand on the shoulder, or wink, or smile, or touch on the arm. But the girls gave it another meaning.

That had made the other girls irritable, or in the least, jealous of her. They began to talk about her like how she was such a flirt and that now she was going after this guy since she probably didn’t get what she wanted from Safin. They had acknowledged it as a fact that this guy was interested in Rose because he had been asking about her before, and now Hallie was making her move, and so she was seen as some sort of a traitor. Rose didn’t hide the fact from the other girls that she is interested in Keith either.

Of course, as expected, the person being discussed is the last person to know about it. Hal had no idea this was going on. So she continued to do what she does every time Keith comes to see her, and had even told him to just sit on one of the tables assigned to her, to the shock of the other girls.

The situation got worse when they noticed Hal sporting a new mobile phone, and some pretty expensive jewelry. The phone was a gift from Keith, and she did not conceal that fact. Although, she neglected to say that Keith was her brother when the girls inquired where she got the phone. The jewelries were in fact hers. Keith had them delivered all the way from Germany where she left them, and gave them back to Hal.

And then there were the times when she didn’t come home to Rose’s apartment. This happens when Keith collects her from the restaurant when he needs her to stay at the apartment and watch Helios as he has some operation he needs to direct and oversee. The girls, including Rose, just assumed that it was some sort of an illicit affair. This cause the way they look at her to diminish, morality wise.

Hallie did notice the change in the way the other girls and Rose interacted with her, but she didn’t put too much attention to it. She had enough to think about already to bother with it, until she was presented with the problem.

It was late one evening, the restaurant was already closed, and she received a message from Keith telling her that he was going to pick her up. So, she hurried with her duties in closing the place and excused herself from the others as she went to clean up. She was in hurry as the other girls came in the locker room. She just told Rose she won’t be coming home that night and ran out because Keith was already outside.

When they were a few blocks away from the restaurant, she remembered she didn’t take her mobile from her locker.

“Keith, stop the car!”

Keith hit the break so hard she almost flew out the windshield because she has not fastened her seatbelt yet.

“What is it?!” He asked.

“I forgot my phone!”

“You forgot your phone? That’s it?!”

“Yes. Just wait here.” She jumped out of the car and sprinted back to the restaurant.

When she was outside the door of the locker room she heard the girls talking about her and her alleged extracurricular activities involving Keith.

“You think she probably got another booty call?”

“Well, what did you think? You know, what’s irritating really is she acted like such a saint, but she’s really a skank!”

“You know there’s nothing wrong with sleeping around, I just think it’s tacky getting paid for it!”

“You know what’s tacky? She probably slept with Safin that night of the fire! She stayed there the whole night!”

“She did? I didn’t know that! Eeww, she probably used the fire as an excuse to get into bed with him.”

“Yeah, but now Safin’s not been paying attention to her so she moved on to her next target.”

“She’s a wh**e! I can’t believe I am letting her stay in my apartment!”

She has heard enough so she opened the door and got in.

“Really?” Hally said, “This is how you talk about me behind my back?”

The girls were surprised to see her. She looked at each and everyone of them as she talked.

“That’s how you look at me? Like some kind of prostitute? And how dare you say I used the fire as an excuse to sleep with Safin?! You really think that low of me?!” She said, trembling from the anger boiling inside of her. “And who is this guy you think I’m sleeping with now, huh?”

“That guy who always comes here! The one that gave you your phone!”

“Oh my god! That’s so…” Hallie said. Things were going so fast inside her head. She was just so mad. “And you!” She turned to Rose, “I thought you were my friend and you do this behind my back? I feel like you just struck me with a knife!”

“You feel like I stabbed you in the back?!” Rose said, “You knew I liked him! You discouraged me about it! But the truth is you want him for yourself!”

“This is absurd! You don’t know anything!” They were all quiet, looking at each other. “You know what? I don’t have to explain to any of you!” Hallie said.

She took her phone from her locker, along with her other stuff. “I can’t work with you people...worst yet live with you!” She said the last part looking at Rose.

Keith sounded the horns and they all heard.

“So quit!” Rose said.

“I will!” Hall said.

She walked out of there, but as soon as she was out of the locker room she ran to the car, got in and slammed the door.

“Drive.” She told Keith. He started the engine and they drove off.

Keith noticed the scowl she had on her face, as she was looking straight out of the windshield, as if she was trying to melt a hole in it with heat vision, and knew immediately that something was wrong.

“What happened to you?” He asked.

“High school!” She said, “It’s just so high school! Grrrr!”

“Okay, what exactly happened back there? Coz you’re not making sense to me right now.”

“They think I’m sleeping with you and you’re paying me for it! Like I’m some kind of prostitute!”

“WHAT?!”

“I know! It’s crazy right? How could they think that?”

“Absolutely crazy!” Keith said, “How could they think that I would need to pay for sex?”

“Keith! You aren’t helping!” She punched him on the bicep.

“Hey! That hurt.” Keith said. He was just trying to make light of the situation but it wasn’t working. “Okay, look, I’m just kidding.”

“I know. I’m just so pissed off…they’re so catty, and arrgh!!!” She said. Then her voice became almost like a whisper. “I thought they were my friends…I cared about them, I loved them…”

Her tears fell then. “People always turn their backs on me…Ivan left me…Sima and Yuri left me…those girls turned their backs on me because of some stupid idea they had…and…” She was going to add Marat’s name but Keith had already made his move.

“Come here.” Keith pulled her towards him, and placed his free hand around her shoulder as he drove.

“Sometimes the people we care about are the ones who hurt us the most. Because they know we’ll forgive them no matter what. It may take a day, or a week, or months but we do it, we forgive. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear; I will never turn my back on you. No matter what you do, I’ll always be here for you. I promise you that.”

Hearing that from her brother, who wasn’t exactly the emotional kind, made her feel better.

“I know that.” She said, “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

She took a deep breath, wiped her tears away and sat straight back up her seat.

“So, what are you gonna do now?”

“I’m moving in with you.” She said, “And tomorrow I’m quitting my job.”

“Okay.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After half an hour of waiting, Oleg finally got to the restaurant. Marat wasted no time, and asked him why he fired Hallie.

“I didn’t fire her, Marat. She quit.”

“She quit? But why?”

“I don’t know. She had a fight with some of the girls, and the next day she quit.”

“Well, was anybody hurt or injured?” Marat asked. He thought it was a physical altercation.

“No, nobody got hospitalized.” Oleg said, “There was no physical fight.”

“Oh, good. But why did she quit?” Marat asked, “She didn’t even tell me anything about it. I mean I recommended her.”

“Oh, yeah. She did leave something for you.”

“What?”

Oleg searched his drawer for the envelope and gave it to Marat. Inside was just a small piece of yellow post-it folded in two and her severance paycheck. Marat was a bit disappointed at the size of the paper since it would mean she didn’t have much to say. It read: “Don’t worry I’ll still pay the rest back.”

When he read that, he was even more disappointed. Hurt even. Her words were so cold, and short, and unfeeling.

Does she think I care whether she pays me back or not? Is that how she sees me? Was it all just business to her? These were the thoughts that crossed his mind, until Oleg’s phone rang and snapped him out of his internal soliloquy.

It was business so Oleg excused himself, and that was his cue to leave Oleg’s office.

“I’ll see myself out.” He said.

He stood up and walked towards the door. He looked at the piece of post-it in his hand and then at the trashcan near the door, and flicked the paper in it.

[annie]

Chapter 23

September 11, 2006 - Keith, Jeff and Hallie’s apartment, Moscow, Russia


“Hal, I’m home!” Keith called out as he entered the apartment.

Helios came running out of Keith’s bedroom, followed by Hallie. The dog jumped at him with glee and almost knocked him down because he was so big.

“Down, boy, hey!” Keith yelled.

He kneeled down to give Helios a pat on the head. Then Helios licked him in the face.

“Oh, c’mon! I told you no licking on the face!” He stood up, “Hallie, tell him off!”

Hallie was just laughing at them. “Okay, that’s enough Helios!” She said, “He’s really taken in to you, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah.” Keith said. He sat at the couch and pulled a pack of wet wipes out from his pocket to wipe his face with.

Hallie rolled her eyes. “For a tough guy, you are the vainest one I ever saw.”

“I’m not vain, I just like to look and smell good.”

“Uh-huh. What are you doing home so early anyway? It’s only three in the afternoon.”

“Left work early coz I had to do a little shopping.” Keith said, “By the way, I have something for you.” He tossed a shopping bag at Hallie.

“What is it?”

“Open it.”

Hallie opened the bag and took out what was inside. It was a pink silk shift mini dress. The design was simple with a deep v-neckline, a fitted shape and a sultry low cowl back.

“Wow, it’s really pretty. Are you sure it’s for me?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks. I didn’t know you have such great taste in women’s clothing.” She said.

“C’mon, what did you expect?” Keith said, arms stretched out wide open. “Women are my expertise, remember?”

“Uh-huh.” Hal said, “What is it for anyway?”

“What do you mean what is it for? Don’t you know what day it is?”

Hallie tried to recall but couldn’t. “What?”

“It’s your birthday, silly!”

“Oh yeah…hah!” Hallie said, “I haven’t celebrated it for like three years…”

“I know.” He said.

Keith felt sad when she said that. Before she ran away they used to celebrate all her birthdays together, Jeff, him and Hal with their mom and sometimes with their dad. He would even take a leave from his training or tour just to go to Greece to be with his baby sister.

