Future Shock: Chapter 3-Hard Romance [Date: 13 yrs. - P.B.]

“Richard B. Riddick,” Hana said, frowning and furrowing her brow in mock
seriousness. She giggled lightly and rolled over onto her back, messing the soft satin
sheets of her bed. Riddick stood silently unmoving in the doorway to her bedroom. “Tell
me, Richard B. Riddick,” she said wistfully propping herself up on her elbow and gazing
deeply at him, “you have worked for me for three weeks, and honestly, I don’t know
what to call you. What do you prefer? Richard? Rich? Dick?” she asked, teasingly
putting an emphasis on her last word. “Right,” she sighed defeatedly, “Riddick it is. Sit
down, for God’s sake! You’re making me nervous, kid.”

Slowly, leisurely, he sauntered over to the bed and took a seat on the edge. Hana
flinched away from him, uncomfortable with his closeness. It’s true, he had worked with
her for about three weeks now, learning her likes and dislikes, her habits and her
grueling schedule. Afternoons on Mondays and Fridays were spent at Shea Stadium
watching the games, Tuesday and Saturday mornings, talking with the athletes she
sponsored who also happened to survive the night before. Saturday nights, Jade made
the rounds of all her favorite clubs and raves, sometimes joining in but mostly sulking to
herself in a lonely corner. Almost every night was spent at home in the loft she shared
with six other people, going over her business records with her roommate and partner
who everyone called Steerpike. Riddick didn’t know his real name, which bothered him.
He saw lack of information as a weakness, which is how he’d managed to survive as
long as he had in the world he lived in. Hana loved cats, strawberry milkshakes spiked
with rum and romance. She hated surprises and was absolutely terrified of unexpected
physical contact, though she was slowly getting used to Riddick.

“You want to know the truth, Richard B. Riddick?” she said with a mischievous smile.
“I don’t need a bodyguard. I never did. I hired you ‘cause... well, because you looked
like someone I wanted to get to know. I like the way you scare people and,” she added
sheepishly, “I like the way you scare me.”

He leaned in closer, grinning wickedly. “Your secret’s safe with me. Kinda an
expensive way to get a date though, isn’t it?” She laughed and Riddick touched her,
caressing her cheek with his fingers. He could tell she was uncomfortable but she did
not flinch away this time. “I was beginning to wonder why I was so overpaid anyways.”
He kissed her, slowly, seductively. He loved the way the silver stud below her bottom
lip felt and tasted against his tongue.

Hana Laid back down on the bed and gazed up at him adoringly. She looked like a
child to Riddick, lost, alone. “Tell me where you came from, Riddick,” she said softly, all
tones of mocking leaving her voice.

“Does it matter?” he said, cocking an eyebrow as he ran his thumb along her lower lip.
She shook her head and silently answered ‘no’. She asked if he was running away from
something and once again he avoided replying directly. He hated discussing his past.
That’s why he’d come to New York, to get lost, to forget the things that came before. In
New York, no one cared who you were or where you came from as long as you made
yourself useful. “What about you? You local?”

“Naw, Mars colony M5-C3,” she replied. “My brother took care of me until he was old
enough to become a ranger, a Company Ranger. The Company rules everything out
there,” she said, dreamily gazing at the ceiling as if she was looking into deep space,
“you can’t even take a breath without the Company knowing about it. So he joined up
and I left home to seek my fame and fortune,” she finished with a tired laugh. She was
beautiful when she smiled, radiant in fact. “You like to watch, don’t you?” she frowned
studying him. “I can see you silently observing everyone and everything these past
three weeks, me, the games, Steerpike. What have you learned?”

Riddick’s grin was wickedness itself. “Everything.”

“Everything,” she mocked, “now you know everything. Or nothing, maybe both. You
know where we’re going tonight?” Riddick nodded and Hana confirmed with a
disgusted sigh, “The clubs. I always feel so lonely in crowds, so apart from the people
around me.” She sighed, something in her eyes withdrawing away from him to a secret
place only she could go to. He squeezed her hand to keep her with him and she smiled,
only half returning from her dream world. “But you’ll be there, so maybe it’ll be okay this
time. Who knows.”

Date: 9 yrs. - P.B.

“Fuck you!” Hana shrieked, and Riddick drew back his fist and struck her across the
face. She fell to the floor with the force of his blow but her anger did not abate. She
threw herself at him, kicking and screaming, hitting and scratching. Coldly, calmly he
caught her wrists and threw her, sending her down hard on the bed. She was sobbing,
spitting out curses even Riddick had only been vaguely aware of befor today.

She was hysterical more than angry now, driven on by what she saw as his icy wall of
indifference. She began to throw things at him, anything she could get her hands on,
stuffed animals, pillows, knick knacks from her nightstand. He just stood there,
shrugging off each object as they came at him, barely even flinching as they impacted
with his body. To him, all this was an unnecessary temper tantrum that would pass after
it’s run its course. He felt no sympathy, no guilt for what he’d done. She was prone to
these sorts of fits and he thought at least half of it was just for show.

“Your heart is a blac, cold organ, Richard B. Riddick!” she screamed througha steady
stream of hot tears. “You don’t feel! You hate and you hurt and you destroy and I hate
you for it! I hate you!” With that she got up from the bed and stormed into the adjoining
bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind her. When she didn’t come back out
after a few minutes, Riddick knew she was done for the night. He’d give her an hour or
so to cool off abit. By tonight she’d forget all about this and everything would go back to
the way it was, like always.

He passed Steerpike as he left the apartment. “Shit, what happened here?” he asked
with a frown. Riddick disliked Steerpike immensely, and knew the younger, prettier man
felt the same way. He looked at Riddick with contempt in his eyes, accusing silently.

Riddick just shrugged calmly, “We had a small disagreement. You might want to clean
up this mess,” he suggested coldly, leaving.

Passers-by on the street gave him a wide berth, whether they knew him or not. He
exuded danger and people stayed as far from him as possible. To those who didn’t
know him, he was a possible attacker, the man who could drag them into a dark alley,
force from them their money or sex, maybe both, and leave them for dead. To those
who did know him, he was Jade’s psychotic prick of a boyfriend who’d just as soon
break both your legs than have to deal with you. Either way, the advantage was his and
he played it for all it was worth.

He returned to the loft just after darkness began to settle in. Just as he’d suspected,
Hana was calm now sitting on the couch with Steerpike, going over that week’s
business. She looked up at him as he entered, her eye swollen and purpled where he’d
hit her. She was calm, impassive, and quickly skipped over the folder containing the
record of the missing money Riddick had taken. It was her way of telling him that
everything was forgotten if not forgiven. Steerpike glared at him with a sneer, clearly
disapproving. “That’s some shiner,” Riddick said flatly, ignoring Jade’s contemptuous
flatmate and catching her chin in his hand and turning her face towards him so he could
better examine her eye. “You should put something on it.” With that he retreated to the
bedroom to take a shower.

“I think I’ll have to drop Nathaniel,” Hana told Riddick as she got into bed next to him. It
was well after midnight and darkness seeped into the room like liquid. He shifted and
they both moved into their usual positions, on their sides facing to the right. “He’s not
performing as well as I’d hoped. I don’t think he’ll last the month.”

He draped his arm over her small body and spoke softly, “Get some sleep.” After that
silence.


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