In the morning, waking up in bed without Eve at my side was a terrible feeling for me to deal with. Explaining to her about my phobia of being touched by women makes Eve sad of having to confirming it to her, although she already knows about it. Not to mention, the fact that she was not here made me feel lonely.
Sitting on the edge of my bed and releasing an exhausted sigh, I moved to the bathroom to getting ready for the day. After taking a shower, brushing and combing my hair, and putting on my clothes, I was finally prepared to start the day.
Before I head downstairs though, I suddenly remember that there were another credit card lying about in a nearby cabinet that my father did not bring with him as I approached it and through some time of digging whatever contents is inside there, I eventually pick it out.
“Father…” I looked at the picture of him that reminds me of family portrait. The name of the company we used to work for is written on the backside, but it does not mean anything to me. Seeing the picture of my deceased dad, I could only imagine the memories that I had with him.
It was a happy and peaceful moment in which our relationship was never truly strained, like father and son that are close to each other.
I will miss him, even though he was not my biological father; I would keep saying this to myself that this man who adopted and raised me like his own child was the real father that I needed to be grateful for. With a bitter and painful laugh, I placed the card in my pockets.
With a sad sigh, “this card is still his, but his bank account is conjoined with mine so I should be able to use it as mine, right dad?” I sadly said to the empty room.
Shaking off these nostalgic thoughts and memories, I begin to go downstairs-immediately being struck by the delicious aroma emitting from the kitchen that is filled with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and breakfast.
“Aye! Good morning lad!” Clover was the first one to greet me; his eyes are wide and excited with a big grin on his face. His bright red cheeks are flushed from the heat of his fire, but it did not stop him from greeting me with a warm welcome.
The trio was sitting on the dinner table, where Skoll was knocked with bottle at hand, snoring from his rested head on the table. Clover also seemingly looked drunk from drinking whatever they were drinking last night.
“Good morning, everyone,” I greeted them as I sat down on a chair that has prepared breakfast in front of me. While Clover and Skoll are whenever they are in their drunkard states, Eve were silently munching down her food with a neutral look.
Based on the way these three are displaying as, I believe they partied and bonded during the night before; however, the only thing that is missing are the bottles of alcohol that is usually present when Eve and Clover drank.
Glancing on Eve, I realized that she was acting strange; usually when I go greet her, she would first respond with a response of either a smile or a nod. However, today, she was not even responding to me with a simple gesture.
All well, I suppose that she is experiencing some strange emotions when under the influence of alcohol. Because the way Eve is, this former assassin never drank a bottle of alcohol before and only did it now o at night because of unknown circumstances.
While thinking to myself, I took a sip from the cup of hot and fresh coffee. It is a bit too sweet but it was still a great drink for waking up. After a few more sips, I felt the warmth of the coffee spreading throughout my body and it made me feel better—it feels like a nice and refreshing start of the day.
Aside from the taste, the coffee had a wonderful scent of a mix of rich, dark roast and smooth, creamy milk; it was a delightful combination. Even though it was a little bitter, the flavor was still pleasant to the tongue.
As I finished the rest of the coffee, I noticed that there is eggs, steak and bacon on the plate; all of which are cooked to perfection. They were simply delicious after taking a bite into it.
Finishing up my meal, I was fulled in energy to start the day of my as criminal investigator with the police department of New York City.
“Come on Eve,” I called her attention with a wave of my hands. She was staring at the wall, looking like a zombie in a trance. Perhaps because of the hangover, she was not feeling well. “Eve, are you okay?”
Then she blink, snapping out of her daze. When she looked at me, there was a weird expression. Then it was gone. Whatever was bothering her was already forgotten. Her cold eyes returned. A genuine smile came across her visage when she finally see my face.
“I-I am sorry, I think I drank too much of those bottles…” She nervously stuttered, trying to cover it with a fake laugh.”Don’t worry about it,” I replied, shaking my head. “The effects of alcohol affects people strangely at certain time.” There is no point in worrying about her, it will only make the situation worse if Eve dwell into too much. “Now, let’s get ready to leave; we have work to do this morning”
She got up from her seat, following along when we leave our house. Stepping onto the sidewalk that is facing towards the front porch, I was about to start a conversation with her until my incoming suggestion were interrupted by her sudden vomiting on the ground.
“Eve! You okay?!” My voice was a whisper to her as the sound of vomit splashing to the pavement echoed off around us. I want to rub her back, to comfort the woman I loved; but I am unable to because of my phobia. And it fucking hurts that I could not even touch her without hurting myself.
Wiping the spit and puke from the side of her mouth, she slowly stand up straight. With an awkward, clumsy movement, a look of disgust on her face—which only made it more embarrassing than it was before.
