While my own laptop's disk is being wiped away so that I can reinstall the original Windows XP and get my computer ready for another college year, I sit here writing another chapter of Congratulations.

Thank you so much for the very kind reviews. I am glad to hear that you are actually excited to learn about what is going to happen next.

On that note, I will be updating The Quest soon and will start a new story very soon too.

Lie To Me isn't mine and I have this weird feeling that it never will be.

Without further ado I give you… Chapter 10.

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Heidi was usually the first one to get to the Lightman's Group office unless one of her bosses actually decided to spend the night there. Due to the latest events, she was sure she would be the one to open the doors today.

With her agenda trapped between her arm and her torso, with her cell phone on her ear and her purse threatening to fall to the floor, she was still somehow able to successfully open the door without letting any of those things find its way to the ground.

Happy to find herself home, she carefully rested her agenda over her desk and sat down on her comfortable chair. She crossed one leg over the other one and ran her free well manicured hand through her hair while she carried on with the conversation on the phone.

She was slightly tired of it actually but she had promised to stay in contact with her mother once she moved away from home and the older woman had soon realized that her descendant wouldn't be able remember it due to the amount of work she had to do and so she decided she would be the one to remind her of it every single morning for the rest of her life.

Knowing that she still had plenty of time before the official hour of opening, Heidi got up from her chair and walked towards the small eating room they had there. After checking that there was enough water and coffee on the coffee machine, she turned it on and waited for it to be done.

She looked for a mug while she listened to her mother complaining about the supermarket bills and poured down the freshly made coffee while her mother told her the news about what was going on around the country as the older woman spent her mornings watching the news on television.

"Oh, I still can't believe they did it… Look at their faces! They are innocent!" Yelled the woman from the other side of the line, causing Heidi to smile and shake her head gently.

"Mother, whoever convicted them probably knows what he or she is doing."

"It's a she! Of course it's a she! Poor guys! She's a jealous of their…" Heidi took a deep breath, knowing that her mother was going to start rambling about the I-am-a-woman-but-am-as-strong-and-as-capable-as-any-man complex but what she heard next wasn't anything close to that, it was more like an intelligible expression of surprise and horror.

"Mother, are you feeling okay?" Heidi could no longer hide the concern in her voice.

"Oh, dear, dear…" She heard her mother say, her voice sounding like she was singing a mantra."

"What is going on? You are scaring me." Heidi complained, holding the mug of warm coffee on her free hand.

"Do you have a television near you, dear?" Heidi grabbed the remote and turned on the television that they had over there to watch the news while they had lunch or took a coffee break.

The coffee mug fell to the floor and it broke down into a million of tiny pieces, the liquid jumping into a thousand different directions, part of it tainting her grey skirt.

"What was that? Are you okay, honey? Heidi, are you there? Talk to me!"

"Mother, I must hang up. Something came up…" Heidi said as she left the room running, making her way to her desk and turning her computer on.

"But are you okay, darling? Should I worry? I knew it, I knew that job over there was going to kill me."

"I think I knew someone who was on that plane, mother." Heidi finally confessed at the same time as she opened the billing records from the last company expenses.

"You think? Were you close to that person? I am so sorry darling! Do you want me to go there? I can pack my things right this second!"

"My boss was there. I need to go now. Goodbye mother!" She threw her cell phone away and grabbed the company phone, quickly dialing the number from Gillian's place, praying that her other boss had found out about Gillian going on her own to Iraq and had stopped her.

"Dr. Foster?" She asked as soon as she heard the little noise that meant someone had accepted the call.

"No, it's Cal. Who wants to talk to her?" Cal had been looking for Gillian for quite a few minutes but soon decided there was no need to worry as she would probably be working at the office or shopping for groceries as inside that house there didn't seem to be anything but chocolate pudding. That thought made him smile but soon that expression was replaced by apprehension.

"Oh, Dr. Lightman! It's Heidi." The young woman sat back down and leaned back on her chair. How on earth was she going to explain to Cal that she had sent Gillian to Iraq in secret? She suddenly reminded herself that she hadn't asked if the other woman was around yet. "Is Dr. Foster at home? There is something important I need to talk to her about…"

"No, I don't think so. I am almost sure she went shopping. I actually thought she had gone to the office but I guess she didn't…" The silence that came from the other side of the line spoke to him and what he heard scared him a bit. "Heidi… do you know where she is?"

"Well, you see…" Heidi covered her face with her free hand and sighed deeply.

"Heidi… what is going on? What aren't you telling me?" He said, her voice sounding serious.

"Did you see the news this morning?" She finally found the courage to ask.

"I don't care about the news, Heidi! I want to know where Gillian is and I want to know it now!"

"A plane crashed… a plane that was supposed to land in Iraq crashed." She said, ignoring the fact that her boss was now yelling at him. "I booked Dr. Foster a ticket for that plane."

Cal's throat suddenly felt dry and he felt his head spinning at such a high speed that he had to sit down.

"What was Gillian doing in a plane to Iraq?" He asked after a couple of seconds of silence, trying to remain calm even though his heart was already killing him.

"I called her yesterday… they asked for you specifically but she said she would go instead and you know Dr. Foster… I just couldn't say no. I didn't know this was going to happen… I am sorry… I didn't know… I..." A tea rolled down her cheek.

"Heidi, Heidi… focus. It wasn't your fault." Cal tried to calm her down. "I need you to make a few calls… Can you do that for me or should I ask Loker and Ria to go there?"

"No, no… I can do it. Shall I call to know if there are any survivors?" She asked, suddenly regaining her focus.

"Yes, check the number of survivors… I will make a few calls myself. Keep me posted, okay?" Cal asked, hanging up without really giving her time to answer.

"Yes, I will." She mumbled under her breath as she put the phone down just to bring it to her again and make another call, this time to the same number she had dialed on the day before to book a plane ticket.

On the other side of the line Cal was still sitting down on the exact same place. He couldn't believe she had decided to go and had left without saying a word. Well, she would surely not have gone if she had told him because there was no way in hell he would allow her to go to such a place without him. Deep down inside he knew that she had been trying to protect him but he couldn't help it… he was officially pissed off at her.

But that feeling only lasted for about 2 seconds because suddenly he realized something very important… he hadn't had the time to tell her how much he loved her. Oh, what have I done? He had blamed her for Zoe's death and then he had kissed her for the first time and had shared a bed with her. All of that in less than 24 hours.

"Dad?"

That simple word brought him to the reality and made him turn in the direction from which the sound came. He found himself staring at his daughter. She looked younger and vulnerable and exhausted. Her eyes were red from crying and her hair was a mess. She looked like she could use a best friend to talk to at the moment.

"Gillian…" He whispered before turning back to the phone and started dialing a number. "Not now, Em. Am busy."

"Dad…" Her voice sounded broken and needy. "Where is Gillian?"

He was about to reply to her when he heard a voice coming from the other side of the line.

"Hello, this is Cal Lightman. I need to know if Gillian Foster was on the plane." He said quietly. "Yes, on the plane that crashed."

… … … …

Oh, I am actually very excited about this story because I know where it is going but I still ain't sure of what's going to happen between now and then. LOL.

I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

R&R if you feel like it, okay?

See you very soon and around The Quest too,

Reesa.