Apollo's 11

by Anna Collins

  I held her arm and picked her up, then covered my eyes with the shades. She was laughing.

  "See, baby...I'm not Robert Hudson, I am someone else. I am new here" I tried to form a sentence, shit why were my words getting all messed up? Zack! stop fearing this 3-year-old, I said to myself.

  "Aw! you are such a liar, very bad" she pouted.

  "See kiddo, you better listen to me, otherwise...I will send you to ghost town" I warned. Now it was getting out of control.

  "Hehe! ghosts are not real" she stuck out her tongue again.

  By now several lines had formed on my forehead. I wished I knew a way to convince her, if she told anyone then a huge riot will be created. Damn it! I wished Rick was with me.

  I faked a smile, "hey baby, just forget you saw me and go to your mom, please" I urged.

  "No! I'll tell mom, dad, and all my friends that you are here and not dead." Wow, she was more up to dated about the recent news than I ever was!

  I tried a couple of times more, but she was hell bent on sharing this news with everyone. She even asked me to click a selfie with her. Kids these days!

  Being defeated and tired, I frowned, this baby was making me go nuts.

  "Are you sad?" she touched my chin, it took all of her hand to just touch my chin.

  "Does your mom scold you too?" she asked.

  Idea! I thought about playing the sad guy card, kids were innocent so this one might feel a bit of sympathy for me.

  I nodded in yes. "You know, there's a girl, she is very cute like you but she's really hot headed. If she came to know that I exposed myself in public then God knows what she will do to me. She can be very moody you know" I said softly in a child-like way, well at least I tried. I wore a deep frown on my face. I kept looking at her to check on her reaction but she seemed to be thinking something.

  "But mom told me that you are very powerful, like Iron man and Thor. Is she more powerful than you?" she asked in awe.

  I brought my face close to her and made a face like I was sharing a secret with her "yes".

  "Hawww! Is she bad?" she asked.

  "No, she is nice but very strict types" I frowned.

  "Is she your mom?" she asked.

  I couldn't help but laugh "not exactly, she's more of a....umm" really, who was Freya to me? and what's with all those feelings...damn! it was so fucking confusing. I was stomping my feet lightly on the ground when I remembered about the baby on my shoulder.

  "She's your girlfriend," she said in her unclear cute tone.

  Man! was I blushing or what? Nope, nothing is happening, I tried to convince myself.

  "I will listen to you if you buy me a pony" she smiled showing her teeth.

  Oh really! bribe? Was it this easy? why didn't I think of this before? I hit my forehead with my palm.

  "I'll buy you anything you like, but promise me you will forget that you saw me, okay?" I asked.

  "promise" she uttered.

  I bought her a toy pony from the airport gift shop that's when she finally left my shadow. Thankfully no one else recognized me, though some people were giving me weird looks. And the girls, they kept showering me with flying kisses.

  After all, this, when I went to the street I found Rick leaning against a black Audi. He looked kinda sad.

  I walked up to him "hey, all okay?" I asked.

  He shook a bit "ya...um..why wouldn't it be okay, by the way where were you?" he asked.

  "Long story. For now, let's get out of here and I'm driving" I winked.

  "You are going too fast, slow it down a bit" Rick shouted.

  His voice barely reached my ears due to the loud music of the stereo system. I was leaving all the speed limits behind. Man! I felt free, it was a real cool ride.

  "Take left, no no right....no no left" Rick said and his voice sounded tensed.

  Ahh, the speed, maybe it was bothering him.

  "Dude, at first clear your mind and then tell me. Stop being a jerk!" I yelled.

  Man, these constant directions were a total botheration, I was not good at following instructions.

  "Sorry, take left please" he exhaled deeply.

  I nodded.

  "Are you sure Freya lives in this area? it looks a bit lonesome. I thought Shawn told me that Freya had her own Condo in the Upper East" I expressed my confusion.

  I looked at him and found him swallowing.

