It was easier to be invisible in Goldstone. The Neon City people were more indifferent to their surroundings, let alone other people. They have to find a place to stay for one night and then they’ll pick up her identity the next day before going straight out of town to an airport.
Diego didn’t want to risk flying out from Goldstone because big city airports usually have higher security surveillance. It was something he learned from experience and Ari needed to learn it too.
The day was turning dark when they arrived, the neon lights were lighting up the city of the Neon Dreams. She was too steamed-up to go on hiding. She wanted to get a little bit of taste of the starlight.
“Come on … just a stroll in the alleyways … it doesn’t have to be a party or anything like that,” she covered her head with her hoodie while pulling his hand.
He wasn’t keen on the idea, they were supposed to be in hiding.
“Let’s have dinner and a drink … between friends … we can call ourselves that can’t we? How often do we get to do that?” She raised a shoulder.
Close to never, but it was still a bad idea.
“It’s our last night together … and then I’ll be out of your hair …” she pursed her lips, there was sadness in her eyes that she didn’t express in words.
He let out a long exhale, “Okay … just one drink and then we should go.”
They found a Sake bar in one of the alleyways that also serves Japanese food. She pulled his jacket to check out the place. The bar was almost full but not quite, most of the visitors were Japanese. They were the only non-Japanese people there and another couple in the corner.
“Would you like to use our Kimono?” the receptionist greeted them.
She smiled widely and turned to Diego, “Do you have the Geisha wig also?”
“Aaah … wig … yes … do you want that too?”
She nodded, “Perfect.”
Diego scanned the room, there was nothing suspicious about the place, he peeked out on the street before they went in, the alley was clear. He caught a glimpse of what looked like an Inn a few doors down, “We can stay there after.”
“Great,” her smile was even wider.
No one else was wearing the Kimono, but nobody cared that they did. The room was loud with people talking in Japanese, drunken laughs and happy people socializing. The lights were dimmed, the largest group in the room were sitting in the round dish bar in the middle with Sake coming like a free flow. It felt like the right place to hide in plain sight.
“This reminds me of Izakayas in Japan … I never thought they have one of these in Goldstone,” she sat across from him in the cubicle at the very back of the place.
Diego took another glance at the whole place, it was perfect, he breathed easy.
“Are we good?” she made sure.
He raised a brow, “Looks like it.”
“Sake night it is then?” she was jittery rubbing her palms together.
He pointed his index fingers, “One drink … we agreed on that.”
“Sure … dinner first,” she agreed.
Four bottles of Sake later ….
“The start of a new life … for the both of us,” she raised a shot glass and drank to her own toast.
“Have you decided where you want to go?” it was a question he’d been meaning to ask.
She tilted her shoulder, “I thought I’m just gonna wing it … go to the airport, close my eyes and point to a random destination.”
“I guess that would work.”
“What about you? Do you know where you’re going? … but wait … of course, you’re retiring, you’ve been planning it for years, haven’t you?”
He nodded lightly, “I think I have an idea …”
“Right … don’t tell me … it’s a secret … do you think we’ll ever see each other again?”
He looked into her eyes for a moment, “I don’t know … it’s a small world, they say.”
She chuckled, “If we never see each other again … I just want you to know how grateful I am … you’ve saved my life more times in the past ten days than anyone I’ve ever known in my lifetime.”
He smiled, he was putting his life on the line for that, but she was worth it, he raised a shot glass, “Just doing my job.”
“How does it feel? To save a life … instead of taking one? No offense … I mean … you’re …”
He laughed lightly, “None taken … I know what you mean … it’s just a job … more often than not, I was saving a life by taking another … I saved more lives by taking another, it’s funny how the world works.”
“So are you a villain … or are you a hero?”
“It depends on whose side you’re on, everyone’s a villain in someone’s story.”
She rested her droopy eyes on his face, in a drunken light he was getting easier to look at, she gasped, “I need another drink,” she raised her hand to order another set of Sake.
“Have you ever been afraid of anything? With your job … it must take a lot of courage to be able to do what you do?” she asked.
He didn’t answer right away, “Everybody’s afraid of something.”
“But not you? I don’t think you fit in that category.”
He pursed his lips, “You’d be surprised.”
“Really? Try me.”
He hesitated at first, “Okay … I’m afraid to end up alone,” he raised his brows, “That’s the reason why I want to retire … I’ve been alone for 10 years and it’s not easy at times … it gets very lonely, and the thought of going through the rest of my life alone terrifies me.”
It struck her, loneliness is a very humane emotion that could plague any normal human being, “Is that how it feels like to be on the run?”
He sat back and rested his chin on his hand, he nodded, “It is for me … the first few months was not so bad, after two years … the silence can break you, I tried to be in the company of people, but it’s not the same when you can’t be who you really are … you’re not really there … the moment you find someone you want to connect with, is the moment you have to flee and disappear, and you’re back to where you started.”
It was exactly what was happening with him at that moment, he couldn’t break from his habit or the lifestyle he was accustomed to.
She pursed her lips, “Hmm … I’ll probably die a lonely old lady, hiding in fear … in a cave somewhere,” she laughed. She was joking, but there was some truth in it, it was her fear talking. “How long do you think it will take for people to forget my face? How long will he still be looking for me?”
He sat back, folded his arms in front of him and shook his head. He refused to give her an answer.
“What? Just a ballpark figure … 5 years? 10 years? In my forties? He’ll probably won’t be interested in me anymore by then … right?” She was looking for a confirmation that what she wanted to believe was true.
“You should know that better than I do, do you think he’s ever going to stop looking for you?”
She grimaced, and waved a dismissive hand, “15 years tops,” she laughed at the irony. Armand had managed to be the center of her universe, even to get away from him will take so much from her.
He wanted to convince her one last time that he could make it a lot easier for her, but he kept it to himself, he couldn’t let his emotions interfere. She deserves to have a peaceful life and she will never be able to do that unless Armand Lombardo was dead.