An Age Old Promise

X

~Natalie's P.O.V~
It's been days since my breakup with James and I couldn't stop thinking about what he said about Ray and what he's going to do. His words haunt me and it always come up whenever I'm distracted. Well, it's true that James and I at one side don't agree with everything but on the other, we still accept each other. I guess that for him to see Ray was his final straw. I really don't want to hope anything bad James will do to Ray but I'll never know.

I'm back to work in the library as usual and I'm trying my best to keep my focus but my brain really wants me to distract myself with something. I can't let my thoughts lost or I'll hear those words again. "... Natalie? Natalie. Natalie!". "Huh! What?" I snapped back when someone called and it was Adrien. "Are you alright?" I've never seen you that focused before." he worriedly asked.

"Sorry, boss..." I apologized. "I just want to get my mind off of it." and added after telling him about my breakup with James. "Did Reinhard know about this?". "He saw the entire thing." I answered in defeat. Adrien didn't ask how it really happened and I was glad. "Though did re-reading everything about Reichsführer Himmler helped?" he asked and teased that I practically an expert about Wolf.

I sighed a chuckle, "As usual, Wolf never fails to surprise me." I guess what Aunt Mag said was right. A smile never lies when it appears when you're talking about the things you like. Adrien definitely noticed my small smile and he was relieved. "Tell you what..." sounds that he has an idea and told me about the boat ride schedule which is this weekend. I hate to admit that I forgot about it.

"Ah, dangit!" I slapped my forehead. "I completely forgot about that!". "I'll accompany you to buy the tickets. How's that sound?" Adrien offered and Mika came in, teasing if I got a date. Adrien said no and told Mika that he was just doing something nice for me. "Aww... I thought you were..." she pouted. "Yeah... don't get your hopes too high, Mika." I got the last laugh and we continued our shift as usual.

Hours passed and my shift finally finished. As promised, Adrien accompanied me to the river to buy the tickets. Both of us arrived and went to the ticket booth. The staff there are familiar with me since I frequently come here. "Hey, Joe!" I greeted. "Natalie! Our loyal visitor." Josef greeted me back. "Always a pleasure to see you.". "Same here." I smiled and asked for two tickets.

"Is it for you and your partner here?" he cheekily asked and I said no. "It's for me and my roommate actually." I cleared the misunderstanding. Josef chuckled and gave me the tickets for this Sunday's ride. "Dekuji, Joe." I thanked him after paying. "See you at Sunday!" I waved him goodbye and took the tram back. "Oh, and don't forget tonight's session." Adrien reminded me. "Right! Thanks for reminding me." I have a song I wanted to try in the jam session.

"And you can bring Reinhard along. The more the merrier!" he added and I'll definitely pull Ray along. "I'll see you tonight, Natalie." I nodded and walked back after waving goodbye. I arrived and announced myself after opening the door, "Ray! I'm back!" but there was no answer. I forgot that he's working in his old villa. It's really weird to say that and I think he's coming back a bit late today.

I cleaned the place a bit and took shower when I finished. I changed to my usual red flannel with black jeans then I heard my car pulled up. Ray opened the door, "Sorry, I'm late." And told me that there were some visitors asking how he knows the place too well. He likes to tell how his day went and it's really cute. "Welcome back, Ray." I greeted him back with a smile. He noticed me packing my bass and asked if I'm going somewhere with it.

"The four of us are having a jam session tonight." I announced. "It's just a small music event in a nearby bar and we were wondering if you'd like to come and see." I invited him. "Why didn't you say so!" Ray was excited and immediately changed his clothes after shower. We hopped back in the car and Ray drove while I gave the directions. He usually drives me to work with the excuse that I can save more money and for him to have a morning activity.