10 years ago, in 2009 in Tobrak, Urzikstan.
"With all due respect, boss…" Juliet cleared her throat slightly as she looked at Laswell "I don't think it's a good idea for me to go"
Laswell rolled his eyes and dropped a hand on her shoulder.
"You are capable enough. And John is going to need your brains in case something goes wrong"
Juliet's eyes went behind Laswell where Lieutenant Price, moody and still moving, grunted curses under his breath that were suddenly no longer understandable. Juliet knew that no one else knew him better than Laswell and that was why she handled him so calmly.
But come on, the man was right to complain about her. Juliet had only been in the army for three years and her intellectual abilities led her to work with the intelligence service last year. There was a back-and-forth between Price and Laswell to decide who would get her, but Price ended up giving in because he didn't think it would make sense to have a woman on her team.
That stung Juliet, especially because of the despotic way in which he mentioned it, even with her there. She didn't have to be a fortune teller to know that the lieutenant never liked her. But that never stopped her from achieving her goals. Getting away from him and the base had been a healthy way to stay mentally well. Because talking to him was like walking with a walking wall. Her words bounced around and she made him lose his mind.
"I told you I don't need you…
"That's enough," Colonel Shepperd snapped, making the room shake slightly under the tone of his voice. "Redd will go with you and that's how it will be or you won't go anywhere."
Laswell snorted softly: Juliet also knew the same thing as Laswell when she declared in that frustrated sigh and that was that John Price did not like it at all when his hands were tied and he always ended up doing what he wanted or thought was best to do. Regardless of whether the sanctions came hand in hand. No one was going to stop her from doing what she had in mind, not the president or Shepperd.
Calmly, Price approached the table, pressing the long fingers of his hand on the wood with his gaze fixed on the Colonel in a cold manner.
"I'll do this, with her or without her. You, you know better than anyone" and he raised his index finger at her but he didn't say anything else until Lieutenant Price's blue eyes landed on Juliet's "you, grab your things and let's go. We're wasting fucking time."
Juliet nodded calmly, took the things from her and approached the man silently. She didn't want to bother him with questions because Kate had filled her in on everything they were going to do anyway. The main objective, General Barkov. However, the reason they came to Tobrak, Urzikstan, was because of a coded message that Juliet discovered on her computer, where a "Commander Karim" asked for help, a ransom.
In theory Juliet had always been and has never stopped being part of the SAS. Despite working for Laswell, the owes she has as a SAS soldier have never ceased to be. But that seems to matter very little to Lieutenant Price.
Several hours later, they finally arrived at Tobrak, in the helicopter Juliet diligently prepared her equipment before jumping on the roof of the building, once there she looked at Price as he gave them the signal to enter at the right time. The shots below did not end and Price raised his hand indicating that it was time. So they broke the glass from the ceiling and jumped down, knocking down several armed guards who were attacking a woman lying on the floor.
"Who is Commander Karim?" Price spoke holding his gun.
"Private Redd received your messages" Price approached and helped her to her feet "Lieutenant John Price Where is the rest?"
"Don't walk away," Price put her helmet back on, giving Juliet a dying look before she helped Farrah and handed her a gun.
"Farrah" both women shook hands and at Price's demanding voice, they began to follow him.
They continued through the factory and found the plant burning. Farrah recognized his brother banging on the glass as he struggled for oxygen. Price approached the door ordering Juliet to take care of decoding the door to open it. The evidence and prisoners were burning, so Juliet hurried to open the doors to give Lieutenant Price access.
Juliet and John ran down the hallway toward the factory door where things and prisoners were burning. Farra tried to open the door while his brother was banging on the glass from the other side but couldn't. So Price pushed her aside and forced a lever to open it but she couldn't, without hesitation, Juliet approached him holding her hands to the lever and helped him open it.
John began to help the prisoners out and Juliet did so from the other side. For a moment they both looked at each other and she realized that John kept looking at her. It was not discomfort that Juliet felt, but it was something else that she did not understand at that moment.
As a professional, Juliet focused on doing her job well. She informed Laswell that things had gone as planned and that the prisoners had been freed, but that General Barkov had escaped.
Several hours later, Juliet was helping Farrah supply her friends with weapons to prepare to confront Barkov. John dispersed the trucks and made sure to stick with the extraction plan.
"Make sure they're well stocked," Juliet told Farrah.
"They will, thank you." The girl smiled gratefully at him and they shared a look of this same feeling when they saw Price approach them and his brother Haddid.
"Hurry, even Barkov will come back for his dead," the Lieutenant exclaimed exasperatedly, looking around him and then stopped to stare at Farrah and Haddid, "they know he'll make them pay for this."
"We'll make them pay," Haddid responded.
"We'll be ready," Farrah added.
