Due to popular demand (okay, four reviews) I've decided to add two more chapters to this fiction. This one is set before Shalimar and the girl meet and its from the girls point of view.
Thanks for the really nice reviews and I hope this just explains things a little bit better. Please review again.
***
She looked up from the table she was wiping down as the five men entered the diner. They were all dressed in plain suits with black ties, regulation shoes and trenchcoats. She immediately lowered her head again, errant strands of hair falling in front of her face and wiped the table swiftly before turning and walking into the kitchen, out of view of the main restaurant area. She leaned against the tiled wall and tried to stabilize her breathing. She closed her eyes and felt her lungs slow down to a normal rate as did her heart.
'Table five!'
She jumped as the shout rang out. Table five was one of her tables and she instinctively pushed the swing doors open to go take the orders of the tables inhabitants. Her eyes widened as she saw the five men sitting in the chairs around the table. They noticed her standing in the doorway and signaled her over. She wanted to run, she wanted to hide, she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. She wished she could just fly away and never come back. She would never land, never give people the opportunity to screw her over or try and shut her away for all eternity in a little box or cage.
One foot moved in front of the other as she made her way through the maze of diners. The men looked up as she stood at the end of the table closest to the door. She didn't know if they were there for her or someone else, or if they were simply taking a lunch break but years of being chased had made her paranoid and able to find the best escape point in any room.
'What can I get you?' she asked, hoping that they hadn't noticed the stumble in her voice.
'Three hamburgers, two cheeseburgers, fries to go with all of those and cokes all round.'
She collected their menus from them and walked away as quickly as she could. She placed the slip of paper with their orders on the ledge between the restaurant and the kitchen and walked through the swing doors again. She looked at her hand in suprise as she realised that she was shaking, almost uncontrollably.
'I'm gonna take my break now, okay?' she said as she yanked the greasy white apron over her head.
'Yeah. See you back here in 15 minutes.'
She shoved the back door open and walked out into the alley, relishing the fresh feeling of air brushing against her skin. She walked forward a couple of steps into the middle of the street and stood there, reveling in the freedom. Clearly the men hadn't been looking for her, or if they had they didn't know what she looked like. With a smile she lifted her hand to touch her hair. In all the excitement of the moment she had completely forgotten about her disguise. She touched the blonde hair that adorned her head, not hers but it looked pretty good anyway. She had purchased the wig when she had moved to Los Angeles in an effort to lose the GSA. It had worked thus far, but seeing the agents in her place of work had brought home the idea that she was in no way invincible just because she was wearing a costume. They were getting closer to finding her, the net around her was closing and she had to get away, move on. Time to leave yet again, just like always.
But she now had no idea of where she was going to go. She had always prided herself on her independent nature, on her ability to look after herself. But this time she was going to have to ask for a little help. And she knew just the people.
***
She flicked the light switch and suddenly the bathroom was illuminated. She padded across to the sink with the mirror hanging above it and looked at the girl looking right back at her. Thick brown hair hung over each shoulder, huge blue eyes stared back at her and pouty lips opened to release a sigh that misted the mirror for a split second. She leant over the basin and removed the blue contact lenses, another aspect of her disguise. As she raised her head to look back into the mirror she saw the chocolate brown eyes she recognized so well.
The sound of running water filled the small room and gradually the basin filled with the hot liquid. She splashed it onto her face and dried it gently. Now she could see the dark shadows underneath her eyes. She hadn't slept properly in weeks, too afraid to really rest even for a couple of hours. She lowered her shoulders and felt the muscles relaxing. It was painful, they had been tense for so long. She removed the various rings that adorned her fingers and placed them in a little bowl on the side of the basin. The clink rang loud in her ears.
She turned off the light and walked back into the main room which made up her lounge, kitchen and bedroom. She hadn't bothered making the place look any good. She had always figured that she wouldn't be there long enough to appreciate it. Comfort wasn't an issue in the life of a fugitive.
