You Belong to Me

"... but the biggest news yesterday was of course the announcement of the impending marriage of anthropologist, philanthropist and heart-throb John Valiant with Liz Roderick. The wedding is sure to be the event of the year with - "

John lowered the volume of the set and sat up from the hammock he had set up in the veranda of his house. As much as he'd been a public figure for quite awhile, the attention still made him a bit uneasy - he was a modest man, and not sure how to react to all the praises lavished upon him.

Valiant… what a surname to have. He had borne that name as a stigma rather than a badge of honor for a good long while - but he'd striven to be worthy of that name, and to a large part, modesty aside, he'd succeeded, or so he hoped. Though the media still tended to exaggerate...

But... there was no hyperbole this time. The wedding would be something to remember - he'd make sure of that. He'd loved Liza since he first laid eyes on her. She believed in John utterly, even in matters that the press and his peers found hard to stomach, like his search for the elusive Gem of Bliss - a boulder-sized jewel that many of the ancient civilizations believed had the power to alter reality. Even when John himself had begun to doubt - such as after their last expedition to Egypt, when he had been so sure they’d find some evidence of the Gem - Liza had kept the faith. While the Gem may or may not exist, John was determined to give Liza all the bliss she deserved.

Smiling to himself, the dashing young man opened the sliding door to the villa proper and stepped inside. But as soon as he had crossed the threshold, he heard a voice behind him:

"I've come for you John."