Scarlet hailed down a taxi she felt good about the interview. Although she had waited for almost six hours watching as the other candidates were called in and as they left. She saw different reactions from each one of them. Some seemed happy and pleased, others looked confused and doubtful. While others looked like they were on the brink of tears.
She was nervous at first but when she walked out of the board room she was confident. She didn’t go with her originally planned answers because the questions were different. They focused on the field but mostly asked about her personal life. When it came to why she wanted the fellowship, she couldn’t help but speak about her parents and how the help she received helped her get through it intact.
Scarlet was heading back to the hotel she knew that Kayla would be less than pleased about the time but it was out of her control. She found her in the hotel room.
“So?” Kayla was hoping for good news.
“They said they will get back to me in two weeks. But am pretty sure I nailed it.” She was sure and was excited about it.
“So what did you do all day?” Scarlet was curious because she looked like she had gone out. She was also wondering why their suitcases were on the beds. It seemed like she was packing that wouldn’t have surprised her considering all she did was talk about Solara.
“I was thinking we could go out for dinner. We rarely spend time together these days. Then maybe we could go back home tomorrow.” Kayla chuckled once. She had missed Solara and couldn’t wait to go back home.
Scarlet laughed she was also anxious to get back home, a day without Stephan was all she could bear. She couldn’t wait to share her bed with him again.
“Definitely. But you didn’t get a chance to go down to the Post or don’t you want to do that anymore.”
“I already did I thought we would save time that way. The thing is the only available flight out of Washington heading our way is at midnight so I booked it.”
“That’s ok we have time to explore our future home tomorrow. More girl time.”
That night they went out to dinner then a movie. When it still looked early they decided to hit a few clubs. Kayla decided and Scarlet went along with it.
The next morning they slept in they only woke up at noon. They packed everything before going out again. This time they followed Kayla’s guide visiting all the attractions, familiarizing themselves with the routes they would take when they got their dream jobs. The day flew by and they returned to the hotel at nine to get ready for their trip back home. They hadn’t bothered to call the guys to pick them up they were expecting them in the evening. They wanted to surprise them the morning of.
***
Stephan and Solara were still arguing about partnering with Mathias. He wasn’t ready to see past his anger.
“It doesn’t matter if he didn’t do it personally, but he killed her.” The emotion in his voice was evident. It hurt him just as much as the day he learned of her death.
Stephan felt his pain, he knew it all too well. That night he watched as she was killed but now there was nothing they could do about it. “You need to think about Kayla and Scarlet now. We need to protect them.”
He wasn’t sure what he had said but it made Solara’s anger worse. He charged at him shoving him against the wall. When Stephan’s back hit the wall it crushed in sending little pieces of stone flying. He pulled him forward to hit him against the wall again but Stephan swiftly got out of his grip and pinned him on the ground.
Vincent stood away from them with no intentions of getting in between the fight.
Solara struggle against his hold but couldn’t budge. “It’s your fault my sister is dead. It is your fault that Scarlet and Kayla are in danger. So why don’t you just leave?”
Stephan took a step back. Although Solara had spoken out of anger he was right. The hunters wanted him and no one else. He ran his hand through his black hair thinking about the new suggestion that was thrown at him. He could leave move to a different place where Scarlet would not be able to get hurt. But that also meant leaving her behind and a part of him didn’t like the thought of it.
He couldn’t be away from her as selfish as it sounded it was true. She had become part of his life and played a major role in it. But Scarlet would soon be going to Washington assuming she got the fellowship. She could go and he would stay in San Francisco. That way he wouldn’t have to leave and he would know where she was.
What would he tell her, nothing was tying him here. In the chance that she did ask him to move with her, what would he claim was holding him back?
He was wallowing in his thoughts when he caught a whiff of Scarlet’s scent. When he looked up he noticed he was not the only one.
“They are home early. I thought they were coming back tomorrow or did we make the mistake.” Vincent walked to the window hoping to get a glance at them. The two girls were getting their suitcases from the boot of the taxi.
“They wanted to surprise us.” Solara had a faraway look in his eyes. He was reading their thoughts, and they were excited to be home. The mess that they had created was sure to get their attention.
“The wall guys I am guessing we have a cover-up story for that.” Vincent brought their attention back to the huge dent on the wall.
“Hey, guys…” Scarlet was the first to burst in through the door, an excited look on her face.
She walked straight to Stephan and threw her arms around his neck. She was snuggling in his arms when she saw the wall behind him. Slowly she loosened her grip and in short steps approached it. With each step she took towards it she could hear the crushing of little cement particles under her feet.
She raised her hand and touched the wall. “What happened here?”
When she didn’t hear an answer, she turned around to face the three suspects. “Considering you are all standing not more than a meter from me, I assume you heard me.” She was livid not just because of the damaged wall but because no one spoke up.
Vincent lifted his hands in surrender and took a step back retreating from the line of fire.
“This is going to cost us a fortune,” she said in a whimper as she turned back to the damaged wall. Money was already tight for them. Considering the expensive trip they had just taken, they weren’t in a good position to be reconstructing a wall.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s our mess we will fix it. Right Solara?” Stephan glared at him. Although it was him who crushed into the wall Solara pushed him into it.
