Dangerous Woman

33 🥒

The restaurant was quiet. Magdalene reserved a table in a corner for us. The moment we sit down the waiter comes over with a bottle of wine. He greets Magdalene like an old friend, and I assume she comes here a lot. "Tell me about your family?" I look at her surprised. The waiter takes my glass and pour me some wine. "Well, I have three siblings." I keep quiet for a moment.

"I had three siblings but now I only have two. I had a brother, but he died when I was 12 years old. My mother died when I was 8 years old. She died of cancer. It almost ruined our family. It definitely broke my dad." I take a sip of wine hoping that I will not have a break down. Magdalene is listening closely.

"So, my dad raised us. He died not long after my brother died. He died in a car accident. Like my brother's accident. My older brother who you now known as Dominic beat the man responsible for his death half to death with a socket wrench." I swallow and look over the menu. I do not dare t make any eye contact with her. I cannot begin to think the judgement she has over all of this.

"He was in county jail for two years. That left me in charge of getting the bills paid. Getting my sister through high school. Getting myself through high school." I smile at the memories of us sitting together at night in the garage. Mia busy with homework and a 14-year-old me trying to figure out what the bill and where the payments must go. "We survived. We came out stronger so when my brother finally got released, I had gotten so used to doing everything for myself. That resulted in us always fighting over everything."

I still remember the day I decided to pack up and move away without any knowledge to anyone. "So, I kept saying to myself that I need to hold on and when I turned 21, I just could not hold on anymore, so I packed up and I disappeared." I finally look up to her. Her eyes never left me. I cannot read her face. I look back down to the menu. I see a dish with pickles and I just know I need to have that so when the waiter came by, I asked for it. I see the frown on Magdalene's face.

"Owen told me you hated pickles?" I smile. "I do but he loves them, and I really have a craving for them today. I am so stressed about him and I need something to make me feel close to him." She gives me a once over and then smirks. "If you say so." I frown. What does that supposed to mean? I brush it off. "May I ask about your husband? Owen has never told me much about him." She smiles and take a long sip of her wine.

"He was the perfect combination of both Owen and Deckard. When I first met him, I was MI6." My eyes widen at this sudden bit of information. "He was the captain of his squad and he was on vacation right before he got deployed again." I can see the sparkle in her eyes. "We met in this very restaurant. I was waiting on my boyfriend and he came to get take away for him and some friends." I never in my life would have imagined them meeting like this.

"My boyfriend was late. He did not pick up his phone and I was upset. I had just found out I was pregnant." The more I hear of this story the more I cannot believe my ears. "Howard was a doctor at the state hospital. So, when I finally realised, he will not be showing up my hormones took over and I sat here crying. Next thing I knew there was a really handsome man sitting across from me with a concerned look in his eyes."

The waiter brought our food, but I am so fascinated by this story that I almost forgot to eat. The pickles are wonderful, and I can feel myself relax with each bite. "He sat with me the whole night. Listening as I ramble on and on about my pregnancy, the fact that my parents would disown me. how Howard is not picking up his phone." I eat in silence not wanting to miss a single bit of detail. Owen never told me this.

"Wait? You were pregnant. What happened to that baby?" I see a sadness fill her eyes and I immediately regret asking. "I am sorry you do not have to tell me if you do not want to." She gives me a sad smile and then continue. "I lost the baby. A few days after I met William, Howard came to me. He was furious. Told me one of his friends saw me with another man at dinner. I tried to explain but he did not want to have it. He started to..." She cuts of. I hear a lump in her throat, and I can only guess what happened.

"He would have killed me if William did not step in. I was so grateful. Howard ended up in the hospital. He sued William and I felt terrible, but my father paid for William's lawyer and Howard quickly back off the moment he saw that he is fighting a losing battle." I can hear the sadness in her voice. This is the first time since I have met her that I see her so vulnerable. I reach over the table and take her hand in mine. She looks up and smile.

"After that I quit MI6. I joined my father in all his illegal matters because I could not continue to support a system that found nothing wrong with what Howard did. A year passed and then one day at our front door William showed up. He was the mercenary my father hired. I did not know he left the army. I was so happy to see him again. At first, we were just friends. Later things changed and eventually my father gave his blessing to us."