  "Please keep driving, trust me I know where we have to go" he hesitated.

  Surely something was wrong, Rick's constant phone calls and that 'weird' behavior was indicating me that we were in for some serious trouble. And I couldn't risk getting into any trouble because I wasn't alone in this, Freya was in it too and I didn't know why a part of me always felt kinda overprotective for her.

  On second thoughts, he was Rick, Freya's right-hand man. How could he get her into any trouble? But it seemed kinda messy and I thought that sharing this with Freya would be the right thing.

  I pressed on the brakes "dude, I'll be back in a sec, need to take a smoke" and before giving him the chance to say anything I got out of the car.

  I stepped behind some bushes. The place was like that only, filled with untreated dead trees and ruined constructions. The soil looked greasy and was mostly covered with discolored grasses. There were few small buildings here and there, like a small restaurant and a closed jute mill and I also spotted a two-storied red brick building. The bricks were in really bad condition, it seemed like anytime the building could hit the ground. The area and the smell of dried blood in the air were making me want to puke. And I went certain that there was no way Freya could live here. She would have been creeped out even by getting a sight like this.

  What's with these negative vibes. And why was I thinking like Freya? she was the one to talk about vibes and all. Hold it, Zack, this girl is totally rubbing off on you. I thought to myself.

  I took out my phone to call her and thought if telepathy really existed because Freya's number was flashing on the screen of my phone. I sighed and quickly received the call.

  "Hey, umm" she didn't give me a chance to complete my sentence.

  "Listen, don't get out of the villa. I'm having these weird feeling" she said in a breath.

  "What villa? I'm in New York right now. Rick told me to come here, I thought you knew about this" I spoke.

  "Are you drunk or what? Why will I call you here? Did anyone recognize you? God! why couldn't you call me once before coming here? I will kill Rick for doing this to me" she started whining.

  "Listen, I had no idea about it and if you are having so much trouble about me coming here then, I'm gonna leave right now" I stomped. I felt bad when her attitude was unwelcoming, the main reason for coming here was to see her or maybe kiss her again but she was in her "Boss lady" mode again. Why was she so damn complicated? Man! I wished she came with a user manual, that would have made it easier to handle her.

  "Zack, see I didn't mean it like that, I was just worried. It's not safe here you know" she said softly.

  "Hmmm...so what do you want me to do?" I asked, suddenly all my anger vanished, she was worried for me, that made me feel so good.

  "Where are you? Come to my place" she said.

  "I could, but there's a tiny problem" I spoke.

  "What problem? did anyone mistake you for Robert, God! I knew something bad was ought to happen..." she kept speaking like a breakless car.

  "Shhhhh, I can't come because I don't know the address. Don't be so paranoid" I rebuked her.

  She seemed to be taking deep breaths "okay, I'll come and get you, where is that stupid Rick? he should have brought you home at least" She fumed.

  "He's not being himself, he brought me into a cemetery type of place and told that you live nearby, he thinks I'm a fool" I complained.

  "I live on the Upper East Side of New York and there is no such place in this area. But why would Rick lie?" she asked.

  "You want me to check out what's he up to? I can go with him and see what he really
wants" I suggested.

  "No! it's very risky, you come here right now. Somehow get away from him" She squealed.

  "Okay relax, maybe it's a big misunderstanding," I said.

  "See, anything can happen, we are surrounded by a layer of black magic" her voice appeared to be broken.

  "Freya, are you all right? and what are you saying,? what black magic?" I asked .

  "I will explain later, please run away from there, can you do that for me?" she urged.

  "Okay, just text me your address, I will use google maps to find the location. It's not gonna be difficult" I said.

  "okay," and she cut the call.

  Black magic? Now, what was that? I held my head, everything was so...complicated.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Freya

  It had been two hours since I last talked with Zack. He told me not to worry as he was on his way and would reach here soon, but where was he? I was biting my nails and pacing restlessly near the main gate of my residence, even the security guard and the passer by people started questioning me. How could I tell them that I wasn't fine, not even a bit.

