Chapter eight – Wake Up Call

Time was about hit the five am mark on a Monday morning in mid June. Robin was lying in bed asleep and so was Faith but she was more spread out on the bed. She decided to take up all the bed that night with also taking more sheets. Robin couldn't do anything about it.

A noise could be heard in the faint distance but Robin ignored it. He thought it was part of his dream. The noise grew louder slightly. Robin's eyes shot wide open and he turn to his right and looked at the night stand, the clock read 5:05 and then the sound was much louder. The phone was ringing next to the bed. He went to grab the phone and answer it.

"Who is this? What time do you think it it? You don't go calling people at this hour."

"Hey Wood."

"Man, Xander are you crazy?"

"Last time I checked no."

'Time to re-check."

"Okay I found some stuff out for you."

"Did I tell you to find out stuff for me? I don't remember could be because of the time were talking on the phone to each other."

"I'm sorry, I just had to call you to tell you something."

"Fine go ahead, so I can get back to sleep. It's been a long night, morning whatever."

"Okay well I rang up some of the places which have had ads for employment in the last month or so to see if they have had anyone under the description of Faith coming in. First I checked out the normal places you'd check, the reliable hot spots but nothing, nothing sounding like Faith. Then I rang up all the others and I think I found the place. Tate & Stevens. You heard of them?"

"No, don't think so. Hang on, we have some fliers and cards sent to us in the mail on the kitchen table, does the it have a symbol with t and s across a circle and I dunno something like that."

"Yes. They have a woman working there for them as a secretary, I think that's what they said, under the name of Faith Wood. Now I know Faith's real last name isn't Wood and okay that would be just 'really' weird if it was, anyways moving on it has to be here. It makes sense with what you've told me."

"She used my last name?"

"Yes. Yeah she did."

"Isn't the other part a bit of a shock to you? A secretary?"

"Well um Xander actually tonight Faith told me that she had been working as a secretary but she just never told me who for."

"Well why didn't you tell me sooner on the phone?"

"Hmm maybe because I just got woken up."
"Good point. But hey here's the weirder thing, I went to the Tate and Stevens website, companies these days always have websites and it said the company Faith was working for was connected and funded by the mayor of Cherster for various things."

"And this is weird because?"

"Faith worked with a mayor before."

"Yeah but this is different. How do you know she even knows that the mayor of Cherster is connected to where she is working?"

"I don't."

"Xander it's nothing. Leave it. Thanks for your help man and thanks for telling me where she works but just leave the mayor thing. I can see if something or someone makes a big deal about this is will be blown out of proportion and made bigger than it really is and I don't need that nor Faith. Things are going good between us, I don't want that ruined."

Faith turned over in bed and saw the bedside lamp turned on towards her right. She rubbed her eyes with her hands slowly. They were open now and she heard Robin talking on the phone to someone. His back was facing her. He hadn't noticed she had awaken.

"Who is it on the phone?" she asked as she sat up in bed closer to Robin.

"Is that Faith? Ask her."

"Just a second Faith. Yes it is and I'm not going to. Leave it, I don't want to talk about it again," said Robin sounding angry.

"Well I'm just warning you. Who knows if this mayor isn't evil."

"No one does but why don't you give him a chance."

"Evil is everywhere, you can't trust anyone."

"You trust me don't you? You trust Buffy. But you don't trust.."

"Don't say it."

"Robin what's going on?"

Robin turned to face Faith with the phone in his hand.

"I'm going to back to sleep now, goodnight."

Robin hanged up the phone and let Xander holding the phone up to his ear hearing a beeping noise. Xander sat at his dinner table in silence.

"Who was it on the phone?"

Robin hesitated but he looked at Faith and replied, "Xander."

"I don't understand. What, why don't you think he trusts you? What this about a mayor? You didn't tell him about the other day did you with.."

"No Faith, I didn't tell him. I would never."

Robin turned back around to face the light and put the phone down.

"I didn't think you would but I heard you mention the mayor."

"I don't think Xander trusts me about something because I believe he is wrong about it and I'd rather not talk about it with him anymore that's why I told him to leave it."

"John Monley, are you talking about the mayor John Monley? But if you were that doesn't make sense, it doesn't have anything to do with us or me," said Faith facing the wall to her left and then looked back to her right..

"John Monley?"

"Mayor of Cherster, I was watching the local news this afternoon when you were making dinner," said Faith smiling, then the smile faded, "And he was on, the mayor was on and that is when I heard his name. There was a terrible situation not far from here. This poor lady had a fit or something like that and she said she saw things that were unexplainable. Things that happened to someone in their life but not hers. It was all really weird but that's when I heard his name."

"He's the mayor of Cherster. Right."

"And that has to do with us in what way?"

Robin was going to hesitate again and Faith looked at him looking worried.

"I told you before I was worried about you when you were acting weird and leaving early in the morning and not that long ago I talked to Xander about it and tonight, well this morning he, he called me at a bloody stupid hour and told me he had found out where you were working. I had never asked him to do that, he did it himself. He found out that the company you work for Tate and Stevens was connected in some way to the mayor of Cherster and he thinks you knew."

Faith covered her face, "Oh my god."

Robin sat there in silence and was very still while studying Faith's body language.

"I promise I never knew. I swear," said Faith as she went to hold Robins hands.

"I believe you. I'm just afraid of Xander is going to do about it."

"I'm going to have to quit the job now."

"Why?"

"I can't work there. I just can't."

"But your not even working for him, it's not like."

"I know what you mean but it's different or the same. Who says he isn't evil. I could be working for the bad guy without knowing and what happens if he is and then it will look like I knew all along."

"Calm down. Your not going to quit your job. As like you said earlier your good at your job and you like it so Faith I don't see why you should quit. Don't worry about the mayor thing, it's just something small. I'm sure every mayor you come across isn't evil."

"Well yeah my mayor back in Boston wasn't evil in that sense."

"See. Your going to go into work today like everything is the same because it is. Nothing has changed Faith. If Xander mentions anything to me, I'll just tell him the same thing, it's nothing. This idea he has isn't anything and if he tries to talk to you about it tell me. I know you can handle things yourself but I want to know."

"Okay. I'll tell you."

"Good."

Faith went to lie back down in the bed, "Thanks for telling me what was going on."

Her eyelids started to close.

Robin turned off the light and got back into bed, "It's okay. You deserved to know. It's time to go to sleep now, we've got work later today."

"Yes indeed we do."

They both fell straight back to sleep.