Raymond took his time getting dressed, lost in his own thoughts.  The way Charmaine had hastily left his room made him nervous and his gut instinct told him something was definitely amiss with her.  Was she regretting what happened between them?  The thought of that upsets and nauseated him.  Feeling insecure for the first time in his life, he stepped out of the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen where he knew she was.

Charmaine was frying eggs when she heard Raymond enter the kitchen.  She went rigid as she waited for him to approach her.  To her surprise he didn't.  Instead he leaned against the counter and watched as she finished with the meal.  Turning off the stove, she scooped the eggs and placed it neatly on top of the buttered bread.  She was about to pick up the two plates when Raymond beat her to it.

"I'll get that," Raymond said softly and set the plates down onto the table.  He pulled a chair out for her and when she was seated, he sat down on the opposite chair.  They ate in awkward silence, both unsure of the other's feelings and not knowing how and where to begin to break the sudden wall that had erected between them.  Unable to withstand the silence any longer, Raymond spoke, "Can you tell me what you're thinking?"

Charmaine looked up from her plate to meet his searching gaze.  She gave him a small smile and said, "Nothing."

Raymond didn't believe her.  He sensed the hesitation in her word.  Taking her hand into his, he said, "About what happened…."

"Don’t worry," Charmaine interrupted him, "You don't have to take any responsibility for it."

Squeezing her hand, Raymond smiled tenderly at her and said, "That wasn't what I was going to say."  When he saw her eyes widen with surprise and then change to curiosity, he teased lightly, "You should learn to wait until I'm done talking before rudely interrupting and coming to your own wrong conclusions.  Which by the way, you seem to do often."

Charmaine's eyes flared up with anger at his insinuation and she roughly pulled her hand out of his clasp.  With an angry huff she stood up and turned away.

Raymond chuckled and quickly prevented her from stalking off by placing two steady hands on her arms.  Turning her around to face him again, he said softly, "What I wanted to say was what happened between us… means something to me.  I want to know whether you have any regrets about it."

The tenderness of his voice and the meaning of his words banished away all her anger.  Swallowing the sudden lump in she said breathlessly, "I have no regrets."

That was the answer Raymond wanted to hear and he wasn't even aware that he had been holding in his breath waiting for it.  With profound relief, he squeezed her arms and said, "You have no idea how happy you just made me with those words."

Surprised by his admission, Charmaine could only stare up at him as he slowly pulled her into his embrace and bent his head.  This time when he kissed her there was no urgency to possess, neither was it full of consuming passion and need.  Instead, the kiss was slow, soft and perfect.  For to Charmaine, it was the beginning of something wonderful for them.

------------------------------------------------

Joe screeched the car to a stop and without bothering to turn off the engine he threw the door open and stepped out.  Casting a stern glance at Bosco, he said frostily, "Since you don't have the stomach to kill him just make sure he doesn't get away.  Do you think you can handle that?" he asked in an insulting sneer.

Bosco walked up beside Joe and nodded his head vigorously.  He was sweating profusely and it wasn't because he was hot.  It was because of what was to come and he wasn't sure he'll be able to do what Joe wanted him to.

"Don’t screw up or else you'll be next on my list," Joe hissed then turned abruptly away and entered the building.

Bosco followed in his footsteps, his head hung low.  Fear and anxiety marked every line of his face as they met up with Rocky, the man Joe had instructed to follow Kenneth.

Rocky looked up with anticipation when he saw them enter.  Leaning towards Joe's ear he whispered, "He hasn't left the building."

"Good," Joe said with a maniacal grin, "Let's go and find my little brother."

---------------------------------------------------

Kenneth lay on the couch, his head pillowed by Linda's thighs as she fed grapes into his open mouth.  "Keep them coming," he mumbled.

Linda dropped a handful into his mouth and watched as he tried to chew with his mouth completely full.  He managed to do so and quickly open his mouth again for more.  "You ate the entire bag," she shrieked as she dropped the remaining few into his mouth.

"That's because it's sweet and delicious," Kenneth said, his eyes gazing with adoration up at her.

Linda made a distorted face and said, "It is?  I thought it was too sour."

Kenneth sat up and placed an arm across her shoulders, "Anything you feed me will always be sweet and delicious."  He leaned in and kissed her gently.  The shrill of the doorbell broke the moment for them.  "Are you expecting anyone," he asked as he stood up and headed for the door.

Linda shook her head, "Not many of my friends know where I live and Kate always calls before coming up."

With caution, Kenneth stood at the door but didn’t open it.  He looked through the peephole and didn't see anyone.  Shrugging, he took a step away from the door and the bell rang again.  "That's odd.  I didn't see anyone."

Giggling, Linda walked over to him and gently brushed him aside.  She placed her hand on the doorknob and said, "Must be Mrs. Chan's son from upstairs.  I bumped into him earlier and he wanted me to help him with his homework.  He's too short for you to see him through the peephole."  Throwing him a grin she turned the knob and opened the door.

"Hello there," Joe greeted silkily as he pushed the door wide open and stepped into the apartment followed by Rocky and Bosco.

Kenneth immediately jumped to Linda's side and held her protectively behind him.  Looking nervously at Joe, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Joe asked, pointing a finger at himself, "I should be asking you that question."  He made a small gesture with his head and before Kenneth and Linda knew what was happening, Bosco and Rocky were on them, grabbing and twisting their arms painfully behind their backs.

Kenneth struggled furiously against Rocky's muscular hold while Linda was easily subdued by Bosco.

Joe took out his gun and aimed it at Kenneth, "Stop," he barked.

Kenneth ceased all struggles as he watched Joe walk slowly towards him.  "What are you going to do?" he asked in panic, his eyes darting to Linda's terrified face.

Joe followed his gaze and turned towards Linda.  He stopped beside her and ran a hand down the front of her body then up again in the back, "Nice curves," he complimented with a wicked grin.  "But it's hard to tell with all the clothes you have on.  I guess I'll have to remove them to get a better look and feel."

"Leave her alone!" Kenneth screamed and he began to struggle wildly again.  "Just leave her alone!"

Ignoring Kenneth, Joe grabbed a fistful of Linda's hair and dragged her over to the dining table where he pushed her face down onto it.  Holding her in place, he ripped at her clothes until she was from the waist down.

"Stop it!" Kenneth screamed but that only made Joe laugh and more eager to finish what he had started.

Joe leaned over Linda's unwilling body and whispered into her ear, "Since I can't find your friend Dr. Sheh, I guess you'll do for the time being.  Don't blame me for it.  Blame her."

"No!" Kenneth hollered at the top of his lungs but Joe didn't even hear him as he forced himself on the helpless and whimpering Linda.

------------------------------------------

"Did you hear that?" Charmaine asked.  They were sitting on the small couch in Raymond's living room watching an old DVD when Charmaine thought she heard a man scream.

Raymond picked up the remote and pressed the mute button, "What am I suppose to hear?"

Charmaine pulled away from his arm and stood up, "I heard someone screaming.  It sounded like a man."

"I didn't hear anything," Raymond said softly and catching her hand tugged her back down onto the couch beside him.  "Let's finish watching this."  He was about to unmute the volume when a muffled scream vibrated across the room.  This time they both heard it.