1927: Redemption

Resolution

“I will be generous with my love today. I will sprinkle compliments and uplifting words everywhere I go. I will do this knowing that my words are like seeds and when they fall on fertile soil, a reflection of those seeds will grow into something greater.”

-Steve Maraboli

21 DECEMBER 2021- MIAMI, FLORIDA

Our beloveds’ were almost there! Almost! His hands were just tightening around her waist, pulling her in, as her hands were just sliding above his chest, feeling the heat generated from friction- when from the bushes beyond the hammocks a few dozen yards away suddenly a voice came:

“Adeline Martinez! I have finally found it, the way is a little foggy. We can star-nnng! What the hell?!”

Their hands froze.

There was a moment of silence that Adeline really, really wanted to call it pregnant, but couldn’t be, because she still had too many damn clothes on!

In the swift moment, he stepped away and left Adeline bereft. “Nothing.” His voice sounded cool and composed as if he had just been double-checking his accounting.

Adeline did not know whether to strangle Ace or groan out loud. Since the latter was probably much easier to accomplish, she decided on that.

“What are you laughing about Martinez?” Ace demanded, still in the bushes.

“You of course.” She replied in annoyance, and a little mocking manner.

Ace immediately stepped out of the bushes but didn’t look at the beast, pretending as if he was not present over there.

“Shut up! Now listen, I found the location, but before that should we set out now, or do you wish to eat first?” He asked Adeline, still ignoring the beast.

Dusting off her hands, she started saying, “We will-”

William did not let her finish, as if drawn by a magnet, his dark eyes slid back to her. “I must admit, I feel quite hungry,” he admitted, his gaze raking over Adeline’s curves. “But I think it’s better if we get moving and finish the task.”

And, without one word, he grabbed Adeline’s bag from the ground, and a moment later, it hit Ace in the chest with a heavy thud. Ace did not so much as flinch, but grabbed the thing and sling it over his shoulder, as William disappeared from their sight.

It took her a while for her mind to resurface from the delirious whirlpool of passion it was leisurely bathing in. She had been marching off for half a day, and not in her wildest imaginations, she thought her mind would be splashing around in pleasant daydreams involving the beast’s pectorals. When it cautiously peeled its nose through the surface for the first time and realised the sudden temperature drop in the air, making it cold air of reality, it was quite a shock to her.

“Care to explain what had just happened?” Asked Ace as her eyes travelled on his somehow stable form.

Well, really, what had just happened?

In a snippet- he came, rescued her again, held her in his arms, and almost gave in.

Keyword- almost!

Oh god!

What had she done?

Had she just really got rid of her anger…. and then, with him….and he grabbed her and… they were…. Oh god!

What if Ace had not come when he had? She did not know much about what went on between a man and a woman, but she did know that the intensity of emotions was quite high between them and it could have led them to…. Ah, yes that.

Belly swelling and baby producing.

Wait, Adeline, you’re exaggerating!

But, the thought of a baby? She shuddered at the very thought. To swell up like a balloon, suffer through the incredible pain of breaking bones. Not a bone, but bones! No, thank you! She already had lovely tasks at her hand, and that, thankfully, did not include any balloon.

There were several questions at the moment, and she did not have answers to them.

But there was one quest to which the answer was crystal clear.

Did she want something like this to ever happen again?

No!

No, no, no, nononononono, and again, no!

The thoughts of the wild, irrational passion she had felt a few minutes ago. It seemed very far away now. When logic weighed against all the ramifications, all the problems, all the unanswered questions, the unresolved feelings and unspoken words that awaited them if this repeated itself, it did not seem like much. No, a few moments of passion definitely were not enough reason to risk her dignity, feelings, and future let alone her self-esteem. Right then and there, she came to a firm resolution that William and Adeline were finished!

But, then she felt his hard gaze on her face and remembered his hard body pressed up against hers, and she realised that some things might be even firmer than her firm resolution.

Adeline was deciding her resolution while Ace covered the distance between them and gave her a push on her shoulder. “Are you alive?”

She trudged a back bit, and looked at him- no glared at him. “I’m still breathing, aren’t I? Besides,” furrowing her eyebrows, she nudged his chest by her index finger asking, “you don’t care, now do you? Because from what I can see, you left me with, with-”

He arched his perfect black eyebrow, asking, “With?” A smirk grazing his lips.

Squinting her eyes, she spat, “With him! Who else?”

Rolling his eyes, he pulled her alongside and started walking back, commenting, “You seemed quite comfortable with him. I chose not to intervene.”

Jerking her hand away from his grasp, “I was not. And, why the hell did you not speak with him?”

And that question remained unanswered all the way back to the place where the arrow's end was there.

Great!

Just what she wanted! Two persons ignore each other’s presence.

A thought popped in Adeline’s mind- did Ace know about William’s plan?

Or was it a pure coincidence?

If it was- then why was Ace so relaxed?

Well, the question is if he really was.