Chapter 23 - Missing the Tank

Maggie was glad the whole Chase ordeal was finished, but she missed Tank even before she left the courthouse. She wanted to look for him, but Marcus had taken her by the arm and led her through the sea of sharks or otherwise known as the mass media reporters. Each one shouted questions at her and Marcus shouting back at them “no comment” till she safely was shoved into a taxi.

She was relieved that he helped her get through the reporters but irritated because she didn’t get to say anything to Tank. Her first night back at home Maggie made the mistake of opening her fridge. The smell was enough to kill top level shadow demon of the cursed caverns. She spent the majority of the night throwing everything out and scrubbing down her fridge till she went to bed exhausted.

The bed seemed larger and emptier than it did before. Memories of that morning in the hotel pushed itself into her mind. A smile snuck its way on her face; she couldn’t deny that being there with Tank like that was nice. It was a feeling that she was a little hesitant to admit that she wouldn’t mind having at the moment. She sighed and rolled from her side to her back, staring at the ceiling. Did he think about her at all or was he simply glad the job was done? The most selfish part of her wished he couldn’t sleep because he was thinking about her.

The next day she quickly made a list and went grocery shopping. Normally she just ordered the food and had the store deliver it to her home but after spending a month with Tank, the once peaceful silence of her home was resulting nerve wracking. No matter how hard she tried Maggie kept thinking about Tank and their time together, it was making her feel a type of loneliness that even her guildies couldn’t cure.

She’d walked up to her house with arms full of groceries and couldn’t stop from glancing over to the house where Hannah used to live. Maggie smiled a frail smile, remembering her nosey neighbor. It was hard to believe she’d never have to “suffer” Hannah again. I hope you're enjoying yourself up there Hannah, Maggie thought with a sad sigh. She entered the house with her arms full of groceries only to stumble over something and find herself face first on the floor.

What in middle earth, she complained as she pushed up herself up from the floor. She winced as her knee throbbed and she turned to glare at the object that caused her fall, her old suitcases? She looked at them confused then noticed a piece of paper that was soaked with a broken juice carton. Maggie quickly cleaned up the spilled juice then picked up the paper. Whatever was written on it was too blurry to read now.

She huffed in a complaint. Maggie was hoping it’d been from Tank. She crumpled up the soggy piece of paper and tossed it in the trash, shaking her head. Her things were probably returned by some low-level cop, their best detective had better things to do. She told herself, Tank probably had recovered his senses by now and realized what happened between them was nothing more than a misunderstanding.

That’s what she kept telling herself, but he kept waiting for Tank to show up at her doorstep or see him in the game. The days passed, and she didn’t see hair in real life or pixel in the game. Maggie felt lonely and depressed and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t stop thinking about Tank. Maggie was sitting at the table eating some cantaloupe when she froze horrified with the sudden realization she had just made.

Never once did she thank Tank for everything he’d done for her. Maggie couldn’t allow that she told herself, eating the piece of melon furiously. She’d have to tell him thank you; it was the decent thing to do! As well she didn’t want to seem ungrateful because the truth of the matter was she was alive and breathing today thanks to him. Maggie wasn’t sure how to go about thanking him.

After some thought she decided she should do it personally, so no notes but she didn’t have his cell phone or know where he lived. Maggie didn’t want to bother him at work. It’d be embarrassing to him and to her to thank him there. She tried looking up the phone book for his number, but there was like ten Brian Hunters and it didn’t seem practical so she turned to the one person she thought could help her.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked her and Maggie could hear the amusement in his voice. Her cheeks were about the color of her hair, and she was just sitting in her computer room.

“You’re enjoying this way too much,” she shot back a little irritated.

“Well, it’s not every day I get someone like you asking for my help. So do we have a deal?” he asked her once more, making her feel as if she was making a deal with the devil.

“Why don’t you just give it to me because it’s the nice thing to do, the right thing to do Zazurus,” she argued back.

