~~Young~~

Chapter Eight

   She closed up the laptop and stuffed it back in her bag for her spiral notebook and flipped through to where she left off days ago.

   Too bad it was on Gage’s description.

   Shaking her head she flipped to a blank page and started all over again, not risking going back to see what she had already jotted down. She didn’t need to be thinking about him either. On her priorities list he may still be near the top- especially after that bit admitting he was hired by one of the Dean’s “friends” but, she had Duncan on that anyway- but there were at least a handful of items above him.

   Her paper, though that was probably only a step above Gage. The news of suspension that was surely beginning to pass through her chapter as she drove to Kamloops, she would have to deal with the backlash from afar and hope they didn’t try to take their frustration out on Duncan. Thinking about that she checked her cell phone, turning the ringer silent before all the texts, calls, and emails started coming in.

   She’d only received one since she left and that was from Chelsea to let her know she forgot her coffee on the table by the front door. It was regrettable considering her nearly zombie like state, but she’d have to deal with it. The beverage service wouldn’t be out for a couple of hours either, not until the train hit its cruising speed, so fighting the lethargy was all she could do. She had the tea, but that wasn’t nearly the caffeine jolt she needed.

   Remembering where she left off on her list Sera continued down it with the next pressing item, all the rescheduling that would have to be done because of the suspension, because they had no idea how long it would last. Then there was this “last” job she was taking care of for Lacy tomorrow when she got to Vancouver. Oh and rush, how could she forget about rush. It would be starting as soon as she got back on Monday, though question was if they would even have the right to induct anyone as future Angel’s anymore.

   No she didn’t need to be thinking about Gage or those ridiculously blue eyes, or how warm his fingers has been when he had touched her, or how he kept managing to be at the right place at the right time for her, or the fact that he was probably already on his way to Vancouver too.

   It bothered the hell out of her certainly, just because he was going to be where she was, again, despite there being almost  four hundred miles between there and Kelowna where he was sent to investigate the Dean. But, trying to rationalize the situation a little bit, she began another list in her head, reasons why Gage’s presence in Vancouver didn’t matter.

   He did say he was on his way to see his boss, and there were a lot of high power- high profile- people in Vancouver- big cities just drew in that kind of person- so it wasn’t like it was outside of the realm of possibilities that that’s where his boss was rooted. Plus, he was driving, so if he was like the rest of the world, then getting an early start would put him in the city hours before her.

   Another reason why taking the train wasn’t Sera’s favorite mode of travel, the long ride. It was almost five hours faster to drive to Vancouver versus taking this out of the way train and its ten hour ride. It wasn’t like the commuter trains leaving on the hour every hour once you were in the heart of Vancouver either. One train out, one train into Kamloops a day, it really was just for the tourists.

   Buying a hopper ticket and flying was just ridiculous. Not that she couldn’t afford it, but she wasn’t like her parents, she wouldn’t blow stupid amounts of money for the sake of a shorter ride. She could’ve hired a car to take her, but though she wasn’t very much of a people person she liked the anonymity that came with the train.

   If she hired a car, and someone wanted to find her, it wouldn’t be very hard. But by riding on the train she always had the option of disappearing into the crowd.   

   And driving herself, well, the courts had taken the option- rightfully so even in Sera’s mind- away from her some years ago. She still had another three years, two months and some odd days till she was even eligible for a court date to determine if she was worthy of a license again. Ten years almost to the day of the accident…

   Shaking that off she came back to the present, and her thoughts of Gage.

   No, she knew there was no chance of them running into each other. Vancouver was a big city, a very big city. People went their entire lives living and working in the city without meeting its every resident so the chances of them running into each other were beyond slim. After all, her and Lizzy’s mom ran in the same social circle and they had never heard the other’s name spoken until Lizzy pledged the sorority.   

   And wouldn’t that be the one issue that was eating at Sera the most, Lizzy, more specifically Lacy’s admission that she had seen Lizzy- unpoliced- leaving her apartment yesterday. 

   How, that was the question on Sera’s mind. How had Lizzy gotten free so quickly if they all knew she had been charged? Why was another good one. Why hadn’t Lizzy even bothered to call Sera to let her know what was going on? It’s not like Sera hadn’t reached out to her. She called her cell phone endlessly, her house more times then she could count, sent her emails to her school and personal accounts. She even posted on her wall on Facebook for god’s sake, but nothing. Every attempt was left unanswered, not from Lizzy, not even from her mother to tell Sera what was going on. Didn’t she at least consider someone might want to know what was happening?

   Okay, now Sera knew she needed to get some sleep, she was getting delusional. She was actually getting upset at the thought of Lizzy’s mother having no concern over her child and her life.

   She slumped down in her seat and rested her head on her arm on the table giving in to that thought, sleep, suddenly unable to fight it any longer. And for a fleeting second, just long enough for her to acknowledge and dismiss the idea, she thought maybe Lizzy was the mole Nathan was speaking about before she succumbed completely to her body’s needs.

   Because really, he had cleared them all anyway, hadn’t he?