The Gunslinger & the Salaryman: A Love Story for the Ages

Chapter 9: Hangovers & Shootouts

Rock didn't get much sleep that night. In fact, he was wide awake, lying in bed and just staring blankly at his ceiling. He had come to expect a lot of things in the years of living in Roanapur. But, never in his wildest dreams, did he expect a kiss from Revy!
   "I can't believe that happened! How did that happen!? Why did it happen!? Revy's been drunk plenty since I've known her! I've had to hold her hair while she pukes her guts out sometimes! But, she never did anything like that! What! The! Actual! Fuck!?"

Revy, meanwhile, was also wide awake in her room.
     "You fuckin' idiot! You mother fuckin' idiot! How could you be so fuckin' stupid!? You kissed him! You actually fuckin' kissed him! And how does the dumbass respond!? Just stares! Stares like some fuckin' deer in headlights! And then you punch him! God damnit! You stupid shit! Stupid fuckin' bitch! Piece of shit! He's really gonna wanna stick with you after you pull that shit!"

Morning came, and Rock got a call from Dutch to wake up; they had a job. He still a little hungover from the binge drinking at Hotel Moscow last night, plus he was now sporting a black eye from where Revy punched him.
     "Shit! Now I gotta wake Revy up! This should be fun!"
     He got himself ready for the day ahead, putting on his usual attire. He made his way to Revy's apartment door, let out a huge sigh, and knocked.
     "Revy!" he shouted. "Time to get up! Dutch called, we got a job!" There was no answer, nothing new there. He slowly turned the knob, and cautiously peeked into her apartment. She wasn't there.
     "What the hell!? This can't be good!"

To say Dutch and Benny were surprised to see Revy at the office before Rock would be the understatement of the century. She had stormed in, grabbed something to drink, plopped onto the couch, and lit a cigarette. She noticed the two staring.
     "What the fuck are you guys lookin' at!?" she exclaimed.
     "Where's Rock?" Dutch asked, his tone giving away some concern.
     "How the fuck should I know!" she said. "I'm not his fuckin' babysitter!"
     "You're just not usually up before him," Dutch pointed out. "Did you see him at all yesterday?"
     "Not like it's any of your fuckin' business, Dutchy," she began. "But yeah, I saw him after he got his ass home last night!"
     "Ok," began Dutch, with clear annoyance. "There's obviously something going on here. I'll let the way you just spoke to me slide this time. But you better not make that a regular fuckin' habit. Do I make myself clear!?"
     It wasn't often that Dutch lost his temper like that with Revy, but he was having enough of her bullshit. She seemed to understand.
     "Yeah, I got it, Dutch."

About half an hour later, Rock walked into the office. He saw Revy on the couch and immediately gulped.
     "Morning everyone."
     "Morning, Rock," Dutch replied. He definitely noticed his freshly blackened eye.
     "Morning," replied Benny in a friendly tone.
     "Hey, Revy," he nervously said. She simply glared at him.
Dutch let out a frustrated sigh. He stood up from his chair and looked at both of them.
     "Alright, I've had enough of this shit. I don't know what the fuck is going on between you two. Quite frankly, I don't wanna fuckin' know much about it. But, we gotta job today. Ain't nothin' we haven't done before, just a simple delivery of some weapons. But, we all know there's a possibility of shit going sideways fast! I need to know, that whatever's going on here won't interfere with usual business operations! Do I make myself fuckin' clear!?"
     "Of course, Dutch," Rock replied.
     "Revy?" Dutch asked, looking directly at her.
     "Crystal fuckin' clear, Dutchy," she finally replied.
     "Good," Dutch said, knowing that was the best answer he'd get from her. "Like I said, today's job is delivering a cache of weapons from a nearby island back to a warehouse here on the docks. Nothing complicated, but the pay will be decent."
     "Do we know who it's for?" asked Rock.
     "Hotel Moscow," Dutch answered. "Things have been a bit heated lately, so they've been storing weapons on a nearby island as a sort of in between destination. Simple as it may be, they're gonna pay us eighty grand. Apparently, it's that important that they get these weapons. It's two hours there, two hours back, hopefully it won't take long to put the weapons aboard. Far as we know, nobody else knows about this place. If we're lucky, no open sea attacks. Of course, we all know how these things often go."