The right decision

She had packed her things and left that morning. Rajat slept most of the way from Shreveport to New Orleans and all she did was thought. She emailed her boss about another worker handling Merlotte's as she had more things to do in New Orleans before returning to India. She missed home, she missed her normal routines. She barely spoke, even during dinner. Rochelle could tell something was up with her but did not ask. Once they were back in the car, Rajat watched a movie on the digital equipment that was placed in the back of the car. It was almost the size of a limo, which was nice and spacey. She pulled out her laptop and began to work on her reports and other work related things to keep her busy.

"Mommy, will I get to play with Mr. John again?"

She looked up from her laptop. "Not now, Rajat. Not now. Mommy is working." She was not dealing with that issue right now. She had made the right decision.

John had left the house right after sunset. He knew things went south when he stopped her, but he had good reasons. He pulled up to the hotel and walked up to the room, but there was a woman inside cleaning it. He went down to the manager and spoke to him, but did not like what he heard.

"What do you mean she left? She was supposed to be in town two more days. Why would she have left?"

"If you will forgive my boldness, Sir, but she seemed upset about something. She said not to worry about a refund, but that she needed to move on to New Orleans for her next job a bit ahead of schedule."

Quinn sighed...she had bolted. She ran again and he was left behind. Not This Time! He thanked the man and gave him a tip for the information. He pulled out his phone and called the airport. He arranged a seat on the first jumper to New Orleans. It would only give him about an hour before sunrise, so he would have to wait to find her, but he hoped he was cutting her lead by flying. He put away his phone and took off for the airport. He had no idea what he would say to her, but knew he had to try this time. He got to the airport an hour before his flight so he decided to call her. As he typed in her number, he went over all the ideas he had of arguments for her to stay, or for him to go with them.

Her phone buzzed and she continued to type, ignoring it.

"Miss Sevti, it is an unknown caller, shall I answer?"

"Do as you wish, I'm working." She continued to type furiously against the keyboard, the memories of the previous nights playing in her head. The nerve of that vampire to accuse her of being some kind of flavor of the month, how absurd. She was not some lowly hooker. She heard Rochelle answer her phone.

"Miss Sevti's phone, may I help you?"

Quinn smiled when he heard her assistant on the phone.

"Hello, Rochelle. I would like to speak to Miss Sevti please. This is Mr. John from the other night. I missed her in Shreveport and we were going to be discussing something. I would like to talk to her so I can plan out the next meeting."

He did not know what was going on, but he intended to find out.

"Mr. John, it's great to hear from you." Rochelle looked at Tijgerian who rolled her eyes and kept typing. Rajat was slowly falling asleep next to her. Hearing his name nearly made her scream, but she didn't. "I'll see if she is taking cal-"

"No."

"Mr. John, it appears she is working and is not taking calls, may I take a message?"

"Actually yes, Rochelle. Please tell her that I was a bit upset I did not at least get to say good bye to her before she left town. I have a thought, Rochelle...what hotel are you staying at? I can fax some information to the office in the lobby for her. That might save us both some time."

Rochelle cleared her throat and gave Tijgerian a look. "Yes, I'm sure she apologizes for having to leave on such short notice and not saying good-bye...I uh...hotel?" She covered the receiver and whispered to Tij, "He wants to know what hotel we'll be at."

"The stay the fuck away hotel, right next to the heartbreak hotel in bullshit city. Tell him that. No, better yet....give me the phone." She said loudly and with venom in her voice. Rochelle quickly handed the phone over. She took the phone and spoke. "I am done with you, done with this image you tried to give me, done with vampires and their stench. Maybe you should have a threesome with the redhead and the brunette who seem to think you prefer cold skinned to cold hearted, at least so I've heard."

She was livid, thankfully Rajat had began to fall asleep because she never spoke that way in front of him.

He sighed at the anger in her voice. Her comment left little doubt as to what happened. He did not know how, but the who and what was plain to see. He spoke softly, in the one language they both knew he could not lie in.

"Tijgerian, saya tidak tahu di mana racun ini berasal dari tapi saya tidak pernah berbohong kepada Anda. Aku bilang kesalahan saya dan dimiliki hingga mereka. Kami berbicara tentang hal ini dan saya membuatnya jelas bahwa kesalahan-kesalahan yang di masa lalu saya. Anda menilai saya atas kejahatan yang sudah berjalan melewati. Bertemu dengan saya satu waktu, dan biarkan kami berdua berbicara dengan bebas dari segala hal yang perlu. Berikan padaku satu hal, Tijgerian. Untuk apa yang pernah kita punya ... demi anak kami. Beri aku satu kesempatan untuk melihat Anda dan berbicara dengan Anda muka dengan muka."
(Tijgerian, I do not know where this venom comes from but I never lied to you. I told you of my mistakes and owned up to them. We spoke of this and I made it clear that those mistakes were in my past. You judge me for crimes you already have walked past. Meet with me one time, and let us both speak freely of all matters that need to be. Give me that one thing, Tijgerian. For what we once had...for the sake of our son. Give me one chance to see you and speak to you face to face.)

He paused to let her think on his words before returning to English.

