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The sound of doors closing followed the entrance of the spacious mansion’s one and only inhabitant–not counting staff.
Lidia had instructed her staff to keep the windows open as much as they could to let some fresh air in. It was mid-November and the rough polish winter was starting to loom over the horizon, but so far temperatures were still mild. And after an entire day of natural ventilation, the house felt pleasantly cool.
Lidia turned on the lights before finally taking off her jacket. Walking deeper into the villa, it felt even more empty than before now that she could see just how big it was. Most of her staff had already left for the night, not counting the security who watched the perimeter, but they were too preoccupied with protecting Lidia to provide her with any company.
Without a word, she made her way to the kitchen. Today was absolutely hectic with work, even more so than usual and she barely had time to eat anything aside from a bagel sandwich.
She was ravenous.
Lidia entered the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and peeking inside. Normally, she could count on her cook to give her a masterful supper, made only from the finest ingredients. But on a day like this, where she had worked far beyond midnight, leftovers were the only thing she could count for.
“Zawsze to coś” She said to herself, picking up one of the boxes she had in there, with the logo of a high end restaurant on the front and closed the fridge behind her. She placed the food on a plate, before popping it into a microwave set for 5 minutes.
Lidia went upstairs to her opulent and excessively large wardrobe. She quickly sorted through piece after piece of designer clothing, something she knew was a necessary evil. Her public position required her to show a certain modicum of success, and her outward appearance was a big part of that.
She undid the button on her blazer, grabbed one of the empty hangers and placed the blazer on it, taking extra care that there were no creases on the garment. She put the hanger up on a separate rack that signaled for her staff that it needed to be washed.
She then practically threw off her high heels, before carefully placing them on the large shoe rack at the very back of the wardrobe.
“Nareszcie” Lidia breathed a sigh of relief, just as she heard a faraway ding in another part of the house, signalling that her food was ready.
She turned off the light and left the dressing room, going back downstairs to retrieve the food.
As it usually was with microwaves, the plate was just as hot, if not hotter, than the food itself, and Lidia knew that. Before touching the plate she grabbed a tea towel off of the kitchen counter and used it as a buffer to grab the plate without burning herself.
After grabbing a fork from one of the drawers, she used her elbow to turn off the light in the kitchen and headed upstairs. As much as she’d love to just collapse in her bedroom right now, there was still some leftover work to do.
So, with a heavy heart, she headed right into her office.
From the moment she walked into it, its aura felt even heavier than usual. The cabinets filled with papers and books seemed more overwhelming. Perhaps it was due to just how exhausted she was. Not even intense training sessions could make her feel this bad, but an entire, long day of dull and repetitive administrative work would surely do the trick.
She set the plate on her desk and got ready to sit down. But before she could, a familiar voice behind her made Lidia stop in her tracks.
“Long day, huh?” The woman said from behind the door, slowly closing it. Just as usual, she had no idea that she was even there, which just meant that she was eerily good at her job.
“You have no idea.” Lidia replied, turning around. On the other end of the room, she saw the only person who she didn’t mind being next to her right now.
Anna.
Ever since all this chaos with the Zaibatsu and the war started, they could see each other less and less, having to resort to video calls and texts, so being face to face after so long felt somewhat special, even if the circumstances were far from ideal.
Lidia's eyes were immediately drawn to the new streaks of red in the assassin's hair, before trailing the gaze down-Anna was always dressed to the nines, but this new outfit was something else. It felt bolder than what Anna usually wore.
“The new hair color suits you.” Lidia said, taking a few steps towards Anna. Lidia knowingly switched to speaking English with Anna. She knew that she spoke Polish rather well, but Lidia knew how hard that language was to non-native speakers, even if they had some familiarity.
Lidia wanted to spare Anna that pain.
“Oh, aren’t you a charmer?” Anna teased, approaching Lidia herself. As soon as Lidia was within reach, she practically threw herself into Anna's arms, hugging her as hard as her weariness would allow her, absorbing all the warmth she could and soaking the smell of expensive perfume that Anna so loved. This made her feel safe. Not the garrison of security outside. This .
Anna could not help but wryly smile as she hugged Lidia back, her grasp firm. She had waited for this moment for far too long, now she was going to savor it as much as she could.
