Interruptions

Interruptions
“Okay, you ask first,” Scarlett started the fun night with unsuppressed enthusiasm.

They have agreed to do the twenty questions. One asks, and the other answers, then the process takes turns.

Voltaire was hesitant at first. He was still trying to figure out if their situation was really what he thought it was. But as every moment passes by, he can feel the sincerity in Dandelion’s demeanor. He was convinced she was not scheming or pretending about the getting-to-know-each other thing she was suggesting they should do to make their deal viable. 

“Any question is okay?” he gave the lady in front of him, only wearing a fluffy robe, not sure of what she was wearing beneath it, a measuring gaze.

“Ask away!” she confidently answered. Spreading her hands with palms open in the air as if assuring him that she is willing to tell him anything he wants to know. “But let me warn you….” 

Voltaire’s eyes bulged in attention at her last words. He saw how her sweetly smiling face turned cold in a very brief moment. She was not looking back at him. She was gently swirling the wine in her glass as she spoke ever so slowly. 

“Whatever you get to decide in the morning when you wake up, what you hear from me tonight is only for you to know. I will not hesitate to hunt and silence you for good if you share any of the information you will have about me to any other soul.” 

Her words held weight and warning. 

“And likewise, I will keep everything you will tell me as only for myself to know. I hope you know at least a thing or two about me before you came to ask for my assistance,” Scarlett pointed out. “Leniency is out of my vocabulary, and there are few reasons to receive my wrath. Provocation for one, another is betrayal.” 

Her words were said like they were the most basic of her rules, but it hit Voltaire straight into his conscience. Betrayal. He may not be her friend yet, but he has betrayed her already by approaching her with a hidden agenda. Another thorn that seems to block and cause pain in his throat. He was swaying again. She sounds like she knew something, and she is giving him the chance to come clean.

Voltaire rubbed his face helplessly. 

Voltaire

“Okay, wait…” 

“Huh?” She must be confused at my sudden interruption.

“Before we start, I would like you to listen. And I mean listen, like you will have to wait until I am finished before you say anything, okay?” I stared at her calm mien. I was checking if she was expecting I would say something like what I am foolishly uttering now, but I could not see or read any emotion on her face. She was seriously warning me. Maybe she was waiting for me to say anything like what she just said.

“If you are serious about creating a friendship with me, which so far, I am somehow convinced you are, I believe you would give me a chance to explain myself if there are any misunderstandings, right?”

“Uh-huh,” she took a sip of her wine before confirming her answer to my queries.

“Ask any question, and I might ask the same back to you, and I will also do the same if I see necessary. Is that okay with you?” I asked again.

“Absolutely! I believe we have all night to clear things out and help you decide in the morning,” she answered.

“To be fair, let’s do Rock-Scissors-Paper. The winner can ask the first question,” I suggested.

She quickly complied. First round, we made the same hand, rocks. Second, still the same rocks. Third, I won with rocks, and she did scissors.

“Hurry up, start asking,” she urged me with so much excitement. I felt funny. She was too eager. I was going to ask, but she was just as excited as if she was going to find out something she could keep as leverage about me, like kind of enthusiasm. Isn’t it too childish? But cute as well. I shook my head as I could not hide my smile. 

“What’s your real name?”

“Scarlett Dwayne. You?”

“Voltaire Woods. Why are you into this profession?” I asked with a hint of formality.

I was really curious. In my case, I am down this path because I wanted to bring justice to my family. How about her?

“I like the freedom and action. I like the thrill of every mission. If I were in the army, I would have to follow orders all the time from my superiors. I will be tied up. When I was younger, I had no friends, so I equipped myself with so much knowledge of self-defense to find them useless because bullies did not dare to bother me again after a one-time beating they received from me. But then I realized I could help other people who are also being oppressed in my own way. So I joined a group of mercenaries where my job was to aim with a sniper rifle. Until I received job orders to bring down notorious people who live like disgusting diseases in society.”

Her answer was without a stutter. Without restraints. She was not even mindful that her answer almost covered a lot of questions in my mind. They flow out of her like it was the most natural thing to satisfy my question. I was astonished.

“Okay, your turn,” I reminded her.

“Are you one of the guys outside the bar earlier?” she asked without even a change of tone. Not suspecting, her tone sounded like she was merely asking.

“No, I really did not know any of them, I swear in my mother’s grave,” I was too eager to convince her that I even dared to bother my mom in her peace. 

She smiled. She must have been satisfied with my answer.

We exchanged more questions as we occasionally took sips of our wine. 

“This feels good,” she murmured. “Having someone to talk to as simply and sincerely as this is really amazing.” She raised her wine glass to clink with mine. I accepted her toast.