He sat on the couch and laid back. “That’s why we’re celebrating it tonight. I’ve got a reservation for us at the *Grand Imperial.”

“The Grand Imperial?!?” Hallie exclaimed. “Are you serious? But it’s expensive there!”

“Very expensive, and yes, I am serious.” Keith said. “I figured I should make up for the three years we didn’t celebrate so it is worth it.”

She jumped on his lap and hugged him. “You’re the best! Do you know you’re my favorite brother?”

Keith smirked, “Yeah, I do. But don’t let Jeff hear that or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

7:35 pm. The Grand Imperial, Ulitsa Ryleeva 9/5


Marat and Elena were having dinner with a couple of Elena’s girlfriends from the entertainment industry. They’ve all been having a good time so far. Her friends were in town for the week and this was their last night in Moscow, so she invited them to have dinner with her and Marat.

He happily obliged since he did wanted to go out. It’s been almost two weeks since he came home and he has pretty much done nothing especially since Elena was busy with her projects.

“Marat, I’ll just go to the washroom.” Elena said. Marat stood up as she did.

“Me too, I need to freshen up a bit. We’re still going to the club aren’t we?”

“Of course! I’ll go with you.”

The three ladies left and Marat sat by himself at the table. He knew it was gonna take a while. He looked around the room at the people, observing, watching the people coming and going. It was actually a pretty boring place. Everyone was acting so formal, and classy and sophisticated.

He also observed that everyone was actually wearing either black or white, which made the whole scene monotonous to him. He was wearing a black ensemble himself since Elena told him to do so. Personally, he would’ve preferred a shirt, a pair of jeans and a jacket.

He picked up his wine and took a sip.


Meanwhile, outside…


“Hal, you go on ahead inside. I’ll just park the car.” Keith said.

“They have valet service.”

“I know, but it takes too long to get the car when it’s time to leave.”

“You just want to make me walk in these heels.” Hallie frowned.

He made her wear a pair of sandals with a three-inch heels that he bought with the dress since he knew she only had three kinds of shoes; A camel colored work boots, a black ballet flats, and a pair of rubber shoes.

“No, but you’re gonna have to walk in it anyway.” Keith said.

“Fine.” Hallie said.

She opened the car door, got out and went inside the restaurant.

“Good evening.” A woman greeted her. She was the concierge.

“Good evening.”

“Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, a table for two under Hunter. Keith Hunter.”

“Oh, lieutenant colonel, of course. Follow me please.” The concierge said. She seems to be familiar with Keith.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Marat was still looking around, observing the people while waiting for Elena and her friends to come back. He noticed a woman came in at the entrance, but she had her back on him as she was talking to the concierge.

She was wearing a black cashmere coat, which she took off to deposit to the coat counter, revealing the pink dress she was wearing, which is why he noticed her.

Of course, her body hugged by the dress also helped keep his gaze. It showed off her tight waist, perfectly toned bum and back as well as her lean legs.

But he wasn’t ready for what he saw when she turned around. It was Hallie like he’s never seen her before. Her hair was longer, and had become wavy like how it was in the picture that MI-6 guy showed him. She had make-up on but it still wasn’t much, just enough to enhance her features.

She was wearing jewelry, like earrings, bracelet, and a necklace but not too ostentatious. But most of all, she was wearing a dress which showed off all her assets. She still carried herself with the same kind of tough chick demeanor as she’s always had, which just adds more to her appeal.

Marat just had to gulp as he felt his mouth dry up. She was just jaw-dropping, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

He watched as the concierge walked her to a table. She didn’t see him at all. He thought about coming over to talk to her, but then what was he gonna say?

“I’ll just say hi!” He whispered to himself.

So he took a huge sip of his wine and was about to stand up when he saw a guy in a blue long-sleeved silk shirt and black slacks walked towards Hallie’s table. He was probably as tall as he is and he figured probably 40 pounds bigger than him.

She smiled when she saw him coming so she was probably expecting him or she was with him. When Marat saw the guy sat down beside Hallie, Marat backed off and sat back on his chair. Then Elena and her friends came back.


[color=Red

]---------------------------------------------------------------------------[/color]


“So, you’ve seen the menu. What do you want?” Keith asked Hallie, although, he didn’t look at the menu himself.

She put the leather bound menu folder down. “I don’t know yet. But you seem to have been here before. So, I’m having what you’re having.” She said raising an eyebrow, smiling.

Keith knows what she meant. “All right.” He said with smile.

She thinks he’s brought the women he dates there before. And apparently she’s right, because not only did he know everyone, but everyone knows him there as well. He calls them by name.

“Anton!” He called the waiter.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Marat has become quiet while they were eating desert at their table. Elena noticed, but at first she didn’t say anything. Until she followed where he was looking at.

“Oh my god, Is that Hallie?” She asked. Sounding almost as surprised as Marat was earlier.

“Huh?” Marat looked at Elena, and then back at Hallie. “Yeah. It’s her.”

“I haven’t seen her for a while.” Elena said, “Wow, she looks so pretty. Didn’t I tell you she’d be so much prettier if she put a little make up on?”

Marat didn’t say anything. He just sat there, almost pale faced. “Yeah.”

Elena also noticed the guy Hallie was with. “Oh my, she has some really good taste in men huh?” Elena said. “Maybe we should go there and just say hi.”

Marat looked over at Hal and Keith’s table again and saw Hallie put her head on Keith’s shoulder, and his arms around her shoulders. Then he kind of pinched her nose, which made her smile.

“I don’t think I should go there.” He said.

There was something in his chest that was kind of making it hard for him to breath just a little bit.

“Are you girls ready to leave yet?”

Elena sensed the change in his mood, so he told her friends that they should go already. They still had to go to a club anyway.

-------------------------------------------------------------

While eating, Keith noticed Hallie was being so quiet. She looked like she was deep in thought and not really eating much.

“Something wrong with the food?” He asked.

“Huh?” Hallie looked up at him from her plate. “No, no, the food is great. I was just…I wish Jeff was here too.” She said. “I finally have you guys back, and we’re celebrating my birthday together…I just really wish he was here too.”

“I know.” Keith said. “Come here.” He lifted his arm, offering her a hug.

Hallie obliged, sliding in under his arm and leaning on his shoulder.

“He’ll be back in a couple of weeks. We can celebrate your birthday again if you want. Maybe Jeff will treat us.”

“Pfft. Yeah, maybe he’ll order in a pizza.” Hallie said, “You know how cheap he is!”

“Yeah, I do. Cheapest guy I know.” He play pinched her nose.

Hallie smiled, “All right, enough drama!” She sat back up properly. “Aren’t you gonna order some wine?”

“No.” Keith said, “You know how you get when you drink. And I’m not carrying you home!”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inside the car, Marat was still being very quiet. He felt annoyed. And it got even more aggravated because he didn’t know why he was so pissed off.

So Hallie was out with another guy! What’s it to me? Why the hell do I feel so possessive of her anyway?! He nagged at himself all the way to the club.

He thought about going back, but then wondered what he was gonna do if he did go back? What was he expecting to happen? She seemed happy to be with that guy she was with, acting so cozy with each other. How long have they known each other anyway? He only hasn’t seen Hal for what? Two months? They couldn’t possibly have that strong of a bond already, could they?

“Are you alright?” Elena asked him, interrupting his thoughts. “You haven’t spoken a word since we left the restaurant.”

“Sorry. I’m just…I don’t feel so hot.” He said.

“Oh…” Elena said.

She doesn’t say it, but she kind of knew why he was acting that way. She knew it was because of Hallie. She’s felt it before about Marat and Hallie, but it was never as obvious as it was now. She just can’t figure out why Marat couldn’t come to terms with his feelings for Hallie.

“Do you want to go home? We don’t have to go.”

“No, it’s okay.” He said, “Actually, I’ll go home. I’ll just get a cab, you can drop me off at the next stop.”

“Are you sure? You don’t want me to go with you?”

“I’m sure. You stay with your friends. Have fun”

“Okay.”


_{*The Grand Imperial – one of the most expensive restaurants in Moscow to date. Located at Gagarinsky pereulok 9/5 Moscow, Russia.}

[annie]

Chapter 24

Marat was back at the Grand Imperial. He told the concierge he left something at their table so she let him in. But that was not the truth. He didn’t left anything at their table. He went back to see and talk to Hallie.

Luckily for him, Hallie and her date were still there. The place seemed kind of different from what he remembered. For one, there weren’t too many people and the lights were a bit dim.

He walked towards their table, but he was suddenly enraged by what he saw. He saw the two locked in a passionate kiss. She was sitting on his lap now, legs parted facing him, and had her hands around his shoulders and over his head as if pulling him even closer to herself. The guy had his hands up inside and under her dress, clawing at her thighs and around her back.

Marat couldn’t move. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t even make a sound. He wanted to go over there and pull Hallie away from that guy. He dug deep and used all his strength to push himself to move. He watched as the guy lift her up and laid her down on the table leaning over her, still locked in the kiss.

The suddenly, Marat found his voice. “Get off her you son of a b**ch!!”

He walked towards them with the intent of pushing the guy off of Hallie, prepared to be more physical if he had to. And that was exactly what he did. He nabbed the guy by the collar, and swung at him with a right hook, which connected really hard. He felt the vibration rang up his arm. The guy staggered backward, and Marat was going to follow up with a left straight, but Hallie stepped in the way.

“Stop it!” Hallie yelled at him. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

He was thumped by her reaction, but more so of her question. What indeed was he doing?

