Chapter 2
When Sydney stormed out of the briefing room she was so furious she didn't know what to do with herself. Weiss was trying to calm her down, when Jack approached them.
"Sydney I need to speak to you," he told her.
Weiss had a general idea what Jack wanted to talk to her about and he felt it would be best if he left them alone. "I'll see you later," he said as he gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.
"What do you want?" Sydney asked as she braced herself for the lecture she knew was coming.
"Here, you left this inside," he said as he attempted to hand her the mission brief.
"I have no intention of carrying out that mission. I would think that you would have been the first one to defend me in there. Don't tell me you think that plan can be carried out?" She said, as she refused to take the folder from him.
Jack started to tell her what he thought of the plan, but stopped when Sydney's attention was drawn toward Vaughn and Lauren, as they walked by. He realized that the middle of the Op Tech was to public of a place to say what he had to say. Sydney reluctantly followed him into his office.
Closing the door he said to her. "Sydney, this is not high school and he is not the captain of the football team."
"What is that suppose mean?" she asked, trying to keep her cool.
"It means that I do not want to ever see you act like that again," he chided her.
"Me?" she replied, miffed that her father would find fault in what she did. "What are you talking about? That plan of her's..."
"It is not 'her's.' It is the plan approved by the National Security Council," Jack pointed out.
Still not ready to concede that her behavior was anything but professional, Sydney told him, "She's the one who wrote it, along with that imbecile Lindsey."
"That is exactly what I am talking about. You're reacting with your emotions." Taking a deep breath, Jack decided to say what he had been avoiding, "Sydney, face it. You lost him. It's time for you to move on."
Sydney was appalled that her father would conclude that her objection over the mission was due to her feelings for Vaughn. "You think this is because of that?" she asked him
Jack answered her with a stare that affirmed that was what he believe her outburst was about.
Sounding indignant, Sydney justified her actions by saying, "My objection to this mission has nothing to do with my feelings for Vaughn. This plan is so full of flaws that it is dangerous. That is my only objection to it."
Jack answered his daughter by continuing to glare at her, which in turn made Sydney feel uncomfortable. She decided that it was time to leave. As she rose from her seat Jack stood in front of her and demand that she remain seated.
There was something in the way that he ordered her to remain seated that made her feel like a child in trouble for skipping school. When she reclaimed her seat she crossed one knee over the other. She let him know that she was growing impatient; by the way she swung her crossed leg. "I hope you don't plan on lecturing me about my private affairs," she said as she looked away from him.
"Private affairs? Is that what you're plan on doing, having an affair with him?" Jack inquired.
"No, of course not," Sydney said, as she put both feet on the ground and sat up straight. She was instantly sorry for her choice of words.
"Then what, Sydney? Do you plan on repeatedly insulting his wife until you convince him that she's a dunderhead and that he belongs to you?" Jack asked her as he sat on the edge of his desk, forcing her to look at him.
Sydney stood up and facing her father, she said, "You don't really think I should be taking relationship advise from you of all people, do you?"
Jack stood up also and standing only an inch from her face he calmly, but firmly, told her, "Sit down and don't get up again until I tell you to."
Frightened by the look he gave her, Sydney slowly sat back down. "Who do you...."
"You know, you can learn a lot from my mistakes," Jack said, interrupting her. Then softening his voice, he told her, "Sydney, he made his choice. Your pining after him is only going to make..."
Noticing that he wasn't getting through to her, Jack exhaled an exasperated breath and asked her, "Do you really think it's dignified to salivate after him, the way that you are?"
"How dare you! That is not what I am doing." Sydney said as she folded her arms tightly in front of her.
Jack felt a stabbing pain in his chest, as he saw the hurt in Sydney's eyes, caused by what he had said to her. In spite of the pain, he felt he had to continue. "Yes, you are. I see it every time you're in the same room with him. You want him. Your body language says that you're just waiting for him to cruel his finger in your direction, and you'll be there."
Sydney was enraged that her father would say such a thing to her. "Dad, I can't believe you're insulting me like this."
"Sydney, you're the one insulting yourself. Now you have a few choices, here. You can forget about him and move on with your life, you can offer yourself as his mistress, or...."
