Later, Priscilla left the hospital with a bit of a cheerful air. She felt a bit free today. She took a cab and headed to the military HQ.
Her car was still parked at her apartment and ever since the attack from K9's men she hadn't really gone back to the house to take anything. She had two major reasons for doing this.
First, she didn't want the military officers to be suspicious given that a few of them were watching the house. Going back there so early would not give off the impression of a scared doctor who was attacked in her house in the middle of the night.
Another reason was that K9 had told her to not go back yet till everything calmed down. This was beneficial since she had contact with K9 and this might lead to her being discovered as an affiliate.
She sighed. This was getting too serious.
She arrived at the military HQ not long afterwards and confirmed her identity with the A.I. before moving towards the training centre. She was aware that the team might have concluded the training session for the day but she was sure that Richard was there to train on his own. He usually stayed back every day to do extra work outs. She pushed the door open and moved into the training room. To her surprise, training wasn't over. She checked her phone to confirm the time. It was indeed 2p.m.
She went to her spot quietly and sat down. She was captivated by how strong Pauline actually was. She was able to pull three of those heavy balls at a time and she pulled them all the way across the large training hall!
She watched with mouth hanging open but soon pulled her eyes away. 'Pauline is a soldier while I'm a doctor' she thought convincingly though she felt it was just a weak excuse. She drank her water as she watched the others spar against each other. Pauline was still not very good with her posture. She was thrown a few times by the other male soldiers and each time she stood up grunting—refusing the hands they held out to help her up.
Soon, training ended and everyone packed their bags as usual. The team hadn't received any assignments yet and it left them to train all day. She reckoned that this could be partly because Richard was the team leader. It was hard to give him another field work shortly after he lost his team to a terrorist group.
She glanced at Richard as he slung his heavy looking bag across his shoulder and approached the door. He threw her a glance. "You aren't leaving?"
"You aren't doing extra time?" she asked.
Richard nodded. "I have my limits."
Priscilla looked down but stood up afterwards to follow him out. Her mind turned a few times as she began to think of things that didn't just match up. She sighed. 'Of course he doesn't react to you. It was just a bet.'
Richard looked at her and felt she was avoiding his eyes. He felt his heart twist into a knot. 'It was just a bet, get over it.' he cautioned himself.
After walking down the corridor, he paused and bit his lip slightly. "I was hoping to ask you something."
Priscilla turned to him with a straight face. "Yeah?"
"I was…" he paused trying to put his words in order. "Lily and I would love to invite you to dinner tonight."
That sounded so weak and pathetic that Richard almost pulled at his head. He had come face to face with death before so why was it so hard to invite someone for dinner? Maybe it was hard…he didn't know.
Priscilla threw him a questioning gaze. "Did she force you to invite me?"
"What?" the question struck home like lightning. It was clear what a big mistake he had made with his first statement. He quickly waved his hands in front of him and explained, "Actually no. I had it in mind to ask you out to dinner but then I decided to invite you back to my house."
Priscilla nodded. She didn't know whether to accept or not. She still had a lot to do and recently things had cropped up. Then she recalled that after today she might be busier especially with the hospital and K9 and the Fillers.
Seeing her hesitation, Richard asked again, "So, would you like to have dinner at my house tonight?"
She smiled broadly and nodded a little bit too impulsively. "I'd love to. I do remember that I promised to visit."
"Super!" Richard mentally fist pumped. 'See, it wasn't that hard after all!' he told himself.
They continued to walk on ahead in silence. They passed by a few more soldiers who chatted or saluted Richard yet the silence between them was eerie. Richard cleared his throat. "Actually there's something else."
Priscilla glanced at him slightly. "What is it?"
"A favour perhaps?"
"I recall you said you don't favours." Priscilla raised her eyebrows at him mockingly.
Richard exhaled. He was really getting out of character. "Okay, then it's a request."
"Aren't they the same?" she chuckled and added, "You know you should be careful of what you say so I don't use it against you."
Richard ignored her and continued with his request. "I was hoping you could stay for the night."
"Oh?" this time she stopped and turned to look at him directly. This was very unexpected and it caught her off guard. Why did he want her to spend the night?
"You'll get the room of course!" Richard quickly added feeling a little lost. He cursed himself silently. Maybe the military training didn't help his confidence at all.
"I'll consider it then." She smiled slightly and they walked on. "When should I stop by?"
Before Richard could reply, the wall by the side lit up with a projection and words appeared followed by the female voice. Maya.
"Colonel Richard Brad, please report to room 20 of main building."
"What happened?" he asked in confusion.
The A.I. threw out ellipsis then words appeared. "I am not permitted to tell you."
The wall became dark again. Richard turned around with a sigh. "You can drop by the house at 8; let me attend to whatever is going on."
He jogged away leaving her to walk alone to the entrance. It was still early so she decided to go the medical lab and do some tests.
The military offered one of the best labs in Crevania and she didn't want to be humble in using it.