April 7, 2011
Newport Beach, California
"Thank you all for coming to my party."
Sarah Walker raised her champagne flute and smiled at the small group of guests in her living room. She and her friends had started the evening at Newport's most exclusive club, but quickly garnered too many curious onlookers. Worried about press attention, Sarah had her driver and other staff bring everyone back to her home, where the festivities - mostly just drinking - continued. Now everyone was slumped over on her couch and chairs, a few people propping themselves up on the floor.
Bryce Larkin was one of those people.
"Speech! Speech!" he shouted, hoisting his beer can.
Sarah gave him a little wave. "Thanks. No need for a speech, I just wanted to say that tonight is very special to me, so thank you all for sharing that with me. Now, I hope that everyone gets home safely! Or don't, because I have plenty of guest rooms."
With that, she gave a little curtsy to the room. Her friends cheered and raised their cans, bottles and glasses. Sarah laughed and settled on her sofa next to her longtime friend Heather Chandler.
"Ah, Sarah. Another year older and wiser." Heather sipped her own champagne gingerly. "Not that you're old, yet. You know what I mean."
Sarah rolled her eyes playfully. "Why, thank you. I hate to admit that at twenty-one, I'm already feeling like an old maid. It's just odd to think of how much time has already passed since we got entangled with Operation Spitbreak that prevented the Fulcrum uprising from taking over Europe, and I took over my father's job…"
"You've accomplished a lot," Daniel Shaw piped up from a nearby chair. "You should be happy."
"I am happy," Sarah sighed. "Just… a little lonely at times. That's all." She stared into her champagne, frowning. The sparkling gold liquid danced up on her, not offering any answers. She shrugged and took a long, slow sip.
"Aw, but you have us." Jill Larkin got up from her spot next to Bryce and leaned over to give Sarah a hug. The birthday girl laughed and hugged her back.
"I know, and I appreciate that." Sarah was surprised she and Jill had become close after the Fulcrum war, since Sarah was always working, or traveling for work, and Jill lived on Connecticut with Bryce, running their logistics business. But since Bryce still took on Preventers work every now and then, Sarah ended up bumping into him and Jill on a fairly frequent basis.
It almost went without saying that she and Heather would remain good friends, since they saw each other all the time. Heather had fashioned herself as a consultant and was constantly advising government officials. She and Sarah would often meet up for dinner, drinks or shopping.
Daniel came around less often, but he and Sarah would sometimes see each other at charity events or ceremonies. He was one of the few former members of Team Intersect Sarah continually kept in touch with, though, besides Bryce.
And one other person. But he wasn't at the party. Sarah couldn't say she was surprised. But she was annoyed, ever so slightly, that he hadn't bothered to contact her that day. And, now, her twenty-first birthday was almost over.
She sighed again without meaning to. Jill responded with another hug. "Oh, Sarah, don't be sad! How about some more champagne?"
"No, thanks." Sarah smiled up at her sadly. "I'm pretty sure I've had enough."
"You need to get laid," Bryce mumbled. The others gasped. "What?" He spread his hands. "I'm not volunteering; I'm married, you guys." He grinned over at Jill, who glared at him from across the room.
"Bryce Larkin, if I were any closer, I'd smack you right now." Jill rolled her eyes. "Be sensitive, will ya?"
"Sheesh, sorry." Bryce scratched the back of his head, looking at Sarah sheepishly. "Just trying to help. There must be some eligible bachelor around for you to, you know, date, at least." His eyes narrowed. "Besides Mr. No-Show, I mean." He took a final swig of his beer. "I'm empty," he complained. "Babe?"
"You've had enough, too, mister," Jill scolded him.
Sarah sank her cheek into her palm, her elbow resting on the knee of her full tulle skirt. She'd wanted something sort of fancy, but still fun and youthful for her party dress. The sparkly top with the poufy skirt had immediately jumped out at her. She couldn't help but lament the fact that he wouldn't see her in it.
She groaned out loud. "Guys, please do me a favor and don't mention Charles again tonight, all right? He was invited, he didn't come; I didn't expect him to come, anyway. He hasn't been to one of my parties in ages. We've established that. We've been over it. I'm over it." She held her champagne flute aloft as if signaling her defeat.
"Sorry, Sarah." Jill pulled a face, patting her friend's shoulder. "He's a jerk. You deserve better."
"That guy's about as far from normal as they come," Bryce sighed.
"His loss," Heather said matter-of-factly, flipping her long blond hair over one shoulder. "Cheers to finding new men, and new beginnings!"
"I'll drink to that." Sarah clinked her glass with Heather's.
As the time ticked closer to midnight, Bryce and Jill had retreated to one of Sarah's guestrooms. Heather was yawning and saying her goodnights while Daniel was shrugging on his coat.
"You're leaving?" Sarah followed him out to the foyer.
"Yeah, I have business to take care of in Brussels in the morning, so I'm going to make my way there tonight."
Sarah shook her head at her business mogul friend. "You work even harder than I do."
Daniel laughed. "Oh, I doubt it. But this was a nice break. Thanks for having me."
"Thank you for coming." Sarah gave him a light hug. "Don't be a stranger, all right? Although I'm sure we'll run into each other again soon."
Daniels's eyes looked glossy as they parted. "Sarah…" His gaze fell to his feet. "There's something I wanted to ask you."
"What's that?" Sarah blinked at him expectantly, although she wasn't sure what to expect.
Daniel slowly raised his eyes to hers. "Would you, uh, ever want to go out sometime?"
Her breath caught. "You mean… like a date?"
"Like a date, sure." Daniel shrugged. "Or whatever you want to call it. It doesn't have to be anything formal. I just mean, if we're both in the same area or whatever… it might be nice to grab a drink or something, is all." He was stammering. Sarah giggled. It was kind of adorable.
"That would be nice." Sarah smiled sweetly at him. "Keep in touch, all right?"
"I will." To her surprise, he leaned forward and pecked her cheek. "Happy birthday, Sarah."
AN1: FULCRUM as mentioned in this chapter is different from canon, here they are a fanatical and radical cabal founded by old elitist aristocratic clans of the European union. There methods are similar to ISIS in reality, but their goal was the to demolish the current socio-government system and return to the old autocratic regimes.
AN2: OPERATION SPITBREAK a covert operation initiated by the CIA and EU INTCEN against the threat of Fulcrum in Europe during early 2005
AN3: TEAM INTERSECT as part of operation spitbreak a spec ops unit was formed by the CIA and EU INTCEN to be their vanguard against the battle with Fulcrum. The unit is comprised of four teenage prodigies (boys) between ages 14-15 "yup its illegal", motivated by revenge and desire to repent for past sins being involved with Fulcrum in the early years. They were trained to be independent and lethal child assassins. There were missions where the members work independently base on their specialties; but most of the time they all team-up in eliminating the larger splinter cells around Europe. Thanks to their age and the cover identities that they play-well, Fulcrum never suspected them or figure out who their enemy/enemies until its too late for them.
AN4: PREVENTERS a covert tactical task force of the UN, funded by black project, formed in 2007 two years after Fulcrum, their purpose is to avert any armed struggle or conflict that may arise around the world. Members of Team Intersect members are considered honored members of the agency, they have options to work full-time, part-time or on a case basis with the task force. This agency similar to IMF in Mission impossible.