Megan sat quietly, waiting for her friend to respond to her news. Kailey was staring at her water bottle as she slowly picked at the label, her face blank. Megan suppressed a grin; Kailey hid her emotions well, no doubt a trait handed down by her uncle, especially now as she was spending so much time helping with his recovery. But Megan could see tell-tale signs that her emotional block was slowly breaking down.
"Well," Kailey said finally, "I can't say I'm entirely happy for you."
Megan let out a short laugh at the blunt honesty.
"I didn't expect you to. But, hey," she smiled, giving Kailey a gentle slug in the arm, "you'll be fine. You hold your own pretty well around here with the guys."
"Oh, I'm not worried about work; I know the FBI and you haven't been seeing eye-to-eye. But, why do you have to leave LA?"
Megan sighed. She hadn't been expecting Kailey to take her leaving the FBI so well and focus on the leaving LA part.
"It's my dad, there's some things that need to be….."
"Sorted out," Kailey nodded in understanding. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Megan stopped her by putting a hand up.
"I know," Megan said, not wanting to hear any sort of "I'll miss you" phrase. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle it.
Kailey bit her lip and looked away as Megan blinked away a few tears in her eyes. She had known that, apart from Larry, Kailey would be the hardest goodbye, but that still didn't prepare her for this moment. She couldn't put together a sentence in her head to break the silence that fell between them. Kailey was again picking at the water bottle label.
"You better keep in touch," Kailey said, obviously trying to lighten the mood.
"That's not even a question," Megan said. "And hey, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone just yet. I'm trying to make the rounds."
"Of course."