Till Life Do Us Part

Chapter 4

Those green eyes.

Iago's. 

The realization left her speechless and motionless. It really couldn't be him, could it? No.....it couldn't be. But if she had been reborn......could it be he had been too? And right in this same lifetime as her. What a coincidence. Tentatively, she whispered;

"Iago?".

His grin faltered a little but he nodded in understanding. "Ah....I see. You don't remember me after all. I'm really trying hard not to feel insulted Offi.....Detective. With this face, I'm not quite used to being forgotten". He grinned even wider at his own joke. 

So he didn't have his memories. Weird. Or maybe she still retaining her memories was what was actually weird. She had done a lot of research on rebirth when she had regained her memories and not once did she come across an occasion in the myths where The Reborn still had all her memories from her past life. They usually caught snippets in dreams and deja vus but never fully retained everything. What had been the Lord's reason for making her remember all of hers? She couldn't begin to guess. For a moment, she thanked her lucky stars that if he was really Iago, at least he no longer bore memories of the atrocities she had long committed and was no longer proud of. For some weird reason, she wanted to appear in her best light to him even though she quickly stashed that thought away as soon as it came up. She didn't give a rat's ass what he thought of her.........she told herself. She wasn't even sure he was Iago. But looking deep into those eyes and as surely as she knew her name, she knew they were his.

He shuffled his feet in front of her uncomfortably and she realized she had been staring for too long. So much for trying to no longer look weird. Quickly snapping her eyes away, she finally became aware of the proximity of their position in the narrow walkway and felt a faint flush creep up her neck. Her heart beat fast and her skin felt charged with an almost electromagnetic force. What the hell was wrong with her? She took a few steps back with her trolley and eyed him tentatively behind her shades. He was looking at her quizzically with an almost amused expression. She actually had never forgotten him, not even from a lifetime ago and definitely not from 4 years ago. But he didn't have to know that. 

She coughed lightly and rearranged her face to the expressionless mask she loved to don most of the time. It generally put people off and she needed as much advantage as she could conjure here. 

"Penny for your thoughts?". He still had a smile on his suddenly annoying face. What the hell was he even doing in a grocery store anyways? He didn't strike her as the grocery type.

"Was just trying to place where I've seen you from" She replied dryly. She saw his expression fall a little and she could tell he really wasn't used to being forgotten. She felt a little bad but quickly stuffed the unwelcome guilt away. He didn't need one more person pumping his gigantic ego after all. 

"Oh well......" He donned his sunglasses back on and flashed one of his radiant smiles again to cover his slight embarrassment. "....it's Tristan Roden, Detective. From the police station 4 years ago, the Linda Roden murder case" She saw a brief flash of pain on his face and immediately felt bad for reminding him of his anguish. She didn't mind letting him continue his introduction, at least to deflate a bit of that ego, but her conscience didn't let her. c*****g her head to the side lightly, she pretended to think.

"Ohhh....Mr. Roden" She smiled tightly. "What a surprise."

"I know!!!!!" He chuckled and looked around the store. "And in a grocery store at that.....wow".

Danica smiled politely and let her gaze feast on him briefly, hoping he wouldn't notice. His dark brown hair was longer than she remembered, way longer. It rested at the nape of his neck in a short ponytail and she was amazed at how voluminous it was. That wasn't the only thing that had changed. He definitely hadn't sported a beard the last time she had seen him. Looking at his new well carved beard, she couldn't help thinking the cut must have probably cost at least two times her salary. He wore a plain, gray sweatshirt and sweatpants and he had running shoes on. She wondered if he had just gotten back from a run. His shopping bag held at least 5 packs of dog biscuit and many more energy drinks. Seems she wasn't the only one binging on confectionery. 

"So......." She nearly jumped at his voice. ".....all these chips are going into that tiny body?". It was weird how he spoke to her so familiarly considering they hadn't exchanged more than a few words the one time they had talked.

A little embarrassed, she turned back to the aisle and pretended to be suddenly interested in a bag of Cheetos. 

"It's rude to say things like that to strangers, Mr. Roden".

"Please......it's just Tristan" He reached forward to grab a few bags of Cheetos too and once again, she felt her skin charge up at how close he stood. She exhaled silently in relief when he finally moved back. "And besides we aren't really strangers, are we?".  He smiled at her expectantly.

Turning back, an eyebrow raised in mock curiosity, she replied dryly. "Aren't we?"

He searched her face briefly before chuckling softly and depositing his bag of chips in his bag. "You were always a tough one, Detective". 

She decided she was sick of the way he addressed her familiarly and she needed space to collect her thoughts anyways. She glanced at her watch briefly and hoped he would get the message. 

"I'll be on my way now.....Mr. Roden" She hoped to irritate him by addressing him with his formal title. "It was nice meeting you again".