"I'm right here, Love" Anna said, softly caressing Lidia's blonde silky smooth hair.
They remained in that embrace for quite a bit, before Lidia finally let go, only to gently grab Anna's arms and lean in for a kiss. Anna did not wait before locking lips with Lidia, closing her eyes and just drowning in the moment. Lidia could feel Anna's lipstick marking her own face. Neither of them were sure how long the kiss lasted, but they both felt the passion behind it.
"You know, this isn't the usual reaction to seeing an assassin in your home." Anna half-joked, gently grabbing Lidia's chin and lifting her head ever so slightly to look right into her eyes.
"And is there anything usual about us?" Lidia gave a soft, fatigued chuckle at that. The unlikely pair lingered in the doorway still, and Lidia's hands went for Anna's. Anna giggled.
"I guess you're right," she said, looking into Lidia's eyes. Lidia knew Anna wanted this moment never to end just as badly as Lidia herself did. This wasn't the first time, and certainly wouldn't be the last.
But, unfortunately, both of them knew there were more than a few problems with that.
For a moment, Anna looked past Lidia and took a peek at her desk and the plate of clearly microwaved food on it.
“Please don’t tell me you were about to start working at this hour.” Anna said, the usual shroud of confidence was replaced with a rare moment of genuine worry. But, with how much of a workaholic she was, Lidia gave her plenty of reason to.
“You know I have to, Anna.”
“You look like you haven’t slept in days, Love. No way I am letting you keep working at this state.”
“What do you-” before Lidia could finish, She felt Anna’s grasp on her hand tighten as she dragged the prime minister out of her office, into the hallway and towards the bedroom they both were intimately familiar with.
Lidia barely resisted, on account of both the fatigue and the fact that the perspective of laying down next to Anna felt infinitely more pleasant than slaving over paperwork for a few more hours.
The moment they entered the bedroom, Anna practically forced Lidia to the bed. But, to Lidia’s surprise, she did not jump on her immediately. Instead, Anna briefly went back into the office and brought the plate of food into the bedroom, placing it on the nightstand.
“As much as I would like to ravage you right now, I can’t have you starving, now can I darling?” She asked, before taking off her shoes and hopping onto the bed next to Lidia.
As soon as her body hit the bed, Lidia turned to her and practically clung to Anna, exhaling and closing her eyes. She needed this. She needed exactly this. After a long day of dull conversations, putting her name at the bottom of documents and engaging with people who wanted nothing more than for her to make a mistake, this little moment of peace was everything she wanted.
“You know.” Lidia said, sleepily, “I could just tell security to let you in if you want.”
“The entire fun of it is getting in without the noticing, silly girl.” Anna replied with a slight giggle, kissing Lidia on the forehead. “It makes the prize waiting inside all the more worth it.”
Lidia just smiled, burying her face even deeper into Anna’s chest.
They spent the entire night like that. Next to each other on the bed, Anna occasionally reminding Lidia to at least take a bite of her food before it got cold, to which Lidia teased that Anna was surprisingly caring for an assassin, to which Anna assured that this was a special type of treatment, reserved just for her.
She held on to Anna as much as she could, only letting go briefly. Lidia felt that if she fully released her hold on her, Anna would disappear and she’d go back to being alone in this massive mansion. So, she held on, soaking in as much of Anna’s scent as she could, eventually falling asleep.
*****
Anna spent some more time just lying there, watching Lidia sleep. The fierce warrior prime minister just lying there with a peaceful expression, her breath calm and rhythmic.
“You are a sight to behold, love” Anna whispered. She wished she could fall asleep next to her, so that she could wake up and see Lidia’s face first thing in the morning.
But she knew better.
Anna carefully wiggled herself from Lidia’s grasp, quietly stepping off of the bed and putting her shoes back on. She turned around once more, looking at Lidia’s tranquil expression. The assassin couldn’t help but smile. Maybe in some other reality, she could see it every single day. Anna kissed her one last time, before finally walking towards the door.
“Goodbye, Love” Anna said, before disappearing into the darkness of the hallway. She had no idea when would be the next time she’d see Lidia, but she’d hold this memory in her heart as much as she could to survive until then.