I am sitting at the edge of my seat for two very different reasons. First, I am really excited about this story and where it is going. Second, I am rather worried about Gail's speech. I've written it down already but I feel a bit as if I were the one to have to give the lecture, you know? Sigh. Let's hope for the best. After this one, there will be just one single chapter and then Gail's panel.

Hope you're still enjoying. Thanking you so much for all the support.

They were the very last people to board the plane.

Holly should have known that that was bound to happen. Actually, she should have known, right from the start, that the thought of taking them with her would always sound much better, and work much better, inside her head. Better and easier, of course. There was nothing smooth about those two when it came to travelling. How had she forgotten such a thing? Ah, not doing it in ages. For a reason, a perfectly understandable reason that she had somehow mistaken for a minimum detail. There was nothing minimum about the amount of luggage those two were carrying, though. Nothing.

Why didn't I just call from Vancouver apologizing and telling them that the idea of bringing them with me had crossed my mind at some point? It's the thought that truly counts, isn't it?

They had taken so much time packing, asking her a thousand and one questions about what the weather was going to be like and about what the conference was going to be all about, basically things they knew she too wasn't aware of for the simple fact that she too had been told about it last minute. She had gotten the call in the morning and had basically been told that she had to go to Vancouver for the weekend. There was no time to explain what the conference was all about or to discuss the weather. She had basically said okay, yes and had taken her lunch break to go home and pack her own bag. Why hadn't she told them by then? Well, she was still not sure whether they could – and would – come, so she had decided to wait till she was a hundred percent sure that it was doable. That and she knew they would spend the rest of the day calling and pestering and asking her questions she didn't have the time or the desire to answer. Not then, not now, not ever.

The flight was heaven compared to the hours of hell that had preceded it. Due to the fact that her friends' tickets were purchased after hers, there hadn't really been enough space to have them sit together as the flight was quite full with mostly booked seats. While Rachel sat by Lisa somewhere near the rear of the economy cabin, Holly was sitting right at the front.

The unfamiliarness of the voices that surrounded her became the perfect background noise, a role usually played by her television when she sat alone in her living room working on her papers. She grabbed her notebook and a pencil, taking a moment to enjoy the possibilities hidden in the blank page staring back at her. She couldn't help but smile at the new beginning.

Oh, the wonders of the little things.

She then focused her full attention on the ideas that were coming together in her mind. She knew that she either prepared her lecture now or she would probably end up going with improvising, something she had to admit she quite hated. She just knew it, though. There was no way in hell, and most definitely not in heaven – not that that would ever become a problem –, her friends were going to give her time to work on her presentation once in Vancouver. Why? Two simple reasons. First, they were going to start by saying that she didn't have to practice for she had graduated first in their class and was beyond brilliant – as if her actual field was as dead as the bodies she studied at the morgue. Second, well, she was certainly going to be lectured about always saying yes to everybody no matter what. Apparently she was too available, just not for what truly mattered, or so did Lisa from Plastics think, blah blah blah blah blah. She could see herself getting tired of listening to them complaining and giving up on trying to come up with something coherent, nodding to whatever they kept saying without really listening. Ah, yes, exactly what had happened with the whole Gail thing. And look how badly that turn out!

It didn't take long for the quietness to take over the cabin, mostly because it was quite a late flight and most people had already been through their own personal hell during the day. She had found it extremely easy to concentrate, finishing her notes only two hours in. Now what? She had packed a novel but she wasn't sure she felt like putting her tired eyes through its pages, no matter how perfectly written they were. She had already made them go through quite a few reports back at home, so why not give them a chance to rest? Yet, she felt way too alive to sleep. She decided to look around for a moment, studying the faces of those who slept on the seats next and around her. She couldn't help but wonder what was bringing smiles to some faces and worried expressions to others.

If only I could read into your minds. Or perhaps it would be better not to. Only God knew how much she wasn't ready to take such a step, even if possible. She already had quite a few issues when it came to deal with the words that people were supposed to think before letting out or writing down, that the thought of hearing what crossed their minds at every single minute scared the hell out of her. Yes, ignorance can indeed be pure bliss.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder if any of those faces were going to be part of her audience during the conference. That thought made her reach for the program she had saved in-between the pages of her copy of "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham. All she knew was that she was supposed to present on the second, and last, day.

She couldn't help but laugh out loud at what appeared to be the conference's title. Her free hand instantly found her mouth to muffle the sound. She looked up for a moment, making sure there was no need to apologize for interrupting anyone's well deserved rest. Apparently not. No one had noticed. Tell me something new.