  Rick was totally up to something wrong, and I could tell it because he gave all the wrong information to the police. What was the need to tell them that I and Caroline Hudson were not standing in good terms? He even told them that I was not happy as Caroline took over Robert's business. When the reality went in a completely different direction. I was only mad at Caroline because she was planning to invest in weapons, that's it, I had no personal enmity or any kind of association with that woman.

  Thankfully I managed to convince Ms.Stevenson and she actually believed my words. It seemed like she didn't trust Rick either, and wanted to clear it out with me.

  Then Rick lied to Zack and brought him here. I was unable, to sum up his abnormal behavior. I wanted him to open up to me like he did always. I tried to call him to make sure if he was okay, first three times he cut my call then he totally switched off his phone. WTH!

  I was praying to God to keep both Zack and Rick safe.

  The restlessness was killing me, to divert my attention, I called Kate, thinking that she might have a clue about Rick.

  And her phone was switched off too! Everyone was behaving weirdly, God!

  Then my phone rang and I sighed in relief by seeing Zack's number on the screen.

  "Why was your phone out of reach? you told me that I could get into trouble if I came to pick you and cut the call. Is this the way to behave?" I spoke without breathing.

  "You are mad, do you even know that? turn around" he spoke softly.

  I did the same and found him standing near the black iron rod gate. He was shaking his head and his face had that its-so-difficult-to-handle you, expression.

  My heart felt lighter as I saw him, a certain sense of happiness yet sadness took over my senses ; my eyes started to fill up with tears. I couldn't quite comprehend any of these sensations, and before the impulses of my brain could knock some sense into me, I found myself running into the embrace of his strong arms.

  He held me tightly across his chest and my nails dig into his back. By being pressed against his hard body, my heart was getting the softest feeling of the world. God! I missed him, I missed him so much.

  My cheek was crushing against the material of his black shirt, I could still feel his warmth through it. And the familiar masculine scent of his body had created a cloud of haze in my mind. My eyes were closed, my lips were parted as a barely audible hum escaped from my mouth.

  His chin was resting on my head and his hands went down to grip tightly on my waist. I was dying to be held like this, I was dying to bite that chest, and I could barely wait to feel him inside me.

  "Oh, Robert you make me so weak. I love you so much" I murmured but the words didn't come out of my mouth, maybe because I was so lost in the ecstasy of the moment.

  "See I'm just fine, nothing to worry" he spoke softly in my ears while caressing my hair.

  He continued "I bet you were thinking that Zack must have screwed up everything, right?"

  As he uttered "Zack", it felt like someone hit my head with a big hammer. The blow was so strong that it broke my precious dream, the dream of being in the arms of my Robert. Freya! Now you don't even have anything to blame, you were totally sober, yet you mistook Zack for Robert.

  I quickly stepped away, untangling myself from his clutches. He wasn't my Robert, then why was I hugging him?

  I looked away, cursing myself in my head.

  "Chill, it's just a body, not a freaking liveware, you don't need to jerk yourself away like this" he mocked.

  "Where's Rick?" I asked, yes changing the subject seemed like a better option than making this awkward moment more awkward.

  "I don't know, I left him there and ran to you, as per your instructions, my lady," he said the last words in a total husky tone and now he was pursing his lips.

  "I hope he's okay" I muttered.

  "Really! and what about me? he almost made me un-ok" he protested.

  I looked around, many people were moving around us. I held his hand and pulled him inside the building.

  "Hey, what's the hurry?" he tried to joke again but stopped as I glared him angrily.

  "You must understand that your face has more value than many of the buildings in the real state. So just hide it as much as possible" I rebuked him while pressing the elevator button.

  "Quit smiling" I stomped while we were standing in the elevator. His intense looks and that naughty smile was very much awkward and not to mention annoying.

