The moment that Mike had awakened, he sensed that Erica wasn't in bed with him anymore. It was half past three in the morning and his eyes searched through the darkened room. Some strange and terrible premonition took hold of him, as though something utterly devastating was about to happen.
It was raining outside and he could see lightning bolt after lightning bolt, lighting up the skyline. Another thunderbolt crashed down nearer to the hotel and in the flashing white light he could see Erica on the balcony framed against the skyline.
The duvet was thrown form the queen size bed and Mike, jumped to his feet. He found himself on the balcony with three quick steps, just in time to grab on to the jumping Erica's arm. Mike felt as if his arm had been jerked from its socket and then his hand slipped, closing with a grip of steel around one of her slender wrists. By now his other hand had closed around her same arm and feeling that he was going to loose his balance, Mike jerked her back on to the balcony with all his might.
They both slipped and he fell backward. Mike landed on his back on the wet balcony, with her falling on top of him and Mike could feel the warmth of her trembling body and the rain pounding angrily down upon them.
For a few moments they laid motionless and Mike was happy, to know that he was in time to stop her. Suddenly he felt anger rising in him and he jerked her to her feet. Unceremoniously he pushed her back into the hotel room, sending her sprawling across the floor.
"What the hell do you think you are doing? " He shouted angrily at her. Before she was able to reply, he had picked her up and deposited her on the empty bed.
"I... I..." She tried to speak. He was shaking her so hard, that he could hear her teeth rattle. "I love you damn it." She smiled a kind of nervous smile and he rattled on: "Do you think it is a joke, to try and kill yourself? Jumping from the tenth storey, will only leave a splattered mess for me."
Erica's emotions started reacting to the shock, as the reality of what she almost did to herself became apparent to her. Her whole body started to tremble and huge teardrops streaked their way down her usually rosy, but now ash white cheeks.
Mike took her into his arms. He could smell her warm breath against his face and he knew that he could not bare the thought of ever loosing her and he hugged her, as if he would never let her go. Before Erica knew what had happened to her, he had undressed her, had run a hot bath for her and started washing her. She looked up at him with a guilty expression on her face, like a little girl who had been caught at the cookie jar.
"I love you Mike" was the first words that she spoke. As if trying to stress her point, trying to make him believe her she said: "Honestly. I am yours. Yours to do with what ever you want to." By now Mike's anger had left him and he draped a towel around her shoulders. "Get yourself dry woman, we have to talk. But first I am going to take a bath myself."
Mike bathed as quickly as he could, not knowing if he could trust Erica with her life. When he returned to the bedroom there was no sign of either Erica or his pistol. For one terrible moment he thought that she had left him to try and kill herself again, but then he saw his pistol still in its holster lying on the floor where it had fallen when he bumped into the small table next to the bed in his hurry to get to Erica.
He found Erica in the suites other room looking in the mirror, while putting some make up on her face. He could see some red and blue marks on her arm and at her wrist, where he had grabbed her and hold on to her.
"Does your arm hurt?" He inquired. "Not to much. I think nothing is broken and it doesn't feel as if any ligaments are torn," she replied. Winking she said: "I thought that I had to give the neanderthal man some privacy to get dressed." He knew that she was referring to the way that he had undressed and bathed her.
He ordered some hot chocolate and both of them sat with crossed legs opposite each other on the bed, drinking their chocolate in silence. Erica's lips trembled with emotion and Mike kissed her tenderly and her head rested comfortable against his chest, where she could hear the steady beating of his heart.
Erica looked up and their eyes met when she started speaking. "There are some reasons why I tried to kill myself. You'll have to let me go. It is the only solution." Mike grabbed hold on to her as if scared that she would try to kill herself again.
"No! Erica, no. There must be some other solution somewhere. I cannot bear to give you up. We must find a way out. There just must be something that we can do." "Do you really think that there's another way Mike? I'll spell the odds out to you. The KGB ordered you dead and your agency want my life. Either one of us will have to deliver, or we will be killed by whichever agency first finds out that we are in love. The only solution is suicide. We will not be able to run away from them forever. Sooner or later they will catch up with us. It's a catch 22 situation. What ever we do, we loose each
other."
Her eyes had turned grey with sadness and he was stroking her hair, when he responded: "We will still be together for a time. Let's make the best of the time that we've got left. Having each other is far better than having nothing at all. Together me might have a chance."
Mike knew that Erica was right when a thought struck him like lightning bolt out of a clear blue sky. "I've got it! I've got it!" He remarked excitedly. "It's just perfect and it will work." His eyes sparkled with excitement and his mind worked through this plan of his.
She asked frowning: "Tell me about it," trying not to get her hopes up. "Somebody will have to die. You are absolutely right. I know somebody that resembles you to almost to the last detail." For a while a shocked silence hanged between them. "You are truly cold blooded," she whispered and shivered at the thought. "So are you my dear," he replied and both of them started laughing.
"Tell me about this person," she asked with shining eyes. "Her name is Lianne. She was married to my brother and is almost your mirror image." "Nobody is identical to me. The KGB would have known about her," she responded. Mike took a photograph from his wallet which pictured Tony and Lianne and she drew her breath in sharply, because it was like looking at herself.
"You will have to assume her identity for a while and we will have to dispose of Simon. Killing is too good for him. He's her lover. I do trust that you will be a great actress, especially when your own life is at stake."
"It will not be a problem," she mused. "Why do you hate her and that Simon so very much?" Mike told her about Tony and every thing that he knew about Lianne. "We'll have to do some surveillance on her. I'll have to learn about the way that she moves, how she talks, how she acts and a lot more," Erica said excitedly. "Then we will plan their demise," she continued.
"There's just one catch. I will have to bring the black man in or kill him," Mike said with the tension showing on his face. To his relief she smiled and nodded. "I will tell you all about him and his hide out, my love. You are absolutely brilliant," she said joyfully. "I know that it will work. We will make it work for us." They kissed with great passion, glad to have a second chance at love and at life.
(1483 Words)
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