“I’m sorry Adam. I should not have drink too much. It was stupid of me. Forgive me,” she said with dismay. She was apologizing to me.
Why is she apologizing to me? Did it hurt to throw up on the floor? There is no need to apologize for something minor like this.
Concerned, I asked, “no need to apologize, whatever you do or become; I still love the way you are, no matter how drunk or sober you are. Don’t mind it. Just don’t drink anymore next time, for our sake,” I told her with a gentle tone as possible while holding back the urge not to touch her.
God, I hate it…I hate how I will never be able to physically feel the warmth of the person I treasured, where she can wrap her hands around me and vice versa to share a warm embrace. But I am now incapable of doing this…because of her.
“Adam, are we going to take the taxi or the bus?” Eve snapped me out of my contemplating stance.
Now she mentions it, waiting any longer out in the open is going to take quite a while of merely waiting. If we chose to take the train, we have to pay a ridiculous amount of money and besides that, it will always be crowded.
So that leaves the last choice; stealing another vehicle. That is a more reasonable and easier choice for us in getting straight to the point.
“We will take the car instead.”
Her brows raised from hearing such a statement, “we don’t have any of them other than the red sports car that Skoll previously destroyed,” she stated with a puzzled expression. Eve was confused about my statement.
Although, she does have to worry about any of that, “we will have another vehicle…right now.” Placing my upward hand to the sky, stretching forward to the road with thumbs up, the oncoming blue sedan stopped on its tracks.
Knocking on the window, it slowly descends before revealing the driver’s appearance. It is a middle-aged man wearing a black suit and a pair of sunglasses.
“Need a ride?” The man asks, with a polite smile and friendly voice like he was some clerk who was welcoming a new customer into his store. He is an ordinary person; not a mutant or a criminal. Not even a hero or a villain.
Plain civilian that is just helping others out with no strings attached. A person that is willing to help anyone in distress without expecting anything in return. He was the perfect example of a decent human being.
To bad that I have to take his vehicle.
“Yeah, I do. Could you tell me what time it is?” Taking out my pocket watch, which note that I am also glad that it is still in there; began swinging the watch back and forth, from there on I began to hypnotized him, “you will allow us to use this vehicle and forget everything that happened between us. The car that you owned is now mine and all those memories revolving about this vehicle is replaced with a blank slate…”
“Do you understand?”
He nodded in a trance-like state, “yes, you are correct. This car is not mine, it’s yours. I shall not remember a single thing that is happening here today, including the memories that came with this car. Is that fine with you?”I gave a quick nod, “now get out of the car,” as instructed, the hypnotized man obeyed, exiting the driver’s seat.
With the keychain in his hands; I took it from his and we entered the car. Once we are inside the vehicle, I closed the doors by the press of a bottom. Then, the engine turned on. The air conditioner started to blow warm air.
Turning my head to him from my opened window, “thank you, go to the sidewalk and fall asleep for two minutes,” from my words, the man obediently went to the side of the street, safely standing with his eyes closed.
Driving to the streets in this brand new vehicle, the radio was on and playing a song. The music was not too loud or distracting. My occupied mind was thinking of what I just did and the consequences of it.
“Don’t you feel bad of taking someone’s car, Adam?” Eve asked, breaking the silence; she was sitting on the front passenger seat with her legs crossed, leaning on the door.
Bad? Of course I feel bad, but it is not like there is a better choice for us to take. Everything in this city is expensive as hell—especially the vehicles. Besides, it doesn’t matter if it is stolen or not, it won’t be missed. Because at the end of the day, it is the way I am.
“Yes, everyday I do something that is considered questionable, bad or unethical, I feel awful. That is the way I am, I guess. But Eve, don’t do what I did. Focus more on yourself and your own life. Don’t let anyone else decide how you are supposed to live. You can be whoever or whatever that you want to be. Just remember that you shouldn’t be over-dependent or clingy to me as I want you to form your own choices, not mine.”
Eve was silent and remained quiet, not saying anything. After a moment of contemplation in listening to my words, she finally spoke, “Adam, do you really think that is the case? Do you honestly believe that the world is not like that?””What are you talking about, Eve?”
She paused for a moment of thought before continuing with a depressed tone, “what you say that this city is corrupted and humans are mostly selfish? Is that the truth or are you only telling that to justify your decisions in committing these types of acts?” She stopped for a second; looking into my face. Her voice sounded so sad and sorrowful.
The traffic signal turned green, forcing my car to stop on the road. Looking at her, feeling guilty and remorse of what happened, I said, “there is no justification for what the things I do, Eve,” sighing, I turn my head back to the road, “I really do not know. Perhaps it is because of the past that has haunted me for so long. Or perhaps it is because the world is full of greed and selfishness. There are many reasons that could be the cause…”
“And with all of those things, I still don’t know why I am like this.”
