Sacred Truths

Part 4

Violet

Cassidy Norman

Looking through the binoculars in a park, I saw her in casual jeans and a white top sitting in a cafe beaming like a child eating ice cream. She didn't look like a weapon specialist or one of the best sharpshooters in the world at all.

Age:21. Graduated from Duncanville High School, Texus. A basketball pointguard known for her swift reflexes and breaking through the opponents' offense effectively. Said to be one of the most promising prodigees in the WNBA history. But two years ago, she disappeared from the basketball world. She dropped out of her college suddenly. Most people assumed that she went abroad for her grandmother's treatment. Her teammates contacted her to no avail; she was out of reach. Everyone could only hope that she would come back to the WNBA world again. 

What people don't know was that two years ago, she had been in one of the Ravens' top secret mission. A few days before her "disapperance", she got intel of traffickers selling cocaine. The Ravens have been tracking them down for the last eight years but they never stayed in one place for long for fear of getting caughted by the police. They were in her vicinity at the time so she was given the mission. Three days after the order, she and her team raided their temporary residence and other teams in the Ravens infiltrated the warehouses overseas.

The Ravens often worked at night and also, it was very hard to see their faces since the Ravens' uniforms were hooded. Nevertheless, the higher-ups told Cassidy to lay low for a few years as they feared that she would be recognised - she was following them around and keeping track on their whereabouts for three days.

I looked at a group picture of her basketball team from her high school years in my computer screen. She looked so happy,young,innocent and full of life. I wondered whether she was conflicted when she had to leave her basketball career all of a sudden or not.

Well, she looks happy now and that's all that matters. Right?

I looked back at Cassidy again. She was chatting with a guy.

He was Noah Peterson, Cassidy's team leader specializing in guns, especially glocks. He and Cassidy attended the same middle school. He was older by two years but they were best friends, always spending time together. Their schoolmates called them "the middle school sweathearts" although they never denied or agreed that they were dating. Noah attened a high school in France, Lycée Condorcet de Sydney. He joined a swimming club and attained second place in the Championship.

Despite their young age, both Cassidy and Noah had been in the Ravens for four years. And maybe thanks to their physical stength, they seemed to have climb up the ranks in just a year.

And here I was, stalking the power couple on their date or some sort - having the best time of their life happily, eating their food and talking, just because I learnt that they were here. I appreciated my sarcasm in situations because it made me less nervous. I wondered if they had noticed me or they were just pretending to let my guard down.

"Excuse me." Someone talked. I looked for the source of the sound and shuddered when it was a boy who seemed to be in his late teens standing at a safe distance from the bench where I was sitting. His gaze was so intense that I involuntarily shuddered once again.

It's okay. It's alright. You are safe.

I took deep breaths and with a small smile, I asked, "What.. is the matter, sir?"

He looked at me weirdly for calling him "sir" and I was so embarrassed that I looked down. I heard him chuckle after a while and he said, "Nothing. It's just you have been staring with your binoculars in that direction for a long time and I thought that maybe you have found some interesting sight."

Wow. Ordinary people saw me gawking. It's no doubt that they had noticed me from the beginning.

Now for a cover up story. I let out a little laugh and said,"You see, I have been having a writer's block for days and then I thought 'where better to look for inspiration than the park' ,so I came here today." Nice!!

Crossing his arms, he asked jokingly in a smirk, "Uh-huh and let me guess,the inspiration for your story is ....dating?!?"

If I wasn't blushing before, I was now. Gosh. Even though this was a cover-up story, I was still embarrassed. After all, I had read fiction books and thought of relationships. Damn, thinking about it now, I wanna crawl into a hole and stay there forever.

I might have been out for a while because I saw his hand waving up and down in my face a second later. Startled, I leaned back in my bench and looked up at the guy. I was seeing his features clearly now. He was wearing a black buttoned shirt with khaki pants. He looked lean but I assumed he played some kind of sports. And his amber eyes and wavy dark medium-length hair...... were just perfect.

"Hello, can you stop gawking and listen to me for a sec?"

"Yes?" I asked, still embarassed and feeling like a fool.

"Judging from your expression, I guessed right.....So you are like one of the geeks who love fiction and love and all that stuff?" He asked, still smirking.

I was beyond mortified and I didn't even want to talk, but I still managed to say, staring straight at him, "Yes, and what's wrong with that? Don't you dare mock me now. It would be like insulting the whole geek community and I won't tolerate it." I said the last two sentences, with a surge of pride. Then....

He laughed out loud. A few people near us even looked in our direction, and I didn't even dare lift my head up anymore. This jerk!!

By the time he had stopped laughing, there were signs of tears in his eyes. He wiped them away and said happily,"I am sorry. It's just that you looked so embarassed and I thought you are cute, so I couldn't help teasing you. I have a younger sister and I teased her a lot at home, so I got a little worked up and said weird things."

Gosh. He is so.....!!!! Well, at least he said sorry. I shouldn't hold grudges.

Then he turned around, waving as he walked away,"Anyhow, it was nice meeting you, little miss. I hope I will see you again." My jaw dropped to the floor. Seriously!!! He came to my bench,talked to me, embarassed me, and  just left. What the hell!!!

First time communicating that long in ages and the conversation was awkward as damn. I came to this park today to investigate Cassidy and Noah and instead, I got trolled.

And then, a thought came into me. I didn't hyperventilate or break down. I hadn't been able to talk to strangers like that since.....

I looked in the direction he went, not sure what I was feeling. But one thing I could say was that ...it felt good to talk without breaking down.

I looked back at the cafe. They were gone now. I frantically looked around with my binoculars. I couldn't see them. Great, I lost them, no thanks to that jerk!! Well, at least I knew their appearances now. I was packing my things to leave, unaware that there were two figures with their helmets on,watching me from a motorcycle under a shady tree near the park.