The Gemini

18 - All Fall Down

November 1, 1988

Morning. 10:18. Roger had been awake for fifteen minutes. He spent each of them watching the sleeping beauty next to him. She was still in deep, even doing a light little snore. Hair in her face, her body in some kind of twist, resting not fully on her side but not completely on her stomach. Whatever position it was she made it look like the most comfortable pretzeling in the world. Somewhere along the night she found the blanket and snuggled into it.

Never had his eyes seen a more gorgeous thing. Across his life, he thought he had. He knew a girl once, very well, that named herself after a deadly sin. Back then he proclaimed her to be the end all be all. When they went their separate ways he swore he'd never find another good enough. Thankfully he was wrong. That girl might've had 'it' but she couldn't hold a candle to the thing Jody possessed. His soul.

Still, despite that and aside from the love they made, he couldn't shake the feeling of being unworthy. It should be dissolving, especially now that he got what he wanted. Maybe he was just cursed. Maybe this was his punishment for all of the things that hes done. He didn't want to leave but his conscience wouldn't let him stay.

Careful not to wake her, Roger got out of bed and went about collecting his clothes. Smirking at the damage they made, he took mental notes to take care of the losses. Dressed, he remained barefoot, tip-toing back into her room for the adjoining bathroom.

In the mirror his image was a smeared mess of red and white, just like she. He found her makeup wipes and cleaned away as much as he could. Before he left out he wrote another note on the glass, this time in an electric pink that he found at the bottom of the bag. Passing by her, she was still conked. He didn't put his boots on until he went out to the hallway.

Outside, he walked around to the lot seeing that Duane never left. Roger didn't trust many people neither did he keep them around for any longer than a few years, but Duane was loyal to the fullest and had been for four years. He regarded him as his right hand man and treated him as such.

Tapping on the driver's side window was enough to bring the man to a startled wake. He unlocked and opened the door.

"Everything alright?"

Roger nodded. "Yeah." When Duane moved to start the car he stopped him. "Move on over, I got it."

Yawned, "You sure?"

Chuckle. "Yeah, better than you do."

Back at the building, Roger let him crash on the couch until he was rested enough to travel to his own home.

Before taking the lift up to his room, "I need you to get a couple of the boys together a little later. There's a few things I want y'all to take care of."

"Sure thing, boss."

............

12:10. Jody sat up in bed, her bright demeanor dipping when she saw the empty spot beside her. The place was quiet enough to hear a pin drop but she figured that didn't make a difference because he could be as quiet as a church mouse.

"Gemini?" She tried. No answer so she switched up. "Roger?" Still none. He really was gone.

Laying back, she grabbed the pillow that was his and buried her face in it, breathing in his scent that embedded into the fabric. Body tingling, her mood perked up instantly. Staring out the window, like a movie reel her mind tripped back over the events of the night before. She couldn't believe that any of it happened, it felt so unreal. Too good to be true. He took her to space. Even now she still stood on top of the world.