Not having a particular place to sleep that night, Kenzie headed back to her car and finished her food and then laid down in the back to sleep.
The next morning when she woke there was someone knocking on her car window. Sitting bolt upright she rubbed her tired eyes and quickly looked to the window to see The Mayor, glaring at her.
Kenzie reached over to lower the window. "Hey, Regina what's up?" She asked, hoping that she hadn't parked in a restricted area.
She hadn't seen any signs or double lines indicating that no parking was allowed but she could have missed them as it was dark and she had been exhausted.
"I thought you went back to New York," Regina pointed out.
"I did but I came back," she replied.
"Ok, great," Regina said.
"Do you have a problem being here?" Kenzie asked.
"No none," she replied.
"I'm not parked in a restricted spot, am I?" Kenzie wondered.
"No, you're fine," The Mayor answered.
"Ok, good," stated Kenzie and then added, "well I'm going to stop for a bit so I kinda need somewhere to sleep other than my car seats. Is there any motels or anything?" Kenzie asked her.
"Yeah, there's Granny's just around the block," Regina told her pointing in the direction of Granny's.
"Ok thank you," Kenzie spoke and then added, "I'm sorry about what happened to your mom by the way."
"It's not you who needs to be sorry. It's Snow White, " she said.
"Hmmm... Ok well, I better go look for Granny's so I'll catch you later Regina," Kenzie told her.
"Later," acknowledged Regina as she walked away.
Kenzie stretched again and let out a yawn, then proceeded by putting on her shoes. Once they were on she opened her car door and grabbed her bag. Before heading towards Granny's she locked the doors.
Now, she began to approach a building that had a huge sign on the outside that read, Granny's that had a fence out front. There was also a table and chairs. She had found it.
Kenzie groggily walked inside. The place was quiet except for a few people eating and chatting and an old woman behind the counter giving she familiar young dark-haired women orders. She approached the counter and sat down in one of the many seats.
"Hi," she then called to the old lady behind the counter.
The old woman turned around to look at Kenzie and then walked towards her. "Hi, you're new here aren't you?" She questioned.
"I am," Kenzie answered, with a yawn.
"It's nice to see a new face around here. So what can I get for you?" The woman asked her.
"Erm... Well,l I was trying to find a place to stay," Kenzie told her.
"We have some rooms vacant. How long do you plan on staying?"
"I'm not sure," Kenzie replied.
"Well your more than welcome to rent out a room for as long as you need," the old woman offered.
"Thanks,"
"Now is there anything else I do for you, food-wise?" She asked Kenzie.
"Ok, yeah do you do pancakes?" Kenzie wondered.
They did so she ordered some and after eating and after been given the keys to a room Kenzie makes her way back to her car to get her things. Once she has them from her trunk she heads back.
Placing the key in the lock she smiles to herself, happy to have a place to sleep while stopping here other than the back seats of her car. She turns the lock, takes out the key and pushes open the door as she drags along her luggage.
The room was small but very cosy, she would be happy enough to live there for as long as she felt like staying in Storybrook. She shut the door. While she unpacked her bags she decided that she would have a shower, change her clothes and then go for a walk around the town. That way she'd get to know more about it, to know it's residents and to see how it compared to her dream visions.
Now, she was walking around the town looking intently at everything because she didn't want to miss any detail. And every now and then she snapped pictures on her camera, that she would put in her travel journal. Something she had gotten in the habit of doing from a young age. She loved exploring and wanted to remember all the places and things she had seen and the journal would help.
She did that for a few days getting familiar with the town and its residents. It was really matching up to her dream visions and she was so glad she had decided to come back. The downside was that she would have to go back to her boring life in the city soon. Unless I get a new job here, then I can stay, she thought.
Anyway as she went taking shots of Storybrook, instinctually she found herself heading towards the docks. When she got there she came to a stop and took another photo and lowered her camera to look out at the sea. Kenzie then took a deep breath breathing in the air, letting herself relax. The waves always had that effect on her.
In a state of tranquillity, she almost jumped in shock at the sound of his voice.
"Come to try talking me out of my revenge again?" Hook asked from behind her.
She jumped around and replied quickly with, "no, I was just looking around the town and ended up here and then kinda got lost in thought looking out at the sea. It's always seemed to have that effect on me and helps me to relax. "
"Good because revenge will be mine no matter what you say, " he stated.
"If you say so," she said and then added a few moments later, "anyway, what are you doing sneaking up on people like that anyway?"
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, love, " he apologised.
"I wasn't scared, " she told him.
"If you say so, " he repeated with a smirk.
"I wasn't. I was just not expecting it, " she said.
"Ok, " he stated and came to stand next to her as she looked back at the sea. "How come you are so intrigued by the sea? And don't just say it's because you want to explore it or that it calms you. It's something more than that, "
"Ok you're right it is. Growing up the sea held a special place in my father's well step father's heart and he would always tell me these tales about travelling the world by sea and I would listen intently delighted by them. None of them was real of course but he always said, always promised that one day I and he would make real tales about adventures at sea. So I guess that just makes me want to explore the sea and travel more on it. It makes me more founder of it, " She explained.
"Well that makes sense on why you wouldn't want to come with me, " he said.
"Well..." She sighed quietly.
"What?" He wondered.
"Well, I never said I never wanted to go with you. Just that I wasn't going to go with some man I didn't know, "
"Wouldn't you rather go with your father?"
"Yeah, " she spoke rather weakly, looking down to the ground. She would rather go with her step-father but sadly he had died years ago.
"I have to go, " she added feeling water build up in her eyes remembering that her step-father's death was tomorrow. She had known that but for a moment she had forgotten but with all the talk of why she loved the sea so much and talking about how he told her bedtime tales when the anniversary of his death was fast approaching she knew she was about to do something she hadn't done in a while; cry. "I'll catch you later, Killian, " she said and ran off, wanting to be alone. She didn't feel in the mood to answer the question she knew he would ask. All she wanted to do was go back to her room at Granny's and cry.
"Callie?" Hook called as she ran off. Did I say something? He wondered as he debated whether or not to follow her to find out if she was ok. But he had a feeling she wanted to be alone.
Author's note: Sorry for the long wait but hope you enjoyed this chapter. Anyway, to answer a question that was left in a previous chapter, Kenzie will reveal her real name shortly, in a few chapters or so, she's not going to keep her name as Callie.
