The Hanford Inn Bar,

Noon.

“I wish you were there! I wowed him, I guess I must have!” said Croid. He was excited to tell Felicity everything that transpired between him and Ukaid at the interview. But, Felicity didn’t seem to show any iota of interest. If for anything, she wasn’t moved at all.

While in the middle of explaining how he managed to impress the Himura businessman to Felicity, he noticed she lacked interest.

He paused, sensing something was amiss. There was no point relaying anything if all she would do was just ignore him while he talked. At least, if he had done anything wrong, it would be best she talked about it.

Felicity was caught in her own world – she was torn between trusting him and getting burned or distrusting him and losing him. She did not like to attach herself to people either and it was a defence mechanism which often saved her the heartbreak of being let down by others.

“Croid, could you go and get some tape for me, please?” she pleaded, speaking at last. “There should be one stored in a box filled with all sorts of useful goods, tools and the like under my bed...” she explained further.

“Yeah of course…” Croid charmingly replied proceeding upstairs. He was gladder now that she spoke to him. She could be vexed with him for all he cared. He wouldn’t mind so long as she didn’t shut him out from his thoughts.

Meanwhile, there was another barmaid on duty alongside Felicity. Her name is Rachel. She was busy attending to the customers while Felicity took a break. Although she was quite the pretty one, her beauty paled in comparison to Felicity. As soon as she saw Croid go out of sight, she quickly called Rachel to have a word with her.

“Rachel, hold the fort just a minute. I’ll be right back.”

The unsuspecting barmaid nodded her consent as she continued with her business. Felicity dashed after Croid into the bedroom. Croid whistled his way to their room. As he crouched to his knees, reaching his hands under the bed to retrieve the tape, his hand caught on a newspaper – he brought it out and glanced at the contents.

He was taken aback as soon as his eyes caught on the headlines titled “Melthos, King of Thieves Brotherhood disbanded!”

The newspaper had been placed right at the foot of the bed where he couldn’t have missed it, even if he didn’t pay any attention. He glanced down to read the staggering bounty that had been placed on his own head. He gasped at the whooping amount.

“A 10000 dollar reward!”

Seeing it circled with a pen, Croid however noticed the amiss. He was stunned. His heart skipped a beat. That could only mean that there was someone around who knew his real identity. A cold smile laced his lips. He could tell the only person that could try to trick him this way was indeed Felicity.

He wasn’t flustered. Heck, he knew she was outside, just ready to pounce on him. Hearing the footsteps that had followed him, it was obvious.

“A 10000-dollar reward! WOW! I guess my reputation precedes me…” he muttered to himself. He might have thought he was speaking to himself but Felicity caught wind of his words. She jumped him from the back, pushing him onto the bed as he turned around.

“You’re a crook! You’re Melthos and there’s no way you could ever deny it! I have proof, undeniable proof!” she yelled.

Just then, Croid’s face changed almost immediately, losing all the care and affection it once had – now, in its place was a vile, grim visage that was ready to kill his way out of the thickest of situations just to protect himself. He pelted the wall with the paper and turned to her, without any form of repentance in his voice or on his face. He seemed emboldened more than before.

“How long have you known?” he asked. Croid’s jaw was tense. His stare was cold and utterly callous. He looked like an eagle that was ready to devour its prey.

“Since last night…” replied Felicity, defiantly.

“So you’ve just been playing me along this whole time…huh?” asked Croid, going on the offensive. “I should have seen this one coming…” he mumbled to himself, pretending like he hadn’t known that this day was coming.

“I never thought I would meet a wanted felon of such a high calibre such as yourself…” sobbed Felicity. “Come to think of it, you lied to me about your real identity, and you made me fall for you!” she sobbed again.

“I’m guessing you’ve already reported me,” conjectured Croid, not moved in the slightest way by her accusations.

“Well, not quite yet…” replied Felicity.

If it was intimidation that he needed to get her to bulge, he would let her know he had the right tools that he could use to push her against the wall at his disposal. He looked at her like a feline that was about to steal a fish.

“But you’re going to…?” Croid continued, guessing her next move.

“I guess so…” replied Felicity, standing her ground. “But the question is, what are you going to do about it?” she challenged him.

“Hmm…” Croid sighed. A sad smile escaped his lips. He turned around as a wave of flashbacks of his old gang members hit him out of nowhere. He was transformed to his old self, even without him knowing it. He recalled how they had to sacrifice themselves just so he might make it out alive.

Melthos and his gang of bandits were all outcasts from society. His charisma led them to steal money from banks. With his intelligence he led the group on many raids. One of the most centralized quotes he can recall during a past skirmish when his fellow brothers in arms were being eliminated is; “We’ll deal with the feds boss, hurry!” his subordinate uttered with the sounds of gunfire penetrating his mind.

Going back to a time when he found himself public enemy, Melthos had lost everything. The money they stored in their hideout and the lives of his brothers-in-arms. Just then, everything about him changed to whom he had been the past few days. He became Croid again, the loving and caring Croid who would try to impress the locals with his hard work. The Croid that Felicity had come to care for despite the length of time spent with him.

“I’m tired of running…” said Melthos, his voice was mellow now. He sank to the bed, taking solace in the fluffiness of the mattress as it sank beneath his buttocks.

“Every action a person takes generally catches up with them” says Felicity. “And you definitely bleed just like any man…” she taunted him.

“You talk to me as if we were all bad or something…” argued Melthos. That he was even trying to explain himself only got Felicity even more irate than she had been all day. He was angry too. “Who the fuck does she think she is to be so judgemental all of a sudden? She has no fucking right” he groaned.

“We only did what we did to survive. We all had nothing and the fellas depended on me…” Melthos explained.

“You stole from our banks. It’s ironic how you talk about wage labour when you’re off cheating the system.” Felicity replied.

There was no way he could explain his way out of this one. He had been caught red-handed.

“You lied!” Felicity complained.

To his dismay, Croid realised, all but too late, that somehow Felicity had, somehow inexplicably, overheard his conversation with Ukaid.

“It ain't as simple as that though is it. You try having nothing and being rejected for employment everywhere based on stupid profiling, I know how this capitalist system works. Some of us don’t get as fortunate as others. Petty theft when we were younger, when we had nothing, no home, no money to take care of ourselves leaving us in the gutter. Some of us went to prison and came out with nothing, nobody. All we had was each other, all we had was thinking about how to survive. Yeah I lied. I’m a thief or rather was a thief but I ain't no murderer or worse…” Croid revealed, trying to get himself out of the mess he seemed to have got himself into. He was utterly frustrated as well. He had never seen Felicity so spooked in all the little time that he had spent with her.

“You should have told the truth from the start. I should have known…” Felicity disappointingly lamented. She turned her back on him slowly and began to make her way out of the room. She was utterly mystified. Melthos might have had life hard. He might even have been the recipient of a few hard knocks from it. Still, he had no right concealing anything from her, even though they might have had different lifestyles to live.

“Wait!” shouted Melthos. But before she could be stopped, she was out of sight. He chased after her, trying to prevent her from leaving. Too late however. She seemed to have vanished into thin air. The only thing he saw was but a black cat that jumped out of the house through a small opening, just on the staircase window sill.

“Huh?” wondered Croid as he made his way back to the bedroom. He was in ultimate despair. It might mean that he had just lost the only person who could do anything for him if he were ever caught in any trouble. Or, he could just be wrong. There was no telling what she was capable of doing. He sank into the nearest seat, recounting his losses.

*****