38. Listen to Your Heart.

I was sitting on the bed when Damon left the room. I didn't really know what was wrong with him or what he was saying. Was it time for him to fly off the flower again, and did he feel bad about it?

I had a cruise to do, but I couldn't go around saying, "Yeah, Damon, please fuck strange women. I have to go and get bruised in an illegal fight club. When I have to get a reputation for getting contacts and explosives."

It was amazing how much my little network, or resistance movement, was starting to take up my time. I was becoming a better leader all the time, and I knew it wasn't always easy.

Luckily, I had competent guys like Brutus and Harrison, even though Adam didn't always take Harrison everywhere. I enjoyed doing gigs, and when it had been random and timed, it hadn't been too hard or demanding yet.

I knew I was doing the right thing and good for the world and because I would be fine. I was immortal. I couldn't be killed, so I could always take the hit that others couldn't.

I would not be the boss sitting at a desk all day just calling the shots. No, I wanted to be out in the field, involved, doing. And the sniping, the killing sprees, all had seemingly become a part of my life.

I wondered in my mind, what if Damon came with me into this network properly? Will we then run it together? Will he protect me, or will we do the jobs together as a couple? What would it even be like to be with Damon at a gig?

I'd have to see if I could get him to come along. Of course, I'd have to make sure he was in the right mood. If he was in a medical mood, I'd definitely not get to any gigs. Or if, for a change, a maniac would come out, I wouldn't get a gig with him either.

I had done little work with Adam either, that is, the destruction of the medical facility, as they were mostly concentrated on the time when the others were fucking. So I didn't know what kind of partner Hauptmann was either.

I wasn't ready to be a leader all day and just let it be my life; I tried to keep the balance and remember to be Mimi, but then again, I felt like I had different gears, even as Mimi.

If I wasn't baking, then I was reading, but was I am different Mimi with Damon? Was it my sex beast side, and should I give time to that, too? Was the curious Mimi who wanted to study a different Mimi than the one who baked or decorated?

I shook my head as my mind wandered again quite a damn lot. No matter what role I played or who I was, as long as I enjoyed myself, it wasn't my place to try to give each part of me my personality and time.

Just go with the flow and let it be. Do what I wanted because my happiness was what it was all about, no one else's. Although Damon was my life when we were doing well, our connection made me realize when he didn't want to be near me and sitting there on the edge of the bed.

I realized he didn't want me near him right now. I didn't start digging for a reason. Damon was old enough that he must have had a reason, and if he didn't want to tell me, I didn't bother; I gave him the space and time he wanted. I wasn't even sure if he was coming upstairs to sleep.

We had never fucked in this room, although I had fucked Adam here. I didn't know why we hadn't, well mostly, we fucked in our own bedroom, and we hadn't fucked all the way out here. But would we ever fuck in this room?

I didn't know, and I wondered if I even wanted to fuck here. Is this my nest? Because whenever we fucked somewhere, we made memories together, and often, rooms and spaces became our shared spaces. Was I ready to give up my bedroom, my sanctuary, and make it shared?

My wandering thoughts came back to earth when my phone rang. I looked at my phone, wondering who was calling, and it was Bridgette. I went outside to talk, and Bridgette was coming to see me again. And for coffee.

Bridgette and I were friends with benefits, enjoyable benefits. We had never done it more than once, and it was a novel experience. But I said, sure, she can come for coffee any time. She had never been to the Chicago house, and I gave the address to her.

I also let Adam know via the Pack bond she is coming. Adam was eager to meet Bridgette at last. Bridgette said she would be here in a few hours, and Adam promised to keep watch.

I showered and enjoyed a long hot shower and cooled off afterward, but dried off and got dressed, blow-dried my hair, and watched a video on YouTube that made me put my hair in a whole new way, in a bun. I did little to make-up and just put on a tee shirt and jeans, then went into the kitchen to bake a bun while I still had time. 

Damon was still in the living room, but when I started kneading the dough, he came to see what I was doing, took the bowl out of my hand, and finished kneading the dough. Put it in proofing. Feel free.

I went to the freezer and grabbed a couple of bags of frozen berries I'd bought at the market. There were blueberries, raspberries, currants, and strawberries, and my idea was to make little berry pies.