She went back to her program, her eyes widening slightly as they met the name of the person that was going to speak during the opening ceremony. It was going to be Theresa Russ, Dr. Theresa Russ. That was none other than her ultimate hero. She had read every single publication signed by the woman, probably even exchanged a few e-mails with her, but that was it, they had yet to meet face to face. Finally some good news, Holly thought to herself as she kept staring at the name. She only hoped she had time to chat with the just slightly older woman. Not only was she a genius, she was also quite a stunningly looking one too.

She was now definitely more than ready not to be surprised and excited with anything else from the conference. Theresa Russ was quite hard to beat. That was when her eyes found yet another name she recognized. She found herself swallowing hard as her heart skipped a beat or two. Gail Peck. Gail Peck was going to be at the conference. Gail Peck was one of the main speakers. Actually, the blonde cop was going to be the first speaker. How had that happened? Wasn't Gail completely against public speaking? And why had she, from every other cop in the many divisions, been chosen to represent the Academy? She slapped herself mentally for going all Lisa on the world. She barely knew Gail. That was the truth. Sure, they had spent quite a lot of time together, but now that Holly gave it some thought, Gail had spent more time listening to her than actually talking about herself. She only knew Gail's basic version. She had seen her broken down into a thousand and one little pieces, yes, but she hadn't been the one to put them back together. She had held Gail's hand instead while she picked herself up. She couldn't help but feel bad. Sure, they had just started getting to know one another, but shouldn't Holly know a bit more than the story of Gail's work? Even that she knew she wasn't completely updated on.

During the whole ride to the hotel she kept going through the same mental battle against herself – should she tell her friends about Gail or should she just wait for them to figure it out by themselves? She had just found out herself and she was still not quite sure about how exactly she was going to deal with it. She didn't even know how she felt about it, about her. Somehow the thought of having her self-doubt mixed with her friends' universe of questions didn't sound at all appealing.

As they walked into the quite fancy hotel both Rachel and Lisa stayed behind while Holly went ahead to take care of the check-in. When done, she found the other two women staring at the photos of the speakers.

"Anyone hot making an appearance?"

"You can say that again…" Rachel replied, taking a step to the side so that Holly could see what exactly they were looking at. Oh my. That was a photo of Gail with a smile on her face. And it was a real smile, a lovingly smile too, one that she had been given the pleasure of experiencing first hand. It was magical. Enchanting, even. And rare too, she knew. She couldn't help but wonder who exactly had taken that photo. Who had been the lucky one? Wait, was that jealousy? It certainly felt like it.

"Did you know?" The question came out of nowhere and brought Holly back from the land of dreams in which she was being given the opportunity to wake up to that smile every single day.

"Huh, what?"

"Did you know she was going to be here?"

"No, no really. I just looked at the program on the plane." Holly said, "It wouldn't have made any different, though." She shrugged, trying to convince herself of what she had just said.

"You kidding? Your…" Lisa stopped for a second and seemed to get lost in the photo again. "Your stunningly gorgeous ex is going to be in the same conference as you. Probably staying at the same hotel…" She turned fully towards Holly. "She's probably already here, even!"

Holly couldn't stop herself from looking around as Lisa voiced that last thought. I wonder if you know I am going to be here as well, she found herself thinking. She hadn't seen Gail ever since the incident at the Penny. Well, she had seen her earlier at the Station, but she had been at a safe distance. She couldn't help but wonder how the blonde would react to seeing her there… How am I going to react to seeing her? To being close to her?

"Holly, wake up!"

"Lisa, for the love of everything. Stop being so fucking dramatic. It's not like I am going to jump her the moment I see her. I am still pissed. At her and at you, to be honest. So just shut up, will you?" Holly found herself mostly breathless as she stared at Lisa's stunned face and Rachel's small encouraging smile. "Look, it has been a long day. Let's sleep and deal with this in the morning, okay?"

Back at the room, Holly was the first to shower and get into bed. She mumbled something about being exhausted and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

"Go easy on her, Lise. She really liked the girl." She heard Rachel say once they were all in bed.

"I know. I feel kinda bad for causing the train wreck, but it was going to happen sooner or later." Lisa said as she turned off the lights.

"How do you possibly know that?" She heard Rachel whisper against her pillow before sighing deeply.

Yes, Gail was kind of right. Her friend Lisa could be quite the idiot.