"Tijgerian, the hotel clerk told me you were going to New Orleans. We can pick a neutral spot, away from Rajat, away from distractions. I ask only this one meeting. Grant me this one thing before you cut me away for good. Meet me at the Madeline Cafe in the French Quarter. It is central and right off Jackson Square. It will reveal nothing as to where you and Rajat are staying, and it has a space upstairs that can be used for private meetings."

She growled and curled her lip, Rochelle looked back down at her tablet and went about doing her own thing to give her some privacy. "John, stop it. Just...stop. I know you owned up to them, but it's much different when I am attacked by them and accused of stealing you away. I am not some whore who beds any man, you should know this! It occurred to me that you would never be free of their baggage, and that would only get in the way. I will not have my son in danger because some vampire bitch is pissed you dumped her."

She sighed hard and closed her eyes, hearing his offer to meet up. "I don't know John. What could you possibly say I haven't heard already, what could you possibly say that can change what happened last night?"

What was she talking about? He was not effectively lost.

"Attacked? Who attacked you? Why would they attack you? Any person, vampire, were or anything else who claims you are a whore deserves their throat ripped out. I was not even aware they were still around. The last I knew, they were both under lock and key at the 'king's home."

He paused, taking a breath and trying to stay calm. He would have words with a few vampires if he returned alone to Bon Temps. A few words that they would be unlikely to be pleased in hearing. He would not have his only chance with Tijgerian and his son ruined by cheating harlots who didn't even have a pulse anymore, much less a heart.

"Come to the Cafe tomorrow night after sunset. I wont ask you again, this time I demand it damn it. I let you walk away from me once I will not do it again. I give you the choice to bring Rochelle and Rajat or leave them where you stay, but you will come to the Cafe tomorrow evening. Your business occupies your day and I will allow for that, but you will meet me tomorrow night. Do you understand?"

She rolled her eyes. "The brunette thinks I stole her man like some lame ass country song, and I will tell you this...she looks barely legal. Vampire or not. I thought you preferred women, not girls." She had to throw that in there. "I was at Merlotte's meeting with a client when your little vampire decided she wanted to fight. I nearly killed her, but those dead creeps stick together and some redhead, that you apparently slept with saved her ass along with some dishwasher vampire. I did not have time for it John, not at all."

She listened as he spoke, demanding that she meet him instead of asking. She blinked at his tone that he used with her and clicked her tongue. "You demand it, do you? I don't see how I owe you anything, my time included. And you should know I do not like to be told what to do, so I will think about it and if I show, I show. If I don't, it was nice seeing you John."

"You demand it, do you? I don't see how I owe you anything, my time included. And you should know I do not like to be told what to do, so I will think about it and if I show, I show. If I don't, it was nice seeing you John."

He growled quietly for a moment.

"Tijgerian, listen carefully and think. I found you once, do you really think I would have trouble finding you again? I could tear this city to the ground and not care until I found you, but I am trying to be more civilized than that. We both know I am one of the best trackers our kind has had in generations. I can always find what I look for."

He let that sink in for a moment.

"You will be at the Cafe one hour after sunset to meet me. This is not something I am asking you. This is something that is going to happen."

She narrowed her eyes to slits and knew Rochelle heard by the way she squirmed and appeared so interested in what she was reading. She growled back slightly before speaking. "I do not like being told what to do, you will do well in remembering that, John. For the sake of the city, I will agree to meet you but cannot promise to listen. I've listened so much in the past week, right now I need to see that I was wrong. And all I keep seeing is that I was right."

She looked over at Rajat sleeping.

"What you fail to realize, John....is I know how this works. Your indescretions with vampires only lead to retaliation, and where do you think those creatures start first? By what matters most...family. If he is found out to be your son....if those things touch my son...by the Gods John Quinn, I will kill you myself."

"Listen here and now, Sevti Tijgerian, I swear one thing for certainty, and on my son's name and our shared blood. If one of those fanged corpses even threatened to look for him...or for you...I would personally make a pair of ear-rings for you of their fangs. Do I make myself clear. I told you, I have little holding me to that town, but had no reason before to leave it."

He let her think on that for a moment before continuing.

"We will meet tomorrow night and we will talk. You will hear what I wish to say and I will give you the same respect. No matter the outcome of our talk, my oath will hold true for the length of my life."

She cocked a brow at his conviction in his voice, actually believing he would never allow for such a thing to happen. Using her name like he did caused the oddest feeling within her, and she hated that she liked it. She lifted her chin and looked out the window, avoiding looking at Rochelle. After he was finished speaking, she said one word, it said it all.

"Fine."

With that, she lingered for a moment before ending the call and closing her eyes. Why was she subjecting herself to this? Why was she going through the repetitive notions of listening and trying to understand him, when all it got her was confusion and anger? She looked over at Rajat and ran her hand over his hair gently. There was still some time left in their journey and she felt exhausted. She closed her laptop and curled up with Rajat, closing her eyes to forget all the things troubling her. And the list only kept growing.

He could hear her breathing, waiting on the phone and only had one thing he could say.

"Terima kasih, jantung hati saya"
(Thank you, heart of my heart)

He closed the call out and smiled. That had felt good. He had not let that side of him out in quite some time. As an afterthought, he called the Marriott hotline and asked for the New Orleans Hotel. He booked a light tight penthouse and smiled. He looked up as they called his flight to board. Tonight was ending better than it began.