FIFTEEN
FIRST DATE
The strategy of deploying the Chest of the Menagerie was a mistake. We had thought our intentions of the menagerie humane. After all, unlike the Genjix, the Prophus did not have control of castles and prisons. The Chest of the Menagerie’s discovery, however, enraged the Genjix and escalated the war. After the Thirty Years’ War ended, the Prophus had been decimated and scattered to the winds.
Tao fled to the new world while I ventured south from the ruins of the Prussian lands to Italy. It was there that I met Yol, who at the time was hiding in a young philosopher known as Galileo Galilei.
Baji
The putting-Jill-through-her-paces first date didn’t happen the next day. In fact, their first date didn’t happen for an entire week, though not for a lack of effort on Marco’s part. Every time she left her apartment or office, he was outside waiting for her. And while he was gently insistent on this stupid first date, he was so polite about it that she could weasel her way out of it. She knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to give in. And it wasn’t like she purposely avoided him. She really meant it when she said she was busy.
You cannot avoid him forever.
“Look, I’m busy. Shit needs to get done.”
You will hurt his feelings.
“Hah. Like that’s even possible.”
Paula finally called and gave her an ultimatum. Either she did what he asked or Paula would come and toss her in the car trunk. Jill grudgingly had to agree on the date. That Sunday, he called her at dawn and told her he was waiting downstairs.
Grumbling, she changed into her workout clothes and brushed her teeth. She looked at her makeup kit and thought about putting on her face. She wasn’t one of those women at the gym who did that, but something about Marco made her feel exposed without at least something. She checked the mirror and noticed the tired lines on her face.
Stop stalling. The day will be long enough as it is without you blathering on about how you look.
Jill sighed. “I used to be so pretty.”
You are still prettier than Roen deserves. Get this over with, so we can move on to some real work.
Marco was leaning on his car when she walked out of the building. He beamed with his pearly white teeth as he held the door open for her. “You look fetching this morning.”
“You never turn it off, do you?” she said as she got into the car.
“Pardon? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he grinned.
They drove thirty minutes southwest down 395 to Mason Neck State Park. During the drive, he entertained her with a steady stream of stories. He had one for everything. When he saw a duck, he had a duck hunting story. When he saw a single engine plane, he told her about the time he crash-landed his second Cessna – because it was important for her to know which of his planes had the mishap – onto a frozen lake in Nova Scotia. He had to outrun the cracking ice to shore. And when they passed by a horse ranch, he talked at length about the difference between an Arabian’s gait as opposed to other breeds. To her surprise, he admitted he had never delivered one.
Marco didn’t seem like he was trying to brag. He was just someone who lived on another plane of existence from mere mortals. And with every tale he told, he had a moral point to make, as if he were explaining to her what made him him. She hated to admit it, but he fascinated her. He was like an alien from another world and that wasn’t taking into account the actual alien in him.
“Who lives like this? I mean, really!”
Old aristocrats live unlike mere mortals. They might as well be from another planet.
“And now he’s working my security.”
You are moving on up in the world with such a distinguished bodyguard.
They reached the park, and Marco began to put her through her paces. It started easily enough with basic stretches. Then he took her jogging to test her cardio.
“Run as fast as you like,” he shrugged when she asked how fast.
There was something condescending about that tone in his voice, so she did what he asked. She pushed the pace to blistering six-minute miles. She experienced no small amount of satisfaction when after the fourth, she wiped that grin off his face.
“Tell me about Roen,” he said, wheezing deep breaths five miles into their run.
Here we go. This will be fun.
“Not much to tell. We’re separated, and I’ve barely seen him over the past two years.”
“Are you… aware of the small bit of unpleasant history we share?”
A molehill out of a mountain.
“Something like that,” she said offhandedly.
Baji had already given her the lowdown on Marco and Ahngr. Ahngr was an active Prophus in medieval Europe. While Tao hated Ahngr, Baji and he shared a much more pleasant history. Jill was going to leave it at that but couldn’t help herself. “I hear you and Roen went to war a few times in Egypt.”
“Pardon my saying so,” he sniffed, “but your husband has quite a chip on his shoulder. Hardly a war though, more a tiff. Ahngr and Tao had wars. What Roen and I had was nothing more than a disagreement among pack leaders. I must say, I had my concerns when Paula asked me to run your security detail. What kind of person would marry him, after all? However, I have been pleasantly surprised.”
Something in Jill snapped. She had had enough of all this Roen bashing. Between Baji and her parents and now this near stranger, this was more than she could take. Roen might be an insensitive idiot, but he was her insensitive idiot.
She stuck a finger in his face. “Cut it out. No one bad-mouths Roen but me. We might be on the outs, but he’s still my husband.”
Ahem.
“You too, Baji. Honestly, I’m tired of everyone crapping on him. That’s my job. I’ll deal with him however I see fit. You’ll have to learn to live with him because I say so.”
There was a pause in the conversation as they ran up a steep eight percent incline. They reached the apex and he finally capitulated, signaling for a stop. Jill gave him credit for keeping up this long. He bent over and sucked in large gulps of air. Jill felt lightly winded but was otherwise ready to keep going.
“You gave me quite a go there,” he said, still heaving. “If that’s your warm up, I would hate to see what your actual run looks like.”
They took a break at the top of the hill. It overlooked a large forested area that continued up to the thin dark line that was Belmont Bay. The morning sky above that continued, turning progressively lighter shades of blue.
“I owe you an apology,” Marco said. “First concerning Roen; he and I have our differences and naturally, you two being separated, I thought we would agree. I will refrain from referring to him in a negative light. Secondly, you are in much better shape than stated in the reports.”
Man enough to apologize when wrong.
“Good trait for a guy.”
“Apology accepted,” Jill replied. “You don’t swim 2.4 miles, bike a hundred twelve, and then run a marathon, and be out of shape.”
“Of course,” Marco conceded. “Let’s move on to self-defense. How about a few rounds of fisticuffs, shall we?” He gestured to a small clearing.
Maybe you spoke too soon.
“God help me.”
Jill cursed. This wasn’t going to be fun. Her hand-to-hand combat training consisted of all of five weeks during basic and four years of Billy Blanks to techno music.
But God didn’t help. The melee was short, brutal, and embarrassing. The first round, Marco treated her with more respect than she deserved. At first, Jill did alright. She had taken the required boxing classes, and her punches were crisp. He complimented her clean form. It was when he went on the offensive that she fell apart. She was too slow to block his attacks, and the round ended with a hip toss that left Jill writhing on the dirt.