Sea of Temptation ; Simon Riley.

Chapter 20.

Nobody is coming
to save you.

JOHN and the others approached the car and when Soap opened the door, he found Meridia 'sleeping' on Ghost's lap. Her chest rose and fell slowly, faking herself asleep on him, her face nuzzling the crook of his neck. He gave Ghost a confused look, Gaz and John joining him.

"What the fuck," snarled John, pushing past Soap to get closer and glare at them. He was fuming mad, his blood boiled, he never expected her to be this close to another man. It wasn't just her.
She owned a soft spot in his heart, he wished she knew it and seeing her finally opening up to someone else, and not him – a close friend – made his heart ache a little.

"What in the bloody hell is this?" He kept on going, flexing his hands in and out. "She.. had a panic attack and I tried to comfort her." Ghost kept his expression neutral, not showing any other emotions. John didn't buy the lie, but he couldn't cause a scene right in front of the whole team for a woman.

"All of a sudden?" Gaz butted in, still confused and suspicious. Moving his eyes around the car, he noticed the foggy windows, a warm air coming from inside. "I guess she got triggered by a memory while zoning out." Ghost retorted after heaving out a deep sigh.

He was very good at this, keeping a stone cold face and tone was part of his usual self. He didn't dare to let a crack happen on his mask.

"Get in the car, we're going back to the base." John muttered, his eyes never leaving the two of them as he walked around the vehicle to hop in the driver's seat.

The ride to the base was awkwardly quiet, Meridia was still on his lap the whole time, cursing to herself for the situation she threw herself in because of Ghost. Even if she was kind of disappointed for interrupting the heated moment between them, she felt guilty for letting her walls down around a man, especially her lieutenant.

No man ever made her feel this troubled, until this bastard barged into her life, with his skull mask and mysterious aura surrounding him. She was physically attracted like a magnet, there was a continuous conflict between her mind, heart and body.

One screamed that he was just a sick bastard, one repeated that he would've dropped her as soon as he stole her trust and love, the other one begged for his touches and attentions. He was going to make her loose her sanity sooner or later, she was pretty sure.

"I wonder what she's been through for being that way." muttered Soap, breaking the ice in the car, completely unaware of the put up act. "Yeah right, Captain read her records and seemed shocked." Gaz retorded and looked back at them.

Ghost was still looking outside the window, a hand placed over the small of her back safely and soothingly, every now and then giving a light pat on it. Meridia, on the other hand, was all tensed up, she didn't want to face the others after this. "I don't think you should talk about this while she's sleeping." Ghost butted in, with his deep and cold tone.

"Weren't you the one to want her out of this team?" John retorted with a little of an angered tone, making everyone turn to stare at him in surprise. "It's called respect." Ghost spoke lowly, as if he wanted to warn him to keep his calm.

Meridia froze at John's words, her mind running a thousand of different thoughts. They talked about her, not in her presence and not in a positive way. Something seemed off.

"Or is it because you suddenly pity her?"

His words made her heart ache. Pity. Pity..

She always tried to stand strong, to not be pitied for being weak and traumatized, for having defects. She hated herself for this. She inhaled sharply, stirring on Ghost's lap before slowly pulling away, her eyelids slightly lowered to seem half awoken by the loud voices.

"What's going on?" She asked, her voice hoarse. Ghost looked away from her, his body tensing up, and she took it as a sign to sit back in her seat. "Good to see you alive, soldier." John told her, his voice softening a little. Her stomach twisted into a tight knot, the sudden feeling of not belonging there getting to her, "I heard loud voices, is everything alright?" She questioned quietly, trying to not show her trembling voice, but only silence responded.

Soap noticed the change of her behavior and suddenly felt guilty, she looked completely different from the first day, the mission at the ball surely had gotten to her in a bad way. She still wasn't willing to talk to anyone about it, she didn't want things to get worse, she would've handled it on her own.

She had to face him sooner or later and put an end to the continuous torment in her head.

Once they were back at the base, she immediately walked away without even sparing them a glance or wait. Ghost, on the other side, just stared at her figure slowly disappearing in the building, an uneasy feeling getting to him.

*

My steps echoed in the hallways of the base. After what happened in the car I had no intention of looking at them in the face or seeing them the next day. Fortunately, the next mission was in three days, giving us time to prepare and gather as much information as possible before leaving.

Now I had better things to think about.

I was in a hurry, I absolutely needed to know the truth. My uncle had been lying to me all this time and I couldn't understand why. I was twenty-six, for God's sake. I was now a soldier, trained to fight and face the dangers of this world. And for this, I would have faced my father too.

I felt my chest contract with nervousness and worry, a thousand thoughts ran through my head and sooner or later I would've gone completely crazy. First that bastard, then Andrei and my father, my uncle on the brink of death, now my group was in on it too. I felt lost, I had no idea how to continue, it was as if the world had turned against me.

Finally I reached the room assigned to me, I rummaged through the pockets of my uniform and found the key, then I inserted it and turned it to unlock the door. Once inside, the clean smell invaded my nose, the room was small and decorated with the bare minimum. I closed the door behind me and the first thing I did was close the curtains, even though there wasn't so much light anymore, it was a simple way to feel at ease with myself.

I sat on the edge of the bed and sighed deeply, throwing my face into my hands. Scylla was no longer here, there was only a simple and small Meridia who had difficulty moving forward, feeling well, forgetting the past. I couldn't pretend anymore, I had a huge struggle with it, my mask had completely collapsed and everyone had seen. Even my team had noticed it, they tried to make me talk and to be there for me, and I tried more and more to push them away.

With another sigh, I fished out my phone and looked for Joyce's number, calling her as soon as possible. I needed updates on my uncle's situation, I needed to know the truth from her and I was so sure she knew something about it.

David was never good enough at hiding things from her, she was smart, observant, quick to understand the signs. "Hello, sweetheart." Her honey like voice oozed from my phone, a bit of tiredness could be heard too.

"Auntie." I responded and rose to my feet, pacing around the room nervously.
"What's the matter, dear? You sound different." And I knew already she was worried, it's been years since she last heard me like this.

"How is uncle David?" I asked, pinching my nose and letting out a sigh, "No positive news, he's still in a coma," She retorted, heaving out a sigh too.

She sounded like she's been crying and I couldn't even imagine how heartbreaking it must feel. "What's going through that head of yours, Riri?"

"You lied to me.." I stated with a stern tone, "My father is still alive."

Silence fell over the call, only her deep breaths could be heard, "Meridia." And when she used my first name, I immediately understood that she had a lot to explain.