Ch.20 Just Like Old Times

I have had the opportunity in the past to view an opera from a box seat. Unfortunately, I had the unpleasent experience of burning that opera house that very night. But that experience had taught me a lot about the way people view the box seats. If you have the privilege of having a box seat, you are almost invisible to the outside world. The people below you don't care to strain their necks to see what is going on up there and other box seat occupants are too absorbed in the opera to look at the tiny flame that had begun to engulf the curtain.

We find Travis in this same predicament. Well, not quite the same. He had absolutely no intention of burning down the opera house. At least none that I know of. He was literally being pulled between two people. One of them had recently saved his life. The other had recently threatened it. But he didn't trust either of them and he didn't know what they wanted with him. He did know he wanted to go home.

"May I make a suggestion?" Travis asked timidly.

Through the darkness, he could barely see their shrug.

"We could just forget this whole thing and send me home. I don't want to meet The Mistress and I don't even know who or what she is."

Travis felt Adadora stiffen and she shot him a withering glance. Wedge opened his eyes and smiled mischeviously.

"Addy, that's not a half bad idea. Now I know why you wanted him." Wedge released his grip on Travis.

"If you go home Travis, you'll die." Adadora spoke softly but firmly. Her eyes riveted to his, she didn't notice Wedge pull his gun out.

"Or I could just kill you now." He cocked his gun and aimed casually at Travis's chest.

"With the safety on?" Adadora asked with a touch of impatience in her voice.

"That's an easy fix." But Wedge made no move to fix it.

"Listen, he wants to see this Mistress bad enough to hunt us down. You are taking me to see her. And I just want to go home. So can we speed this process up a bit? He's just going to follow us there. We could just make our lives easier and bring him." Travis's words came out in a tumble. The barrel of that gun was so close and Travis could tell that the people down below weren't looking this way and the other box seat occupants were to absorbed in the opera to notice the gun shot.

"Fine, we'll bring him." Adadora settled the matter quite quickly.

"Just like old times, huh Addy? You and me and...." Wedge never got to finish. Adadora silenced him with a swift kick to his skull and he fell limply to the floor of the booth.

"Trust me, it'll be easier this way." She picked him up and threw him over her shoulder.