She lay down on the bed that was right next to the window just in case she needed to make a quick exit. She lay her head against the lumpy pillow and felt her eyes drifting closed, despite her best efforts at keeping them open. She was tired beyond the telling of it but couldn't bear to sleep for long. She knew that she would wake up at one, three and five at which point she would decide to give up on the whole sleeping thing as a lost cause.
***
The light shone on her face and slowly brought her into the world of the conscious. She blinked a couple of times before her eyes managed to adjust to the brightness. She looked across at her mobile and saw that it was 7:15. She frowned. She had slept in and hadn't woken up once during the night. Clearly the new beginning thing was keeping her more relaxed than usual. She had stupidly let her guard down and she quickly pushed the covers off her body. She felt the cold atmosphere assaulting her body but forced herself to get up regardless. She stumbled towards the bathroom, the usual early morning blurriness causing her to walk like someone who had moved back a couple of stages in the process of evolution.
She turned the faucet and water instantly rushed out of the shower head. She stripped down to nothing and climbed into the bath feeling the boiling hot water falling onto her body. She leant her head back and pushed her hair out of her face so that it all streamed down her back en masse. The water splashed against her face and she gave herself up to it, wishing that all her problems could be gotten rid of quite as easily as the dirt being washed from her body.
Eventually she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She dried herself off and pulled some clothes on. She had until 3:50 that afternoon, when the Greyhound was leaving for Calgary. That journey would take 19 hours and she would then have to switch to the bus heading out of Calgary into Vancouver. That would take another 15 hours. She hated having to do the longer journey but there had been no buses going straight there and she didn't want to wait around in LA for longer than she had to. She would rather be on the move.
She knelt on the hard wood floor and leant down, reaching her arm under her bed to drag out her backpack. She pulled it out and started shoving the few pieces of clothing she had into it. She swept all the treasures that she had with her into a separate pocket and zipped it shut. She looked around her and saw a room, any room belonging to anyone. There was nothing left to show that she had been there except a couple of strands of hair carrying her extraordinary DNA.
She picked the keys up off the table and walked towards the front door that led out onto a badly lit hallway. She poked her head around the opening and seeing no evidence of people she walked out, pulling the door closed behind her. She heard the click and silently made her way down the hall, pausing to post the key through the door of the super. She carried on moving stealthily down the hallway and finally reached the stairs leading down to the hall below. She smiled at the sight of the dingy brown walls. Without meaning to she had come to see this place as home. She hated that people she didn't know anything about were forcing her to run from everything she held dear. Her original home had been left behind a long time ago as had countless apartments and deserted houses. She had never had the opportunity to settle down, had never had enough courage or time to make friends. She felt the anger welling up inside her like a fountain being switched on. She couldn't stand that her life sucked so much because of people who had realised what a mistake they had made and had decided that the best way to remedy this problem was to capture and kill the mistakes. That was their solution. It was barbaric and cruel and if she ever got a chance to get her own back she would kill them all, of that she was certain.
***
The hard plastic of the bus lobby dug into her back. She had been waiting a few minutes for her bus to be called. She was nervous and restless and desperately wanted to get moving, to be on her way. She could smell the coffee and sandwiches of the people around her. They were a complete mixture of students, business men, husbands and wives with their kids in tow presumably going on vacation or to visit family. She wished she could switch places with any person in the terminal. She would have loved to have been a student going to university. She would have majored in English if she had have had the opportunity. She would have loved to be an entrepreneur, running her own business. But most of all she would have loved that she could have found someone that she wanted to share her life with, someone she could have had a family with. She understood why she could never have that but she wasn't ashamed to admit that she was bitter about it.
The announcement came over the loudspeakers and she lifted her bag off the floor and slung it over her shoulder. She walked out of the air conditioned lobby into the warm LA air, full of smog as per usual. She looked at the rows of buses until she found hers and walked purposefully towards it. She handed her ticket to the conductor and smiled as he handed it back to her. She climbed up the steps and found a seat by itself. She didn't want to have to make small talk with other passengers. She just wanted to put her headphones into her ears and drown out the outside world and all the crap it brought with it.
