A Reaper's Mission

Chapter 22: My Husband, Rufus (Emma)

*Proceed with caution, this chapter is harsh*

I fall into a pattern. Every week, I go to the uncle's house, go shopping, and spend time with Rex. I lie to Rufus. I steal from community members to sell their stuff. I never rest, every day is spent committing the same sins over and over again. All for the sake of escaping this place.

I walk over to the car, Jason taught me how to drive, so now I do everything on my own. I don't have any potential witnesses. The only one who could qualify is the uncle, but he seems to understand. Or at the very least not give a damn. I get into the car, ready for mine and Rex's date.

Rex is an odd one. Every second I'm with Rufus usually winds up being sexually charged. But Rex tries to be careful not to put us into this situation. Whenever things start to cross a certain line, Rex puts a stop to it. He's adamant that we should not rush things. He prefers us walking through a park holding hands and talking about our lives (I have to omit a lot when we get to that topic).

I start the familiar drive to see the uncle...kinda. He started giving the money to Rex to hand off to me, saying he didn't want to get too close. Whatever that means. So, instead, I go to a diner that is about five minutes away from his mansion. It's Rex's favorite place, and I have to admit that it is pretty good.

I make it to the diner, only to have Rex jump into the car. I look over at him with raised eyebrows. He has never gotten into my car before. He looks at me, with a grin already fixed on his face. "I have a surprise for you. So, is it okay if we go to my apartment?" He asks, resembling an excited child at Christmas.

"I suppose," I mumble, still confused. Why does he want to surprise me all of a sudden?

"Oh and here's the envelope the Old Man gives you." He passes on the envelope filled with our week's cash. I take it and put it into the visor.

"Thank you."

"Anything for you, my dear." He tells me, a stupid grin on his face. I look at him and can't fight the smile from appearing on my face.

"Alright, where's your apartment?"

"So, what's this surprise anyway?" I ask while Rex leads me up the stairs of his apartment building. Our hands are tightly locked. I feel a familiar flutter in my stomach. It's stronger than the butterflies I got with Rufus.

"It ruins the surprise if I tell you." He laughs, looking back at me. He looks so young and carefree. What do I look like? Will I ever look carefree again? I silently follow him, wondering what his surprise is. I don't particularly like surprises, they usually end up with Rufus and people dead.

"We're here," Rex declares, dropping my hand so he can dig his key out of his pocket. He unlocks the door and immediately takes my hand again. As if he never wants to let me go. As if I'm important. "Surprise!" He leads me into his tiny apartment, and I gasp.

He made us food. The table has a bouquet of roses in the middle. It's also hilariously candle-lit, like all the girls at the community talk about. I wonder if Rufus fulfills those wishes. Darkness settles over my shoulders as I imagine him lighting candles for one of them. For that girl that killed my mother.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He then rushes over and turns on the radio, which is softly playing music. "I can't exactly control what they play, but I figured why not." Rex turns around and he looks nervous. He never looks nervous. He's always extremely confident. He's analyzing me, but it was different than the way Rufus does it. Rufus does it out of mistrust. Rex...it's like he's waiting for my reaction. He cares about what I think.

I feel all the darkness that had wrapped itself around me fade away, leaving me in my moment with Rex. With someone who makes me incredibly happy.