“Right.” He answered in the same low snarl Stephan had directed to him. “We will start working on it tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you get a professional to work on it?” Kayla stepped into his arms for a tight embrace. “So is anyone going to tell us what happened? Or don’t we want to know?”
“I don’t think you want to know.” Vincent shook his head as he answered her. What were they going to tell them? That Stephan crashed into the wall after Solara pushed him. Then they would have to explain how that was humanly possible. How there was nothing human about it.
“I will call someone in the morning Scarlet you don’t have to worry about it.” Stephan hadn’t noticed that the sun was up already and was streaming in through the cracks in the curtains.
“It is morning.” Scarlet went to him and tucked herself by his side. “Why are you guys up at this hour anyway.”
The guys exchanged looks thinking of what to say. What excuse would be appropriate?
“We were just fooling around when the accident with the wall happened. We were on our way to bed.” Stephan picked up Scarlet’s suitcase and tugged her behind him, “Am sure you are also tired so let’s go to bed you can rest. Then when you wake up you can tell me how your interview went.”
More than he was curious he needed to know how everything would turn out. He still thought about what Solara had told him. He was considering it but he wasn’t going to make any rash decisions.
They left the other three people downstairs chatting away. Kayla always seemed like she was powered by a nuclear plant. So unlike her, Scarlet’s energy source always run out too quickly.
“Stephan, I was so nervous. But I think I nailed it.” She was excited again and tried to battle the sleep that was creeping up on her.
He loved seeing her so excited and so happy, so sure of herself. She had the confidence he only wished he had. If only he could be sure that his involvement with her would not take a turn for the worse, he would enjoy this moment with her. He would enjoy every single moment with her.
As soon as he tucked her into his arms she fell asleep. He listened to the rhythm of her breathing cherishing it.
The next morning just as they promised a couple of men were patching up the hole in the wall. The workmen were a bit shocked wondering what caused but they worked on it promising to do their best.
***
Stephan was thinking about taking Scarlet back to the beach that Friday night. He needed a proper way to thank and apologies for the damage his back did to her wall. But he would have to prepare first. He planned for them to spend the night there but wasn’t sure how to go about it. He wanted to make it romantic but he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. Asking one of the guys would only make them torment him even more. Kayla wasn’t a good confidant, she had a no secret policy when it came to Scarlet. Those were the only people he knew except…
He watched Marcie as she busied about the diner. He thought he could ask her. He had never said more than two words to her at a time, but according to Kayla and Scarlet, she believed in happily ever after. Who better than a fairy tale believer, to help him with the perfect setting. He didn’t know how good she was at keeping secrets but he would soon find out. He waited for her to take her cigarette break at the back before he went to her. He used the front door so as not to look suspicious. Everyone was bound to notice if he followed the redhead through the kitchen.
He spotted her by the dumpster a cigarette in her mouth. “Hallo Marcie.” He tried not to sound so formal but couldn’t help it he didn’t know her.
He felt a little ashamed that the one time he would speak a full sentence to her, would be to ask for a favor. There was nothing he could do about that now he needed the help.
“Hey, Stephan! What are you doing back here?” her face beamed.
She was always cheerful. Stephan noticed a hint of Southern accent in her voice. He decided to move closer to her he didn’t want to look rude.
“I wanted to ask if you could help me with something. It’s for Scarlet and if I ask Kayla she will tell her. It’s a surprise.” He was going to appeal to her good nature if he had to. Scarlet had done something special for him. He was bent on returning the gesture even if he had to grovel.
“Sure. Anything for Scar. What do you have in mind?”
He saw that it would be easier than he thought. He told her the rough part of it and waited for her to fine-tune it. To use her fairy tale mind to help him create a fairy tale moment for the woman he loved.
Marcie gave him an idea and how to set it up, now it was up to him to execute it. He left Vincent to watch over Scarlet as he busied about preparing for the night. Some of the things he bought didn’t make sense to him but he still followed Marcie’s instructions. Armed with the piece of paper he went around town shop by shop buying scented candles, white linens, and wine.
He stopped by a women’s clothing store, he needed to pick something for her, technically for him but still thinking of her. He walked through the lingerie section, looking through the merchandise. Only one piece caught his fancy, it was not as revealing as the others but it suited her best. Now that he had everything he needed he ran to the beach to set up.
***
Scarlet was still at the diner, she noticed Stephan’s absence but didn’t think much about it. She knew it was nothing bad because he would have told her. She was dead on her feet and too tired to worry about the trouble he was getting into, she wished the day would end already.
Kayla had almost started a fight, as it was in her nature she didn’t back down when one of the rowdy men challenged her. Solara was by her side in a flash, tossing the man and his company out after insisting they paid their bill. Because no damage was caused Joany let it slide. Scarlet had watched from the sidelines grateful that Solara was there. She was happy that she would not be the only one dealing with the after-effects of Kayla’s outbursts.
She was attending to the last customer when Stephan walked in, he seemed more than unusually excited to see her. She returned his smile before she returned her attention to the customer.