"They have cleared the northern route. "Stay here, it's safe," John said, handing Haddid a compass.
"Thank you," Farrah murmured to him and then to Juliet.
"The revolution begins now, sister." Both brothers looked at each other.
"The war has begun, brother."
"Even wars have heights," John exclaimed, seeing the extraction helicopter coming for him and Juliet, "don't lose her."
John started walking towards the helicopter and Juliet stood watching Farrah as he backed away. The movement of a hand and a solemn expression appeared on both their faces.
"Come on Redd, we're leaving in two" Price called her and finally Juliet turned in the direction of the helicopter following her Lieutenant's steps.
Once there, John helped Juliet up and they stared at each other as the Helicopter ascended. Juliet looked away to see how Farrah and his group turned into little ants.
On the way back, she and John said almost nothing. He continued to ignore her as always, almost pretending that she was just a ghost and that she was doing all this alone. Juliet's body ached and the accumulated tension of the rescue and the entire extraction process had her tired. She got rid of Price without having to receive a single comment from him or even a glance, she got into a car as soon as they landed in London and this car took her back to the CIA where she had to give her respective mission reports.
Juliet never heard from John Price again, until one day she overheard Laswell arguing with him about something that had come up on one of John's last missions. However, she didn't see him until Laswell invited her to his birthday party at her house. Juliet knew that not everyone knew Laswell's private life and being invited by her was more than a luxury, it was like realizing that Laswell had included her in his closest circle and it was not at all a novelty, knowing that Juliet had become almost like a daughter to Kate.
That night, Juliet put on a loose black dress, a leather jacket over her shoulders, and she calmly drove to Laswell's apartment considering there was nothing wrong with her having a little fun. Not knowing exactly what kind of birthday it would be, she dragged herself with her dress and her white sneakers through the hallways of the building until she reached door 55 on the sixth floor. The building was elegant and quiet and the door opened while she looked at the budding bottle of Scotch Whiskey that she brought him as a gift because she knew it was one of her wife's favorite drinks.
Juliet rang the bell twice as the door opened.
She looked a few times and blinked, leaning forward slightly when she saw the man on the other side of the door.
"Lieutenant Price?" Confusion was evident in her voice and expressions and John raised his eyebrows in disbelief, looking her up and down shamelessly as he rested an arm on the edge of the door.
"Wow, wow… I thought this was a birthday for adults, not children."
Juliet's mouth opened unceremoniously, completely shocked by the immature insinuation that the Lieutenant was making to her. She couldn't blame him if she was barely 21 then and he was in her thirties.
"Excuse me?" she tilted her head, lowering the bottle of Whiskey but John raised a hand to grab the bottle in Juliet's hands.
"Ah, at least the girl brought something good" she snatched the bottle from him before he had time to protest and turned her back on him and walked into the room. Juliet could hear the sound of music and when she entered and closed the door trying to see where the Lieutenant had gone, Kate appeared in her field of vision.
"Juliet! Did you come!" he exclaimed, hugging her.
"Happy birthday, boss!" she responded, hugging her, "I brought you a Whiskey but I think Lieutenant Price already… took it."
Kate turned away from the girl with a sigh and a shake of her head as she placed her hands on her shoulders.
"I ask you to forgive him, he just broke up with his "girlfriend"." Kate raised her fingers in a symbolic sign that she didn't give a shit because she probably didn't like her and grabbed her arm "come, let me introduce my child prodigy to my friends and my girlfriend."
"Uh Will I have that pleasure?"
"You'll get it," Kate laughed, friendly dragging the girl over to the group of her friends on the balcony.
As Juliet listened to Kate and her friends talk, for some reason she couldn't stop thinking about what she had told her that Lieutenant Price had just broken up with her girlfriend. Because that was the first personal detail that Juliet knew about the Lieutenant. Every part of her fucking life was and always had been a mystery to her.
As Kate had been distracted by her friends, evidently much older than her, Juliet walked towards the balcony and leaned on the railing while she had in her hand a glass of sweet wine, the reserve that Kate had ordered especially for her. I knew he loved sweet things. She looked at the city of London below and how it expanded before her eyes around her, the lights shining in the night while the sky was covered in clouds when a shadow fell beside her in silence.
John silently lit a cigarette while Juliet glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Enjoying the party, girl?"
Juliet shrugged her shoulders and drank some of her wine.
“Laswell strives to fulfill the whims of her girlfriend,” she smiled slightly with a tired expression as she took a drag on her cigarette with her eyes fixed on the dark horizon.
"That's nice," Juliet responded, tearing her eyes away from Lieutenant Price with a tired exhale.
"Mmmm, you're too young to be so jaded, girl."
John stared at her and Juliet couldn't help but return his annoyed look either. God, she hated that he called her a girl, as if she were a baby.
