Bayou Sunset (Agents of HIS #4)

Chapter Thirty-Six

AFTER A LONG, somber week lingering on Daisy Mae’s doorstep, under the watchful eyes of the neighborhood's blossoming gardens and chirping birds, Romeo came to a heart-wrenching realization. It was a realization that carried the weight of a thousand unspoken words and that it was time to return to work. The scent of fresh blooms couldn’t mask the bitter truth: She wouldn’t go home as long as he was there, his presence a silent barrier to her return. His heart sank with the weight of a lost love and the vanished dream of a shared life.

Back at headquarters, in the harsh glow of lights and the buzz of non-stop chatter, his team was gearing up for their next high-stakes assignment. He hadn’t fully recovered, but they needed everyone on the op, so he assisted Devon.

The absence of Casper—engulfed in a family emergency—was a quiet, solemn note in the team's otherwise focused preparations. They departed on their op, disappearing for three exhaustive weeks, each day stretching into an agonizing eternity for Romeo. A heart-wrenching month slipped by, marked by the relentless ache of missing Daisy Mae and the ghost of unfulfilled possibilities, the slow passage of time only serving to deepen his emotional turmoil.

When the team returned from their op, he felt an overwhelming need for a change of scenery and requested a well-deserved vacation to visit his parents. He harbored a secret hope and excitement about reuniting with Daisy Mae. With a heart full of longing and vivid memories, he planned to see if the spark between them was still alive, believing deep down that her feelings for him remained unchanged.

When he drove into the quiet, sleepy town after the exhaustingly long journey, fatigue bore down heavily on him, but he couldn’t give in to rest; he had to see Daisy Mae. His eyes widened with disbelief as his truck pulled up in front of her home. A conspicuous, glaringly “For Sale” sign stood like an omen in the tidy front yard, disrupting the familiar serenity. With a sense of urgent desperation, he jerked open his truck door. Ignoring the creak of exhaustion from his body and vehicle, he dashed to her front door and began pounding urgently. “Daisy Mae,” he yelled, his voice tinged with worry and confusion.

When no one answered, a heavy rock of dread formed in his stomach as if tethered to the weight of his growing anxiety. His heart pounded as he shuffled to the windows, peering through the glass with desperate hope. The house was lonely, echoing the emptiness that gnawed at him. He was too late to make amends. His whole world collapsed as realization dawned: she had moved on without him, leaving him adrift in a sea of regret. What was he to do now, with the emptiness threatening to consume him? He needed her like the air he breathed, but she’d fled, leaving nothing but memories and a hollow, aching void.

Under the shimmering glow of the streetlights, he painstakingly made his way to Shelley’s home. The late hour cast long shadows, but urgency drove him. Shelley held the answers to Daisy Mae’s whereabouts, and he was desperate for any clue. His heart drummed in his chest, each beat a plea for her return.

He envisioned Daisy Mae’s laughter echoing over the bayou. Life without her felt like navigating through a never-ending storm, leaving him fractured and incomplete. The world around him was a blur. Only the thought of having her back could bring color to his existence once more.

When Shelley swung open the door, an unexpected fury ignited from her. She propelled herself at him, not with the warmth of an embrace but with the fiery intensity of a confrontation. Her fists rained upon his chest, punctuated by the sharp, accusing words, “She left because of ya.” Her declaration tore through the air with each blow, laden with pain and betrayal. Tears cascaded down her face, a torrent of sorrow that diluted her force as she uttered, almost in a whisper, “I don’t know where she be.”

Romeo stood patiently, allowing her to vent her fury. As her clenched fists pounded against him, he remained calm, absorbing each blow with silent resilience. Once her energy waned and her strikes weakened, he gently enveloped her in a firm embrace, drawing her close. She clung to him desperately as if he were the last anchor in a storm-tossed sea. Leaning down, he whispered into her ear with unwavering determination, “I be going to find her. Even if it be the last thing I do, I will find her.”

After her tears subsided, she invited him to come inside. His heart yearned to accept, but the night had grown late, and he still had to visit his parents. A heavy urgency to find Daisy Mae weighed upon his chest like an anchor. The lateness of the hour rendered any effort futile, so he assured Shelley that he would return in the morning for a more thorough conversation. This would allow Shelley to recover from her emotional upheaval and give him a chance to glean information from his parents about Daisy Mae’s sudden departure.

Only his parents were also clueless. His mother, a nurturing figure to Daisy Mae akin to an adoptive mother, shed tears over her departure. Romeo pondered whether Daisy Mae understood the pain she inflicted, more significant than his own, as she vanished without a trace, leaving everyone in the dark about her whereabouts.

Her brothers were his final lifeline in uncovering her whereabouts. After bidding his parents goodnight, he set out towards Duke’s, hoping to find JP and Pierre. Upon arriving, a wave of nostalgia washed over him, reminiscent of his previous time there.

JP came at him, fury emanating from every pore. “She left because of ya,” he growled, his voice seething with rage.

It was a scene from his past playing out again, like a vicious nightmare replay. The déjà vu hit him with the same intensity as JP’s punch to his jaw.

Romeo wouldn’t fight back; he felt the punishment was justified this time.

Realizing Romeo wouldn’t reciprocate, JP didn’t swing again, although Romeo could see in his eyes Daisy Mae’s brother wanted to do so. “I want to find her. Do ya know where she be?” This was his last hope.

JP slumped deeply as an immense burden had just been thrust upon his shoulders. His voice trembled, barely audible, as he whispered, “ Non .”

Pierre, ever the peacemaker with a demeanor as calm as the early morning sea, deftly slid two frosty, amber-colored beers down the length of the polished mahogany bar toward Romeo and JP. JP, his face contorting into a look of disdain, turned his nose up at the offered beverage and strolled away with an air of contempt, putting as much distance as he could from Romeo.

Meanwhile, Romeo, his eyes glinting with curiosity and a need for camaraderie, accepted the beer with a hopeful smile and sat on the tall barstool. However, Pierre, despite being the seemingly ever-present mediator, chose this moment to turn his back and walk away, leaving Romeo alone amidst the chatter and clinking glasses of the dimly lit bar.

Romeo drowned his sorrows in yet another draft beer, the bitter taste mirroring his heartache. She’d left without a word to anyone, disappearing like a wisp of smoke. He’d never find her now, his dreams of a happily-ever-after slipping away, much like the Hamilton brothers had found.

As the evening progressed, the bar began to empty, with just a few scattered patrons nursing their grief. Someone silently took a seat beside him at the empty bar. Before he could gather the energy to ask the figure to move, Casper’s familiar voice broke the silence, saying, “Do you want to know?”