"Or maybe you can give me a crash course on how to shutdown my emotions, altogether?" she suggested coldly.
Jack straightened his back and Sydney saw a sheet of ice form over his eyes. It was that icy look she remembered from her childhood. "I can do that," he told her. "Here's your first lesson. First, every time you see a flower that he ever gave you, you crush it." He said as he crumbed a sheet of paper and threw it in the wastebasket.
"Encountering a man wearing his cologne could be hard to handle. It may make you physically ill the first few times, but eventually the smell of your own vomit will be more potent than the smell of the cologne."
Sydney sat stunned at the intensity with which he was talking. She tried to tell him to stop, as she realized he was recounting what he did to deal with her mother's death.
Ignoring her plea to stop, he continued, "You might also want to stop reading books. Even spy novels have love stories in them. The best thing to do is gather up as many books as you can and a cheap bottle of vodka, then have bonfire in your fireplace. You'll find great pleasure in ripping the pages out one by one and watching them disintegrate in the flames."
"All right, you can stop now. You made your point," Sydney repeated.
"No, Sydney." Jack said, as lean toward her. "I'm not done. You see, in order to really pull this off, you'll have to learn to live without music. Do you think you can do that? At first you can just stop listening to the songs that remind you of him. But eventually you figure out that there's a phrase in every song that reminds you of what you had"
"And dancing, there's no point in ever going dancing again, because no one will fit in your arms the way that she did. No one's hair will be as soft as her's, or smell as fresh as her's...," Jack inhaled sharply as he realized what he was saying.
Sydney stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders. She told him softly, "I get what you're saying, Dad. Your right. I need to pull myself together. I won't embarrass either one of us like that again. I promise."
She then picked up the folder containing the day's briefing and she left his office.
"Lauren," Sydney said, as she found her at her desk. "I want to apologize for my reaction to your briefing. Although I have issues with the plan, I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did. I assure you it won't happen again."
"Thank you." Lauren said, stunned at the sincerity of Sydney's apology.
When Sydney stormed out of the briefing room she was so furious she didn't know what to do with herself. Weiss was trying to calm her down, when Jack approached them.
"Sydney I need to speak to you," he told her.
Weiss had a general idea what Jack wanted to talk to her about and he felt it would be best if he left them alone. "I'll see you later," he said as he gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.
"What do you want?" Sydney asked as she braced herself for the lecture she knew was coming.
"Here, you left this inside," he said as he attempted to hand her the mission brief.
"I have no intention of carrying out that mission. I would think that you would have been the first one to defend me in there. Don't tell me you think that plan can be carried out?" She said, as she refused to take the folder from him.
Jack started to tell her what he thought of the plan, but stopped when Sydney's attention was drawn toward Vaughn and Lauren, as they walked by. He realized that the middle of the Op Tech was to public of a place to say what he had to say. Sydney reluctantly followed him into his office.
Closing the door he said to her. "Sydney, this is not high school and he is not the captain of the football team."
"What is that suppose mean?" she asked, trying to keep her cool.
"It means that I do not want to ever see you act like that again," he chided her.
"Me?" she replied, miffed that her father would find fault in what she did. "What are you talking about? That plan of her's..."
"It is not 'her's.' It is the plan approved by the National Security Council," Jack pointed out.
Still not ready to concede that her behavior was anything but professional, Sydney told him, "She's the one who wrote it, along with that imbecile Lindsey."
"That is exactly what I am talking about. You're reacting with your emotions." Taking a deep breath, Jack decided to say what he had been avoiding, "Sydney, face it. You lost him. It's time for you to move on."
Sydney was appalled that her father would conclude that her objection over the mission was due to her feelings for Vaughn. "You think this is because of that?" she asked him
Jack answered her with a stare that affirmed that was what he believe her outburst was about.
Sounding indignant, Sydney justified her actions by saying, "My objection to this mission has nothing to do with my feelings for Vaughn. This plan is so full of flaws that it is dangerous. That is my only objection to it."
