Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Of Agreement

"What's with you and my wealth really?" he asked in amusement. "It isn't forthcoming that I'm gonna take a lady to dinner just to brag about how wealthy I am. Some people are just prejudiced against people with money."

Maria was silenced at that while she blinked awkwardly when he seemed a little insulted. Zeronis briefly cast her a glance before he sighed. " I apologize. It didn't come outright. I'm not saying you are."Maria cleared her throat and looked away, secretly admitting to herself that indeed she was a little prejudiced there.

"Hey?" Zeronis turned to her and she saw his eyes. It glittered differently in the daylight. "Are you mad?"

"No. I was an ass. I didn't mean to be partial to people with money." She said.

"You might be something, but not an ass," he said.

"Still," she said. "I'm sorry."

Zeronis looked at her with a quick smirk drawn to his lips. "No need to apologize, Milady," he said. Maria bit her lower bit and looked away from his stare. "We've been driving for long time. Is it far?" She asked.

"Quite so. We'll take a jet in a while."

"Excuse me?" She asked in astonishment.

"We'll be back before midnight." he hastily added, seeing her reaction.

" I have a flight tomorrow," She said.

"Oh...leaving too soon?"

Maria was sure to hear the sincere disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah. I got an itinerary."

"Around England?" he asked and turned to a private road leading to a runway.

"Aberdeen."

"Aberdeen? That's odd. It's where we're having dinner."

"That far?" She asked.

"It's not far."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Jet." She said and shook her head.

"Tell me what are you gonna do there?" He asked.

"Just roam around and all."

Zeronis smirked at her. "You told me you were gonna roam around London but you didn't."

Maria held on to her answer when they stopped and two men approached the car as they got off.

"Mr. Villan." a man greeted Zeronis politely.

"Thank you for arranging this fast for me," Zeronis said.

"Anything for you, Mr. Villan, and to this beautiful lady right here." the man said while Maria only nodded for short pleasantries.

They both boarded the jet and were seated on their seats next to each other. A stewardess offered them a glass of cold champagne after they took off from the ground.\

"Tell me, why Aberdeen?" Zeronis asked again, sipping from his glass.

Maria simply scrunched her nose to him. "Nothing special," she just said."Let's hear it," he insisted.

Maria only let a sigh as this Brit persisted. "Honoring a promise to a friend." She looked at him briefly before she continued. "We both talked about tasting local wines from each other's places."

"This friend waiting for you there?"

Maria only kept her silence and looked at the clouds turning orange in the sunset on the horizon. "She's not. She won't be," she said

Zeronis took note of her changed demeanor but didn't point it out. "You want to talk about it?"

Maria wasn't supposed to but she had been keeping a lot on her chest for a long. Every death she had none to talk about to relieve her stress. Even if she was standing before the greatness of every country she had traveled, it wouldn't take away the burden. On her job, she was trained how to be efficient, but every agent like her wasn't taught how to deal with the deaths of their partners on the job. You just go and move on.

"I lost a friend," she said and he said nothing for a while. "You didn't expect that, huh?"

"Don't dwell on it." He said. "You may have feel sorry for their death but it's us, the living who should be pitied for."Maria turned to him with a slight frown on her forehead, studying his face. "What?"

"To live means to struggle with life. We have so many things yet to finish while the deads have their rest from having got through their lot in this life." he said. "Like you...I've lost so many friends. We wept and then we continue living. Finish what they started, finish where they left off. We may forget them, but none will ever replace their space in our heart."

She looked at him with conviction. The increasing burden on her chest gradually lifted off her chest as she smiled without meaning to. "I need that," she said.

Zeronis woke up from his brief reveries after his words and looked at his side and saw her finally exhibiting a smile he'd been wanting to see on her face. "Let's have some fun together. What do you say?"

"That's a brilliant idea." She agreed.

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