After a while, the meeting, which had soon become a comedic gathering, came to an end. Throughout the banter, K9 had only watched with an amused expression without interrupting. This sort of things didn't happen often but when it did he never tried to stop it.
It was a form of relief for the group and he knew they needed it. They had been through a lot added to the stress of the recent mission they just completed he deemed it fit that they needed to relax and unwind.
K9 reached for his iced wine and poured himself a drink. He eyed Priscilla knowing that she was also staring at him. The moment their eyes met she looked away and turned out of the room.
Along the way, Priscilla saw the group gathered to talk. She walked up to them with steady steps. "K1? Can I speak with you?"
"Sure." He waved at the others and followed her as they walked out of the building. "What is it about?"
"About K9."
"Oh?"
"Do you think it will work?" she asked a bit unsettled. "Overthrowing the military, I mean."
K1 glanced at her as they walked along. He took a little bit of time to organise his thoughts. This was a difficult question to answer and to him it all boiled down to belief. He, however, said, "With anyone else, no. But with K9, anything is possible."
"You really believe in him that much?" she asked. They were all members of the same team but it was hard for her—even after 15 years—to fully come to terms with it.
K1 sighed and glanced at her, this time with a gentler look. "Everyone in this group joined because they all have something in common. We realised that at one point the military has hurt us in one way or the other.
"This may seem hard but I believe that we—K9 included—are doing the right thing. Look what they did to his family." At this point he shook his head sadly and continued, "We all have the drive to succeed and that's what we'll do. We'll overthrow the country's military."
Priscilla didn't say anything for a long time but kept her eyes on the floor as they walked outside. The fresh air blew against her hair and brushed her skin. It was blissful. She turned to K1 and nodded. "I understand."
He nodded and gestured for her to leave. "You have a life, K7, you better go live it."
She smiled at his tactful way of using her own words against her. She didn't wait any longer. She got into the car and it drove away. K1 remained standing there as he watched the car drive out of sight. He sighed. It was hard for him.
He had almost let slip the one secret that K9 wanted to guard the most. He could understand why he decided to keep a few things from her but he didn't know if it was appropriate. K7 had been a part of the team for 15 years yet was still considered as an…outsider.
'What do I know?' he said recalling the old man that had almost busted their cover at the military base. 'I'm just another member here.'
….
Priscilla was dropped off somewhere along the road. She took a cab and went to the hospital. She hadn't gone there the day before and hadn't even planned on going there today but she felt she should just drop by.
For some reason she just didn't want to do anything aside from lying down and closing her eyes. She went up to Donald's office. Her previous office had been cleared out and given to someone else a week after she resigned from the hospital. She would've loved to have the office kept since she did drop by once in a while but then she realised that she had quit. She was no longer a doctor here and her regular visits were treated as Donald convincing her to consult for them.
She sighed and pushed the door open. The famous playboy was at his desk playing around with a pencil and a paper—he was drawing.
Donald looked up at her and instinctively hid the piece of paper. She looked around and tried to avoid her eyes. It was only after Priscilla's gaze grew more intense that he rubbed his neck nervously. "You didn't inform me you were coming."
"I never inform you of my visits."
"You didn't knock."
"Why should I knock?" she sat down. "Unless you masturbate in the office?"
Donald glared at her and slammed the pencil down authoritatively. "How many times must I tell you to stop joking with my professionalism?"
She shrugged. "It's not wrong to masturbate in your office. In fact research shows that 10% of the men who do it…"
"Enough!" Donald felt a headache. He didn't know how to deal with her these days. "By the way, I thought you forgot about me."
She smiled. "How can I forget someone as handsome as you?"
Donald was in the clouds as fireworks exploded in his mind. "Really?"
"Really." She nodded and leaned forward. "What did I miss these two days?"
"Nothing much…" Donald trailed off as her eyes landed on her cheek. It was bruised and despite her miserable attempt to cover it up with makeup it still stood out like a sore thumb. "What happened to your face?"
She sighed. "A little accident. Training at the HQ got out of hand and someone's hand landed on my face."
Donald frowned but decided to not probe further. Priscilla rolled her eyes inwardly. 'Applaud yourself, Priscilla; you're now able to lie to your best friend with a straight face. Though it's fine since I don't want to get him involved. He already disapproves of everything related to K9.'
"Be more careful next time."
"Sure thing." She eyed the piece of paper he had been drawing on and yanked it to herself. Donald reacted a little too late and when he saw that she had seen it he covered his face and sat back down. "I'm sorry, I can explain."
Priscilla frowned as she looked at the drawing. "You drew me…naked?"
"It was just on impulse. I figured if I couldn't get the real stuff I could at least stare at my own fantasies."
"How many of these have you made?" she asked in an anger filled tone. "I expected that you were drawing something dirty but never would I have thought that you would draw me naked."
Seeing how hopeless Donald was, she tore the picture and left the hospital.