The wind felt cold against her back. But maybe it wasn't the wind. Maybe it was just the sudden coldness she felt in her heart. She looked down at the neat, concrete walkway she was walking on. She reached the place where the end of the path reached the sidewalk. Stepping onto it was unbelievably hard. She took a deep breath, This is me officially leaving Vaughn's house. This is the end. And I'm never coming here again. I can't afford to. She stepped and waited for the taxi.
Sydney wanted to look back, wanted to look back with all her heart, wanted to know if he was still in the doorway watching her and waiting for her to leave or if he had long since closed the door and gone back inside.
She knew that if the door was closed she could look back and
no one would know; no one would ever suspect that she had been looking.
But somehow she knew that he was still there. She had basically told him that
his feelings were reciprocated and, knowing Vaughn, he would be a true
gentlemen and wait for her to leave first. God, I'm so stupid sometimes.
Don't I learn from my mistakes? Aren't I supposed to be some kind of genius? So
why can't I learn to stop telling people things I shouldn't be saying? I mean,
it killed Danny. I know I didn't exactly tell Vaughn that I have another
identity and another life because he knew that already. But I'm still not sure
if. . . is what I told him even more
dangerous?
She looked back then. Just a quick glance over her left shoulder. She didn't see anything. Scratch that. She saw things. She just didn't see anyone. And wasn't prepared for the feelings that would evoke. The empty doorway somehow managed to smash up the perfect idea of a man that was Vaughn. Sure it didn't mean anything but it did. Maybe Vaughn wasn't who she thought he was. Strange how the little things matter.
The someone that she had been looking for had moved from the doorway though it was still open. She sighed and turned back only to jump. "Vaughn!" He was standing beside her, a coat open in his hands, offering it to her like she was some sort of goddess. "How the hell did you walk so quietly?" Inside she was burning. Brimming with happiness. She had been completely wrong. Here he was.
He grinned sheepishly. "I didn't know I was. Here, you looked cold. Here's a coat." He draped it over her shoulders, never actually meeting her eyes.
And it was then that Sydney completely regretted everything
she had told him. He couldn't look at her anymore... and that hurt a hell of a lot more than the empty doorway.
She made her decision. "Vaughn, what I said...
I only said it because of the passing moment. It didn't really mean what
it sounded like. Actually it meant exactly what it sounded like. So I know what
you smell like. I mean, who wouldn't know a certain person's smell if they
spent most of every day with him? Right? I mean, to me, you smell like. .
. I don't know. Spring I guess. And
Home-" Shut up Sydney. You're just reinforcing his thoughts. Throw him off... change of subject... NOW. "-Not to mention B.O.," she grinned
at him.
He finally met her eyes and grinned weakly back. Sydney saw the hurt in his eyes and wondered if maybe his feelings for her really were as deep as he had shown signals of it being. Would it hurt him more if she told him she felt nothing? Oh well. It was done.
She doesn't have feeling for me. Of course she doesn't
have feelings for me. Why would a smart, beautiful, talented, amazing,
wonderful, funny woman have feelings for me? I mean, sure I'm decent and my
intelligence is higher than the norm but. . . look at her.
I don't know what God was thinking
about when he made her but... Good Lord, how many people like her can there be?
Don't be so hard on yourself. I know, I'm trying not to be. I know that I'm
slightly attractive. I guess I just thought she might have felt the same way when
she said I smelled like... what was it?
Spring. And Home. Those words are so vague but they sound so... so personal.
Her pager went off.
She looked at Vaughn, her eyes questioning. What kind of imbecile paged someone at 2:30 in the morning? Well, she supposed she shouldn't be asking herself that. She did have a job with irregular hours. She checked. It was an unfamiliar number. "Vaughn, can I use your phone?"
"Sure," He watched again as she walked away. *Why does she always seem to be walking away from me?*
Sydney dialed the number and a male voice answered. "Is this Joanna Fineski?"
Sydney was about to say that it was a wrong number but then remembered her alias. God, she was sluggish in the morning. "Yes, who is calling?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Ralph and I work for Lufthansa Airlines. I'm sorry to wake you at such an early hour but you are on our. . . well I'm not sure what it is but it is a list of people who need to know of any changes to their flight. Your Plane, Flight 657 to Germany has been canceled."
Sydney's heartbeat accelerated. Why was this happening? It was almost like Fate. Except she didn't believe in Fate anymore. She had stopped believing when her mother died. And then again at Danny's death. And Noah's. And Will's-almost fatal encounter. She was just a walking disaster; a ticking bomb just waiting to go off. "Oh. May I inquire what is wrong with the plane?"
The man sounded embarrassed and reluctant to answer. "Well, ma'am. I'm obliged to not answer that."
"Why not?"
"Well, I'm afraid that if I do, you may lose interest in our airline and that would be a huge disappointment to my boss and may result in the loss of my job. Just to be frank."
"You are incredibly honest. More honest than you should be anyway. Though I do feel that I should tell you that your unwillingness to answer my questions is making me think of a lot of scenarios and I believe that they are all worse than what actually occurred."
The man chuckled before sobering again. "Well, actually, it just. . . seems to have disappeared. It is completely off the radar and we have no idea as to where it is. It's kinda creepy. . . like an episode of the twilight zone or something."
"Oh." Sydney practically breathed the last word.
"Would you like to be informed of any future available routes?"
"Yes please. Thank you." She put down the phone and walked outside.
"Who was that?" Vaughn asked her.
"The airlines. I'm not going to be going to Germany after all." She raised her eyebrows at him. "The plane seems to have disappeared."
"What?" Vaughn's eyes looked up at her.
The taxi pulled up. She opened the door and turned back to him. "Well, Vaughn, I'm gonna go okay? Um. . . you wait until morning and then call Devlin-" She looked at the taxi driver and nearly smacked herself for talking.
"Excuse me," she said before shutting the door. "Forget it, I'll call Devlin. I don't know if that plane has to do with anything but he should be told. Umm. Okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
She reopened the door but Vaughn touched her arm. "Wait, Sydney. You no longer have a flight to catch. Where are you going?"
"Well, I have to go home sometime don't I?"
"Yeah but it's already almost 3. The area around the
warehouse isn't exactly the safest place to be at night and I personally would
feel a lot better if I knew you were safe. It's only three more hours before
dawn. Leave then." He saw her about to protest.
"Sydney, before you protest, let me remind you of an argument you used about 3
hours ago. You said that we should both go to my house so that I wouldn't have
to drive there, back, and home again. Now what are you doing? This is just a
huge inconvenience to you. What are you going to tell Francie if you skulk into
your apartment at 3 in the morning? And what good are you to the CIA if you
don't get enough sleep. Just. . . Just
stay."
Sydney looked at him, she tried to speak but there were no words. She just nodded and turned to the driver. "I'm sorry, but I won't be needing your services after all. Here's something for your time," she said as the window rolled down. The driver glared but accepted the 10 and drove off.
"Well, I do have your jacket and if leave later, I could just leave it in your house. I have to tell you that I'm horrible at returning things. I'm just the worst. It would probably be the last time you saw this jacket."
This time Vaughn stayed silent. As if by mutual consent,
they turned and walked back up the path together. Being a perfect gentlemen, he
let her go in first.
TBC~