I also took some apples that I had gotten a paring knife and started peeling the apples and taking the cores out. I intended to put them in a big pot with sugar and a little water; I would make apple jam unless I didn't have time. I got the apple peeled, Salvatore grabbed it, squeezed it with lemon, and sliced it up.

He deftly made a large pie crust after my dough had risen and very artfully loaded the apple slices into it. Then he made small pies out of just the mixed berries, seasoned them, and didn't let me do anything. Soon, he had used up all my bun dough and made a couple of nice braided ones with the rest.

Damon knew Bridgette was coming, and I did not know how he would take it knowing what we had been doing. He is very jealous. When the buns were ready, he didn't let me eat them yet. He put them in the shelter and made the vanilla sauce from scratch. Damon's work in the kitchen was something to behold.

Bridgette came in half an hour later and wanted to talk to Damon again about something. Adam brought her into the kitchen, and Damon nodded when Bridgette moved her head as to indicate moving somewhere else.

Bridgette took Damon into one of the rooms and casually cast a spell to make sure nothing came out of the room.

She said, "You will not remember this yet; there will be a time when it is time; I have to do this slowly to get the best chance for him, for you to get free; you will understand one day, but every time I do this. One bar gets removed from your cage, and he doesn't get it back. Give me your hand."

Damon was as if in a dream. He really didn't understand what Bridgette was talking about, but he took the pen in his hand that Bridgette was holding.

Damon wanted to be with Mimi, to spend time with her again, but with everyone constantly messaging him about some crisis or other and he was trying to carve out time to be with her, baking had been fun, and he missed her company.

The killing sprees and sniping had taken months, and they had been apart for so long. He felt like going to the pen, still wanting to be with Mimi. And he felt like going to sleep knowing his connection to Mimi was wide open, and he knew everything.

Damon blinked.

Bridgette said, " Here's this herbal mixture; this might help with the metals that Mimi found out about. You're the best judge of whether this will work for Mimi."

Damon took the bag in his hand, sniffed, and said, " Yes, thank you. This will do. Come and see the med-bay; I'll put these in the medbay upstairs just in case."

Bridgette followed Damon. Samuel was in the medbay, greeted Bridgette, and was excited about the herbs, even after Damon said they were good for Mimi. They then headed for the kitchen, where Mimi and Adam were chatting.

Fifteen minutes later, Bridgette and the men came out. I was talking to Adam about a gig I was thinking of putting Harrison on, and Adam disagreed.

Adam said, "I'll do the gig. I see people on it. I'm not putting Harrison on it when he's got a family. He needs to spend time with his family."

I nodded. I understood Adam's point. I made the coffee. We all talked. Adam was almost flirting with her, and so was Samuel. Bridgette returned the flirt. We drank coffee and ate a bun; well, I did when Damon gave me a bun, a pie, a couple of steaks for coffee, and a Coke.

After coffee, Bridgette said, "Oh, I've got to get going, but we'll see you, Mimi, and the boys. Please be good on the cruise."

When I walked Bridgette to the door, she showed me a pen on the floor and said, "That's worth saving. I hear those are forever writing decades from now. Why don't you test it? Put that pen in a safe somewhere, take it out in 20 years, and see if it still works."

I picked up the pen from the floor and carried it to one of the safes, casually thinking about fight clubs. I put the pen in and closed the door. Now I was ready to be a nice little innocent wife.

So this little innocent wife is getting ready to shop by day and cage fight by night. If there's a fight club on board. Usually, there is, and my friends have guided me where to find a notice of one. I had reserved myself a large first aid kit and some other stuff.

I knew we would all have our own cabins... so you just have to act like no one will notice the fight at night and then in the morning go back to shopping and be completely normal.

Bridgette said before getting in her car, "You never know what can happen on a cruise, so watch out."

I nodded and went inside, watching first as Bridgette's little car drove out the gate.

I know I can manage a little sleep, so it didn't matter if my sleep was a few weeks shorter. The flea is ready. I had considered a different name, but the fleas insisted I was the Flea, so I was. This cruise was going to be epic. I was feeling epic.