Home is Where the Heart is?
Lucky awoke to an empty living room. He stretched out his stiff muscles on the floor before standing up to look out the window. It looked as if an angry storm had never been there. The bright rays of the sun were piercing down through the treetops just beyond the small yard. He smelled breakfast being cooked and turned toward the opposite end of the cabin to see Addison, dressed for the day, turning a skillet over in her hands as she attempted to not burn some eggs.
"Good morning," she chimed with bright eyes and a smile. "Thought you'd never wake up. I'm making eggs and bacon for breakfast."
"Sounds wonderful," he said with a smile. "Do you need any help?"
"Not that I'm complaining," she started with a giggle. "But you may want to put your clothes on before coming in here near a hot skillet."
Lucky looked down to see that he was in the nude. He was still trying to shake the sleep from his head. He remembered the previous night like it was a dream. First Terra trying to seduce him, then Addison saving him. Then he remembered the assassin and what she had done. Where was she?
"Where's Black Heron?" He asked, feeling completely ridiculous for saying the name. It sounded like some cheesy superhero.
"She was already gone when I woke up," Addison claimed as she'd scooped a fried egg from her pan and onto a plate. "I checked for Terra, but our assassin friend cleaned any evidence up."
"Well I'm glad it's all over," he said as he pulled his pants up and buttoned them. "All of it, you know?"
Addison turned toward him with a plate in each hand. She walked over to the small circular table and sat the plates down before returning to the refrigerator to retrieve a pitcher of orange juice. She poured two glasses out and set them on the table before setting down on one of the chairs and gesturing for Lucky to take the other seat.
"I know what you mean," she finally said after taking a bite from her fork and making a funny face as if she didn't approve of the taste. "But remember, there are more members of the organization and just because they don't know where you are doesn't mean they won't be able to find you."
"I know," he admitted with a sigh. "But I can relax for the moment at least. I have time to make a plan and hopefully, no one else will get hurt because of me."
"I hope so too," Addison agreed as her face looked up at him with doubt.
He doubted it too. There was too much effort put into making him by the terrorist organization and he knew better than to think they were finished with him just because the head was cut off. There's always a new head when it comes to people and their greed.
He took a bite of the eggs and had to hold back from spitting them out. He turned them over with his fork and could see that the bottom was black.
"I'm not exactly a good cook," she stated with a shrug of defeat. "I tried though so that's gotta count for something right?"
Lucky leaned over the table and kissed her. He sat back down and the two started laughing.
Weeks went by as Lucky and Addison grew closer to each other. She claimed to have enough saved up paid time off to take an entire year off if she wanted to. She said that she wanted to spend her free time with him. He grew to really enjoy her company. They grew to understand one another and he felt a genuine compassion for her like he had never known.
Their time together was interrupted from time to time as Cheryl would call from the hospital to check on him. She always wanted to talk to him and tell him how much she missed him. He missed her too, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread when she would tell him how fast her wounds were mending and that she would be out and taking him home before he knew it.
His days were spent doing random things with Addison. They frequently walked through the surrounding woods as they explored the areas. Once they found a river that led to a small waterfall with a five-foot deep cave behind it. They spent hours in that cave.
The sex grew more and more amazing as well. They seemed to find the time to have sex just about everywhere they went together, the waterfall included. She would occasionally bring up a random location and they would go there to check it off the list. It almost became such a second nature that there was no lead up to it. They would find a place, give each other a look and just start right then and there.
The only thing between the two that didn't get better as the days turned into weeks was their cooking. They took turns attempting to impress the other, but neither person seemed to have the knack for it. Burnt, undercooked or just plain bad was on the menu every day. It didn't bother him though. It was just another endearing quality that made them what they were.
Jean Steller had called Addison in hopes of setting up a followup interview with Lucky, but he just turned her down. There was no reason to continue down the path with Terra exposed and gone. And besides that, by doing the interview he would create the risk of the organization finding him.
Everything was incredible just the way it was. He didn't want to change anything.
Then the phone rang.
Addison answered her phone and Lucky could tell something was wrong. She was trying to put on a happy tone, but he knew her far too well to believe it. He could tell that her world had been turned upside down in just a five-minute conversation.
"What is it?" He asked once she hung up the phone. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said, forcing a smile. "Cheryl's out. She's on her way here to get you."
What?! So soon? He thought he would be ready for this moment. He kept reminding himself that his time in the cabin was only temporary. It seemed that no matter what he attempted to prepare himself for this moment, it wouldn't stop the heartache that he felt now. Addison looked away from him and walked toward her bedroom.
"What can we do?" He asked as he followed her into her room. She was folding his clothes and placing them in a suitcase on the bed. "This isn't right."
"There's nothing we can do Lucky," she stated with a quiver in her voice. "You belong to Cheryl and she is well enough to go home."