Graceland: Family Affair

Chapter Fourteen

"How are you?" She throws her arms around me, enveloping me in a hug. "What are you doing here?" She sounds genuinely happy to see me, and I wonder how she can be this upbeat about things after what she did to Mike.

"I'm working here now..." I try to answer politely without sounding bitter or aggressive – I mean, she doesn't know that I know – I have to play my cards right.

"What happened to that D.C. dream job you were always talking about?" "Well...my plans changed, and I'm working down here now, okay?!" I reply, trying to keep my hostility towards her internalised.

"Does Paul know you're down here? I'm sure he'll be ecstatic to have you around!" She beams. How can she have such a stupidly happy smile plastered across her face?!

"Yeah..." I cross my arms, nodding as I bite on my lip to try and keep all the things I want to say to her from slipping out. "I've seen him already...thanks for your concern!" I say sarcastically. "I've seen everyone actually...it's good to be back!" I say quickly. "So...where are you now? I hear you got thrown out –"

"– Transferred", she corrects me.

"I put in for a transfer. I just wasn't happy there anymore. I needed a change...and life couldn't be better!" She smiles again. "I'm at a really good place right now. I mean, yeah, I'll miss everyone...but it's really best for everybody if I move on..."

"No kidding..." I say under my breath. I don't think she heard, thank goodness. She pauses for a second, perhaps deliberating on whether she really wants to say what she's going to say next. She narrows her eyes a little in deep contemplation and lowers her voice a little.

"How is everybody? When you saw them? I mean, did they seem, okay?" She asks cautiously.

"Yeah, all fine..." I shrug.

"...And did you meet Mike, by any chance?" She asks tentatively. "He wasn't there the last time you visited us at Graceland –"

"Yeah, I know Mike –" I nod quickly, brushing some stray hairs off my face and back behind my ear.

"Is he okay?" She asks slowly and softer than before.

"He's fine...everyone's taking good care of him..." I look down at my feet. I can't believe she had the nerve to ask about him.

"He doesn't need baby-sitting – he's a big boy..." She jokes. I stuff my hands in my pockets in disbelief, looking at the ground before lifting my head to look at her face.

"Yeah, well, when you die for six minutes, it takes some getting over, right?" I say lowly and quietly, unimpressed and angry.

"Look..." She holds her hands up. "Whatever you've heard...it wasn't my fault..."

"It wasn't your fault?! You betrayed him! But yeah, whatever, it's not your fault..." I reply, almost spitting in sarcastic anger.

"Okay, yes! I did betray him, okay?! I admit it! But I didn't intend for him to die –"

"Then what did you 'intend'?!"

"...I just wanted revenge. I just had a momentary lapse of judgement and let my own feelings get in the way...I was disappointed and hurt...and Mike? Mike isn't all he's cracked up to be...Mike has his faults too! Why don't you ask him about his lies?! Why don't you ask him about Lina?! Why don't you ask him about how he betrayed me?!" There's a moment of silence and I hear my name being called by an approaching male. "There are two sides to every story, that's all I'm saying. Just think about it..." She says quietly. She fishes her hand in her pocket and brings out a small business card. "Here's my number. Call me when you want the truth..." She walks towards the main door, and turns back once more to look at me. "See you around, Sarah..."

The man that had called my name before Paige left finally caught up with me and offers me an outstretched hand. I quickly shove Paige's business card into my pocket.

"Agent Parker, I'm Benjamin Matthews", he says giving me a firm handshake.

"Nice to meet you", I reply, trying not to sound too distracted as I try to process my conversation with Paige. We make small-talk as we walk to his office – about graduation, about how I'm finding living in California, about how I'm settling into Graceland. I answer that everything has been fine and that I'm enjoying myself...but really, how much can I have settled into a new city...I've not even been here twenty-four hours yet. He opens the door to his office and gestures for me to go in first and take a seat.

"You're probably wondering why you're here –" He starts.

"You mean here as in this room, or here as in California?" I ask, not trying to be funny, but genuinely baffled.

"Both, I guess...but the latter, mainly", he smiles, folding his hands.

"Well, yeah..." I push myself up in the chair. "I mean, it was such an unexpected transfer...they said Paul Briggs requested it –"

"Well, yes and no –" He nods.

"What do you mean?" I ask almost too quickly.

"He did request it...but that's not the only reason we brought you to Graceland. His request just made our job easier, and made it easier to hide the real reason you're here –"

"Okay..." I take a breath, preparing myself for whatever they're going to hit me with next. After the last couple of days I've had, I've learned to expect the unexpected – nothing is off the table.

"By now you should be aware of the situation surrounding Agent Michael Warren?" He starts. I nod in response, awaiting the rest of his sentence. "And you'll be aware that he's still in recovery...but he's determined to stay working. And he's one of our best, so we're reluctant to pull him out. We received word that you knew one another in Quantico, and you both graduated with very similar scores. You have similar work ethics, and we think you would work well together. However, he's in a very vulnerable state right now, which is why we think it would be wise for him to be working alongside someone. We'd like you to work closely with Agent Warren –"

"Are you talking, like, being a bodyguard? Because that's not exactly what I –" I start to protest a little. Not too much, but enough to show that I'm not too keen on the idea. Mike doesn't need a bodyguard...and especially not one that's me.

"No. Don't worry. More like a partner. We just don't want him in any imminent danger so soon after his injury". I want to laugh at how he calls almost losing your life an 'injury'. "But we would like you to report back every so often, letting us know how he is improving mentally and physically, and if there's anything we should be worried about...just in case he re-lapses. Like I said, we're reluctant to move him out of Graceland...but if it was going to hurt him and put himself and others in unnecessary danger, than we need to know. We need to do what's best for the group of Graceland Agents as a whole...and that's where you come in..."