Chapter 5: C H A P T E R 4

Just Derek and Rachel

•••

Rachel's POV

She meets me in my dream whenever I'm afraid. She makes me safe. She filters all the fear and gave me nothing but love.

But this time, she didn't meet me in my La La Land as we always agree. This time I felt different. This time someone else is doing her job.

When I spilt my eyes open, it was a total blur. Blur, unfocused and a stinging pain glitters along my forehead.

I fell down. I hurt my head. I was brought by Alan and Joe. That is what I recall.

Slowly, my eyes focused on one thing. And that is the face I am looking at.

Derek's face.

Derek is watching me, his face is covered with worries and frowns. A deep 'v' crowning between his eyes.

'Rachel?'

That's the last word I heard before I passed out, and now, it's the first word I heard since I regain conscious.

'Where is this?' I asked, my hands move to where my wound was.

'Let's just call this a bunker.'

As I observe the confined room where we are in, there are no windows at all. It looks like some underground room where we won't know what's happening outside.

Outside?

The gun attack. I recall again.

I lifted myself up, Derek is sitting on a chair in front of me. I was on a bed cover with a blanket. He was watching me all along.

'Here, have a drink, you have been fainted for two hours.' Derek open the bottle of Evian and pass it to me.

'Thanks,' I murmured. I'm so thirsty, I've never been so thirsty before.

'Take it easy on that, we enough supply to survive apocalypse.'

'Hmmm.' I felt embarrassed suddenly by his mocking. 'How did you know I was there?'

'I saw you from afar, Rachel. Almost everyone are wearing Kimonos except three of you.'

He saw me? He did. Gosh, the mesmerizingly way I look at him , I hope he didn't see that.

'Great eyesight.'

'Thanks to the harsh training in Navy SEAL.'

I remain quiet. How long are we going to spend in this 'bunker' together?

'How's the situation outside?' I asked. 'I have to call Dolores.' I start searching for my bag.

'They are safe, I promised. And, Rachel?' He paused, like something serious is about to come out from him. 'You can't disclose your whereabouts to anyone.'

'Something like top secret kind of stuff?' I asked

He nodded. 'When I took you with me into here,' his forefinger circling around this room, 'I broke many protocols that Gavinski advised me against.'

I felt my heartbeat again, I wanted to jump right into Derek and hug him like I'm going to lose him the next minute.

'Everything with you are classified, secrets, hidden, mystery, and forbidden.'

He remains still, but his eyes were filled with guilt. That is why I hesitate to step into this circle where he can't promise me a future.

'I want a man who I can watched the stars with, share a cheesecake in a local coffee shop, walk on the street having a take-away iced tea and post our selfies with hashtag "couples". If...' I paused, I'm trying to gather all my strength to break with him. It's not like we started anything, but I'm cutting off, and it hurts me, 'if I were to be yours, this will not happen for us. No movie, no beaches, only underground, just like now, just like in Air Force One, either we are up above, or down below, there is no in between.'

Derek stood up, coming towards me. He is tall, so tall that I have to look up. His face is expressionless. He lowered himself until he is just a few inches away from me. He smells good, like a Givenchy Homme kind of good. I want to touch his ear, his neck and everywhere.

'So, there is no way I can change your mind?'

I can't speak. My throats are stuck from my palpitating heart, they are paralyzing me. His eyes is the only thing that reminds me I'm alive.

'No...' I breathes.

He nodded like he accept what I said, which unconsciously, I hope he don't.  This temptation is devil, poison and yet addictive.

'Right.' He lifted himself away from me. 'Are you hungry?' He asked.

'Famished?'

His lips curl a little, trying to hide his emotion.

'Come on, we have another two hours before we can be evacuate, let's just pretend we are having casual dinner together.' He offers his hand.

I look at his hand, those streaks of fine lines on his palms. Do I want to hold this hand as a part of my memory when I gets old, and that Derek Hoffer was once a part of my story?

'Whatever's going to happen here, stays inside here, right?' I asked, searching answer from his face. He narrowed his eyes a little.

'You are saying?'

'I'm saying, I can pretend that I had a concussion, you were not married, I wasn't a home wrecker. And by the time my concussion recovers, you will be the President and I will be the flight attendant in your plane. Now, you are Derek, and I'm Rachel, just Derek and Rachel.'

His eyes brightens up. 'Just Derek and Rachel.' He repeats, his lips curl up.

He won. Just like how he won the election. He won over me.

-

'Can't believe the Japanese uses Ramen as an emergency food in the bunker.' I commented while looking at Derek scooping up the noodles with fork. He folded his sleeves up. I love looking at his semi-casual look, folding up his sleeves always makes him look even more attractive.

'It's a national pride, Japanese Ramen is an international business.' He slurp the noodles loudly. He must be hungry for eating like a beast.

'If I took a picture of the U.S President eating ramen with fork, guess how many thousand times would it be retweet?' I mock at him with a sneaky grin.

'You and your smart mouth and mocking nature.' He shakes his head in a speechless manner.

'So, about the assassination, is it a classified thing?' I asked.

'It depends on your question.' He answers without looking at me.

'Who is the target.' I scoop up a mouthful of noodle, it's still pipping hot.

'Me.'  He said, not really bothered with that.

'Why?' I snapped.

'Investigation is still going on. I can't answer you even if it is not classified. We'll probably have to fly back earlier than schedule.'