She smiled briefly but didn't wait for his reply as she edged her filled trolley around him and made her way to the cashier. Why had Iago appeared in her life again? Staring at Tristan's eyes, she had barely resisted the urge to spit out the words of hurt and betrayal that had resided in her for so long. She had wanted to let him see for himself how much he had hurt her. But while Iago had hurt her, Tristan hadn't. She still didn't get the weirdness of the situation, was Tristan a descendant of a relative? A direct reborn? Or was she simply imagining things? So many things didn't make sense. Her thoughts were still jumbled when it finally reached her turn on the queue. She brought out her card and smiled kindly to the cashier in return as her bill was calculated. 

"These will be 175$ ma'am"

She was just about to hand her card over when she heard a voice behind her.

"I'll take care of the lady's bills". Tristan.

Danica whirled around and met him there, right behind her, a charming smile intended for the cashier on his face even though his gaze held hers. That familiar sensation crawled down her spine at the weird intimacy of their stare. Snatching her eyes away, she turned back to the cashier.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Roden" She made to give out her card but the feel of his hand closing gently around her upper arm stopped her. 

"I insist, Detective" Even through the sweater, she felt the warmth of him. The familiar warmth. Her eyes widened briefly and she pulled her arm away as gently as she could manage. Struggling hard not to let her mask falter, she rose her a slim shoulder in a shrug and stepped back. 

"If you insist.....". He smiled at her briefly and moved up to hand his card over to the cashier. Danica waited in agitation and she hoped it wasn't obvious that his touch had had so much effect on her. Turning away from him slightly to fan her hot face, she met the gazes of some other women in the line who eyed her in......envy??? She almost laughed out loud at their ridiculousness but it was right at that moment that Tristan handed her her bags. Nodding to the cashier in acknowledgement, she marched out of the grocery store, Tristan fast on her heels. He soon caught up to her.....no surprise there, and she c****d an eyebrow at him and asked dryly;

"What was that for? I could handle myself just fine". 

He smiled down at her and transferred his own bag to his other hand. "You should have insisted then. Not that it would have changed anything" She could hear the smile in his voice. He was teasing her but Lord!! that was the last thing she needed now.

"I didn't want to hold up the line with irrelevant drama". She said, eyes forward. He didn't have to know that his touch had left her flustered and confused and desperate to get out of the suddenly suffocating store. 

He smiled and continued walking with her till she got to her car. What did he want? She wondered in annoyance.

"I was actually hoping to win you over for a cup of coffee, Detective". She ignored the pang of nostalgia that sliced through her whenever he called her that. God how she missed her job. His voice was so serious compared to his light exterior. She glanced at him over her shoulder as she stashed her bags into the back seat. She really didn't want to spend one more minute with this guy, Iago or not.

"I don't think that'll be possible, Mr. Roden. I'm quite occupied".

"Please Detective. Just for 10 minutes". Something about his voice got her attention. She didn't get why he was suddenly sounding so damn serious. She slammed the car door shut and peered at him through her shades.

"Right now?"

"Yes, if you don't mind of course".

Oh how she minded. Keeping a straight face, she asked tentatively. 

"What's this about, Mr. Roden?"

He paused slightly and she heard the raw pain in his voice when he finally said; "My sister's death".

Ohhh....Linda Roden's murder. What did he want to talk to her about in relation to it? She had been way too green to actively participate in the investigation when it had happened 4 years ago. She couldn't help the sudden curiosity that rose in her.

"What about it?" She asked, her voice a bit softer than before. 

He glanced around the parking lot and looked back at her. "When I decided to speak to you about it, Detective, I didn't actually have a parking lot in mind". She glanced around and looked at him blankly. A parking lot sounded just fine to her. "How about over a cup of coffee. Or dinner?"

"Coffee" She replied quickly. She didn't want to spend more time with him than was necessary. He apparently seemed pleased with her indirect agreement to speak with him by the smile that slowly appeared on his face. She couldn't help noticing the perfect teeth. 

"Sounds fine to me. Shall we?". He swept his hand out widely in a gesture for her to walk.

"Uhhh....I actually didn't mean right now, Mr. Roden" She saw the brief flash of confusion on his face and added hastily "I actually have an appointment in....." she glanced at her watch ".....5 minutes. So we'll have to make it another day. Tomorrow?"

He tried to hide his disappointment but she saw through it. "Sure sure. When do you profer we meet?"

"Uhhh.....10am. Rousey's". She gestured towards the neat, little shop that sat comfortably between the grocery store and the local gym. 

"Right" He nodded and smiled at her thankfully. 

Despite how she felt, she smiled briefly at him and turned to unlock her car, painfully aware that her back was to him.

"See you tomorrow, Detective". He called out as she settled into the seat.

She smiled stiffly and nodded. "Tomorrow, Mr. Roden". 

As she drove away, she couldn't help feeling foolish at the little pang of disappointment that had crept into her heart when he had told her he only wanted to discuss his sister's case.

"What had you been expecting, you silly goose?" She muttered to herself angrily. And regretted it almost immediately. 

She feared she knew the exact answer to that question.