16. Happy

Esther and Rory had a really good time together. Esther, after so many years, had a good laugh, which made her feel much more relieved. It felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulder. She felt like there was a log in her heart, which has been dislodged. She had a strange appetite when she ate with Rory tonight.

She had a family, but she had left them to focus on her military duties when she was assigned to Derek. She could relate to his issue. She lost her dad to a war that arose in their village somewhere in Africa when she was a little girl. She was very lucky to have lost only her father. Well, she will say lucky, because Derek lost all of his family. She really pitied him, and that was why she agreed to join his squad towards his mission. To help him avenge his family. Whoever did that did not deserve to live.

She remembered when the rescuers came to help the survivors after the war in their village. She was among those who were not severely injured, so she helped them in tending to those who needed much help.

After some days, she had been able to learn faster than they thought, and she was able to attend to some of the casualties unassisted. They were highly impressed, the whites that came there, and when they were leaving, she pleaded to go with them and learn more of their work.

Her mother was not in support, at first, since Esther was only 12 years old by then, but her elder brother, Enoch, helped convince their mother to let her go, since living had already become hard after the war. And there was Mercy, the youngest, who cried and cried when she saw Esther leave.

The rescuers reassured them, promising to let her visit after some time, but it's been almost nine years, and she had not seen them. She had not been able to visit them yet. She really missed them, but the last time she asked to go for a visit, she was denied.

When they brought her from her village, they had taught her how to read and write, and they had plans on helping her acquire her skills in the health sector since that was what she did best when they saw her, but she had showed interest in military rather, and they helped her train.

When Derek was selecting his comrades, he had no plans on choosing a lady, but when Esther heard his story she wanted to help, so she trained hard and passed his tests and got selected.

Derek was later thankful that he selected her. She was really good at cooking and caring. Aside that, she had a beautiful face and body that had helped in many of their missions, where they would need distractions that involved women. And then Derek's compulsion episodes came and she did a great job in helping him so many times.

She seemed to be enjoying her job that she didn't notice she was slowly losing herself and her own interests. She was living her life to help others, forgetting about herself. So tonight when she was able to talk freely and laugh heartily with Rory, she felt it.

It was different so she noticed it right away that she had missed a lot, and in fact, is still missing. But she knew she was stuck to this life. Maybe she should find joy in it, rather than thinking of getting it somewhere else.

She was lost in thoughts when a knock on the door pulled her back. She rose from her seat and walked lazily towards the door and was surprised to see Derek standing at the other end.

"Boss?" She wasn't expecting him at all.

"I want to talk to you." He calmly said. "Do you have a moment?"

Esther was still surprised but nodded.

"Sure, Boss."

And now she didn't know whether to invite him in or he had other plans...

"Let's talk at the fireplace."

Thank goodness, Esther sighed in relief and stepped outside, following him at a distance.

They got there and sat on the Victorian chairs facing the fireplace, their eyes fixed on the yellow and orange flames and the sound of cracking wood filled the silence.

"When do you want to visit your family?" Derek said out of nowhere, and Esther whipped her head towards him, eyes wide and mouth agape. What was she hearing?

God, please no! May this not be one of her dreams. Please...

Esther couldn't utter a word as she kept staring at Derek, whose eyes were still fixed on the fire. Her hand lifted slowly to cover her gaping mouth as she fought the tears that were burning her eyes.

That was unexpected. Among the many things that came to mind when he called her, she never guessed he was going to ask her that. Was he going to allow her to go visit them. No, maybe she heard wrong, but then Derek spoke again, clearing all her doubt as if he could read her thoughts.

"You don't want to see them anymore?" He asked, and now Esther couldn't hold her tears.

She heard right!! She wasn't dreaming! Oh God!!!!

She tried to control her emotions, but her sniff drew Derek's attention to her and he was surprised to see her crying. He had never seen her cry before. What did he say? Wait, did something happen to them?

"Did something happened to them?" He was quick to ask. He would regret bringing this topic if something has happened to them. Of all people, he understood the pain of losing a family.

Esther shook her head. He misunderstood her. Those were tears of joy.

"No, Boss. Well, I have not heard that anything happened to them. I just..." She sniffed, "I just didn't expect this."

Derek nodded and looked away. He knew she used to write letters to them.

"Alright, I guess it came unexpected. I'll leave you to think of when you would want to go and visit them. When you're certain just let me know." He said in his usual gruff voice, but this time there was no cold in it. It rather felt warm. Oh, what really happened to the boss? Now she was in thoughts.

Derek rose to his feet and Esther followed him with her gaze. Was he leaving? Wait, she didn't thank him yet. Getting up quickly...

"Thank you so much, boss." She said sincerely and Derek gave her an assuring nod.

"Have a good evening." He said and left.

Esther watched his retreating back till he was out of sight, then she slammed back into the chair and cried. She couldn't contain her joy, but she couldn't stop the tears. Gosh, she should be laughing and shouting and jumping now. Why was she crying? She laughed through her tears at her own thoughts. It was just this evening she was thinking about them. Oh, how happy she was to see her mother. She missed Enoch and Mercy. She started imagining how they would look like after nine whole years and it made her cry even more. Will they even recognize her after these long years?

"Esther?" A soft feminine voice called from behind and Esther turned to see Rory standing there with wide eyes, probably wondering why she had suddenly turned into a cry baby.

Rory stilled for a moment when Esther turned her face towards her. Why was she crying? Then the next minute she bolted to her side and hugged her, patting her back gently. Oh God, what happened to her? She didn't look like someone who would cry.

Esther's heart skipped when Rory hugged her. How long had it been? Nine years. Freaking goodness!! It's been nine whole years since she felt this close to someone. Her tears were now falling in fat and heavy amounts, staining Rory's pyjamas, but she seemed not to care. She kept stroking her back gently and rocked her back and forth like a baby. Esther felt safe in her arms, and she slowly wrapped her arms around Rory, hugging her back and crying uncontrollably.

Rory was confused. They were just talking and laughing this evening. What might have happened? She would just wait till she calmed down and was ready to talk about it. For now, she needed a shoulder to cry on and she would be just that.

After a long while, Esther's weeping turned into sobs and then the sobs turned into sniffs. She was slowly calming down. She slowly let go of Rory and sat straight. Seeing the blotch that her tears had created on Rory's pyjamas, she felt guilty. Before she could utter an apology...

"Let me get you some water." Rory said and before Esther could protest, she rushed to the kitchen and soon enough brought a glass of water and gave it to her. Esther drank about half the content without pausing. She needed it. She stretched her hand to put the glass on the coffee table but Rory took it and placed it there since she was closer. She still had a worried look.

"Are you feeling better now?" Rory asked. She didn't know what had happened so she didn't know if her question was relevant, but Esther nodded with a smile.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Esther heaved a deep sigh and smiled.

"I'm so happy."