  "I hate it when I am all clueless like this. I don't know what to do" I leaned against the stainless steel door of the elevator.

  I continued, with a gloomy face "I thought he was my brother, how could he turn his back on me like this?"

  Zack was staring me with a clueless look so I took my time to explain him about the whole Caroline Hudson scene, I mean the involvement with the police part.

  "This can't be true, how can he even pull you into the scene?" he asked in awe.

  "See, that's what I was talking about, then he called you here and was about to take you somewhere else, why is he doing this? what have I ever done to him?" I was on the verge of crying. Rick's betrayal, well I wasn't still sure if it was betrayal or not, had made my heart sink.

  He came near me and wrapped his arm around my bare shoulders in a protective side hug. Though I hated to admit it to myself but his touch made me feel like I was not alone in this world, someone was there to stand beside me during all the tough times. He didn't say anything, maybe because he wasn't good with words. Forgetting my worries, I leaned my head back on his chest and let myself relax.

  The elevator door opened in a jolt, shaking me back to reality.

  "We've reached" I murmured, I knew my body language was shouting the word "awkward" in his ears.

  Zack

  "Pull it back, don't cry. I should n't be telling this but if the tears wash away your makeup, your face will give me a heart attack for sure" I said while exhaling loudly and tried to make a face like I saw something ugly. I was just trying to lighten up the situation. I knew if she would engage in a fight with me then she might forget about the burden of worries that were sticking up on her head. I knew she would never acknowledge it, but I did care for her. It was a kind of a shocker for me too, because this girl had practically cut me out from my identity.

  She hit me on my chest "shut up, I'm not crying and for your kind information I am not wearing any makeup" she said, while her forehead crooked with the lines of what looked like annoyance.

  My eyes were refusing to leave her sight, she was blabbering something while trying to unlock the door of her apartment.

  "Will you just keep staring me like that?" she said with her twitched lips.

  I leaned close to her and spoke huskily in her ear "I guess you are aware of my capabilities" I flirted a bit.

  She immediately got self-conscious and turned away.

&nb
sp; Was it bad? I asked to myself.

  "Let me do it, your hands are shaking," I said while snatching away the bunch of keys from her cold hands.

  We entered into her apartment. Again, like her villa, this place had the touch of a class. It was a fairly modern apartment like one of those we saw in travel magazines. The cream and red colored walls and the properly organized crystal showpieces were giving me a headache. I never used to keep it clean, maybe because I was used to being in an environment like that. All I saw in the past one and half years were dirty looking bachelor pad, dark alleys, drug dealings and local boxing rings.

  One might think that I was a drug addict or something, which wasn't true, not even a bit. I just used to make some deliveries and set the deals but I never tasted any of those white powder. I don't know but something inside me always stopped me when I was about to do something bad.

  "Listen, you must have been tired from jumping around. Freshen up and take some rest, I'm heading towards Kate's place, she might have some idea about all this drama" she said and turned towards the door, that's when I held her hand.

  "No!" I yelped.

  She gave me an are-you-nuts look at my loud reaction.

  "Don't look at me like that, there's a very good reason for my loud reaction" I said in my defense.

  Freya removed her hand from mine and placed it on her hips "really? and what's that? beside being the fact that you are crazy" she taunted.

  I laughed "I'm crazy? look who is talking."

  She furrowed her eyebrows "listen I don't have time to hear your nonsense."

  "Does knocking down someone, that too on purpose, sound like nonsense to you?" I asked.

  Her face grew serious "what are you saying?"

  For the next fifteen minutes or so, we sat down, while I told her everything about my accident and the involvement of Rick and Kate in it.

  Freya's jaw fell open in shock "are you sure that was Kate? I mean it can be someone else too."

  "Trust me Freya, it was her, why would I mention such a thing without being 100% sure. And I couldn't save Rick's old beat up Ford" I said sadly.