Reiner - While She was Sleeping

For the first time, I felt useful, and I was doing some real work. On top of that, if I can help Reiner figure this out, we would be saving lives. Just like he had said when I first asked him what he was working on.

He was right, we would be saving lives.

I felt dead tired when I got into the car and Reiner started driving us home. Despite my exhaustion, I felt very satisfied with how the day had progressed. If only tomorrow would be like this as well, then life wouldn’t feel so hard. I glanced over at Reiner and saw him paying attention to the road ahead. He didn’t seem so tired at all. I hoped that the effort that we’ve put in today will prevent him from spending late nights working alone at the office.

“See, I can be pretty helpful, right? I’m not completely useless…” I spoke up cheerfully.

My voice disturbed the silence in the car and Reiner glanced over at me before a small smile curved his beautiful lips. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen him smile and it felt like a lifetime ago since he last smiled because of me.

“Yea yea…” he muttered but the smile did not disappear from his lips.

His smile made me smile. It was the best reward that I could have ever wished for at the end of a long and tiring day.

“Now that we have the sample data, tomorrow we can analyze it to see if there are trends of any link of causation…” I said thoughtfully.

“You’re right,” Reiner agreed.

“This work is going to be tough, but I bet it’s going to be fun as well...” I said softly.

“It won’t be easy but we should be able to manage…” Reiner replied casually.

“Let’s work to save lives together! Haha…sounds like we’re superheroes of something,” I said before laughing.

…

Silence settled in again. Natalia had been silent for a while now and after glancing over at her, Reiner wasn’t surprised to see that she had drifted off to sleep. She must have been tired after all the work that she’d done for the day. It was a short drive away before they reached the mansion and Reiner decided to let Natalia enjoy her rest peacefully.

The guards saluted to him when they saw his usual car arrive back at the mansion before opening the automatic gates. Reiner quickly parked the car before silently slipping out without waking up Natalia.

Natalia was still fast asleep, and he didn’t want to do anything to wake her up. It would be great if he could get her to her bedroom without disturbing her rest.

As gently as possible, he opened the car’s door on her side. He kept his eyes on her face to see if she stirred in her sleep. Thankfully, she didn’t. Reaching over, he unbuckled her seatbelt and slowly disengaged it from around her body. All the while he watched her and was careful not to wake her up.

Natalia seemed to be in a deep sleep and that was probably due to her exhaustion.

Carefully, he placed his arm under her back and her knees before lifting her up into his arms with ease.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or if she had lost weight. As he carried her towards the mansion’s entrance, he was convinced that she felt lighter in his arms than she used to and that wasn’t a good sign. He looked down at her sleeping face and wondered why she was trying so hard. Life out here on this island was tough and probably too difficult for a girl like her.

Most men that ended up here weren’t normal and the jobs that they took on were not normal as well.

Although an economy has sprung up around the business community and King’s mercenary company, it wasn’t a standard economy like other countries. Basically, it was shady and filled with shady people.

Despite all that she had chosen to say, and he felt like it was his fault that she had dragged herself out here. Reiner sighed softly. No matter what he said or did, it didn’t seem like Natalia was willing to change her mind.

Reiner was too wrapped up in his depressing thoughts to realize that someone was waiting for them at the entrance of the mansion. He looked up and saw his mother standing there as if she had been waiting for them to arrive back all along. He sighed again, knowing well that she was here to meddle with his life. All he wanted was to put Natalia to bed so that she could get a goodnight’s rest and be cheerful and happy the next day.

“I told you to drive her back, I didn’t know that that came along with a carry-her-to-her-room service,”

Queen teased.

“Shhh…” Reiner hissed softly as he gestured with his eyes at Natalia who was sleeping in his arms.

Queen nodded and covered her mouth with her hand playfully. Reiner narrowed his eyes at her disapprovingly.

“What do you want?” he asked, barely above a whisper.

“Nothing. That’s not how you’re supposed to talk to your dear mother now is it?” Queen whispered back teasingly.

“She fell asleep in the car. I’m taking her back to her room,” Reiner explained plainly.

“Sure. Kiss her goodnight for me too, will you?” Queen said suggestively before she blew a kiss at her only son.

Reiner frowned at his mother and Queen smiled before turning on her heels and walking way into the mansion. Reiner looked down at Natalia and felt relieved that she was still asleep. He walked towards her room in the opposite direction from where Queen had headed.

Gently, Reiner placed Natalia on her bed. He winced a little when Natalia seemed to stir as her back hit the softness of the bed’s mattress. Slowly, he eased his arm from under her body. Thankfully, Natalia stirred but did not wake up. It seemed like his mission of sending her to bed was a success.

--To be continued…