December 20, 2003 – 00:15 (Scotland Time)
Coralis closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to rip their eyes out and strangle them, but she knew these girls were humans, most likely heading to the same destination as she. She believed Frank when he said nothing ever happened with that actress, but she didn't like these girls talking that way about her man.
She was thankful to have her wrist binds so she wouldn't break storefront windows by accident. Her eyeglasses only prevented her from using her eyes to direct her elemental energy and to camouflage their elemental colour but without her wrist binds, her elemental energy still leaked through her pores and she could still use her hands to direct it. She walked away and headed to the bar before she did anything to these girls and ended up in jail.
Her flight landed in Montreal early morning. She had a game in Mexico in the evening but decided to skip practice time just so she could spend more time with Frank before she had to leave for the game. She didn't have a suitcase to pick up at the carrousel so she went straight toward the exit and jumped into Frank's arms as soon as she made it to him.
They stayed silent in that position for a few minutes, her legs wrapped around his waist. None cared if people looked their way. When they felt the desire rising, they parted to head to the car, eyes still moist, walking with his arm across her shoulders. There were so many things they wanted to say to each other but left unsaid. Words weren't needed.
As soon as they both sat in the car and the doors were shut, he bent over her and pressed his lips on hers, which quickly turned into a heated kiss.
"How was your flight?" said Frank, after he turned on the ignition a few minutes later.
"It was weird, I'm not used to travelling by plane anymore, but I should get used to it," said Coralis as he drove out of the parking lot.
"Are you planning on boarding flights again when you have to travel abroad?"
"I probably will, from time to time, depending on where I need to go and for how long, just to help you make it more believable that I often travel abroad for work. Plus, I should keep travelling by plane when I need to pick up or drop off Audrey at school. If I'm going to be surrounded by humans when in transit, I need to control myself better, however."
Frank glanced at her, frowning.
"Why? Did something happen?"
"No… but almost. At the airport, I overheard some girls talking about you and I nearly ripped their eyes out. I could feel my blood boiling. I wanted to strangle them, but the thought of being arrested at the airport, after the conversation I had with the secret services yesterday, is what stopped me from acting on it and I went to the bar instead."
Frank couldn't help himself and laughed while rubbing her left knee with his right hand.
"I don't think I ever saw you jealous before. I'll admit, it feels good somehow, but it's probably because we've never gone so long without seeing each other, even when I didn't know a thing about your world."
"You never gave me a reason to be, so no, you haven't, but it made me think of how often I must have put you in that position and you remained good sport about it. I can now understand the wolves differently, I'm only gonna say that."
Still laughing at her comment, Frank pulled into a drive-through to get them some coffee.
"So does Sebastian, I believe. My sister said something similar the other night when she came over for a game. She also commented about how you two are more protective than the wolves are."
"Hmm I'd blame the witch hunt for that one… and the phone book thick of enemies, which I'm sure Sebastian is blaming me for, now that he's getting one too."
Frank grabbed the coffees from the employee at the windows, gave one to Coralis and drove out of there.
"On a different topic, now that your house arrest is finally over and you're back home with me, it means that we can move forward with wedding planning," said Frank, with a wide smirk. "As we agreed. Unless there is something else that I should know?"
"Uh, no. I mean, nothing else came up that I can think of, so uh… yeah, as we agreed, you can now go ahead with it. I'll call my banker this week to transfer you the money for it. Just let me know if you need more to cover the costs."
"Whenever and however I want?"
"Yeah. Well, I'd rather keep it small and simple, but when I talked to Hendrick last month while in China, and he mentioned to me that he and his family were expecting an invite, it made me realize that I may not be able to get away with something small, so yeah, do it how you think is best and I'll deal with it."
"Right, so, now for the when. If I'm to go ahead and start organizing it, well… you know my mother is going to be the one mostly in charge, the first thing I need to do is to get you to agree on a date. I want us to get married on March 27, in about 3 months, the weekend before my birthday," he glanced at her. She looked straight ahead, but he knew she was listening. "That way, it'd be like my birthday gift. I only want you."
She turned her eyes to him. He couldn't read her expression.
"If you prefer a different date, it's fine, we can pick a different one," he continued, trying not to get worried about her facial expression.
"It's fine," she said, resting her left hand on his cheek and passing it over his ear. "The date is fine. I'm sorry, I got lost for a moment in a memory from my past. I love you, and it is also your day."
She brought her hand back on herself, but he grabbed it to kiss the backside of her fingers while trying to keep his attention on the road.
"You know you can tell me anything and everything, right?"
"I know. In time, I will… but there are things about my past that have been buried deep inside of me and locked in a tight cage because it was the only way I could give you a fair chance when we started seeing each other."
Frank didn't know what to answer to that. He knew she was holding back about her past, but he also knew he couldn't force her to talk. Like her, he was also not talking about some elements of his past, but he wondered what she meant by giving him a fair chance.
"The memories you were referring to when we talked about your mark?"
She nodded. Frank turned onto their street and searched for a parking spot near their apartment.
"I understand," he said as he parked. "I haven't talked to you much about my father, so it would be hypocritical of me to make you talk about the painful parts of your past."
She stared at him until he got out of the car. She wanted to ask about his pains but figured that it wasn't the time. She hadn't seen him for 5 weeks. She didn't want to ruin their moment before she had to leave for her game in Mexico and she didn't want to fall apart if she also had to open up about her own past.
Later on that night, shortly after she got back from her game, High Mage Finnas reached out to her on her hologram.
"Blue Thunder, I'm glad you answered. Are you and Sonylla both safe at home?"
"Yes, why? I just got home from the flyball game," said Coralis, while trying to mind-link Sonylla. "She isn't responding, but I know she had plans with Derek tonight and I'm not feeling any phantom pains from her. What's going on?"
"Agent Mixa Airy's husband found her unresponsive on their bathroom floor. She is still in a coma. She suffered from a lot of internal bleeding."
"High Mage Vinna… they were twinning partners… she is ranked 31st…"
"Vinna is dead."