He laughed so loud she had to turn the volume down on her computer. “Nice try Styrene, I gave you the staff for free, but this one is gonna cost ya. I’ve got a reputation to hold here,” he told her.

Maggie huffed with a frown. She didn’t want to lose the seventy-five percent of her game gold to pay Zazurus, but she wanted what he had. “Alright, you win. I’ll give you seventy-percent,” Maggie relented with a defeated sigh. “This is why people like me don’t ask rogues like you for help.”

“That’s the whole point of being a rogue sweetheart,” he told her, laughter filled his voice. “If I started just started giving out help for free I’d have every noob coming at all hours of the day. I’d never get anything done that way. At least this way I walk away being a very rich man,” he replied explained.

Despite her irritation, she found a smile forcing its way on her lips. Maggie gave him the money, and he gave her the information that she wanted. “Thanks, Zazurus,” she told him and logged off the game. Maggie looked at the piece of paper, wondering what to do next.

Maggie walked toward the door, only turn around and walk away about ten feet before stopping. She did this five times already but every time she got to the door she just couldn’t bring herself to knock on it. Come on Maggie, quit being such a noob! She scolded herself and marched up to the door. With a pained expression, she knocked on the door. Her heart raced, and she felt it difficult to breath.

It seemed like hours passed and Maggie was just about to turn around when the door opened. Tank simply gawked at her for a moment and Maggie cringed inwardly. This was a mistake, he probably thinks I’m really a freak now, she told herself. “Uh…h-hi,” she said nervously.

“Hi Maggie,” he replied slowly, the surprised look still on his face.

“I uh j-just came by b-because I uh wanted to um th-thank you,” she told him bashfully.

Tank nodded and leaned up against the door frame. “Okay,” he replied simply crossing his arms. “But you could’ve just called me.”

“I didn’t have your number and there is a lot of Brian Hunters in this city,” Maggie replied feeling a little embarrassed.

“But I gave you my number and asked you to call me days ago,” he told her and she looked at him confused.

“Oh,” she said slowly, the note was from Tank. “It sorta was hard to read with the juice that spilled all over it when I fell,” she admitted.

“You fell? Are you alright?”

Maggie fought to keep from smiling at his concern. Maggie nodded. “Yeah, just had a sore knee for a few days but the carton of juice that I bought broke and made your note unreadable,” she explained and he smiled with a nod.

“So how did you find out where I live?” Tank asked.

She looked at her feet bashfully. “I paid Zazurus, Styrene is in the poor house now,” Maggie admitted, feeling a little like a stalker then looked back up at him. “I didn’t want to just write a note or something to thank you,” she told him. Now Tank nodded the smile still on his face. “So uh thank you, Brian for being my tank and keeping me alive.”

“Well you’re welcome Maggie,” he replied and silence fell between them.

She played with her fingers, tangling them together. Maggie really didn’t want to say goodbye, but she didn’t know what more to say, without looking like an idiot of course. “Uh, well, I guess that’s it,” Maggie stated after about a minute of their silence. “Um goodbye Brian.” With a final wave, she walked down the hallway. A sigh of disappointment escaped her.

Somehow she expected something more from seeing Tank again. Maggie hit the button for the elevator, resisting the urge to look back towards his apartment. With a musical “ding” the doors opened and she started to enter the elevator. Maggie squeaked when an arm shot out blocking the entrance of the elevator. She looked over to see Tank standing there.

“Did you really just come all this way just to say thank you?” Tank asked.

Maggie swallowed nervously. “Uh I, well, I guess not,” she started nervously.

He smiled an impish smile. Before she could say another word, Tank suddenly pushed her into the elevator and pushed the emergency button.

“What are you doing?” Maggie asked but cut her off with a kiss. Maggie gasped in surprise, giving him the perfect opportunity to deepen the kiss. Her surprise didn't last long and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Maggie felt almost giddy when the kiss had finished.

“I missed you so much Maggie,” Tank told her, holding her close to him. Her face warmed as she couldn’t stop a small smile from breaking across her face.

“I missed you too,” she admitted.