“You can’t just come in here and assault him like that!” she walked over at the guy, and touched him gently on the face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He said.

Then she kissed him gently on the lips where he got punched and was now bleeding. Then Hallie turned to look at Marat with hate in her eyes.

“What do you want?” She asked him. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you.” Marat heard himself say, his voice almost incoherent.

“You want me?” She said, with a mix of disbelief and disgust on her face. “You turned your back on me, and you have the audacity to come here beating people up, and now you tell me that you want me?!” She said, “Go away, Marat! Leave me alone. Leave me the hell alone!”

Hallie lead the guy away from Marat.

“No!” Marat said. “No, wait a sec!” He followed them, but stopped when the guy looked at him resentfully.

“You heard what she said. Leave her alone.” He said, “Or I’ll make you.”

He watched as the two made their way out of the place. He couldn’t move again, like he was stuck right where he was standing. He wanted to scream and call out Hallie’s name, but he felt like his throat was so dry and no voice would come out if he tried. But he knew he had to do something. He knew that if he didn’t do anything that she would be gone forever. So with all his might, he screamed out her name.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hallie! Wait! Hallie!!!”

BLAG!

He fell out of his bed with a thud. He opened his eyes and realized it was all just a dream, a nightmare really. He sat up on the floor, rubbing his eyes. When his eyes have adjusted to the dimness of the room, he looked at the table clock. It was only 4:15am.

“Damn.” He pulled himself back up his bed.

What the hell was that? He asked himself. It never really happened of course. He never went back to the restaurant, never seen Hallie kissing another man, and she never told him to leave her alone. But he could still feel the pain of when she said those words to him in his dream even now that he’s awake.

“Hallie.” He whispered. This was the third night in a row that he’s dreamed of the same dream. He pulled his pillow out from under his head and placed it on top of his face.

“Hallie!!!” He screamed, “Why can’t I get you out of my head!?! You’re driving me insane!!!”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 19, 2006


Two days before the DC tie between Russia and the USA, Shamil invited the team to a football game. It wasn’t part of the training they just want to loosen up before they delve into serious business.

Before the game, the boys met for breakfast. They went to one of the many cafés and restaurants lined up on both sides of the street. They chose the one with the open-air seats. While eating their hefty breakfast, Dima bought up an interesting topic for conversation.

“By the way, I saw Hallie last Saturday.” Dima said.

Marat almost choked when he heard that. He took a sip of his cofee to abate it.

“Marat’s Hallie?” Misha asked.

Dima laughed, “That’s exactly what I asked when she told me her name coz I didn’t recognize her. She looked awesome by the way.” He said, tapping Marat on the shoulder.

“So, she approached you?” Igor asked, using a tone that was mildly sarcastic in the least.

“No, actually…I approached her.”

“I thought so.” Igor said laughing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What exactly happened?” Marat asked finally, after clearing his throat.

“Well, I was getting there before Igor here interrupted me.” Dima said, “Anyway, I was at the record store last week checking out some new releases when I saw this girl looking at some albums. She had her back towards me, but I just had to come over. She was wearing shorts, and those camel colored heavy work boots and a tank top, and I thought; whoa, rockin’ body alert! So, I walked up to her.”

Around this time, all three guys were listening to him intently. He went on…


------------------------------------------------------------------

September 14, 2005 Saturday


“You must be a piece of a puzzle, coz you just made my day complete.” Dima said.

“That must be the lamest pick-up line I’ve ever heard!” Hallie said before turning around to see who it was.

“Ouch!” Dima said, clutching at his chest, acting like he was hurt at being called lame.

“Oh! Mr. Tursunov!” She covered her mouth and tried to muff her laugh. “Hey, how are you?

“I’m okay. Thanks.”

“Don’t you remember me?” She asked.

“Should I?”

“It’s me Hallie.” She smiled, waiting for him to remember her.

“Hallie…” Dima tried to remember where he met her. “Oh, yeah, Marat’s Hallie!”

She suddenly lost her smile, “I’m not his, he doesn’t own me.”

Dima kind of sensed a little resentment in her reaction. “No, no, I meant Marat’s friend, Hallie…”

“We’re not friends either.” Hallie said, turning back to look at the rack again. “Friends don’t just drop friends for no reason.” She added under her breath, but Dima was close enough to hear.

He didn’t dare to ask why though. He just diverted the topic to the music. “So, what kind of sound are you looking for?”

“Oh, I’m not really looking for anything…how bout you?”

“Me? I’m kind of into house music…I make my own mix sometimes, but I listen to other artists too.”

“Cool.” She smiled.

“So…you wanna get some coffee or something?”

“I don’t know…I’m actually just waiting for…” She started saying, when somebody called her name.

Dima looked at who it was. He saw a tall muscular guy, about 6foot4, 245lbs, wearing lounge pants, sleeveless undershirt and rubber shoes. He looked intimidating without meaning to, and Dima was kind of intimidated. He was standing at the door, holding it open, waiting for Hallie.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Keith said.

“Well, there he is!” Hallie said, “I gotta go. See you around, Mr. Tursunov!”

“Yeah, just call me Dima.” He smiled nervously, kind of afraid the big guy would see it and think something of it.

“Who was that?” Keith asked Hallie as she approached the door.

“It’s Dmitry Tursunov.” Hallie said, “Don’t you watch tennis?”

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“So what happened then?” Igor asked.

“Nothing. What do you want me to do? Follow them?” Dima said, “That guy could probably throw a whole kitchen sink at me if he tried. Not that there were any kitchen sink around.”

“Wuss!” Misha said, laughing. Igor laughed too.

“I’m not a wuss. I just happen to have a very healthy sense of self preservation.” Dima said. “Who was that guy, anyway? Do you know?” He asked Marat.

“How would I know? I haven’t talked to her.” Marat said.

But he was thinking it was probably the same guy he saw having dinner with her at the Grand Imperial. If so, then he must be her boyfriend.

“Oh, yeah…she sounded kinda angry when I mentioned your name. Did you have some kind of falling out?” Dima asked.

Marat sighed, “You could say that.”

“What’d you do?”

“So it’s automatically my fault is it?” Marat said contemptuously.

But then he thought it was true anyway, so he just sighed. “I followed Sasha’s advice.” He said, smiling a little, bitterly. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, anyway, she seem happy…” Dima said.

“What did the guy look like?” Igor asked.

“Well…he’s big. Tall, dark…and really good looking.”

Everyone went quiet with the last bit he said.

“Ooo-kay, awkward.” Igor said.

“What? I don’t see what the problem is. You asked me how he looked.” Dima said, “Do you have a problem with me saying Marat’s good looking?”

Igor just bursted out laughing at Dima’s being defensive. “Okay, okay!” He said, “I was just kidding.”

“So, how does she look now, exactly?” Misha asked.

“Hmm, lemme see…” Dima said, looking away, trying to find the words to describe how Hallie looked now, when he saw someone across the street. “Exactly like that!” He nodded in her direction.

They all looked at where Dima was looking at saw a girl getting pulled by a huge golden Labrador. She was struggling to keep up with the dog, which was pretty much dragging her. And then the leash slipped from her hand, and the dog ran to the other side of the street to where the guys were.

Hallie followed suit, but she didn’t notice the car heading her way. As if by a sudden rush of impulse and adrenaline, Marat stood up, jumped from the fence enclosing their table, and pulled Hallie by the arm towards him just in the nick of time. He pushed her towards the side of his car, which was parked, and held her under him as the car buzzed past behind him, with only about an inch to spare. It didn’t even stop.

Hallie had her eyes closed, and when she opened her eyes she saw who saved her. They were so close to each other, too close for comfort. His body was pressed against hers, and for what seemed like minutes, they didn’t move. Only when Hallie looked away, did Marat gave her enough space to move.

“Seems you have a knack for getting hit by a car, just like the first time we met.” Marat said, feeling compelled to break the tension.

“It’s not a knack. And you backed up on me.” She said, “Thanks for the save.”

“You’re welcome.” Then he looked at his car, on the spot where he pushed Hallie. “Ah, you dented it again.”

“You pushed me!” Hallie said, amazed at how Marat was actually blaming her for the dent on his car door.

“I’m kidding.” He said, walking away back to the café. Then he stopped and looked back at her. “It’s nice to see you again.” He said. “C’mon, let’s get your dog.”

Hallie just had to smile, and shake her head. Aren’t I supposed to be mad at this guy? She thought. But she didn’t feel that way. She just couldn’t get herself to be mad at him, now that he’s right there in front of her.

At the café, the three guys were petting Helios and he looked like he was enjoying all the attention. She let him stay with the guys for a while, while she and Marat sat and talked.

“So…who’s dog is it?” He asked. He didn’t know she had a dog, and she never told him either. So naturally he presumed that it must be the other guy’s dog.

“He’s mine, since he was born.” She quipped, proudly. “Cute, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” He looked at the dog. “You never told me you have a dog. How come I’ve never seen him before?”

“My brother had him while I was…you know, on the run.” She said.

“I see.” He said. Again he presumed she was talking about Jeff. “How’s Jeff by the way?”

“Oh, he’s in France. He has some kind of training.”

Then there was an awkward moment of silence between them. Marat was thinking about apologizing to Hallie for how he’s talked to her over the phone the last time she called. And with Dima had just told him, he apparently had upset her.

“Listen, Hal…about what I said to you on the phone…” He started, “I know I wasn’t very nice, and that I made you really upset…”

Hallie gave a little laugh, which was a bit sarcastic. “You haven’t seen me very upset.” She said, “But, it’s fine. Doesn’t matter. I’m happy now, so I forgive you.”

