Rifiuto: Non Mirena
A/N: Chapter 9 was the shortest chapter I've written for this story.
She took a deep breath. Today was the offical start of her walkabout. She was out of Eureka, a hundred seventy-six miles away, in Bar Harbor, Maine, intent on finding what she was missing. Discovering the secrets to the universe.
As she pulled on her jacket and tossed her hair over her shoulder, she couldn't help catching a glimpse of the gold chain around her neck- the chain that had held Zane's engagement ring. A moment passed, before she unclasped the chain and tucked it away in her bag. She wasn't going to think about Zane, or Carter or Eureka at all while she was away. Hell, she might not even come back.
A tiny part of her shuddered at that thought, and she quickly brushed it away.
No, this was her week, to find herself, to try new things, meet new people, discover what... or who... she really wanted out of life. So what if it didn't take her back to Eureka? What if it took her to Paris? Or... Hawaii, or Melbourne or hell, even Vancouver?
"You never know where a walkabout's gonna take you."
She swallowed, nodding as Taggart's words entered her head. For the next two weeks, she was going to let the universe take her whereever it wanted. As she climbed into her car, she pressed play on her ipod and sang along.
He grinned at her, and she couldn't help grinning back. "Care to dance?" She took his hand, as the familiar tune came on over the speakers, and he began to lead her in the salsa. She didn't think about Eureka, or the crazy stunts the scientists pulled, Carter or even Zane. She thought of nothing but the man dancing with her. He pulled her close, leading her about the floor.
"What's your name?" She asked, leaning close.
"Mac." He replied, the lilt of his accent sending shivers of excitement through her body; English, from the sound of it, lower Sussex, were she to make a guess. "Yours?" He asked, his breath caressing her ear.
"Jo." A small smile tugged at her lips, and she laughed as he spun her out and then back in again. Mac seemed to be quite a talented dancer, and she enjoyed being led about the floor. When she'd decided to go out for a drink, she'd stumbled across the small hole-in-the-wall bar, Rockin' Robin, and found that she enjoyed the atmosphere and the people.
"Nice to meet you, Jo." She grinned as he returned them to the familiar four step salsa pattern. Not a thought of Zane or Eureka passed through her head as she danced into the early evening.
The water was serene, beautiful. Memories of spending her rare summers on the coast came flooding back to her as she climbed out of her car, leaving her things in her car. She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she made her way up the nature-created stairs. Once she'd reached the top, she settled cross-legged on the ground, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. This was the perfect place for her to find the answers to the universe.
"Come on, Universe. Enlighten me. I'm ready." She put her hands into a typical meditation position on her knees and waited.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
The tune played in her head, and she mentally screamed at it to shut up. She couldn't hear the universe for all the salsa music playing in her head.
Twenty-five.
Still nothing, but the salsa working its way around her brain.
Shut up!
She shook her head voilently, opening her eyes and puffing out her cheeks before taking a deep breath and resuming her position. "Uh huh, bring it on!"
Seagulls began squaking loudly. In that one moment of quiet, it sounded like a freight train barrelling towards her, and her eyes snapped open. The birds flew overhead, calling out to her and each other as they left the area. She stared out at the clear blue water, gritting her teeth to keep from losing her temper and throwing something at them. The salsa music got louder and more intense in her head with each passing moment.
"I shoulda gone to the desert." She mutterd, thinking that maybe this hadn't been the better option after all.
"Shoulda read the sign." Her head snapped towards the voice; a uniformed police officer stood at the bottom of the small hill. The woman had called the tow, and they were currently loading her car onto a tow truck.
"Wait, wait, wait!" She climbed to her feet, rushing down the steps. "The..." She choked out a nervous laugh. "The sign said beach parking."
"You need a permit." The woman replied. Jo watched her write something down on a pad of paper.
Don't play the self-discovery card. Don't play the self-discovery card. "Look, I... I'm at a bit of a... a crossroads in my life... a... a friend told me... I know it sounds silly, but they told me to go on walkabout. So, if... if you could, you know, give me a small break, just this one time... it... it would really help my positive outlook on life." She waited; the woman hadn't even blinked. Then, she ripped off the top sheet of paper and held it out.
"Yeah, sorry, can't. Look, here's the number for a cab. And you have a nice day." Jo took the paper, mouth falling open as the woman turned to leave.
"No... no, wait. You.. you don't understand... you don't bring a cellphone on walkabout..." But by the time she'd trailed off, the woman was gone, and she was watching her car being pulled down the road en tow truck. Gritting her teeth, she stared down at the number in her hands. "And I left Eureka for this."