Opening Up

"We'll continue with the training tomorrow." Richard said and wiped the sweat off his face. The soldiers nodded solemnly and scampered away, each picking their own bags and walking out of the training room.

Today's training had been boring—as usual. It wasn't because of the performance of the team members or the shooting practices they'd been doing for the past four days but something else made the training sessions boring.

Richard glanced towards the corner where Priscilla usually sat during the training to watch. It was empty. She wasn't there.

He gripped the handle of his bag tightly and lowered his gaze as he walked out of the training centre. The targets hung at different locations were full of bullet holes. He walked out of the hall and moved down the corridor.

Over the past four days, Priscilla had rarely come to the training rooms. Even when she came she would sit down at the corner and after a short while she would leave. He never saw when she left and every time he looked at the corner and didn't see her, his heart sank.

He had noticed that she had become a little bit fidgety and would avoid him. Did it have something to do with the medallions she saw in his room? What was going on?

He had, of course, wanted to confront her and ask what the problem was but she always found a number of ways to avoid him. If she saw him coming she'd leave the area.

"Ughh!" Richard grunted as he walked towards the left corridor and exited the training centre. He moved towards the other building that was just a little distance off. It took him until now to realise that her presence had become a very basic part of a good training session. It just felt…empty when she wasn't around.

Unknowingly, Richard had walked into the military laboratory building. Priscilla was there. He paused for a while and considered whether to go in or not. In the end he decided to go in and talk to her. If she tried to run the he'd have to tie her up till things were cleared up.

He approached the small office that had been assigned to her so she could have a little privacy. She did enjoy little perks at the military HQ than most of the other doctors. Richard knocked lightly. A hoarse voice sounded telling him to enter.

He twisted the door knob and peeked his head in. Priscilla was sitting with her back against the chair and had a file in her hand. The moment she saw that it was Richard; she dropped the file and released a sigh.

She fiddled with her fingers under the table—a movement that Richard noticed very easily. 'She's fidgeting again. Almost like she's scared of me.' He noted.

He sat down opposite her and eyed her for a few seconds before asking with a sigh. "Why are you avoiding me? Is it because of the medallions?"

Priscilla hesitated. She was undecided whether to open up to him or not. For one they didn't know each other that much but was that really it?

Just in a few days of talking to him and hanging out in the training centre, she felt like she's known him for a while. That and the fact that the medallions were in his house made her decide to tell him anyway.

She sighed deeply. "I'm not avoiding you, Richard." She looked straight in his face. "I just didn't know how to handle it."

"Handle what?" Richard had guesses as to why she was behaving that way but didn't try to force out his opinion. It was better if she told him herself.

"Those medallions," she began. "Who owns them?"

"I already told you before," Richard said in a soft voice. "They belonged to a friend of mine. His name was Marcus Harris."

"Can you tell me about him? What was he like?"

Richard gave her a slight stare before nodding. "He was a good man. Gentle and kind. When I was enlisted, he was there and took us on small missions.

"I didn't do well. We often hung out and he taught me a lot and I saw him as a mentor. He taught me most of what I know.

"It was fifteen years ago though. There was a problem and he and his team had to investigate but I wanted to go with him and prove to him that I was capable. He refused but I was adamant and wanted to fight side by side with him.

"He patted my shoulder and handed me those medallions, promising to come back and get them. He never returned. He was killed and all that was sent back to his family was an incomplete corpse."

Richard gave her a straight stare throughout his story. He noticed Priscilla's eyes start to water as tears began to slide down her cheek. She sniffled and wiped her face with her sleeve. She choked a bit and said, "General Marcus Harris was my father."

Richard didn't look surprised but continued to look into her eyes. The first time he had heard her name he had thought it to be familiar but didn't think much about it. It was only after he saw her reaction to the medallions that he had an idea. The name even confirmed it.

"He left home that day and also promised me to come back. He gave me his name tags and told me to hold onto them. I waited and waited but he never came home. It was only a few days after that I was told that he was killed.

"It broke my heart and I've never been able to get over it." She paused and pulled out the name tag from her purse and showed it to Richard.

"When I saw those medallions at your house I was unsettled and shocked."

"I'm sorry," Richard stood up and went around the desk to her side. "I didn't know."

Priscilla let herself go. She sobbed but not as much as she'd wanted to. Richard was a good man and even though he didn't know much about her father's death, she felt cared for. She regretted doubting him.

One thing she was sure of, though, was that someone in the military betrayed her father.

Richard pulled her closer and hugged her trying to calm her down. She wrapped weak hands across his back and buried her face in his neck.