He sighed, relieved that she wasn’t mad at him anymore. But he wondered why she said she was happy now. Was it something to do with the guy he and Dima had seen her with? “So, what happened? I think you had something to tell me when you called?”

“Yes, I did!” She said, lighting up. “It’s a long story, but the bottom line is, I’ve moved in to my brothers’ apartment now, and everything’s good and I’m happy.”

“Really?” He said, happy that she didn’t say it was because of the guy in question. “I’m…I’m really, really glad…for you, I mean. So, where is this apartment?”

“Just close by actually.” She said. She turned around to look if she can see the apartment from the café. “You see that tall apartment building three blocks away?”

“Yeah.” Marat said. “Is that where you live?”

“No!” She said, laughing coz he took the bait. “It’s the building next to it, the smaller one with the balcony. But you can’t see it from here, coz it’s smaller. But it’s a pretty swanky place. My brother has good taste.”

He smiled and shook his head. This was one of the things he missed about Hallie. She always managed to make him laugh. It’s probably one of the things that made him addicted to her in the first place.

Then Hallie’s phone rang. She took it out of her back pocket, and read who was calling. It was Keith.

“I gotta take this, excuse me.” She stood up and turned her back but didn’t walk away. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I’m not coming for lunch, so just eat out.” Keith said.

“Aww…but I already made plans on what to make you for lunch.” Hallie said. Marat heard. Everyone in their table heard.

“So, what’s the problem? Just cook it for dinner! Something came up and I can’t leave.”

“Fine.”

“All right. Don’t forget to feed Helios!”

“I won’t.”

“Okay, bye.”

She flicked the phone off, and returned to her seat. “Well, Helios, looks like it’s just me and you for lunch.” She told the dog. “We gotta go. I’ll see you around? Maybe?” She said to Marat.

“Yeah, maybe.” He replied.

“See you guys! By the way, good luck with the tie!” She told them. “C’mon Helios, let’s go!”

After she left, Marat went in a series of teasing from the guys. The change in his mood was just so obvious. He was grumpy just before she showed up, and now he can’t seem to wipe his smile off his face. Dima asked him if he plans on visiting Hallie since he knows now where she lives, but then Misha mentioned Elena and that pretty much scrapped his plans on making any visits.

That evening…

“That’s wonderful. So, how is she?” Elena said.

She was in a shooting of her TV show, but it was not her scene yet. She’s on the phone with Marat. He told her he saw Hallie again, and that they’ve talked and patched things up. He wasn’t going to tell Elena initially, but he slipped up when he accidentally called her Hallie.

“She looks good.” He said, “More feminine, but she still had the attitude.”

Elena laughed, “I don’t think she’ll ever change.” She liked that about Hallie, her being roguish and her being a bit of a tomboy. Like Marat, she finds her amusing too. “Why don’t you invite her to hang out tomorrow night?”

“Huh?” Marat was surprised at Elena’s suggestion. He was kind of expecting her to be mad, or annoyed at least, because he called her someone else’s name.

“What? I think it’s a great idea.” She said, “I haven’t seen her since that night at the restaurant and we didn’t even get to talk to her coz you didn’t want to approach her. C’mon, it will be fun.”

“Uh, okay.” Marat said, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Elena said. But somehow there was a trace of hesitation in her voice. “I’m sure.”

“All right then, I’ll invite her to join us tomorrow for a night out. I haven’t gone out since I came home, anyway.”

“Okay.” She said, “I gotta go, my scene’s next.”

“Da, see you.”

As soon as she cut the call, Marat realized something. He doesn’t have Hallie’s number anymore. She’s changed it, and he had neglected to ask her for her new number when they talked that morning. Then he remembered he knows where she lived. He decided he’ll just go there, and invite her personally.

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The next morning...

“Hi, excuse me.” Marat said to an old lady who had just come out of the apartment building.

“Yes, sir?”

“Do you live here?” He asked.

“No, but I clean here.” The babushka said. “How can I help you?”

“I’m looking for a friend. She lives in this building but I don’t know which unit she is.”

“What’s her name?”

“Uh, her name’s Hallie. Hallie Hunter.” He said, “She lives with her brother, Jeff.”

“Oh, Lt. Hunter!” She said, “Da, da, I know what unit they are. They’re on 401.”

“401. Okay. Thank you.”

“No problem. Have a good day.” She said, as she walked out the front door.

Marat got on the elevator, and went to the 4th floor. The unit was easy enough to find, there were only 10 units on each floor. He rang the buzzer, and waited for someone to answer. While waiting, he rehearsed what he was going to say.

“So, you wanna hang out tonight? …No, that’s too fresh. So, Hal, I was wondering, maybe you want to hang out with me? Tonight? Please? …No, too desperate…and I am not desperate!”

He realized no one has answered the door yet, so he buzzed again. Twice. Then finally it opened and revealed Keith in all his naked glory. Well, not really. He had a towel around his hip and briefs underneath it.

“What?!” He asked when he opened the door.

He just stood there waiting for Marat to speak. He was pretty much still wet, as he had just stepped out of the shower. Marat was stunned. He couldn’t move. Why is this man in there looking like that? Where’s Hallie? Isn’t this her apartment? Does Jeff permit this guy to be here?

“You looking for Hallie?” Keith asked him, hands on hips. He recognized who Marat was. “Come in, I’ll get her.” He told Marat, not waiting for his response.

He turned around and led Marat to the living area. Marat followed even though he felt kind of awkward being there. Marat sat down at the sofa, and watched Keith enter a room without knocking. The door was slightly ajar so he could hear Keith and Hallie’s voices.

Inside, Hallie was still sleeping. She was wearing a tank top and her skivvies, which is what she usually wear in bed. Keith shook her foot to try to wake her up. To no avail.

“Hal, wake up!” Keith said. Hallie just groaned. “C’mon, get up. Put some clothes on, you have a visitor.”

Marat heard that and assumed Hal was probably naked. He couldn’t believe it himself but that was what he was hearing. He remembered that awful dream he had after he saw her and that same guy at the restaurant, and felt sick.

“What visitor?” She said grumpily, turning to lie on her stomach. “No one will visit me…”

“Just get up and see for yourself then.” Keith said.

“I don’t wanna get up.” Hallie said, using her little girl tone. “I’m tired, and my whole body still aches from what we did last night…”

Marat’s discomfort was growing by the second, especially when he heard that. But they were only talking about spending the night at the gym, working out and sparring.

“Oh, c’mon! Don’t be such a wuss!” Keith said, “That wasn’t the first time we did something like that.”

“Yes, but I hadn’t for a long time…you didn’t have to work me so hard, you know!”

“Fine.” Keith said, “But seriously, you really have a visitor so get up already! Don’t make me pull the bed out of the room.”

“Pffft!” Hallie said. She turned over and finally opened her eyes, and smiled when she saw Keith wearing nothing but towel. “You answered the door looking like that?”

“I just got out of the shower, and he kept buzzing. I had to get it.” He said, with a cocky grin. But he didn’t actually find anything wrong with it. He has a well toned body and he had no problem showing it off at all.

Hallie rolled her eyes, and lifted her arms. “Pull me up!”

Keith took both her hands by the wrists with just one hand and pulled her out of the bed, and onto her feet. She was used to that so she didn’t mind the force of it. He does it all the time when they were kids.

She got out of the room and Keith followed her. But when she looked to see who her visitor was, there was no one waiting in the living area.

“Don’t tell me my visitor is invisible?” She asked Keith, thinking he was playing games with her.

“No.” He answered, “He’s a tennis player. Safin.”

“What?!” Hallie squealed.

She tensed up all of a sudden. Thoughts like what could Marat have thought when he saw Keith the way he was. He feared he might think of her the same way the girls at Oleg’s restaurant did.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was him sooner?!” She told Keith.

“You should’ve gotten up when I told you to!” Keith said.

She heard the elevator door beeped as it reached their floor. She had to act quickly. She didn’t have the time to go back to her room and dress up. She looked around trying to find anything she can use to at least cover herself up with, but there was nothing except the towel on Keith’s waist. So she pulled it off him and ran after Marat.

“Hey!” Keith said, covering his crotch but then realized no one else was around and he was wearing underwear anyway so he relaxed.

“Pffft. Girls.” He said, shaking his head as he went to his room.


Hallie didn’t catch Marat at the elevator, so she decided to use the stairs. She ran as fast as she could to try and catch Marat. As she got to the ground floor, so did the elevator.

“Hal!” Marat was surprised to see her downstairs when the elevator door opened, especially with the towel wrapped around her.

“Hey, boss!” She smiled.

“What are you doing here?” Marat stepped out of the elevator.

“I’m supposed to ask you that.” She said, “You came here, so you must have some reason to come see me. So…why’d you left so fast?”

“Well…I figured you weren’t available. You seemed…sounded preoccupied at the moment.” He started walking to the front door.

“What do you mean?” She followed him. There’s that feeling again, she thought, being scared of what he thinks about her.

He stopped. “Nothing.” He said. “It’s not important.”

“It is important.” She said, her voice slightly raised.

“Why?” He asked, matching the tone of her voice.

She was caught with that question. Why indeed was what he thinks important to her? She didn’t have an answer. So, she came up with a simple:

“Just because!” She said.

“You know what, never mind, don’t let me keep your boyfriend waiting for you.” He said sounding miffed. Totally miffed.

“What boyfriend?!”

