A Party for a Hero

Leon was impressed. The party surrounding him was marvelous-lights danced across the reflective pool water as he edged his way by crowds of friends and family, and they all congratulated him kindly. “Welcome home, Leon! Oh, and happy birthday!”
    Maybe it wasn’t the best timing ever to be getting older; he had so much to live for. His country was in a seemingly constant danger that Leon found it so hard to shake from the back of his mind, and so he spent his party in such a haze that it was only moderately enjoyable.
    But he shook hands with the majority of his guest’s unknowingly with a numb hand that just offered as much of a guise as possible, perhaps it intended to tell everyone of his mixed feelings about the party that had crept up on him so suddenly, or he was only fearing what age had ins tore for him. Hell, it seemed like it was just yesterday when he was first aiming to fix up his hair into something special that not many adults could say they could pull off. The blonde flip was always neat, combed well, and Leon found that it was the perfect identity for himself. Vanity wasn’t always an imperfection.
    No, there was more than just age lingering in the middle-aged man’s mind. He wasn’t thinking about work either, he was glad to be receiving a short break from all the fighting and ridiculous travelling, and, besides, the time spent on airplanes was becoming nauseating!
    Leon ventured over to the bar, where he took a seat nearest the lady working the counter. “Any drink will do, pass one here.” His request was heard, and accepted with a nod before he continued to roll about in his thoughts.
    For god’s sake, the man was thirty-four and aging faster than he could register. Ok, so, perhaps, age was a factor in his glumness, but what troubled him most was the woman of his wildest dreams. Oh, yes, she was out there on the planet somewhere as he sat wallowing in the compliments of guests that were unnecessary. He wasn’t the only hero of the China incident, so why was he the only one receiving a celebration, and the finest of gratitude.
     “On the house, Mr. Kennedy.” Said the bar keep as she slid the glass across the table into his palm. She was brilliant blonde dressed in an over worn uniform that had become saggy at the top of her breasts. Her hair was kept in a frizzy braid, strands of it were failing to remain within its grasp, and yet she could still smile above all the hassle. Sure, she was stressed, but that didn’t make her any less attractive. Nice cleavage, nice, green eyes, and she had a bounce in her step that Leon could admire. She was far too young for him though.
    No, there was only one woman for Leon, and that was Miss Ada Wong, former Umbrella spy, and seductress. She was the one who haunted and plagued his mind with romance-the only one Leon could acknowledge as being ‘the one’ for that matter. Ada was tantalizing; the Asian spy had the great abilities of a magician to reappear and disappear with the blink of an eye. He’d last seen her in China after defending the wounded woman from Derek Simmons. He was a jealous bastard, alright, but Leon was more than jealous, he was in love. Maybe he was crazy for wanting to take his chances with such a woman, but love made you do crazy things, like they say, right? And he took a final glance at his other hand, where he held tight onto the compact of makeup Ada had left behind in the escape chopper with all the key info on the incident, and the proof to get Leon and Helena Harper off the hook.
    “Thanks.” Was all Leon could say upon standing from the bar to fight his way back through the crowd of friends, and a few unknown guests he’d never met before in his life. Party crashers were nonetheless invited since they were only local fans trying to catch a glimpse of the famous hero before he scrambled off onto a plane and elsewhere in the world again.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
    It was past midnight, the back balcony was devoid of sound except the distant, pounding beat of the music Leon had fled, and he leaned on the marble rail silently to take a drink from the frosted glass he’d requested from the bar keep. It was something he couldn’t recognize, tangy with a bite of power that Leon wasn’t sure he liked. It was respect that made him drink on.
    Parties weren’t what he needed-he wanted to fight for his country as he did every other week, and that was the one thing he found himself speaking bitter about under his breath as he approached every plane before an unsuspected mission. And he complained to everyone about his troubles of guns jamming, bullets leaving scars on his imperfect skin, the sweat and muscle he used doing impossible tasks-but he loved it. Work wasn’t as bad as he made it seem to those who loved him dearly enough to throw him a party.
    “Wasting time, Leon?”
    Leon jumped; his eyes turned slowly to face the slim figure at the corner of his eye. A long-legged woman with a delicate frame, she wore a magenta dress with ivory touches across the waist and shoulders, and her short, black hair now formed gentle layers over her eye softly in the light.
    “I wouldn’t be spending a party in my honor alone.”
    “Ada-“Leon began immediately, and dropped his drink in such shock to see her again. “I didn’t think I would ever see you again this soon! It’s unlike the usual you.”
    She laughed quietly as she took careful strides closer to him. “I suppose it is,” She said, sighing, and leaning lightly against the fragile rail. “-but I remembered your birthday was coming up, and I heard all about this wonderful party. I knew I had to stop by.”
    Leon shook his head with a smile. “They must have gone through a lot of trouble to spread the word about this party.” He took a quick scan of the area, but no one else had emerged from the glass doors behind he and Ada.
    “Not at all-I have my ways, Leon.”