The Starling Saviour

Chapter 6

'Aria?' Tommy gasped, dropping his coffee cup in shock.

As its contents split on the floor, I immediately took a tissue from my bag and cleaned up the mess.

'You don't have to do that,' Tommy joined me nearer the floor, taking the tissues at once and cleaning the coffee up himself.

I didn't know what to do, or what to say. I had thought about this moment so many times, but now we were actually face to face, I was lost.

After Tommy had disposed of the waste into the bin, he took my hand and led me outside of the café, not daring to take his eyes off my face. Taking me in embrace, Tommy gave me a long hug, his grey eyes dreamily looking into mine.

It seemed as though he still loved me.

'So, how... are you?' Tommy asked, obviously trying to think of something to say.

'I'm good,' I smiled, giving Tommy another hug.

'When did you get back?' Tommy asked, astounded at my positivity.

'Last night,' I said, well, lied.

I couldn't exactly tell him I had been spending the last few days with two friends instead of my boyfriend. I'm sure that would have hurt his feelings.

'Do you- do you have somewhere to stay?' Tommy asked me, clearly concerned for me.

'Yeah,' I nodded. 'Listen, Tommy, I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm here with Helena. I can't just leave her in that café. She took the afternoon off to spend time with me.'

'What about tonight?' Tommy asked me, obviously wanting to still meet up that day.

'Sure,' I smiled, not wanting to turn down Tommy's genuine feelings towards me.

Even though I had been gone a year, Tommy still really did love me. It wasn't through guilt, or something he felt like he had to do; he actually loved me. And I still loved him.

'My place?' Tommy asked, carrying on with arrangements.

'Sure,' I said again, this time much less truthful.

This was bad. If I was going to Merlyn's house, he could easily be there. I wasn't ready to face him yet. I just hoped he wouldn't be there.

'I'll text you the address of my apartment later,' Tommy smiled, making a mental note in his head.

Phew. At least now I didn't have to face Merlyn.

---

'How was it at the SCPD?' Isaac asked me as I returned back to the hotel after saying goodbye to Helena.

'Good,' I said rather unenthusiastically.

'You don't seem so sure about that,' Elliot picked up. 'Is everything alright?'

'I got the job,' I said. 'But I met... Someone. My... Boyfriend.'

'I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Aria!' Isaac exclaimed joyously. 'That's great! You need to spend time with him.'

I didn't know whether to tell them about who Tommy was; the son of our target. But I needed guidance. Help. I didn't know what to do about it all.

'But, I can't,' I shook my head. 'His name is... Is Tommy Merlyn.'

'Our assassin's son?' Elliot asked in a worried tone. 'We can't kill your boyfriend's father!'

'But we have to,' I said sadly. 'I don't care if he's Tommy's father or not, he is a danger to all of us. And justice needs to be brought down on this city.'