“What do you mean what boyfriend?” Marat said, increasingly annoyed. “There’s half naked man walking around in your apartment with the over developed chest muscles, who’s probably waiting for you in bed as we speak!”

“It’s called pectoral muscles!” She said, voice still raised. “And you don’t seriously think I’m sleeping with him?! I mean that’s ridiculous! That’s like completely disgusting and…and incestuous!”

“Having sex with your boyfriend is not incestuous!”

“No, it’s not, but having sex with Keith is!” She said, “He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Oh, he’s not is he?” Marat asked. He was thinking what she said just made it worse because she’s sleeping with someone who isn’t her boyfriend.

“No, he’s not! He’s my brother!”

Marat stopped and took that in for a second, “Oh, c’mon! You can’t play the ‘brother card’ here, I know your brother and that is not Jeff!” He said, not buying her alibi.

“No, he’s not Jeff!” She said, “He’s Keith, my eldest brother.”

“What?” Marat said, suddenly realizing his mistake. “Oh…I didn’t know.”

“No, of course you didn’t because you just went on making your own conclusions, without even asking me!” She looked up to the ceiling in exasperation. “That’s exactly why I quit working at Oleg’s restaurant!”

“I’m sorry.” Marat said, “You didn’t tell me you had another brother.”

“Yes, I did!” Hal said, “I told you about him. Remember? I told you he beat up my boyfriend when he found us in bed together, and he told our dad about it!”

“That’s him? I thought it was Jeff…”

“No…” She sighed softly, shaking her head.

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad, it’s clear now.” She said.

Then elevator opened again, and several people stepped out. They were all surprised to see Hallie in the lobby with only a towel on, as far as they are concerned. Some ogled, and some looked away uncomfortably.

“I am not naked underneath, thank you!” Hallie told them, with a fake smile.

Then she turned to Marat. “So, wanna come up so we can talk about why you really came to see me? Right after I get dressed. C’mon.” She said, leading the way to the elevator.

“Okay.” He followed her, “Just as long as you don’t tell your brother what I thought earlier about you and him.” He grinned.

She grinned back. “No, I think I’m gonna keep that card in my pocket until I need him to beat you up!”

Then Marat dropped the grin. “That’s not funny.”

[annie]

Chapter 25

[/u][/center][/color]

Marat and Hallie went back to the apartment and he finally got to tell her why he was really there. But not after she introduced him to her brother.

He was already dressed up so it wasn’t that uncomfortable, although he did give him a long sharp look before he left. He was going to pick Jeff up from the airport.

Hallie told Marat not to mind it so much because Keith does it all the time. He was just being the big brother. She even told Marat that he and her brother were going to be good friends if they give each other a chance because they were so much alike. He asked her what she meant, but she told him he’d figure it out eventually if he sticks around.

He told Hallie that Elena had asked him to invite her for a night out in a popular club later that day. She didn’t turn him down and said she’d meet them there. Also he finally got her new mobile number.

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So, that evening Marat went to the club. He arrived alone because Elena said she’d just meet them there because she hasn’t finished with her shooting. He was there for about thirty minutes when one of his dates finally arrived.

Hallie entered the club and looked for Marat. He said he’d be waiting at the bar, so she made her way across the floor. She was wearing tight black leather pants, black leather boots, and a red one-shoulder tank top, and her hair was down with soft curls, and still little make-up.

When Marat saw her, he saw her in slow motion with the crowd parting and smoke circling around her. He was awestruck like he’s never seen her before, and technically, he has never seen her look like that before. She was in another level of hotness, and he kind of felt like he just suddenly got afflicted with fever. He didn’t even realize his mouth was open until she approached him and closed it for him, which made him hotter with embarrassment.

Hallie laughed, “I look good, don’t I?”

“Yeah.” Marat said, taking a gulp of his drink.

She laughed some more and pinched him on the cheeks.

“You’re so cute!” She told him, trying to make light of the situation by being playful. “But really, is it so impossible for me to look like this that you’re like completely shocked?”

He smiled, “No…it’s not. Not at all.” He said, feeling more relaxed.

He likes this new Hallie. She seems like she’s got a load taken off her back, and she’s more free-spirited so to speak.

“You wanna order something to drink?”

“Any juice would do.”

“Juice? You don’t drink?”

“Ah…no, I don’t.”

“Why not?”

“I cannot have alcohol. I mean, I really cannot have alcohol in my system because I literally shut down.”

“You shut down? What does that mean? Like you pass out?”

“Pass out, black out, whatever…yes, everything just shuts down. Unless you want to carry me back to my apartment and tell my brothers what happened…?”

“Oh, no, no…no alcohol for you, miss!” He said riding on the joke.

“So…where’s your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know…she said she’d be here.” Marat looked at the crowd, “I guess she’ll be late. Let’s find a table so we can talk. Come on.”

They found one near the dance floor. As expected, the music was louder there than anywhere else in the club, so when Hallie couldn’t hear what he was saying, she leaned closer to him. He had a whiff of her scent. She smelled like fresh flowers, and he felt enticed to move closer to her.

When she moved closer to him, he had a good look at her jaw, neck, collarbone and shoulder and he was even more drawn. He had to turn away to stop himself from what he felt like doing.

They talked about a lot of things. They started out with the small things. They talked about the coming DC tie against the US, and the Kremlin Cup. He invited her to watch, but she said she’d think about it. Then they moved to the slightly more personal topics.

“So, Jeff’s back? How is he?” Marat asked.

“Oh, he’s fine.” Hallie said, “He’s got some new tattoos that I don’t get. Anyway, we had an argument earlier coz he won’t give up his rights.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I’ve been using his room since I moved in because he wasn’t there. Now he wants it back, but where am I gonna sleep right?”

“Right.” Marat said.

He just wants to hear her talk and learn as much as he can about her.

“So he said Keith should sacrifice his room for me, but Keith didn’t want to share room with him and said he deserves his own room since he’s paying a bigger share. So Jeff wants me to sleep on the floor if we were going to share a room, but I said if I’m going to sleep on the floor then I’d rather leave. But I know Keith wouldn’t let that happen.”

“So you guys pressured Jeff to just sleep on the floor of his own room.”

“Yeah, something like that.” She smiled naughtily, “He has a really good comforter anyway.”

Marat laughed. He’s thankful he’s never had that problem with Dina since there’s only two of them, and he left home at a young age.

“You seem really close to them, especially Keith.”

“Well, yeah.” Hallie said, “I’d say I’m close to Jeff since I can tell him everything, but, with Keith it’s more like we’re on the same team…most of the time against Jeff. We love play fighting.”

“Or real fighting.” He added, with a sarcastic tone.

“Yeah, that too.” She laughed.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you really quit working at Oleg’s?” He asked, “I got the idea that you got in a fight with the other girls, but Oleg didn’t tell me what it was about. Nor did anyone else there.”

“Well, it’s a long story…”

“It’s okay. We’ve got time.” Marat said, “Anyway, Lena’s not here yet.”

“Okay…”

So she told him everything. The whole story with not one bit of fact left out.

“I mean, can you believe that?” She asked, looking away in disgust. “They actually think I was sleeping with my brother, and getting paid for it! I mean, at least you only thought he was my boyfriend. That’s why it was easier for me to forgive you.”

“Did you tell them that he is your brother?” Marat asked.

“No.” She said, “I was so pissed off and I thought I didn’t have to explain myself to them. They even thought that I had slept with you.”

“They did?!” He said, surprised.

“Yes! They had the audacity to say that maybe I used the fire just so I can sleep with you! It’s totally absurd…and disgusting…and they just made me so angry! I mean, I would never do that in a million years!”

“You wouldn’t?” He said, in a kind of disappointed tone.

Then he realized how he sounded, “I mean…of course, you wouldn’t. I would never think you would.”

He took a huge, long sip of his beverage. Hallie was looking at him skeptically, and he felt like his collar was set on fire.

“I’ll just go to the men’s room.”

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Elena’s house 9:40 pm

“Good night, darling.” Elena said, as he kissed his son good night.

“Good night, mama.”

She stood up and head for the door. She clicked off the lights and was about to go out when her son called her.

“Mama, I thought you were going out tonight?” He said, “Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“I changed my mind, honey. I feel tired. Besides, I think uncle Marat would enjoy his night better without me.”

“Are you fighting, mama?”

“No.” She said, “We’re not fighting at all. In fact I want him to be happy…and this is my way of helping him.” She said, contemplatively. “Go to sleep now, baby, it’s late.”

“Okay. I love you mama.”

“Love you too.” She said. Then she went out and closed the door.

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The Club 9:50 pm

At the men’s room, Marat washed his face thinking it will help cool him down. Then he wiped his face with his own handkerchief. He stared at himself in the mirror and talked himself to relax. Luckily for him, no one else was there.

“What’s wrong with you?” He said, “Stay calm, okay? Be cool!” He slapped his face not too hard. “What’s Elena gonna say if she finds out?”

That’s when he remembered to call Elena.

She hasn’t arrived yet and he and Hallie have been there for about an hour already. So he took out his phone from his pocket and called Elena. She didn’t pick up immediately, and he had to dial again.

After his third attempt she finally picked up. But Elena only told him that she couldn’t come because they haven’t packed up their shoot for the night. She told him to enjoy his night with Hallie though.

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As Hallie was waiting for Marat to come back from the men’s room, a guy approached her and offered her a drink. He was getting fresh with her, dropping all sorts of pick-up lines that she wasn’t even paying attention to. And then finally, she decided to get rid of him.

“What do you say we get out of here…my place is close by…” The man said.

