To Alma

The remnant clouds of a storm cell diffused the light of a setting sun, dusting the world beneath them in a warm, orange glow. It illuminated the trees, revealing shades of green that had been muted by the harsh haze of changing seasons. Ava thought for a moment about taking a picture; there was no way she would ever be able to accurately recant the way the evening was being painted before her eyes. Instead, she bathed in the light as it wrapped its rays around her and she too was set aglow. She was just like the leaves and the grass and the rolling hills. For the first time in her parlous life, she felt her walls coming down and as the sun fell further behind the horizon, rendering the whole sky a tremendous shade of pink, her eyes welled up with tears.

Frank sauntered proudly towards her, arms full of snacks from his supply run. He spilled out his haul on the ground beside her.

“I didn’t know what you wanted, so I got a little of everything.” He pushed the items around with his foot to better display their labels. Ava looked away, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and Frank quickly realized something was amiss. “Hey, what’s going on?” 

“It’s nothing,” she sniffled as the colors disappeared from the sky.

“Come on.” Frank sat beside her and started to reach his hand to her shoulder, but stopped himself and opened up a bag of Funions instead. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is ‘wrong’. I’m just overwhelmed, I think.”

“Well, yeah. You’ve been through a lot these past few days,” he offered sweetly. 

“No, it’s not that. I’m actually handling all of that pretty well.”

“I don’t understand, then.” 

She turned to face him. His thick eyebrows were pulled inward in attempt to unravel the mysteries of womankind. 

“I’ve been…” she cleared her throat. “I’ve been on my own for so long. The only one I’ve ever had looking out for me is myself. But now…” Frank crunched down on a Funion and frowned, holding the bag up to read the ingredients and Ava chuckled. “Now you’re here and I have this feeling in my bones that everything I’ve been through has led me to your crazy ass and that scares me more than any Russians.” 

“You know you don’t have to be afraid of me.” He lowered his head.

“I’m not afraid of you. Not at all. That’s not what I meant.” 

Ava turned back to the sky, pulling her knees up to her chest to keep warm. The temperature had dropped drastically once the moon had risen, so Frank took his jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. 

“I’m scared too,” he finally confessed. A streetlight flickered on nearby and gave them just enough light to see each other. 

“You? Scared?” Scoffed Ava. His honesty caught her off guard. 

“You get me to open up then mock me for it.”  

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She playfully took his arm in hers and leaned in closer. His instincts told him to pull away, but an unfamiliar part of him didn’t want her to ever let go. “What are you afraid of, Frank?”

He paused for a moment.

“I don’t know how to do this while I have something to lose.”

They sat together in silence, both unsure of what to do with the validation they had been hoping for—that the other felt it too. It complicated everything, of course, because now it was personal. Now, every attempt on her life was not simply unjust in the optics (an entire army against one very unqualified woman), it was a direct attempt to take the one thing Frank had actually allowed himself to care about. His phone chimed from inside the jacked he had just given to Ava, breaking the palpable silence. She pulled it out of the breast pocket and glanced quickly, accidentally at the screen. There was a text from an unknown number.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to look,” she muttered as she passed him the phone.

“It’s okay. I guarantee it regards you, too.” He quickly skimmed over the screen and passed it back to her excitedly so she could read it.

Frank,

You know I never wanted things to end like this. You’ve always been great for business, but you’ve also been a friend. I can’t stop this locomotive you set loose even if I tried. You remember what happened to Alma? Just hope there’s no hard feelings. Nothing personal.

Lyla

Ava looked to Frank for explanation, but he was already gathering up all their things. 

“What does this mean?”

“It means I still have a friend at The Company.” 

He held out his hand to help her up and they started back towards the car. He was practically skipping.

“I’m still confused,” she shouted, trying to keep up with his long legs.

“She’s giving us a safe house!”

“Did we read two different texts?” 

Frank laughed as he tossed their bags into the back seat. The engine roared to life and the headlights illuminated the empty road before them. Something in that message lit a fire beneath him, and although Ava was still in the dark, she trusted him implicitly. She saw something new in his eyes as she took her seat next to him—something akin to hope. As he dropped the shifter into drive and pointed the car North, she felt the fear that had been weighing her down begin to lift. 

The stoplight above them turned red; a fog was creeping in through the trees, engulfing the car as it idled at the intersection and Ava was overcome by an amorous temptation. 

“Frank,” she whispered.

He turned his head to look at her and she leaned over the center console, pressing her lips against his for a quick, timid kiss. His shoulders tensed and she sat back in her seat, but as the red hue drowning the car turned green and his foot pressed harder against the break pedal, he wrapped his hands around the sides of her head, pulling her in, completely surrendering to the desires of his racing heart.