It's A Matter of Trust
Disclaimer: I do not own anything mentioned in this story except for the character of Alexandra H.
Chapter One: Impressed? Not so much.
Riley Poole was not impressed. As he sat in his dark apartment, spooning mouthfuls of cold fried rice into his mouth, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for himself. There he was, 26 years young and famous, sitting in a dark, empty loft apartment looking down at one of the busiest cities in the entire country. He couldn't help but wallow. He should be out there, beating away the women and fans with a stick. Ever since the treasure thing a few months ago, his name, along with Ben and Abby's, had not left the headlines. That had been part of the reason why he had chosen to move to New York. He was tired of getting countless phone calls from news agencies, newspapers, and magazines asking him to fly out to New York to do an interview. That and it was also where Ben had settled down.
After the treasure and the fame, Riley learned very quickly that just because you choose to trust someone doesn't mean that they'll keep that trust. He made the mistake of confiding in a journalist, who then in turn, revealed his secrets to the entire nation. Although what he had said wasn't very confidential, it definitely taught him a lot about trust. Ever since then, he'd closed up and stuck to a very repetitive story, revealing only what he needed to. That's why he liked being so close to Ben and Abby; he knew that no matter what, he could trust them completely. He liked the feeling of being part of something in such a huge city where it was common to lose yourself. It's what kept him grounded, despite the fame, the fortune, and the parties.
The parties were fun at first. The women had been beautiful and the drinks were intoxicating. But it all quickly got old. The women, he learned, had no substance to them and he found that good looks and nice hair could only count for so much. The drinks weren't sweet anymore, and he found the whole scene rather passé. There were only so many times someone could walk down a red carpet, have their picture taken, drink over priced cocktails and beer, and then go home.
As he finished off his day old Chinese food, he went over to the balcony of his apartment and went out, resting his elbows on the ledge. The low, bass beat of music was echoing up to his ears. The smell of the city, an intoxicating mix of smoke and smog, met his nose. He was about to start feeling even more sorry for himself when his phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered
"Riley? Hey, its Ben"
Riley smiled into the darkness, happy to hear a familiar voice.
"What's up? It better be something good if you're calling me at 2 in the morning" Riley quipped, yawning.
Ben laughed and sighed.
"We both know you were well awake. But anyways, do you think you could catch a red eye out to Boston?"
Riley raised an eyebrow but moved into his bedroom, pulling out a small suitcase underneath his bed.
"Sure, what for?"
"Remember when I said that next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you could make the call on the finder's fee?"
Riley froze, the shirt he had in his hand dropping to the floor.
"Well you might get that chance"
"Attention passengers, flight 219 to Boston is now boarding. I repeat, flight 219 is now boarding"
Riley broke out of his electronic Battleship hand held game induced coma and looked up, realizing that he was the only passenger left in the area and the perky flight attendant was staring right at him. Hastily, he shoved everything into his leather carry all and booked it to the terminal, handing her his boarding pass. He was let on and he ran down the connector, not stopping until he hit his seat on the small, night time jet. The New York to Boston red eye was something he'd taken previously before, since Ben had a summer house in Boston and he often went out there to visit. It was a short flight, about an hour, and he usually recognized a few people who took the flight ritually. But as he surveyed the small population of passengers on today's flight, his eyes caught onto a strikingly beautiful women sitting a few rows back, on the opposite side of the jet. From what he could see, she had a gentle, oval shaped face with long, wavy brown hair that was tied up into a neat bun, with a few pieces pulled out for affect. She had tan, olive toned skin and wine stained lips. She looked up to check the screen that told them their ETA and he recognized that she had dark, chocolate brown eyes. She was beautiful.
"Sir? Would you like some coffee?" the flight attendant asked. It snapped him out of his concentration on the woman. It was the same attendant that had snapped him out of his revere at the airport and now she looked a little agitated by his disregard for her.
"Oh, no thank you" he said, shaking his head and giving her a sheepish smile. She nodded and returned a very forced smile before moving on. His eyes flickered back towards the girl, who was then putting earphones over her ears and opening up a book. A few seconds later, he drew his vision back towards the seat infront of him and he shut them, letting a wave of tiredness over come him.
By the time he woke up, the plane was rattling due to turbulence as it coasted onto the tarmac at Boston Airport. The small round of riders clapped politely and then waited to disembark from the plane. A few minutes later, the door opened and they all exited the plane. As he got up to leave, something caught his eye from the opposite end of the plane. At the back, against the window, the pretty lady he had spied earlier was fast asleep, and everyone around her had already left. He gathered his things and then walked over towards her, gently nudging her shoulder to rouse her from her slumber. Groggily, her eyes opened and she blinked a few times. He watched her as she slowly became accustom with her surroundings and then sit up abruptly.
"Have we landed?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and standing up. She hastily threw everything into her large, black tote bag.
He couldn't help but notice the small British accent she spoke with. She untied her hair and shook it, the waves tumbling all over her shoulders before throwing her back over her shoulder.
"Yeah, we just landed" he said, side stepping out of her way so that she could leave.
He heard her mumble a 'Thank you' before marching off the plane, obviously in a rush. As he turned to leave, he noticed that she had forgotten her sweater in her seat in her rush to get off the plane. He grabbed it and hurried after her, running off the plane and into the airport. Immediately, he knew that he wouldn't find her. The airport, even at 6 am, was a mess of busy travelers. He tried looking for her wavy hair, but found none in his area of vision. He sighed, and then began his trek towards the baggage carousel. He tried looking for her there, but no luck. It wasn't uncommon for people to take the red-eye and not check any luggage. Half the people on the plane he was on would undoubtly be taking another flight back to New York around 5. Once he found his own bag, he started towards the small café on the second floor which Ben had designated as their meeting place. As he rode the elevator up, his bag over his shoulder, luggage at his feet and the lady's sweater in his hand, he couldn't help but recall what Ben had said over the phone. Another treasure. Ben had found another mystery for them to solve.
As the elevator made it to the second floor, he exited it and made a sharp left, the smells of coffee greeting his nose since the café was right infront of him. His eyes found Ben immediately but more surprising was who Ben was talking too. Even from the back, Riley recognized the sheet of tumbling brown waves and the lean frame of the woman. It was the British one from the plane. The pretty one. The one whose sweater he had clenched in his hand.
He made his way towards them slowly, and eventually Ben caught his eyes.
"Riley! You made it" he said, greeting him. Riley smiled and nodded, putting down his bag to give his friend a hug. Ben clapped a hand on his shoulder and gestured towards the lady, who was smiling at Riley rather amusedly and sipping a cup of coffee.
"Riley, meet the newest member of our team" Ben introduced, as Riley nodded in the woman's direction.
"Yeah, we were on the same flight…you forgot your sweater, by the way" he said, handing it over.
"Oh! Thank you…"she said, taking it from him and giving him a smile.
He stuck out his hand and gave another smile.
"Seeing as we're going to be co-workers we might as well know each other's names. I'm Riley Poole" he said, as she took it in hers and shook it.
"I'm Alexandra…Alexandra Howe" she said, returning the smile.
Immediately, the smile was swept off his face and he let go of her hand.
"Ben…please tell me it's coincidence that she has the same last name as Ian" he said through gritted teeth to Ben, giving him a hard look.
Ben returned a nervous smile and looked around shiftily.
"Not exactly. Riley, meet Alexandra Howe. Ian's sister"
((Author's Note- Hey everyone. As much as I love to write, I'm not going to continue this story unless I get some feedback. So press that little purple button and review! ))