Hallie smiled sweetly…and then she sneezed. “Oh, shoot…” She said, acting all embarrassed. “I’m so sorry…I’m just really allergic to bullsh!t…” Then her smile went from sweet to sarcastic.

“Perhaps I should leave.”

“Not perhaps. Definitely.” She said, sitting straight with arms across her chest and her eyebrow way up.

She rolled her eyes when the guy finally went away. And then out of nowhere, she saw someone from her past, and a chill ran down her spine.

“Oh. My. God.” She said to herself under her breath. For a second she couldn’t move. She didn’t know what to do and how to react.

I need to get out of here, he can’t see me! That was all she can think about.

She took her purse and stood up. She walked towards the exit trying to be inconspicuous so as not to warrant any attention. Her heart was beating so fast, and her hands and feet were sweaty. She was nervous. But before she got to the door, somebody grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Hey, where are you going?” Marat asked.

“Damn it! You scared me!” She said, shaking a little.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing! I have to go…” She was looking around suspiciously. “I really, really have to go.”

“Why?” He asked, confused.

“I just have to, please?” She pleaded. She looked so nervous and Marat didn’t understand why.

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll drive you.” He said. He felt like there was something or someone she wanted to get away from so badly.

“Thanks.”

But before they could go out somebody in the crowd called her name. Marat looked at who it was. It was a man with surfer-style long hair. But Hallie didn’t stop walking.

“Hal, someone was calling you.” He said, trying to keep up with Hallie. He wondered how she could walk so fast in those heels.

“No, it’s nobody. Please, let’s just go!” She took his hand and pulled him out of there.

She didn’t let go of him until they got to his car, and he opened the door for her to get in. She looked so pale and confused. But he couldn’t ask her what was wrong, so he just drove.

As they went further and further away from the club, she began to relax, and he took that as a cue to ask her what just happened. He had a feeling it had something to do with the guy who was calling her name out.

“Do you know the guy who was calling you?” He asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She said.

“So you do know him!” Marat said, “Here we go again, with the lies and the secrets! Why can’t you just tell me everything?”

He was rather annoyed feeling like she didn’t trust him enough to tell him everything. He felt like they were close enough to have the right to know things. He wants to know things. He wants to know everything about her.

“Stop the car!” She said.

They were driving on a bridge now and the traffic wasn’t that heavy but he can’t just stop the car.

“What are you gonna do?”

“Just stop the freaking car, Marat!”

Marat stopped the car, and she got out. She walked towards the railing. Marat killed the engine and followed her. She was gripping the rail and was trembling a bit when he approached her.

“What’s wrong?” Marat asked.

“I said I don’t wanna talk about it okay? Just leave me alone!” She screamed.

“Fine, I won’t ask. We won’t talk about it, just please get in the car?” Marat said, pleading. “Let me drive you home. I promise I won’t ask you anything about it again.”

She turned around and tears were falling from her eyes. She was breathing rather heavily. She covered her mouth with her hands.

“Okay.” She said.

That was the second time Marat has seen her cry. And just like the first time, he felt bad for her. But unlike the first time, when he couldn’t even hold her hand, this time, he did what he felt like he should do.

He did what he felt like he wants to do. He reached out and put his arms around her. He could feel her body tremble as she cried, so he held her tighter.

“I’m sorry, okay? Please, stop crying?” He whispered softly in her ear. “Let’s get back in the car, all right? I won’t ask you again about it. I promise.”

She wiped her tears off, and looked at him. “Okay, let’s go.”

He walked her towards the passenger seat and let her in before he walked to the other side, and they drove off.

Hallie just sat quietly at the passenger seat. Some of her mascara had smeared under her eyes making it obvious that she’s been crying.

A lot of things were going on in Marat’s mind as he was driving. Why was she so upset? Who was the guy who called her? Did she know him from before or just at the bar? Was he bothering her? Harassing her maybe that’s why she was in such a hurry to leave?

Finally, they got to her building. He went up to the apartment with her, just walking behind her as she walked with a blank expression, like her mind was somewhere else. She wouldn’t even have gotten out of the elevator on her floor had he not told her to.


At the apartment, her brothers were watching a basketball game on t.v. It was the last quarter so they were really into it.

“Pass the ball you idiot! Wade’s open!!!” Jeff screamed.

“Shut up you idiot, he can’t hear you!” Keith told Jeff. But he couldn’t contain himself either. “Oh, c’mon what kind of lame shot is that?!”

Then the door buzzer sounded off. “Jeff, get the door!”

“Why me? You get it!” Jeff said.

“Because there’s 15 seconds left in the game…and I’m older than you!”

Jeff slumped, “You always gotta use the age advantage, don’t you?”

“Just get it.” Keith looked at him. Sternly.

“Fine.” Jeff stood up to get the door. And Keith smirked behind him.

When he opened the door, it was Hallie that he first saw. She didn’t look at him and just walked past him. Then he saw Marat.

“Hey, man! Come in.” Jeff said. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I have no idea.” Marat said, as he walked in.

Hallie walked past Keith sitting on the couch, and he saw how she was. And immediately his big brother instinct took over.

He stood up to follow her, leaving the game he was watching on it’s last three seconds, with Dwyane Wade trying to make the winning shot. But Hallie just shut the door behind her on his face, telling him she didn’t want to talk about it. So he turned back around to the living area and saw Marat.

“What did you do to her?!” He yelled at Marat, coming at him with force in his steps.

Marat stood up surprised, but wasn’t intimidated. “I didn’t do anything to her!” He yelled back.

Jeff stood and got in between the two guys before Keith reached Marat. “Whoa, whoa, guys, hold on!”

“What happened to her, then?!” Keith said still angry, “He was the only one with her, so he must have done something to upset her!”

“I didn’t do anything to upset her!” Marat said, “I left her for a few minutes and when I came back she was already distraught, and she wanted to get outta there so bad!”

“See, he didn’t do anything…” Jeff said to Keith, “C’mon Keith, let’s be calm about this, huh?”

Keith relaxed, and backed off a little. They all sat down. Then Marat remembered about the guy who was calling Hallie out.

“I think she was trying to get away from some guy she saw in the club.” He said.

“What guy?!” Jeff and Keith said in unison.

“She said it was no one, but I think she knows him.” Marat told them, “He was about as tall as Jeff, lanky, long surfer style brown or blonde hair…I couldn’t tell it was dark.”

Keith looked at Jeff, “You thinking who I think it was?”

“It looks like him.” Jeff said.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Keith said, thumping his fist on his thigh.

“Who are we talking about here?” Marat asked, cluelessly.

“It’s a long story, and I think if anyone should tell you it should be Hallie.” Jeff told him.

“But that’s the problem, she won’t tell me.” Marat said, “I asked her when we were in the car, and she made me stop right in the middle of the street so she can get out because she didn’t want to talk about it. She was crying, and I had to practically carry her back in the car just to drive her home.”

They were all silent for a moment, considering what to do next.

“Jeff, go talk to her.” Keith said, “Marat, its late, maybe you should go home.”

Jeff stood up and went to Hallie’s room, but it was locked. He knows Hallie wasn’t gonna open it so he went to get something to pick the lock.

Marat wanted to protest, he didn’t want to leave. He wants to know what was happening.

“You’ve done enough, there’s nothing more you can do for her for now.” Keith said.

So, Marat stood up and walked with Keith to the door. His footsteps were heavy with reluctance, but he knows Keith was right. There was nothing more he can do for Hal at the moment. Keith opened the door, and he stepped out with a sigh.

“Hey.” Keith called him after he took a couple of steps. He turned around.

“I know she can be hard to deal with sometimes. I think it runs in the family. So thank you for bringing her home. And for everything you’ve done for her.” Keith told him.

“No problem.” Marat said. Keith nodded.

In that moment, that single moment, something was built between the two men. As an elder brother himself, Marat understood why Keith could be aggressive in being protective of his younger sister.

He figured he would’ve been the same way with Dina. So despite of the way they had first met, and what he initially thought of him, he now has respect for Hallie’s eldest brother. He can now see things on the same page as Keith.

As for Keith, he respects Marat for not taking advantage of his sister. He also respects the fact that Marat seem to genuinely care about his sister. He sees now that he can trust him, and that his intentions for his sister are pure.

He sees that he has integrity and strength of character, and that he is someone who can and will stand his ground. He knows how he protected his sister even after being interrogated by his friends at the MI-6. And those are things that he respects in a man.

[annie]

Chapter 26

Back in Hallie’s room, she had buried herself under the blanket. She didn’t even bother taking off her shoes. Jeff sat down on the other side of the bed quietly. He didn’t say anything and just waited for Hallie to start talking.

He didn’t wait in vain though because after a few minutes, Hallie lifted the cover, and moved closer to Jeff. She hugged him around the waist, and put her head on his stomach.

“Why did I have to see him, Jeff?” Hallie asked, “I was doing okay, why did I have to see him?”

“So, it was him?” Jeff asked.

“Yes.”

“How did you feel?”

“I don’t know.” Hallie said, “I felt so many things…I was afraid, I was nervous…I wanted to see him, but I know I couldn’t…I know he’s bad for me…I mean, he was the whole reason that we…” She couldn’t finish her sentence, and started crying again.

Jeff hugged her, and patted her head trying to comfort her.

“Shh…it’s okay, you’re back with us now. You’ve learned from that experience and you’ve matured.” He told her, “Tell me something, though. How did you feel when you saw him?”

“I don’t know.” She whispered, “All I know is that I hate him.”