Thanks for the really nice reviews and I hope this just explains things a little bit better. Please review again.
***
She looked up from the table she was wiping down as the five men entered the diner. They were all dressed in plain suits with black ties, regulation shoes and trenchcoats. She immediately lowered her head again, errant strands of hair falling in front of her face and wiped the table swiftly before turning and walking into the kitchen, out of view of the main restaurant area. She leaned against the tiled wall and tried to stabilize her breathing. She closed her eyes and felt her lungs slow down to a normal rate as did her heart.
'Table five!'
She jumped as the shout rang out. Table five was one of her tables and she instinctively pushed the swing doors open to go take the orders of the tables inhabitants. Her eyes widened as she saw the five men sitting in the chairs around the table. They noticed her standing in the doorway and signaled her over. She wanted to run, she wanted to hide, she wanted the floor to swallow her whole. She wished she could just fly away and never come back. She would never land, never give people the opportunity to screw her over or try and shut her away for all eternity in a little box or cage.
One foot moved in front of the other as she made her way through the maze of diners. The men looked up as she stood at the end of the table closest to the door. She didn't know if they were there for her or someone else, or if they were simply taking a lunch break but years of being chased had made her paranoid and able to find the best escape point in any room.
'What can I get you?' she asked, hoping that they hadn't noticed the stumble in her voice.
'Three hamburgers, two cheeseburgers, fries to go with all of those and cokes all round.'
She collected their menus from them and walked away as quickly as she could. She placed the slip of paper with their orders on the ledge between the restaurant and the kitchen and walked through the swing doors again. She looked at her hand in suprise as she realised that she was shaking, almost uncontrollably.
'I'm gonna take my break now, okay?' she said as she yanked the greasy white apron over her head.
'Yeah. See you back here in 15 minutes.'
She shoved the back door open and walked out into the alley, relishing the fresh feeling of air brushing against her skin. She walked forward a couple of steps into the middle of the street and stood there, reveling in the freedom. Clearly the men hadn't been looking for her, or if they had they didn't know what she looked like. With a smile she lifted her hand to touch her hair. In all the excitement of the moment she had completely forgotten about her disguise. She touched the blonde hair that adorned her head, not hers but it looked pretty good anyway. She had purchased the wig when she had moved to Los Angeles in an effort to lose the GSA. It had worked thus far, but seeing the agents in her place of work had brought home the idea that she was in no way invincible just because she was wearing a costume. They were getting closer to finding her, the net around her was closing and she had to get away, move on. Time to leave yet again, just like always.
But she now had no idea of where she was going to go. She had always prided herself on her independent nature, on her ability to look after herself. But this time she was going to have to ask for a little help. And she knew just the people.
***
She flicked the light switch and suddenly the bathroom was illuminated. She padded across to the sink with the mirror hanging above it and looked at the girl looking right back at her. Thick brown hair hung over each shoulder, huge blue eyes stared back at her and pouty lips opened to release a sigh that misted the mirror for a split second. She leant over the basin and removed the blue contact lenses, another aspect of her disguise. As she raised her head to look back into the mirror she saw the chocolate brown eyes she recognized so well.
The sound of running water filled the small room and gradually the basin filled with the hot liquid. She splashed it onto her face and dried it gently. Now she could see the dark shadows underneath her eyes. She hadn't slept properly in weeks, too afraid to really rest even for a couple of hours. She lowered her shoulders and felt the muscles relaxing. It was painful, they had been tense for so long. She removed the various rings that adorned her fingers and placed them in a little bowl on the side of the basin. The clink rang loud in her ears.
She turned off the light and walked back into the main room which made up her lounge, kitchen and bedroom. She hadn't bothered making the place look any good. She had always figured that she wouldn't be there long enough to appreciate it. Comfort wasn't an issue in the life of a fugitive.
