To Hell and Back // Alex Keller.

Painted Red.

The summer was nearing its end, as the page on the calendar turned to August. In the blink of an eye, the warmest season was ready to escape out of town it never liked full of people who never appreciated the sunny days. A blanket of heat wrapped the bright blue sky in a white haze, hiding the brightness of the blue. Tall branches of the trees covered in bright green leaves were reaching up to the sky, hoping to dance with the wind once again. But, rare breezes only left everyone wishing for more. 

Slowly, the nights were getting longer, as the sun rushed to kiss the tall hill and set somewhere far away over the horizon. Time was running way too fast, as the people tried to catch it just momentarily before it turned into the past. It never cared about the plans of anyone on the small planet in the Milky Way. A day would end, and another would start with the bright sunrise or cold darkness of the cloudy day. The Earth was still spinning around the sun, no matter what was happening in the lives of small humans who looked like dust compared to the size of the Universe. Maybe, we take life way too seriously and forget that we're just little things living on a floating rock into the nowhere.

"How do CIA agents get their children to go to sleep?" Heavy steps of the officer echoed from the last floor to the very first on the quiet staircase. His large hand held onto the countless coats of paint on the wooden railing. A hint of pain was turning into a storm with each passing floor. At the back of his mind, Keller was thankful for the buildings beingnot too tall in the city where elevators were rare additions to the old houses.

"By giving them the special mission?" Kelly thought for a moment, wondering if it was even a question to her. Silence was taken over by the loud voices of the two on a quiet Saturday morning. Their conversation could slide under one of the neighbor's thin doors. Aromas of morning coffee and loud morning news were escaping in the long corridor of the building. So many lives were forced to get under one roof and hide different worlds behind closed doors.

"They make up a cover story." Alex caught the dreamy look of the hazel eyes on his face, as the woman looked back to check on him. The soft laughter of the two turned into a perfect symphony in the stiff air of the building.

Little did Kelly know that all the bags were ready back at the man's house a long time ago. If at the very same moment, Price or Laswell would tell him to hop on the plane back to Urzikstan, Alex Keller would do that without even thinking twice. What was supposed to be a mission of support and rare conversations turned into something more. Miller almost forgot how warm love felt, but also how deep could it hurt. The two different worlds of the two collided just for a moment. Somewhere deep in redhead's mind, outside of the storm full of feelings towards Keller, Kelly knew that theywere meant to be nothing but the Tangent lines.

Their 'now' could be cut short at any moment, and turn into the past. Living through the war once eventually plants the roots into the head and soul of the person. Even though Alex was so far away from the battleground, his hands would never accept holding anything other than a weapon. One day the man's job would get the best of him, like it was supposed to back at Barkov's plant. But being responsible for a sip of pain felt better to Keller, rather than turning into the reason for the endless sufferings of another person. Despite the unavoidable ending to their story, the invisible string tied them closer to each other with each passing day.

"Shit, I forgot my phone. I'll be right back." Looking through her pockets, a redhead was met with emptiness. A sight full of disappointment escaped from her lips into the warm, stiff air of the summer day. A loud 'beep' echoed through the empty street as the gray car opened. The keys fell into the rough hands of the officer, as Kelly had no other choice but to head back upstairs to the apartment that never felt like home.

"Will be waiting for you right here, ma'am." His long fingers played with the cold keys, as the warm smile sat on Alex's tired face. The two met in eye contact for a split moment, as the officer's rough lips stole the quick kiss from the red lips of a woman before a redhead eventually ran away from him. An unknown force compelled Keller to watch the known to his bright blue eyes the figure of a woman until she disappeared in the darkness of the building.