“But Hal, the real question is, do you hate him because he left you or do you hate him because you still love him?”

She couldn’t answer. She didn’t know the answer and she didn’t want to think about it either. They sat there on the bed silently for a while, until Hallie asked about Marat.

“Is Marat still outside?”

“No, Keith asked him to leave.” Jeff said, “I think he didn’t want to leave yet, but there was nothing more he can do. But he seems really worried about you.”

“He did?” She sat up on the bed and took her shoes off.

“Uh-huh. But he seems clueless about what’s going on.” Jeff said.

“Look, Hal, not that I’m telling you what to do, I know you don’t like that. But I think you should tell him what’s going on.”

She was silent for a while, considering Jeff’s suggestion. Then she remembered what Marat said while they were in the car: “Here we go again with the secrets and the lies…I just want to know you.”

“I’ll think about it.” She said finally.

“You do that.” Jeff said. Then he went out of the room to leave Hallie with her thoughts.

Outside, Keith was waiting for him to report on what Hallie told him.

“Did she tell you?” He asked Jeff. “Was it him?”

“Yes. It is Ivan.” Jeff confirmed.

“Did she talk to him?”

“No. But she’s really stressed out about it.” Jeff said, “I don’t think she’s over him.”

“No, she’s probably not. Not yet, anyway.” Keith said. He became silent then, looking like he’s deep in thought.

“So, what are we gonna do?” Jeff asked. He knows Keith is working something out in his head.

“Nothing for now.” Keith said to Jeff’s surprise. “We’ll just let it play out. See how this goes.” He stood up, and walked over to the window. He looked at the street four stories below. “You have Safin’s number?”

“Yeah, here.” Jeff searched on his phone for it and showed it to Keith. Keith took his phone and sent the number to his phone. “What do you need it for?”

“Nothing.” Keith said simply, looking far. “Just in case.” He under his breath so only he heard himself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the Davis Cup tie, Marat immediately flew to Thailand. He and Hallie didn’t get to speak before he left, but he did get to speak with Keith. He didn’t tell him much. He just told him that it was Hal’s ex-boyfriend that he saw in the club, that made her want to get out of there quickly, which confirmed Marat’s suspicions.

Keith also apologized for how his sister had acted towards Marat. He also asked him to be more lenient and patient towards her because she has been through a lot.

Marat told him he didn’t even need to apologize and that he understood. Keith thanked him, but he had actually expected him to say that. He can read people well, and with Marat he knows what those two have even if they both don’t know themselves.

In the meantime, Hallie has started working at a gym near their apartment. Her brothers were friends with the owner and luckily for her, one of the staff quit so she got the job.

She has also started taking refresher courses in Journalism. It has been two years since she stopped schooling and she needed to take those classes to be able to finish her course next school year. She just really wanted to keep herself busy.

Elena hasn’t talked to Marat ever since he left for Thailand either. He would call and her send her messages but she refused to accept his calls and only seldom replies to his messages. She would tell him, through text, that she was busy shooting for her tv show, even though she’s not.

She understands that it’s not right, but she didn’t know how or what to do with their relationship. It is starting to unravel and there’s nothing she can do about it. She has been through a lot of relationships and she feels she is just prolonging the inevitable.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 3, 2006 6:00 p.m.

Hallie just finished her shift at the gym, and was packing her things to go home when she received a call from Elena. Her number wasn’t in her phonebook so she didn’t know it was Elena until she said so.

“Yeah?” Hallie said, “Who’s this?

“Hi, Hal, it’s Elena.”

“Oh, hey! How are you?” She said, surprised. She wasn’t expecting to ever get a call from Elena. She didn’t even know how she has her number.

“I’m good. How about you?”

“I’m doing okay…just getting off work actually.” Hal said, “So…why’d you call?”

“Yeah, uhm…do you have free time tomorrow? Say about lunch time?”

“Well, yeah, I don’t have school tomorrow…I guess I’m free.”

“Great! So, let’s meet. I have something I want to show you.”

“Okay. What is it?” Hallie asked, curious of what Elena wanted to show her.

“It’ll be better if I just show you.” Elena said, “So I’ll see you tomorrow noon then?”

“Yes, see you.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Next Day…

Hallie and Elena were at the café having a really light lunch of fresh green salad. Hallie didn’t exactly have breakfast so she was really hungry, but she didn’t want to let Elena pay for a more expensive meal than she’s having so she ordered the same thing she did, even though she knew it wasn’t gonna be enough.

She struggled to keep it out of her mind, until Elena opened up about why she really invited her for lunch, and she completely forgot about her stomach.

“Hallie, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What do you think of Marat?” Elena asked.

Hallie was a bit hesitant about what she was gonna say.

“Well, he’s a good guy. Annoying sometimes, but it’s all good. He’s fun to be around. He can be sweet, too.”

She looked at Elena, “I mean, not as sweet as he must be to you, but yeah, he can be sweet.”

She turned to her plate and stuffed a mouthful of leaves in her mouth.

Elena smiled a little. “So, do you like him?”

Hallie almost choked at her question.

“What?” She said, coughing.

She took a huge gulp of water before she spoke again.

“Well…I mean, we’re friends so I’m supposed to like him…right?”

Elena laughed a little, “Yes, you are supposed to like him…but do you?”

Hallie could feel herself blush. “Why are you asking me this?”

“I guess I should show it to you now.” Elena took her mobile phone out from her purse, tinkered with it a bit and then pushed it over to Hallie.

“Uh…you want to show me your phone?” Hallie asked, puzzled.

Elena laughed, “No! I want you to look at the picture on the phone.”

“Oh!” Hallie laughed too, “silly me!” She took the phone and looked at the picture.

It was one of her and Marat, standing on the bridge with his arms wrapped around her.

At first, she didn’t recognize it. She thought it was just some picture of a postcard of the bridge, with the colorful lights around and all. It would make for a good postcard picture, if it were one. But then, she recognized her clothes and she finally got what Elena was trying to do. Or so she thought.

“Elena…” Hallie said, suddenly nervous. “It’s not what you think…”

“Hallie…”

“He…he was just trying to calm me down…like what friends do. I was crying, and…”

“Hallie, stop.” Elena said, “I wasn’t trying to imply anything. I know and understand the status of your relationship with Marat. You’re friends, at least, for now.” She said the last part inaudibly.

She looked at Hallie. “A friend of mine saw you guys that night and took that with her phone and sent it to me.”

Elena sensed she was nervous. “I’m not mad. Relax.”

“Why are you showing me this then?”

“Because I want you to see that he cares about you.” Elena said.

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“But it is just that. Hallie, he cares about you.” She said, “That’s why I came to you, because I want to ask you a favor.”

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Interpol Building, Lt. Col. Keith Hunter’s Office

Keith was having a conference with the Commander via phone. He placed the call on speakers because he likes to pace around the room when he needs to think really seriously.

The commander was briefing him about the possible mission in Turkey to nab a fugitive they’ve been after for the last month, when Jeff suddenly entered the room complaining about Hallie.

“Hey, Keith you going out for lunch?” Jeff said, as he barged into Keith’s office. “I am so hungry! She’s not at home, and she didn’t even make lunch!”

Keith’s eyes grew big when he figured Jeff was talking about Hallie.

They haven’t told their dad that she’s been with them all this time, as per her request. So he was quite tense, not really about Hallie, but more about how the commander would react.

He tried to give the “quit” hand sign to Jeff, swinging his hand in front of his neck repeatedly in a slicing motion, but Jeff didn’t get what he was trying to say, so he gave up and just prayed in his head that Jeff wouldn’t accidentally drop Hal’s name.

“Where’d she go anyway?” Jeff said, sitting on the couch across Keith’s table. “She left early, but she doesn’t have classes today.”

Then finally noticed what Keith was doing. “What? What, quit what?”

Keith sighed, “Lieutenant, I’m on the phone with the Commander.” He said, calmly, masking his nerves.

When Keith said that, it was Jeff’s turn to panic.

He kept saying “oh sh!t” repeatedly with no sound coming out of his mouth.

“Is that Jeff?” The commander asked.

“Yes, sir.” Keith said, shaking his head while he covered his face with his hands.

“Who’s the girl he’s talking about?”

Keith and Jeff looked at each other.

Keith was so pissed off at Jeff for what he had just done mouthing “I’m gonna kill you!” without a sound, while Jeff was trying to find something in his brain to get them out of this mess.

“I’m talking about…ah…my girlfriend!” Jeff said.

“That’s right! That’s who he was talking about!” Keith said, “His girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” The commander said.

Keith couldn’t read his tone if he was surprised or skeptical, but Jeff could.

“Yes, my girlfriend, what’s so unbelievable with me having a girlfriend?” Jeff asked, not being able to control his sudden outburst.

Keith just had to smile. Jeff saw that and it wound him up some more, but Keith gave him a look telling him to shut it.

“Nothing.” The commander said, “But, you come to Keith to complain about your girlfriend?”

“Well…” Keith said, smiling smugly. “You know me dad, I’m the authority on women.” He had to come up with something, and what better excuse than the truth?

“Fine.” Their dad said, “All right, I’ve gotta go somewhere. Keith, you study the files I sent to your email. I need feedback ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.” And with that, the commander cut the call.

Jeff still looked pissed at his dad not believing he has a girlfriend, and Keith smirking and making fun of him.

“C’mon, Jeff, why so serious?” Keith said, trying to annoy Jeff some more.

