Chapter 6

She cried herself to sleep that night, feeling angry, frustrated, utterly alone and haunted by the "ghosts" from her past. She would never get over it, she thought. He would never see her again. He had been hurt too many times in the past, why would he waste time on her?

The next morning, she couldn't bring herself to stay at home. He was still there - she could feel his warming smile, hear his soft, velvety voice … Feeling more miserable, she stormed out of her house and decided to go for a drive. With no particular place to go, she just drove -- eventually, leading her to the same place that she had always been when she felt miserable. The fortune teller's. She had always seen the place on her way to work, but she hadn't seen any need to visit until today.

Years ago, she and her friend had always gone to one when they had "men" trouble. They had always felt a sense of hope after seeing one; somehow, it did ease their pain. There was one last time, years ago when they've gone together to a renowned one - featured in the Cosmopolitan magazine. They claimed he was one of the best in the LA area. They waited months to see him. When it was time to see him, he actually predicted an almost eerily similar fortune for them, that they thought he was just a fake. He predicted that they will get married and have 2 kids. Months later, it was she who got married first, then her friend next. But the kids didn't come for her, her friend in the meantime now had 2 kids.

There was one peculiar prediction that she could vividly remember -- he spoke about a future son-in-law whose hand was cut. She found that very bizarre about the hand -- that he kept repeating, like he himself couldn't comprehend.

Moments later, she was at the door. She was greeted by a petite, middle-aged lady, whose name was Lillian.

She dealt with the tarot cards, and after a moment, she asked, "Is there anything in particular that concerns you?"

"Just tell me what you see, but uh ... don't tell me if it's bad." she answered as Lillian spread the cards.

Lillian started by telling her astrological sign, which is Aries. It was true. Then she continued further.

"You're not happy. But you give that impression that you are, you're very good at pretending. You don't trust easily. You're concerned of finding another man that you can trust. You have this secret." She frowned and glanced at her. "It was awful, you've been hurt."

Astonished by this revelation, Rachel interrupted her. "Please, don't tell me anything about that." She knew too well what it was -- that's the last thing she wanted to hear at this time.

"Okay" she nodded and continued. "I see a man."

"Did I meet him already?" She could barely contain her excitement.

"Yes, you did a long time ago, but you were both hurt, in pain and angry." Lillian replied. "You met him again, recently. He had been through a lot. It was awful. Horrific." Lillian winced like she was in pain. "What does he do?"

"Uh, he's a government agent."

"Ah, that explains it." she nodded, pleased with her prediction. Then she turned and opened another card.

"Hmmm, I smell something. Did he take drugs?"

"I don't know." Rachel narrowed her eyes and gave her a curious look.

"Yes he did. It's so strong." She sniffed like she smelled something. "You like him very much. He had been deeply hurt before. He was married but he's alone now." Lillian eyed her carefully, hoping an affirmation from her. Rachel breathed in deeply and nodded.

"He had deceived other people. But he's a caring person, so much love to give, but he doesn't trust easily."

"Since I met him a week ago, I felt that he's going to change my life. I met him again yesterday. We had a nice time, but I've done something to hurt him. I'm scared to reveal my secret to him."

"This secret you're keeping really scares you, you feel ashamed. But he will understand you. He cares for you, but he's not ready yet."

"Was there anything else that you'd like to know?" Lillian asked.

"No, that will be all, I guess." Rachel replied.

"Remember, these are your cards today, it could be different tomorrow. You can change it but you have to be there."

Moments later, Rachel eagerly drove back home. She felt a little hopeful knowing that he cares for her, whether it's true or not. She'd try to call him and apologize. If he accepts, then she would do her best to reveal 'it'. Otherwise, she would have to accept that it wasn't meant to be, no matter how much she wanted it to be.

When she got home, it took her a while to pick up the phone and make that call immediately. She debated on what to say, but finally after giving it a lot of thought, she picked up the phone and dialed his home number. It rang four times before the answering machine picked up, but she didn't leave a message.

Meanwhile, Jack was at home … Chase and Kim and Angela visited him like they always do on the weekends.

He heard the phone ring and walked over to check who it was; it was Rachel's number on the caller ID. He decided not to pick it up; he didn't want to speak with her just yet. He let out a sigh of relief when she hung up without leaving a message. What happened last night was a cruel rejection. It didn't matter whether they felt a connection. He thought that he let his guard down too soon. He was sorry that he made such an attempt; he would probably never do it again. It was sad that it had to be her; she was such a nice person.

It was early Monday when she called again, about five o'clock in the morning. He was in the shower when it rang. He had remembered that she would be leaving for DC early that Monday, so she must have called before she left for the airport. This time, she left him a message ...

"Jack, this is Rachel. I know it's early, but I needed to tell you this before I go. I feel terribly sorry about the other night. It wasn't my intention to hurt you. It wasn't you. I wish there's a better way to explain it, but it's hard. I hope to speak with you ... uh soon but if you'd rather not, I'll understand. Good-bye."

Thursday at CTU ...

It had been four days since that night. He had called her yesterday at her office with the intention of keeping the call short, but they had said that she would not be back from Washington, DC till Friday.

He had to admit to himself that he misses her. He couldn't resist opening her profile just to get a glimpse of her picture. She had not said much about her husband, and this made him a little curious.

A few minutes later, he found his file. He knew this is plain snooping on his part but he had sensed something was wrong, the way she had talked about him, like she was hiding something.

His file showed a picture of a man with blond hair, 41 years old, Dutch nationality. He did work at UNHCR during the same period like Rachel did. Looking further, there was a separate report written about his death. He opened it and what he read next completely stunned him. The plane crash that Rachel told him about was a complete lie.