Part 2 - Chapter One

Chapter 8

2516 Word Update date:2022-04-15 12:52:37

The atmosphere was bright and friendly, the beach white and sandy. The general ambience of the place was cool and chatty. It was the time and place for pleasure, nothing else. All guards except the involuntary ones must be let down and fun must be had, like Chrissie would say, till heaven falls. It had been over a year, almost two years since Jason Raids left the FBI. He had packed his bags, grabbed his daughter and disappeared to Miami, Florida. He had put in his time for country and humanity at large, without seeking any special reward. But now, he had to put in the rest of his time for his daughter and himself.

Speaking of his daughter, she was swimming right in front of him, not more than 15 metres or so away. He smiled as he watched her perfect a style he had recently taught her. She had grown fully into a woman, that much he could see. The boys would soon come calling at his door. In fact, right now, he could see a lot of greedy stares being directed her way, but these were not the kind of guys he wanted for his princess. Of course she would have to choose her mate herself, but he would prefer she choose someone far better than he was at that age.

He could remember that he was one of such guys back then when he met Alyssa, Chrissie's mother. Both families, due to mutual dislike, were far from comfortable with the match, but they got married anyway. When Chrissie was born, the tension level fell drastically. Like football, the little angel served as an object of general love and adoration. Finally, everyone had something in common. But a heavy blow came when Alyssa died from heart related issues even before Chrissie turned one.

The division came slowly but surely. Everyone wanted custody of Chrissie, but she could only be with one person: her father. The division became more bitter when Jason took total possession of the child. Everyone took sides then, never to unite again. Chrissie's preference of only a few of her relatives made things worse and time slowly but perfectly moulded the rest into obscurity.

Jason was suddenly pulled out of his reverie by a vibration in his shorts pocket. It was his phone ringing. He looked at the screen, but could not recognize the number. He picked it up anyway.

“Hello. W...”

“Hello Jason. Are you enjoying your vacation?”, a calm but bold female voice greeted him.

“Who is this?”, Jason asked. His brain was working hard to pinpoint the owner of this familiar voice.

“It's Veronica, Jason. Veronica Roane.”

“Oh!.. you.”

“Yes.. me. How are you, Jason?”

“Well, not bad,” he sighed. It was truly Veronica, she was an old friend... actually a former colleague whom he used to date.

“How's it going over there in Miami?”, she asked, a little too sweetly.

“Splendid. Nice weather, with time on replay and all. Everything is all cool. Where are you at nowadays?”, he asked in return.

“Oh, me? Well, I'm still here.”

“By here, you mean the FBI?”

“Why? Did you wish me to be somewhere else?” Her tone sounded sarcastic.

“Not really. Just that.. last I heard, you were having your butt kicked over there in DC,” he chuckled.

“Well, you only heard half the story. I kicked their butts too and here I am, strong as ever.”

“Hmm," Jason sighed. "I'm glad for you.”

“Thanks.”

There was a little pause and he could almost hear her thoughts moving about in her head. He knew this call was far from a social one, but he was ready to play it out until she would decide to spill all the hidden details.

“I guess you think you've got this all figured out, but you don't,” she suddenly said.

“Really?”, Jason asked in mock surprise. “Dazzle me then, or have you lost your touch?”

“My touch, just like your perceptiveness, is intact,” she shot back.

“So why wait? Let's play then.”

“Look, this is serious, Jason. I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't. Pl...”

“Nice! I'm really glad you used that word 'bother'. I'm done. I wonder how many more languages I'll need to say it in before you guys can understand me. It's over, can't you understand that?”

“Look, I understand you need the personal time and all, but...”

“No, no, you misunderstand me. I don't need personal time. I need a total time off.”

“Right," she sighed softly. "And you'll have it. We just need you to come in and see something important.”

“Everything is important, Nika. But I've seen enough of them. I'll try to spend my time looking for the unimportant ones from now on. Goodbye. Say me hi to everyone over there and tell them again and again, until they understand it. I..AM..NOT..COMING..BACK.”

Jason disconnected the call before Veronica could think of what next to say. He angrily dropped the phone on the little table beside him and continued sipping his drink. Chrissie was approaching and had already reached his position when he dropped the phone. She knew immediately that all was not well. That focused look into space was characteristic of something unpleasant on his mind.

“What's wrong, dad?”, she asked as she dried herself with a towel. “Who was that on the phone?”

“Oh no one. Just an old friend.”

“Really? Old friends make people smile, but here you are, all glum-faced. What did this old friend say?”, she demanded, hands on her hips.

“Oh nothing serious," he shrugged. "Just forget it.”

“You're still not smiling, so I can't forget it.”

She knew from experience that she wouldn't succeed in pushing him to reveal the particulars of his conversation with whoever was on the phone, but she could at least try to make him more relaxed. “You know, you promised to be happy and never angry or sad throughout our time here, didn't you?”

“I'm sorry dear,” he apologized with a smile. “Bad memories crawl up on one like creeping plants on trees.”

“Then go wash them off with a swim,” she said decidedly.

“Uh... actually I..”

“No, no, no.. no excuses... up, up, up. Move it.”

“Okay, okay, I'm on my way,” he grumbled as he rose to his feet.

She gently pushed him off and sat back down.

“Take your time,” she shouted after him. “Like you say, time's on replay over here, so there's no need to rush.”

She said the last few words in a lower tone. She wasn't actually concentrated on her father going out to swim anymore; she was now fully focused on what she was doing on her phone: chatting with her boyfriend, Clyde. Her father had no clue of their relationship and she was quite sure he would disapprove of it if he did. He had lofty ideas for her life and her future. Anything less than his dreams was not to be tolerated. She knew he was grateful to Clyde for helping to save her from the clutches of Carlos Alvarez, but the line was drawn there. Jason had actually advised him to go get more education, so he could be of better use to his family, but unknown to him, Clyde had decided to join the Army instead.

Chrissie knew of his decision and she had told him to go for it, if that was what he truly wanted. He was glad to have her support and off he went, to the Army. He was still in Continental United States, but she was missing him so much. She wondered how it would feel if he got deployed abroad. It was her idea that she and her father come over to Miami to have a nice time, but now she wasn't so sure if the idea was a very good one. She was missing Clyde immensely and she wished to be closer to him. She just couldn't wait to get back to California. All this and more she was communicating to him when her father strolled in. She was so concentrated on the task at hand that she didn't even notice his entry.