'Ah. I guess I can be a millionaire if they hired me to be the assassin. Peanut butter is the easiest weapon.'

'Really?' He stopped eating, placing his forks down, stretching his arms to get the towel. I wonder what is he up to. He clean his hand and wipe his lip effortlessly. I watched him, and before I even noticed, I have already place my fork down as well.

I watched his gracefully left his chair, walking across the table and come to me. My eyes never left him.

'So, assasin, huh?' He lowered his body to me, leaving only a little distance between us. It's so little that I can easily swipe over his lips when I move my face.

I sat firmly, too rigid to move when he, Derek Hoffer, is engulfing all my senses, leaving me all hot and bothered.

'Who's the one getting assassinated now?' Slowly, his hand begin to make its way up my leg. I'm squirming and breathing harder. 'Let's see, shall we?'

That sounds like a challenge.

I felt high. My body's reaction towards Derek's move seems to brought me into oblivion. What chemical is this. I really am high on drugs, Derek's drug.

'Rachel?' He cups both my cheeks and looks at me intently. My skin is burning. 'I am going to kiss you now.'

And so, he did. His lips press over mine. Slowly and skillfully, he parted my lip. I don't know what I felt right now, because I have never felt this good before. His hands trails towards the back of my neck, guiding me even close to him, our kiss grew deeper.  I am dying and nothing can save me.

I don't want anything to save me either. I am down, all the way down to the bottom of the sea, there is no way anyone can erase this memory of mine.

He broke the kiss suddenly. I opened my eyes, filled with puzzlement and disappointment all at once. On the contrary, his striking blue eyes were fill with jaunty.

'So? Whose assassination is this?' He smile triumphantly.

Jerk! That's what he is doing? Teasing me?

'I regret it again, I should have put the peanut butter on your coffee any moment right now.' I scowled.

'Rachel?' He bend down and place his hand both on my waist. 'The secret service has given you a code, Tores, do you know what that means?'

'Yeah, I remember Alan or Joe shouted that. What is that suppose to mean?'

He smiles softly, squeezing my waist a little. It's ticklish, I wanted to laugh. 'It means, you are part of their mission. My code is Astor, you are Tores. So, if Astor wants to meet Tores, the secret agent will escort you.'

'That means we are going to have affair and the secret agent are responsible for organizing the event?'

'Sort of.' He shrugged.

'Like Fitzgerald Grant and Olivia Pope kind of affair?' That's the only thing  that comes out from my mind.

'I have no idea who is that but it sounds about right.'

'Derek? Don't you think you owe me something?'

'Continuation of my sexual harassment?' He chortled, and so did I.

'No, Derek. No.' I paused and look around the room, I'm figuring out how I shall asked him. 'We talk about almost everything but nothing about her...'

His expression change. He went on a solemn mode for a moment. I have to hear what he says about her. I need him to give me the benefit of the doubt.

'I'm not sure what I should tell you, because everything I said will sound like an excuse, but the fact is, I loved her before, she was once part my life.'  He lifted himself away from me, pulled a chair and sat beside me. His gave a deep sigh, eyes never left the table.

What's behind the hurtful expression he is trying to hide?

'Is that why you've got no child with Grace? You have been married for five years before you were elected.'

He laugh, all of a sudden, as creepy as it sound, I thought he was mentally unsound for a moment. 'That's the scariest part of love, Rachel, you will never know if they are wearing a mask, and if they were, are you able to love the same person again?'

I took a moment to absorb what he said. When love turns ugly, nothing will be the same again. I loved a person with all my heart, to the point where I'll take a bullet for him, but turns out, he was the one who holds the gun. Whenever the scent of whisky hits me, it brought everything back, all the bad things. All the bad things that I wish I had a dementia to cure it.

'No.' I shake my head. 'I run away, as far as I can.'

'I can't run. And she doesn't want me to run as well.'

I look at him, searching for more answer.

'Let's just say we have our own ambition and this thing between Grace and I are what we describe as win-win solution.'

'Do you...do you still...you know,' I shrugged,hopefully he will sort of know what I want to ask, but, who am I kidding, he is looking at me intently, waiting for me to say the words out loud. 'Sleeps together?' I look away from him, and I know my face is uncomfortable.

'Ah.' He kind of look relieve. 'No, we don't, Rachel, and if it makes you feel better,' he begin to move his body towards me, launching closer to my face, 'my bed has been empty since the first day I moved to the White House.'  He nibbled my lips. Oh God, I'm dying again. 'As much as I would like to have sex with you, this is not the place.'

Oh God.

He just said that word, did he? How can he pronounced that word in such a provocative tone. I never knew anybody who would be that straightforward with expressing their feelings.

'So, we have another hour to go, what would you like to do with me?' He look at his watch. It was a leather watch with Roman numerals.

Sitting on the chair, I felt my body weakens, my breathing went slower, I was stirred, verbally stimulated by him that my whole body seems to float.

'You are blushing, Rachel,' he grinned, an intensive triumphant took his face.

'You can't expect me to pretend nothing happened after you said...' I hesitated to said that word.

'Hmm, then I must be doing something right for you to have such reaction.'

I scowled at him, cupping my cheeks with my palm.

'But, I'm serious, I don't want to have this hour with you wasted.'

I thought for a minute. 'Let's reveal something about ourselves?' I raised my brow.

He looks suspicious and yet he is eager to know what embarrassing stuff I am going to suggest.