Spodium

III

Angela sighed in relief when she heard Erik had returned from the raid. She was worried sick when she he was going on a raid. She grabbed the sandwich she had made for Erik and hurried to the barracks.

"Erik!", she hollered at the young man as he was about to shut the door behind him. "Angela", Erik said with a smile for he had always loved her company. "Thanks for the sandwich, I was getting really hungry", Erik said as he gratefully took the sandwich and Angela replied by smiling.

Erik and Angela met each other in middle school and fell in love at first sight but none of them ever admitted their feelings towards each other out of mutual respect and shyness. Erik intended to propose to her once they were both promoted to the rank of Captain. Erik though only twenty years old, was promoted to 1st Lieutenant three months as infantry officers were promoted fairly quickly than those who did not did have combat duties like Angela who was still a 2nd Lieutenant.

"They made me kill civilians", Erik complained making Angela place her hand on his shoulder. "They are sinners", she replied quoting the local priest. Her words filled his heart with anger and sorrow but he did not say anything for Angela like many others believed in whatever the so called religious figures told them; the ones who knew the reality were the ones who had encountered the so called sinners. Seeing his expression turn sour, Angela quickly changed the subject and pulled out her smartphone and showed it to Erik, "your father called, we're going back to civilization", she joked and before Erik could say something, she continued, "your sister is coming back to Germany tonight so he wants us to pick her up from the airport because he has an important meeting to attend".

Erik felt lost at words; his sister was coming home and he did not know how to react. Not that their relationship was strained but he had not contacted her ever since she got married five years ago.

Believing that Erik did not want her to tag along, Angela spoke apologetically, "I am sorry, it's just that I wanted to meet my future sister in l....", her face turned beet red and she ran out leaving Erik blushing as well. 'That damn cupid', Erik thought of his father and smiled. The old man was the only person who knew of his feelings for Angela and as a result, teased his son relentlessly; he had even promised to provide Erik with the best ring once he got back home.

Putting such thoughts on the back burner, Erik started to think seriously, 'why is father sending me to pick up sister when he knows I hate that useless husband of hers?'. His brother in law was an archaeologist and according to Erik's father, was a person who told great stories and always had something important to share. 'But what sort of information does he have for me?', he thought and shook his head, 'he probably wants me to become friends with that idiot'. But deep down, Erik knew there was something really important going on; his intuition had rarely failed him and he was sure it would not fail him now.