Chapter 13 Slowly Falling #3
Travis had graduated from law school and passed the California bar.
After several prestigious offers, he chose a firm specializing in civil rights and criminal defense, which guaranteed permanent debates between him and Tan.
Ella had graduated nursing school and accepted a position at Mercy General beside Eva, though she'd negotiated one condition:
"No baby pictures."
Eva had agreed.
Then immediately violated the agreement.
Tan's SWAT career advanced quickly.
Supervisors had begun discussing leadership roles.
And Amari had accepted an even higher-level federal position managing major infrastructure and community development programs.
Her salary crossed two hundred thousand dollars annually.
She celebrated by taking Tan on vacation rather than buying another car.
They spent six days in Maui.
On the fourth evening, they stood barefoot on the beach while sunset painted the horizon.
Amari rested against him.
"This feels fake."
Tan looked down.
"What?"
"Us."
"That sounds bad."
She laughed.
"Not like that."
She looked toward the water.
"Sometimes I think about where I was when we met."
Tan's arm tightened around her.
"I don't."
Amari looked up.
"Really?"
"Not when I look at you."
"Why?"
"Because you're not that moment."
The answer settled inside her.
She kissed him.
"I love you."
"Love you too."
She rested against him again.
Tan looked toward the horizon.
Something had been on his mind for months.
Marriage.
He hadn't purchased a ring yet.
But he'd looked.
More than once.
He imagined Amari in his family's backyard.
At church.
Pregnant.
Laughing while Gloria argued over baby names.
He imagined buying a house together.
Sunday mornings.
Bad days.
Gray hair.
Everything.
Terrence had said love became real when you stopped imagining a future without someone.
Tan understood now.
Completely.
He kissed the top of Amari's head.
She looked up.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You're thinking."
"I'm always thinking."
"That's usually dangerous."
He smiled.
"Could be."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Tan."
He kissed her before she could investigate further.
Amari laughed against his mouth.
He wasn't proposing in Maui.
Too obvious.
Too soon.
But soon.
He knew that.
Almost exactly two years after their first date, Tan took Amari back to the rooftop restaurant where they'd started.
She noticed immediately.
"You are sentimental."
"No."
"You are."
"I was hungry."
"There are four thousand restaurants in Los Angeles."
"And this one has overpriced chicken."
Amari laughed.
They sat at nearly the same table.
The waiter brought champagne.
Amari noticed.
"You ordered champagne?"
Tan nodded.
"Why?"
"Promotion."
Her eyes widened.
"You got it?"
He smiled.
She immediately reached across the table.
"T!"
"I got it."
"Team leader?"
"Effective next month."
Amari stood so quickly her chair nearly tipped.
She walked around the table and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm so proud of you."
Tan hugged her.
"Thank you."
She kissed him.
Long enough that another couple nearby smiled.
Amari didn't care.
When she returned to her seat, she lifted her glass.
"To Team Leader Officer Avocado."
Tan groaned.
"Two years."
"Forever."
He looked at her.
The word caught his attention.
Amari didn't notice.
Tan smiled.
"Forever's a long time."
She lifted her glass.
"Good."
Their glasses touched.
Tan drank.
He knew what he wanted.
A ring.
A life.
Her.
Soon.
Three months later, SWAT received information about a suspected kidnapping tied to a warehouse near the industrial district.
The initial intelligence was limited.
Possible trafficking.
Several families are missing.
Armed suspects.
Children potentially inside.
Tan listened during the operational briefing.
Photographs appeared across the screen.
Warehouse.
Vehicles.
Possible entrances.
Names.
Then one company name caught his attention.
Golden Meridian Imports.
Something about it felt familiar.
Tan frowned.
His team leader continued explaining the operation.
Tan searched his memory.
Warehouses.
Import companies.
Old corporate filings.
Lee holdings.
He looked again.
Golden Meridian.
The name wasn't directly connected to Jin Lee.
At least not that he remembered.
Still, something about the company bothered him.
He wrote it down.
His focus returned to the mission.
There were people inside who might need help.
Whatever personal curiosity he felt would wait.
The operation began before dawn.
Tan had no idea that the warehouse was one thin layer away from the organization he'd spent most of his life unknowingly circling.
No idea that cameras inside the building would capture his face.
No idea that the raid would become one of the largest trafficking rescues in the city's recent history.
And no idea that his actions that morning would eventually place him on television.
Where a man named Jin Lee would see him.
Recognize him.
And decide that Tan Lee David had lived far too long.
But before that moment came, Tan had one last peaceful season.
One last stretch of ordinary love.
And he intended to spend it planning the most important question he'd ever ask.