At No Time || Bruno Mars

74

The sun, shy to emerge from behind peacock blue clouds, greeted Trystan and Raina as they entered Los Angeles, a world Trystan thought she had left behind. She could see the soaring buildings as the plane roamed above them, lit in the morning darkness.

She shifted in her seat, for a moment regretting having turned down Peter's offer of one of the company's jets. Wanting to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Trystan opted for the best economy class tickets she could get her hands on.

"Well, all right, but if you don't take the jet, I'm definitely sending you two out a driver," Peter proclaimed without any rebuttal from Trystan. It had been a long time since she had stepped foot in the city; she would have too much trouble trying to find places on her with a toddler in tow.

"I'll be waiting for you two in the front of my building, and after you guys get some rest, I'll treat you to breakfast at Lenny's. Bill's gonna go crazy at seeing you."

That claim was unsettling to Trystan. She would only be in Los Angeles for a few hours before Peter had her out and about meeting people she had abruptly left. Alas, she felt that if she chose not to go, she would continue to stall, so it was better to get it out of the way. Besides, Bill would probably accept her back in a  lot easier than her other old friends.

Against her arm, Raina was asleep, comatose after an hour of fussing about the popping in her ears. Trystan gently awakened her, and the small girl responded by groaning and pressing her face further into her arm. Her mother chuckled lightly, wishing she had been able to sleep herself, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head before whispering to her daughter that she would not get her surprise if she continued sleeping.

"Can you just tell me the surprise, Mommy, so I can go back to sleep?" Raina mumbled after they traipsed through the terminal and were waiting for the belt to pass through with their luggage.

Fixating the hood of Raina's jacket so that it covered her face better, Trystan explained, "I know you're tired, and you can go back to sleep once we get to where we're going." She kneeled down so she was face-to-face with her. But I need you to listen to me, baby. Stay close to me at all times; don't go running off. Don't talk to people unless I tell you it's okay to. This isn't like at home. There's a lot of strangers here who might try to hurt you."

Trystan realized that it probably was not the best to try and have a "scary" talk with a half-sleep three-year-old, whose glassy eyes widened with fear, but she had to tell her before she made the mistake of making her identity known. Trystan was sure hardly anyone would recognize her if she were to walk down the street, but she could not say the same if people saw her with Peter. All it took was for one person to recognize her and then they would put two-and-two together.

"Okay, Mommy." Raina nodded and remained close to Trystan as their luggage came around the belt.

True to his word, Peter's driver, named Oliver, was near one of the exits, holding up a sign with the name B. Hernandez on it, the name he told her to watch out for.

"I'm assuming you're Miss Wildes," Oliver greeted when Trystan and Raina neared him. "Mr. Hernandez instructed that you get picked up from here and then taken to his residence."

"Yes, that's right."

"Oh, hello there, little one." Oliver peered down at Raina, who hid halfway behind Trystan's leg and offered him a shy wave.

"Do you mind if I take your bag?" he pointed to her Tinker Bell roller book bag, and with a glance between the object and he, Raina gave it to him and he smiled.

He took the heaviest bag Trystan had and they walked outside, the sun just barely ghosting above the horizon, to the car, a dark Mercedes-Benz.

So much for being inconspicuous, Trystan thought sarcastically, coming to realize that Peter's life must have gotten ten times more luxurious than it used to be.