Paper Birds

Chapter Forty-Three ; Honey, I'm Home

Isolation and the target was all that was on my mind.

Target.

Target.

Target.

Shoot.

I growled, only missing the bulls-eye by a couple of inches. Hot sweat stuck my clothes to my skin, but at that moment I didn't notice or care.

"God dammit," I muttered, glancing at the watch on my wrist. I had been there for three hours. I really needed a shower. Twenty minutes later I was on a bus on the way to my apartment, trying to ingore judgmental looks from strangers. My legs were on fire and my shoulders felt like they were carrying boulders. I couldn't wait until I could melt into the hot water of my shower. At that moment, that was all I could think about.

I wouldn't be getting a shower any time soon.

When I found myself home again, I had thirty missed calls all from the same person; Harry. I forced myself to stop breathing so hard, my body automatically assuming something bad happened. I called him back, my frantic fingers fumbling on the phone buttons. I was beginning to hate not having a cell phone.

I cursed under my breath as two rings went by, my tapping foot now stomping.

"Claire!"

I exhaled in relief at the sound at his voice, feeling all of my aching muscels relaxing.

"I have such great news to tell you." His voice was hurried and as deep as always. I think that was the fastest I've ever heard him speak.

"Yeah?" I licked my lips, resisting the urge to bounce on my heels.

"I'm here. At the airport."

My mouth dropped open, my eyes widening. "You're.. what?"

"I'm in Buffalo," he repeated slowly and joyfully, the British accent stronger and deeper.

I pressed my lips together. "One moment, please." I covered the end of the receiver and jumped up and down, trying to keep my squealing to a minimum though I knew that wasn't going to happen, and sure enough it didn't. I cleared my throat and held the phone back up to my ear. "So, what, do you want me to come get you?" I said, a little too nonchalantly so it sounded fake and I lost all of my cool.

"That'd be great, if its not too much of a hassle."

"No, no!" I said hurriedly. "I'd love to. Except.. I don't have a car. We'll have to take a bus."

He chuckled at the other end. "Oh, we'll have a bus."

I knitted my eyebrows in confusion, but I had no more patience. "Okay, whatever, I'm coming!"

I chucked the phone across the room excitedly, hoping it had hung up. I had forgotten completely about my shower, ripping the tiny ponytail out if my hair and giving it a quick brush before bolting out the door and not locking my apartment. I couldn't have cared less at the time. My makeup was smeared from sweat and I was still exhausted, but all of that faded away on the bus ride as I impatiently bounced in my seat, getting nasty glances from the other passengers. I stuck my tongue out at them, grinning and facing the window. I felt bad for them, really. It wasn't like they were going to greet their sexy boyfriend whom they've haven't seen in nearly a month. And if they were, well, I felt happy for them.

I sprinted off of the bus and into the airport, a cool breeze ruffling my hair behind me and catching on my clothes. Pushing open the glass door, my eyes scanned the lobby in a rush. At the far left there were a bunch of red ropes holding back press. Since this was Buffalo, I figured it was probably them.