He gave her a quick, chaste kiss. “So think I’m passed the dangerous stage where I could’ve become a zombie and caused the world to end?” He asked, as he pressed the button for the doors to open.

Maggie laughed and shook her head. “I think so, but I think I should keep you for observation, just in case,” she replied putting her hand in his, lacing her fingers with his. He looked surprised for a moment and she worried she’d gone too far, but he smile at her brightly.

“Maybe I’ve just infected you too,” he told her, releasing her hand to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer to him. They stopped just outside his apartment and he turned to face her. “Would you like to have dinner with me, Maggie? It’s not much, just pizza,” he asked with a sly smile.

“You know very well I said my favorite food is pizza,” she told him with a smile of her own.

“So that’s a yes?” he asked and she rolled her eyes but nodded. He opened his door and stepped aside so she could walk inside. She looked around the living room, it was nice. A brown suede couch sat in the middle of the room not too far from a large flat screen television. On one wall was a lot of trophies for different types of competitions ranging from football to the shooting range. They really didn’t have much in common, Maggie thought.

He was the all-star jock type of guy and she was the nerdy geek. Those two never really truly mixed well together, she thought.

“I must ask you a favor Maggie,” Tank said as he closed the door and she turned to face him. “As weird as this sounds don’t call me Brian, I like it better when you call me Tank.”

Maggie laughed with a smile. “Okay Tank,” she told him. Maybe he was a bit geek underneath all that jock exterior, she thought and her smile grew.

Dinner was nice and despite the fact that they didn’t seem to have much in common, the conversation between them never died down unless it was a comfortable silence. They talked about everything from the crits of her latest helmet to the most recent scores on a football game; she was never bored at any moment. The way Tank talked made everything sound interesting. Tank walked her to her car and Maggie couldn’t stop from smiling.

“Why is it that sometimes you stutter and sometimes you don’t?” he asked as they reached her car.

“I only stutter when I’m nervous or uncomfortable,” she told him and before she knew it, he held her against him, kissing her again, not that she was complaining. His kisses were amazing, better than getting all the epic gear in her game.

“You sure do know how to make a man feel great Maggie,” he told her when the kiss was over.

Maggie blushed, not sure what he meant.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” he told her holding the door open for her.

“But I haven’t even left yet,” she said laughing.

“I know, but it’s true. How about lunch tomorrow and for the rest of the week?” he asked eagerly.

“Alright that sounds great,” she replied and she got up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Once again he looked surprised but had a large smile on his face.

“I know Friday night is raid night but how about we go to the movies and dinner on Saturday?”

“I’ve wanted to see the Riders of the North,” she told him, it was a movie based on one of her favorite books.

“That sounds good. At least, with you as my girlfriend I won’t have to sit and watch those nasty chick flicks,” he teased.

Maggie narrowed her eyes at him, her stomach jumped and did flips. He really did want to be her boyfriend? She smiled bashfully, feeling all giddy and bubbly inside. She was turning into one of those girls. The ones that giggled all the time annoyingly, but honestly Maggie couldn’t care less. “Don’t count on it, I happen to love romantic comedies,” Maggie replied and she could see him trying to hide the expression of disgust.

“Oh well, I guess I can’t have it all,” he sighed over exaggeratedly but the smile still remained. “Having you as my girl is good enough for me.”

Maggie smile grew so much that it almost hurt. “Good night Tank,” she told him before getting in the car.

“Good night Maggie, see you in the game later,” he told her.

“You’re still going to play?” She asked surprised.

“Of course, I’ve got to get Jack to give your gold back. What kind of Tank would I be if I just let you go to the poor house for trying to find me,” he told her.

“I look forward to seeing that,” she replied and started the car.

“See you tomorrow Maggie,” he told her once more.

Maggie smiled as she realized Hannah had popped her bubble. Not in the way they both expected but thanks to Hannah, Maggie now wasn’t afraid to let someone close to her. “Thanks for everything Hannah,” she said glancing up at the night sky.