Jack answered his daughter by continuing to glare at her, which in turn made Sydney feel uncomfortable. She decided that it was time to leave. As she rose from her seat Jack stood in front of her and demand that she remain seated.
There was something in the way that he ordered her to remain seated that made her feel like a child in trouble for skipping school. When she reclaimed her seat she crossed one knee over the other. She let him know that she was growing impatient; by the way she swung her crossed leg. "I hope you don't plan on lecturing me about my private affairs," she said as she looked away from him.
"Private affairs? Is that what you're plan on doing, having an affair with him?" Jack inquired.
"No, of course not," Sydney said, as she put both feet on the ground and sat up straight. She was instantly sorry for her choice of words.
"Then what, Sydney? Do you plan on repeatedly insulting his wife until you convince him that she's a dunderhead and that he belongs to you?" Jack asked her as he sat on the edge of his desk, forcing her to look at him.
Sydney stood up and facing her father, she said, "You don't really think I should be taking relationship advise from you of all people, do you?"
Jack stood up also and standing only an inch from her face he calmly, but firmly, told her, "Sit down and don't get up again until I tell you to."
Frightened by the look he gave her, Sydney slowly sat back down. "Who do you...."
"You know, you can learn a lot from my mistakes," Jack said, interrupting her. Then softening his voice, he told her, "Sydney, he made his choice. Your pining after him is only going to make..."
Noticing that he wasn't getting through to her, Jack exhaled an exasperated breath and asked her, "Do you really think it's dignified to salivate after him, the way that you are?"
"How dare you! That is not what I am doing." Sydney said as she folded her arms tightly in front of her.
Jack felt a stabbing pain in his chest, as he saw the hurt in Sydney's eyes, caused by what he had said to her. In spite of the pain, he felt he had to continue. "Yes, you are. I see it every time you're in the same room with him. You want him. Your body language says that you're just waiting for him to cruel his finger in your direction, and you'll be there."
Sydney was enraged that her father would say such a thing to her. "Dad, I can't believe you're insulting me like this."
"Sydney, you're the one insulting yourself. Now you have a few choices, here. You can forget about him and move on with your life, you can offer yourself as his mistress, or...."
"Or maybe you can give me a crash course on how to shutdown my emotions, altogether?" she suggested coldly.
Jack straightened his back and Sydney saw a sheet of ice form over his eyes. It was that icy look she remembered from her childhood. "I can do that," he told her. "Here's your first lesson. First, every time you see a flower that he ever gave you, you crush it." He said as he crumbed a sheet of paper and threw it in the wastebasket.
"Encountering a man wearing his cologne could be hard to handle. It may make you physically ill the first few times, but eventually the smell of your own vomit will be more potent than the smell of the cologne."
Sydney sat stunned at the intensity with which he was talking. She tried to tell him to stop, as she realized he was recounting what he did to deal with her mother's death.
Ignoring her plea to stop, he continued, "You might also want to stop reading books. Even spy novels have love stories in them. The best thing to do is gather up as many books as you can and a cheap bottle of vodka, then have bonfire in your fireplace. You'll find great pleasure in ripping the pages out one by one and watching them disintegrate in the flames."
"All right, you can stop now. You made your point," Sydney repeated.
"No, Sydney." Jack said, as lean toward her. "I'm not done. You see, in order to really pull this off, you'll have to learn to live without music. Do you think you can do that? At first you can just stop listening to the songs that remind you of him. But eventually you figure out that there's a phrase in every song that reminds you of what you had"
"And dancing, there's no point in ever going dancing again, because no one will fit in your arms the way that she did. No one's hair will be as soft as her's, or smell as fresh as her's...," Jack inhaled sharply as he realized what he was saying.
Sydney stood up and placed her hands on his shoulders. She told him softly, "I get what you're saying, Dad. Your right. I need to pull myself together. I won't embarrass either one of us like that again. I promise."
She then picked up the folder containing the day's briefing and she left his office.
"Lauren," Sydney said, as she found her at her desk. "I want to apologize for my reaction to your briefing. Although I have issues with the plan, I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did. I assure you it won't happen again."
"Thank you." Lauren said, stunned at the sincerity of Sydney's apology.