Chapter 3
Evelyn sat below a palm tree at a desk made form empty suitcases. Earlier in the day she and Hurley had distributed pieces of paper and any writing instruments they could find. Hurley was at the other end of the beach collecting finished letters. She would go to the caves and collect letters when she was done with her own. As she put her pen to the page to start a new sentence a shadow fell across the paper. Looking up she saw Sawyer, he appeared larger than he was by blocking the sun. Before she could stop him, he snatched the letter from the "desk."
"What have we got here, Carrots?" Sawyer held the letter just out of reach. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief." Is this to your boyfriend or were you a kept woman?" He asked with a smirk.
"Kept women don't usually pursue a graduate degree." Evelyn responded trying to keep all annoyance out of her voice. She would not let him goad her into anger. Sawyer ignored her logical response and started to read the letter aloud:
"Dear Professor Goldberger, I regret to inform you that there has been another delay in my research project." He looked at Evelyn with a raised eyebrow. "Are you serious Carrots? We are stuck on an island with monsters, a crazy French woman, and God knows what else and that's all you've got to say?" He was surprised and annoyed. "All the other survivors are writing home, telling their loved ones they are still alive and how much they love and miss them. You've chosen to write to your professor telling him there's been a delay." Sawyer's voice stared to raise causing people to look in their direction.
One of those people was Jack. He watched them out of the corner of his eye. What possible reason Sawyer could have for yelling at Evelyn, he wondered. He noticed that the conman's attention had shifted from Kate to Evelyn; which suited Jack just fine. But he kept a watchful eye on Evelyn, he did not trust Sawyer.
Evelyn stood to her feet and took her letter back as quickly as it was stolen. Her anger was on the brink of rushing out but she kept it in. She could also feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she would not give Sawyer the benefit of seeing her cry. She kept it in. Looking Sawyer dead in the eyes she spoke, keeping her voice low and steady.
"Please don't call me Carrots." Slowly she turned and walked into the jungle.
Sawyer stood there staring after the redhead. He had only meant to tease her, but were there tears in her eyes? Suddenly he was jerked around by the shoulder.
"What did you say to her?" Jack asked anger burning in his eyes.
"Nothin' Doc." Sawyer responded in his usual sardonic way.
"Try again, Sawyer."
Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't see how it was any of Jack's business.
"I was just giving her a hard time about her letter. She wrote to her professor and not a boyfriend." Sawyer shrugged as if it was no big deal.
"You don't stop to think do you? Did you ever consider the possibility that she had no one else to write to?" Jack kept his gaze steady on Sawyer. "You need to go fix it, before something happens to her in the jungle and you'll have even more consequences to pay." Jack turned and walked away.
Sawyer stood watching the doctor walk away. How could he have been so foolish? Gathering information about a mark was one of the first steps in conning people. He hadn't even bothered to find out about Evelyn's past. What kind of con-artist was he if he didn't follow the basics steps, even here on the Island? Was she even worth all this hassle? Something inside of Sawyer told him that she was worth it.
Sawyer turned and headed into the jungle, he couldn't track as well as some of the other survivors, but thankfully Evelyn had left a trail a blind monkey could follow. It didn't take him long to find the young woman sitting in a clearing; bits of paper were scattered about and her head was in a book. Sawyer sat on the ground next to her not saying a word. Evelyn didn't appear to notice him but he could feel her anger seething through the thin fabric of her shirt. They stayed silent; Sawyer didn't know what to say and Evelyn didn't want him to talk.
After a few moments or what seemed like hours because of all the tension, Sawyer reached over and took the book from Evelyn's hand. As he closed the book and laid it aside a smirk crossed his lips when he noticed it was a romance novel. Evelyn looked up at Sawyer with sad eyes. He could tell that she was trying to be strong.
"It's okay." He said gently, cupping a cheek in his hand. Those words and touch were a release; he could feel Evelyn's body relax against his side. Tentatively he put an arm around her shoulder. She buried her head in his shoulder and let the tears flow. The tears soon turned into frame wracking sobs. "I didn't know." Sawyer whispered.
When all her tears had been cried Evelyn was exhausted, she had released years of penned up emotions in just a few moments. She rested her head on Sawyer's lap and stretched out. Sawyer started stroking her hair, running his finger through her silky red curls.
"I don't have anyone to write to; I've never had anyone to write to." Evelyn started. Sawyer remained silent, letting the young woman take her time. "My parents died when I was a toddler, no one else claimed me, and so I bounced around from foster home to foster home. At the last foster home I was at, I found the body of my foster brother. I helped the police put the foster parents in jail." Evelyn took a breath before continuing on.
"School was the only thing I had, throwing myself into my studies. I put myself through college. I never had a boyfriend or very many friends. I was always moving and always to busy. So you see this island is a sanctuary for me, I am in no rush to get home, despite al the dangers here; it's a much better place."
Sawyer looked down at the young woman in his lap. He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. It had been such a long time since he had shared such a tender moment with a woman. He could not have guessed Evelyn had been through such tragedy, he could see most people's emotional scars, but she had buried her pain deep.
