“Jeeze, I’ve been missing a lot. This is really good and the wine too.” He said.
“I usually order the house wine, it is fairly cheap and usually good. It also helps if you act like you belong.” She laughed, eyeing him.
“Yeah I get it, I stick out.”
“No, you’re fine. You have a jacket, buttoned up shirt and the jeans are okay as well. No sneakers, that’s a dead giveaway, and you didn’t shave.”
“See, I know how to blend.” He said and then leaned back as their main course arrived. He looked down and then at her, and grinned.
“This, smells amazing.” He smiled.
“It tastes even better.” She grinned and speared a shrimp.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, each enjoying the food. Imani’s toes curled and she could feel her cheeks warming. This was some damn fine pasta.
“Jesus, this food tastes sinful.” Haiden groaned.
“Tell me about it.” Imani groaned herself.
“I can’t believe I’ve been missing this!”
“Well, now you know boyo.” She laughed, taking a drink of her wine after lifting it in a toast.
Ϫ
They walked along the streets, and Haiden was seeing Rome for the first time through new eyes. He’d been here before, many times in fact, but had never experienced it like this. He’d enjoyed the food, and the sights, but with Imani, it had become something quite special. He looked down at her and grinned. Her wig was a little crooked.
He leaned down and whispered, “You might want to straighten your hair.”
“Oh shit.” She said and tried to straighten it, only making it worse.
“Hold on, let me help.” He said and put his hands on each side of her head and moved the wig subtly. It shifted back and before he thought about it, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. He pulled back and looked down at her. She had a curious look that he couldn’t read. He smiled and shrugged and they continued walking.
“What are you really doing here, Haiden?” She asked, her voice neutral.
“I told you, to watch your back.” He said a little too defensively and could have kicked himself for it. I’m really fucking this up, he thought, when he heard her snort.
“Righhhhhht.” She said.
“We both know you’re full of shit. I’ve never needed help out in the field, except for Nobu’s voodoo. We both know, if Lawbreaker had hired someone again, you could do jack-shit to stop it.” She continued, though her words were harsh, her tone was not, it bordered on confused.
Haiden shoved his hands deep into his pockets and looked down at her. He looked around, ensuring that no one could hear their conversation.
“No one can hear.” She said.
“That’s it, you know me without knowing me. I don’t know. I like the way you answer the door in Hello Kitty pajama pants and your hair is standing straight up, but you don’t care. I like that you have a good friend that cares deeply for you. I like that you call him idiot and you call me idiot. I like that you have the same job as me, yet you’ve taken it a step farther and done something really good with it, by eradicating the world of garbage. It’s been a long time since I’ve connected with a person, I mean a real person, Imani. I can’t even tell you the last time I had a real live conversation with another human being. Not just an inconsequential conversation, an actual, honest to god conversation.” Her name he whispered.
She snorted and gave him a sideways glance then she shook her head.
“Let’s go to the Trevi Fountain.” She said.
“Ohhh, can we take a carriage?” He asked, relieved that she didn’t reject him and his notions.
“We’re on Vicolo della Bollette, for Christ’s sakes. Within walking distance. Jesus. Idiot.”
He grinned, looking down at her and started doing a jig behind her. He was happy, and it had been a long time since he’d been happy like this.
“You don’t stop dancing and I’ll break your legs.” She said darkly. His grin widened and he fell into step beside her.
Ϫ
The taxi ride from O’Hara took time, there was a traffic jam. She felt sluggish and tired from the trip. Jet lag was not her friend.
“Jeeze, I love going, but coming back always seems to make me tired.”
“You should have slept on the plane.” He said.
She looked over and shot him a dirty look. “Tell me something I don’t know Captain Obvious. That damn kid was screaming nearly the whole way.”
“I slept fine.” He said smugly, looking down his nose at her.
“That’s cause you’re an idiot.” She laughed and scrubbed at her face. When they’d gotten to the airport, she’d gone to the bathroom and took her wig and glasses off and packed them into her carry on. She came out of the bathroom feeling more like herself. Gwen had gone back in the box.
“Look, get some sleep while we ride home. You can lean on me and then when we get home, I’ll wake you. It’ll help a lot.” He suggested.
“Really? My god, you’re a genius. I should have thought of that myself.” She sniggered, the driver looked into the rearview. She narrowed her eyes at him and he looked back to the street.
“You get a little punchy when you’re tired, I see.” Haiden laughed.
“Yeah, just a little.” She sighed.
“Nobu’s date go well?” He asked.
“How’d you know about Nobu’s date?”
“He texted me, he wanted to know if he could take Dr. Quinn to the apartment to meet Jezebel.”
“Quint.” She said, looking out the window.
“I know.” He laughed.
She looked over at him for a long moment, her eyes studying his face. It was