"I'm not jaded and I'm not a… girl."
"You should be in bed, sleeping like a good girl."
"Sir," Juliet cleared her throat, "with all due respect, do you dislike me?" You don't need to treat me like a child, because I'm not one.
"For God's sake, if you are, how old are you? Fifteen?"
"Damn," he exclaimed, taking a drag on his cigarette, "you're a baby Redd." If it weren't for your abilities, I wouldn't have a fucking idea what you're doing in these areas. A face like yours should be thinking about studying a decent degree at university.
She exhaled in frustration, not wanting to talk about her private life or how she had gotten to those circumstances, she faced him, with the glass in her hands and her eyes fixed on the Lieutenant's face.
"Answer the question sir, because even while I was with you at the base, you seemed to barely tolerate me, so why?" Why do you dislike me?
Price looked at her slightly confused, her question made him feel baffled for a moment as if he didn't understand why Juliet had asked him that.
"What? Of course I don't dislike you. What made you think that?"
"You, yourself, look at me as if you hate me or as if… as if I'm not doing my job well."
John exhaled smoke again as he looked at her.
"I'm just worried that you're overloaded with so much work at such a young age." John smiled warmly, full of genuine concern. "You're too young to take on these responsibilities."
“I am capable enough to do what is asked of me,” she confronted him with the contemptuous and annoyed look.
"Mmm… Capable is one thing, girl" John held up a veil and leaned towards it a little "but living with what you do is another. These kinds of things take their toll on anyone, especially girls your age."
"Don't underestimate me," she murmured as a warning.
John shook his head with a low chuckle.
"Oh, you're anything but someone who could be underestimated, girl. And if I ever start to underestimate you, I want you to slap me. I'm just worried about my team, you've been through a lot in the last year and I…" the words faded from John's mouth as he placed the cigarette between his fingers and stood silently for a moment deep in thought. , with your eyes fixed on hers "you are not invincible."
Juliet parted her lips slightly, feeling the Lieutenant's overwhelming perfume mixed with the clean smell of a man after he had gotten out of a shower and put on all kinds of lotions to smell so… good.
"I know I'm not," she replied, staring into John Price's blue eyes.
"Well, promise me then that you will take care of yourself."
At John's intense gaze on her, Juliet nodded weakly, feeling her cheeks turn red like a tomato under the dim light of the balcony.
"Good," she said in a low voice.
John smiled and patted her shoulder lovingly before leaning back again and bringing the cigarette to his lips to take a drag and exhale the smoke as he looked at her.
"Mm…don't stay here too long. This city is no place for a beautiful young woman to wander alone in the dark." Juliet's cheeks burned brightly.
"I-I… I was about to order a taxi."
"A Taxi? That…?" Juliet nodded while she rubbed her arms even though she was wearing her leather jacket. She had started to feel cold. John didn't think about it and took off her coat to put it on the girl's shoulders. "nothing like that, I'll take you."
Juliet didn't know what to say, but suddenly she found herself sitting in the passenger seat of a dark Jeep while John was driving with the stereo playing very low. John kept his hands on the wheel, driving down the street, briefly glancing at Juliet. Who seemed a little lost in her thoughts, as she looked out the window at the passing streetlights. With his free hand, John lifted a cigarette to his mouth to take a quick drag and flick the butt out the window. Her eyes rested on the road but also from time to time on her.
Minutes later, John stopped in front of a block of old buildings. He looked out suspiciously and then turned to her.
Are you sure you'll be okay alone?
Are you sure you don't want me to walk you to your door? I do not want anything to happen to you.
She swallowed carefully as she looked at him.
"I don't think it's a good idea."
Price looked at her thoughtfully before sighing and nodding his head a little.
"I guess you're right." Juliet blushed again and opened the door to get out of the car. John pressed a button on the center console to roll down the windows and leaned out ᅳ be careful, Redd. Make sure you go to bed, okay?
She smiled and turned towards the doors of the building, only when she reached her apartment and dropped the keys on the living table and felt John's smell completely surround her, did she realize that she was with him. shelter from her. She sank onto the couch with him and brought his manly scent and her musk between her cigarette to her nose with her eyes closed.
Silence surrounded her apartment as she lay back on the couch deeply inhaling the scent filled with lingering cigarette smoke and the subtle scent of her perfume. Her eyes closed as she breathed deeply. She was comfortable, safe, she soon began to fall asleep and her eyelids slowly sank over her eyes without her realizing that she was dreaming.
John Price's strong hands were around her tightly, holding her body as he was protecting her from all the dangers of the world, whispering soft, reassuring words into her ear.
And Julie understood that what she felt for Price was much more than simple admiration. But she had no idea what the future held for her.