[Saturday September 12th, 2076; Waldorf Astoria Hotel New York Metroplex]
Robyn listens to Rick as he goes to the bathroom and gets into the shower, smiling when she does not hear him lock the door. She finishes stripping her own clothes off and walks quietly into the bathroom, greeted by a growing fog of steam. The man in the shower is standing near the shower head with his face upturned into the water, deep in concentration and does not even realize that he is not alone until Robyn puts her arms about his waist and presses close to him. She feels his body stiffen and she leans her head closer to his ear and whispers to him. "Shhhhh. It is OK, Rick. It is OK to want this. Just let it all go and let me be your therapy tonight. She loved you, Rick, and she would not want you to grieve alone like this for the rest of your life. Grieve, but live your life."
She holds her breath, hoping that he will turn and take her in his arms and make love to her
Deckard felt the soft touch of Robyn's breast against his back her arms on his waist . He exhaled whatever air he had left. He turned.
Water was pouring over the two bodies. He looked at her and with a gentle gesture, moved some hair strands around her pointy ear and away from her face. He smiled at her, not too sure what she could see and make of it. He kissed her forehead very gently, oblivious to what was happening to him below his waist.
I admire your determination. And you speak the truth. She loved me and would want me to live my life to the fullest. Robyn was certainly waiting for the embrace now. But Deckard simply asked her:
Turn around.A towel was floating in the air as if held opened by two invisible hands. With a touch of a button the shower stopped, and the towel came wrapping the elf's gorgeous body. The Magician wasn't missing a bit, staring unashamed at her magnificent backside curves. As the "hands" were drying her he grabbed a fluffy bathrobe and wrapped her inside this time.
I need you. You will be my therapy indeed, we may just save the sexual fulfillment for later...
Part of him knew he was just an idiot for wasting the opportunity, but another, the one that felt right, knew that it would make the whole run much easier if feelings didn't interfere, including purely physical ones.
He grabbed a towel too to cover himself, and led Robyn back into the bedroom as he carried her onto the bed. He snuggled next to her, making sure both were comfortable.
He extended his hand and from the coat on the chair came flying his commlink, stopping neatly in his palm... He pulled out a datacable that he offered to Robyn.
Here, plug yourself in. I want to show you something. While Rick going through his file swiping on the tactile screen of the commlink seem old aged and slow for a Decker like Robyn, it didn't tale too long to reach the data he wanted.
His face changed at the sight.
Here. This is Cara.
Deckard started going through pictures and stories about his defunct wife. He was brief on how they met, but that was still too long. He managed to get Robyn's attention back when he started to talk about who she was... her street name was Noelle. She was a Technomancer.
Noelle had been a notorious name on the London Matrix scene. Robyn didn't know -though could easily suspect- that Noelle was a Technomancer, but the name was indeed very familiar to her.
As he continued his story, he mentioned how she suddenly got really sick. How no Magic was able to cure her, nor traditional medicine. How he had been forced to borrow big money with the Russian Vory, and how, when all hope was lost, EVO stepped in, locked themselves in for four days and when came out she was dead. No even a chance to say goodbye.
He also mentioned his suspicion about the link between EVO and the Vory. Sasha, his creditor, always had bragged about having info on what happened to Cara. But it could just be a ruse to keep Deckard on the leash. The fact that they were now headed to an EVO complex, on the other side of the world... well, a coincidence that seemed to only happen in novels.
Deckard fell asleep swiping through images of his wife, with a hot half naked keeb in his arm next to him...