Jeff just snarled. He’s not in the mood for games. He was hungry after all. So Keith changed his mind from aggravating things.

“Okay, I’m sorry.” Keith said, “But you gotta admit, you are notoriously shy around girls. Especially really pretty girls. That’s why dad was skeptical about your so-called-non-existent-girlfriend.”

“I know.” Jeff sighed. “Well, it was the best I could come up with on short notice.”

“Yeah, well, I would congratulate you for a good job thinking on your toes, but that was one lame lie!” Keith said laughing.

Jeff threw a magazine at him, and he just kept laughing.


Back in Germany, the Commander kept thinking about what he heard through the phone. It’s not that he didn’t believe Jeff has a girlfriend; it’s just that he never once mentioned it to him before.

For someone who has never had one, he was pretty quiet about it if he really had one now. His heart was telling him to just be proud his son found someone, and be happy for him, but his instinct was telling him something wasn’t right.

But, for now he’ll set the thought aside. He has other pressing matters to deal with.

[annie]

Chapter 27

October 6, 2006 The Hunters’ apartment

The three of them, Keith, Jeff, and Hallie were having dinner. Jeff and Keith were discussing about work, and Hallie wasn’t making a sound. She wasn’t even paying attention. Usually, she would be interjecting herself into the conversation. The guys wouldn’t mind as she really did have a knack for their kind of work. But, since she had lunch with Elena, she’s become really quiet and seemed to always be in deep thought.

“Hal, pass the salt.” Jeff said.

But she didn’t hear him. She was looking at her plate moving food around. Jeff nudged Keith foot, and motioned for him to look at Hal.

“What’s wrong with her?” Keith asked.

Jeff shrugged, “She’s been like that since two days ago, spacing out, not paying attention…”

“Did you ask her why?”

“No.” Jeff said, “It’s your turn!” He stood up and took the salt himself.

“Since when did we start taking turns?”

“Since tonight!” Jeff said, “I have a date.”

“You? Have a date?” Keith asked, he looked at Jeff smirking. “Is this because dad and I made fun of you the other day about you having a girlfriend?”

“No, I just happen to have a real date.” Jeff said.

He stood up and left the table. Keith shook his head smiling, but when he looked at Hal she was still doing the same thing, oblivious of what just happened. He knew who it was she met for lunch two days ago but she didn’t tell him what they talked about. But now, he could only assume they talked about Marat. But he didn’t want to meddle in his sister’s affairs regarding these kinds of matters again. And besides, he likes Safin.

“Hal!” He snapped his fingers in front of Hallie’s face.

“Huh?” Hallie dropped back down to earth. “What?”

“Finish up you meal, it’s my turn to wash the dishes.” Keith said, “I’m not gonna wait for you.”

So, Hallie finally got to eating and finished her meal in 10 minutes. Then Keith cleaned up the table and brought the dishes to the sink. Hallie followed him, and helped with wiping the plates.

“Do you have plans tomorrow night?” Keith asked.

“No, why?”

“You wanna go to the new art gallery? There’s a photo exhibit opening tomorrow and I got tickets.”

“You bought tickets for a photo exhibit?” Hallie asked.

Keith wasn’t the type to appreciate contemporary art. He always liked sculptures and renaissance paintings.

“No, actually, some girl gave them to me.” He grinned. “What was I supposed to do? Reject them, and hurt her feelings?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway.

“But you’re taking me. Something tells me her feeling’s gonna be hurt more especially if you don’t tell her I’m your sister.”

“When did that bother you?” Keith asked.

He's right. It never bothered her before. She used to intimidate or scare away girls that gets to close to her brothers. She was possesive of them, especially Keith, since she didn't exactly have a great relationship with their dad and he was the closest thing she had even though he's only four years older than her.

“Okay. What time is it?” Hal asked.

“Tomorrow at 7.” Keith said, “Get the tickets at the table in my room later, I don’t wanna lose them. I’ll just meet you there.”

“O-kay.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

The next night…


Hallie has been waiting for her brother outside the gallery for the last half-hour. People have already started entering, and there was still no sign of Keith. She tried to call him on his mobile phone, but it was out of reach or shut off. She’s growing impatient by the second and was about to leave when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.

“Where you going?”

It was Marat. Hal was surprised, but Marat was more surprised because Hal almost threw him over her shoulder by the wrist.
“Whoa! Whoa! It’s me, it’s me!”

“Damn it, boss!” Hal said.

She let go of his wrist when she finally turned to look at him. “When are you gonna learn not to sneak up on me like that? I could’ve hurt you!”

“Sorry.” Marat said, chuckling. He didn’t know why he was chuckling himself, but he was. “I forgot you’re the Kung-Fu Master.”

She playfully punched him in the stomach. “What are you doing here anyway? When did you come home?”

“Just last night. Oh, yeah, I came to tell you your date isn’t coming. So I’m gonna have to do.”

“Wait a sec, you talked to Keith?” She asked.

She couldn’t believe it. Her brother and Marat are talking behind her back? She did say they would get along because they’re so much alike but she didn’t think it would happen so soon.

“Since when did you become bff’s with Keith? Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”

“It’s a long story. And didn’t you stop calling me boss already? Just Marat, okay?” Marat said.

He snatched the tickets from Hal and started walking to the entrance. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile…at Elena’s apartment.

She was in her son’s room. He was doing his assignment, and she was on the phone talking to someone.

“I know. I really want to try. I want to make it work this time.” Elena said. “Just give me some time… All right. I’ll see you soon. Bye.” Then she ended the call.

She stared at her son and decided she was gonna have to do what she’d talked about with her caller. And the sooner she does the better. She just hoped it would be the right thing for everyone involved. It was a pretty hard decision to make since she really does love Marat. But with Hal in the picture, it made things easier for her.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the gallery…


The two have been roaming around the gallery for a while. The photo exhibit was divided into three categories.

The first one they saw was all cityscapes, playing with artificial lights, and fast moving objects. It was an ‘okay’ collection but nothing really fancy that caught their interest, so they moved on to the next part which was all about landscapes.

The photos were subject to natural lights. The places in the photos weren’t some place no one has ever seen but with the help of the proper lenses and lighting, they looked like pictures from another dimension. Hallie quite liked it, but Marat was more interested in the last part of the collection.

It’s supposed to show a woman’s body as it depicts nature and the celestial. Or so it says in the pamphlet. Go figure.

“Let’s go over there!” Marat said, pulling Hallie’s arm. “Nudes! Now, that’s art!”

“Oh boy!” Hallie said, in mock enthusiasm.

There were only eight blown up pictures in the collection. The photos were in black and white, using natural lights. Amazingly, they didn’t look tacky at all. They were very classy and artistically done and not at all like what you would see on Playboy.

The first one they saw was a picture of a woman’s legs from toes to probably the hips, strategically covering the private parts with some kind of silk or satin cloth, standing in a corner of a room.

“Hmmm…nice legs.” Marat said, reading the title of the photo. “Wouldn’t mind having those wrapped around my waist.” He had a naughty little smile on his lips and it didn’t escape Hallie

She looked at him in mock disgust. “Is everything about sex with men like you?” She asked.

“I’ll get back to you on that, let’s see the next one.” He ushered Hallie along to the next photo.

Photo number two showed the same woman’s naked back, from the nape of her neck down to just above the hips. She was standing through an open door with the same piece of cloth covering her bottom, with a really comfortable looking bed in the background inside the room. It was a very sexy picture.

The middle of her back and the ripples of her muscles and bone structure were very clear but delicate.

“Wow…” Marat said. “That’s so hot.”

Hal hit his rib with her elbow.

“What? I’m appreciating art….besides, it is hot! I wouldn’t mind giving her a back rub.”

“Let’s just move on to the next one, please.” Hal said.

Picture number three showed the other side the second picture. It showed her from the neck all the way down to her thighs, with the cloth loosely wrapped around her hips. Fortunately, her arms were across her bosom, so only her cleavage is seen. She had really sexy abdomen. Her bosom seems to be just right, not small and not too big.

“Oooh…” Marat exclaimed, “I could eat off of that tummy, huh? Just add honey and were all set.”

He was expecting Hallie to make another sarcastic come back but she didn’t. She looked surprised and a bit uncomfortable.

“What’s the matter with you?” He asked.

“Nothing…it’s just…it looks…” Hallie said, “Familiar.”

“What do you mean familiar, you know who the model is or something?” He asked.

“No. Never mind, let’s go to the next one.”

Picture number four is a picture of her whole body, except for the face. She was lying on her side almost in a fetal position, her legs strategically positioned to hide what should not be seen as well as her arms. The cloth was nowhere in sight. The curve of her body was magnificent, from the highs of her shoulder, to the depths of her waist, to the rise on her hips, and the lows of her legs. It was one continuous wave or flow.

“Damn.” Marat said, “Is this collection supposed to make me horny? Coz it’s seriously working.”

He fanned his collar around his neck. He looked at Hal and she looked really pale.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, “Do you feel sick or something? You wanna go?”

“No, I’m fine.” She said, “Did it say in the brochure who took these photos?”

Marat took the brochure from his pocket and scanned for the info. “Uh…yeah, it says here he’s from Ukraine…”

He turned to Hallie again, but she wasn’t at his side anymore.

He looked around and saw her walking past pictures 5, 6, and 7 and then stopped just close to the final picture of the collection. He followed her and she looked really shocked.

“Hal, what’s wrong?” He asked.

She couldn’t say anything. She just looked wide-eyed at the last picture. Marat looked at the picture too and saw why Hal was so shocked.