It had been over two weeks since Will's false April Fools joke, and Francie still hadn't forgiven him completely. Sitting with her friends at breakfast on a cool Saturday morning, Sydney could barely contain her laughter as, every few moments, Francie tossed a bit of egg or a chunk of bacon at Will.
"This isn't fair! You were going to throw them out anyway!" he grumbled.
"I was going to donate them to charity or something… not set them on fire!"
"I didn't set them on fire! I just… burned the bottoms."
"Oh, and that's so much better, right?"
"Shall I set one of your other ones on fire so you can see the difference?"
"It took a week for that smell to fade!"
"That's not my fault."
"What? Then whose fault is it?"
"The pans," Will said simply. Francie groaned. All three jumped as the ringing of Sydney's cell phone interrupted the bickering of Francie and Will. Sydney sighed and set down her fork before going to answer it.
"Bristow," she said, somewhat reluctantly.
"Hey stranger." Francie and Will both looked at her curiously as they heard her sharp intake of breath. She walked out the front door in hopes of having some privacy from her friends prying ears.
"You've been gone for a whole month, and this is the first time you call? And you haven't e-mailed me at all since a week after you left, and the best you can do is 'hey stranger?' Honestly Vaughn!" He was silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry Syd, it's just been really busy. Getting adjusted to things over here has been a lot harder than I thought. I've really missed you." She instantly felt any hint of annoyance melting away.
"I think I overreacted just a bit… I'm sorry Vaughn. It's just been really weird, not having you around."
"Believe me, I know. So I've got about ten minutes now… tell me what's been going on."
"Have you talked to Weiss at all?"
"No, why?" She proceeded to tell him about lunch with Weiss, and his apparent spork fascination.
"Ok… I'd never heard that one before."
"He said he was going to tell you all about me not thinking sporks are brilliant." Vaughn laughed. Sydney then proceeded to tell him about Will and Francie.
"He burned them with water?"
"Yup."
"Wow… I would have loved to see that."
"It was… pretty interesting…"
"I can imagine. So have you had a lot of missions?"
"Only one, and an easy one at that."
"Really?"
"Yup. Weiss and I went to Ireland, retrieved a disk, and came home.
"Wow. That's odd."
"Well, I was told it had something to do with a decision made by three people…"
"Ooh… sorry about that…" Sydney sighed.
"It's ok. I just wish I had had a say in the matter.
"I know, I'm sorry. Oh… hold on Syd, I'll be right back." Vaughn covered the phone briefly, and she could vaguely hear him speaking to someone. Finally, he came back with a sigh.
"I'm sorry Syd, but I've got to get going. Some kind of meeting that I'm just now finding out about."
"Ooh… that's tough," she said sympathetically.
"Yeah it is. I better get to it… I'll try to call again tomorrow, or at least send you an e-mail."
"Don't stress yourself Vaughn. I promise I won't yell at you again," Sydney said teasingly.
"Gee, thanks. In that case…"
"Ooh, don't even think about it!" he laughed.
"Ok, to be serious, I'll do my best to talk to you again by the end of the week."
"Thanks. Have fun at your meeting…"
"You're not funny."
"I know."
"Good. Au revoir Sydney!" She grinned.
"Bye Vaughn." After a moment, of contemplation, Sydney walked back in, to find Will and Francie waiting expectantly.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What did Michael have to say?" Francie asked.
"What makes you think it was him?"
"Oh, Syd, please. We're not stupid," Will stated.
"I'm not, anyway," Francie amended.
"You're so mean to me," Will said, glaring at her.
"What are you going to do about it?" As they began to bicker playfully once more, Sydney took the opportunity to slip off to her room and change into jogging clothes. She then quickly left, not giving her friends the chance to protest, and began running lightly down the street. As she ran, she tried to clear her mind.
"One month down… five to go," she reminded herself. Half an hour later, she returned home to find her friends watching TV. They didn't bring up the subject of Vaughn again. The rest of the day passed with movies and board games, and Sunday was much the same. Francie only brought up the pans two more times, leading Sydney to believe that she had finally forgiven Will.
On Monday, Kendall approached Sydney first thing when she walked in.
"Meeting in fifteen. You and Weiss are going to Spain."