She lay down on the bed that was right next to the window just in case she needed to make a quick exit. She lay her head against the lumpy pillow and felt her eyes drifting closed, despite her best efforts at keeping them open. She was tired beyond the telling of it but couldn't bear to sleep for long. She knew that she would wake up at one, three and five at which point she would decide to give up on the whole sleeping thing as a lost cause.
***
The light shone on her face and slowly brought her into the world of the conscious. She blinked a couple of times before her eyes managed to adjust to the brightness. She looked across at her mobile and saw that it was 7:15. She frowned. She had slept in and hadn't woken up once during the night. Clearly the new beginning thing was keeping her more relaxed than usual. She had stupidly let her guard down and she quickly pushed the covers off her body. She felt the cold atmosphere assaulting her body but forced herself to get up regardless. She stumbled towards the bathroom, the usual early morning blurriness causing her to walk like someone who had moved back a couple of stages in the process of evolution.
She turned the faucet and water instantly rushed out of the shower head. She stripped down to nothing and climbed into the bath feeling the boiling hot water falling onto her body. She leant her head back and pushed her hair out of her face so that it all streamed down her back en masse. The water splashed against her face and she gave herself up to it, wishing that all her problems could be gotten rid of quite as easily as the dirt being washed from her body.
Eventually she got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She dried herself off and pulled some clothes on. She had until 3:50 that afternoon, when the Greyhound was leaving for Calgary. That journey would take 19 hours and she would then have to switch to the bus heading out of Calgary into Vancouver. That would take another 15 hours. She hated having to do the longer journey but there had been no buses going straight there and she didn't want to wait around in LA for longer than she had to. She would rather be on the move.
She knelt on the hard wood floor and leant down, reaching her arm under her bed to drag out her backpack. She pulled it out and started shoving the few pieces of clothing she had into it. She swept all the treasures that she had with her into a separate pocket and zipped it shut. She looked around her and saw a room, any room belonging to anyone. There was nothing left to show that she had been there except a couple of strands of hair carrying her extraordinary DNA.
She picked the keys up off the table and walked towards the front door that led out onto a badly lit hallway. She poked her head around the opening and seeing no evidence of people she walked out, pulling the door closed behind her. She heard the click and silently made her way down the hall, pausing to post the key through the door of the super. She carried on moving stealthily down the hallway and finally reached the stairs leading down to the hall below. She smiled at the sight of the dingy brown walls. Without meaning to she had come to see this place as home. She hated that people she didn't know anything about were forcing her to run from everything she held dear. Her original home had been left behind a long time ago as had countless apartments and deserted houses. She had never had the opportunity to settle down, had never had enough courage or time to make friends. She felt the anger welling up inside her like a fountain being switched on. She couldn't stand that her life sucked so much because of people who had realised what a mistake they had made and had decided that the best way to remedy this problem was to capture and kill the mistakes. That was their solution. It was barbaric and cruel and if she ever got a chance to get her own back she would kill them all, of that she was certain.
***
The hard plastic of the bus lobby dug into her back. She had been waiting a few minutes for her bus to be called. She was nervous and restless and desperately wanted to get moving, to be on her way. She could smell the coffee and sandwiches of the people around her. They were a complete mixture of students, business men, husbands and wives with their kids in tow presumably going on vacation or to visit family. She wished she could switch places with any person in the terminal. She would have loved to have been a student going to university. She would have majored in English if she had have had the opportunity. She would have loved to be an entrepreneur, running her own business. But most of all she would have loved that she could have found someone that she wanted to share her life with, someone she could have had a family with. She understood why she could never have that but she wasn't ashamed to admit that she was bitter about it.
The announcement came over the loudspeakers and she lifted her bag off the floor and slung it over her shoulder. She walked out of the air conditioned lobby into the warm LA air, full of smog as per usual. She looked at the rows of buses until she found hers and walked purposefully towards it. She handed her ticket to the conductor and smiled as he handed it back to her. She climbed up the steps and found a seat by itself. She didn't want to have to make small talk with other passengers. She just wanted to put her headphones into her ears and drown out the outside world and all the crap it brought with it.