Thank you so much to JustWriter2, who brought me back n2 reality! I forgot one
major detail that I'm going 2 add in my story that I was originally wasn't going 2
put. Thank you once again for putting me n2 reality and out of fantasy. I need it at
times like this! Lol. Anyways, here's another great chapter! Enjoy! And review if
I leave out any major details! Or if u want 2 compliment me! Ha-ha-ha.
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My mind started to race. Was Ben going to be okay? I mean, with me to warn him over the phone won't defend him in anyway, what so ever. And plus, if I call him now, he'll think it's something about Riley and come back in a flash, distracting him from his work. And I didn't want to do that. So, how were Ben and Agent Sadusky going to protect themselves if they encounter him? Then, horrid thoughts started popping into my mind. What if Ian had a better way to get to Cairo, if he knew the next clue was going to be there? What if...he had a scheme to dare I think...kill Ben? Then, kill Riley and me without even knowing it? What if...
Suddenly, I realized something very important that I was probably going to hit myself over
the head later for. I had totally forgotten about work! I mean, how could I, Abigail Chase,
forget about my high position at the National Archives? Great. I'll have to go tomorrow and
work over time. Way over time if I wanted to catch up. How was I going to ever forgive
myself for this?
'Oh, well,' my mind told me. 'You can go tomorrow and get it done. Everything will be fine.'
I drew in a deep breath and let it out. "Everything's going to be okay, Abigail. Everything
will be fine," I told myself calmly, trying to console myself. "Now, to relax." Or at least
try to.
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"Good morning, Dr. Chase," my assistant said in a somewhat happier tone than usual.
"Good morning." I walked into my office, thinking of what could be waiting on me to do
or fix. I would be engulfed with papers, finally talk to people who've been waiting on
me for I don't know how long, and take and call back to 5 million calls, it seemed like,
the entire day. Oh well. This is what I get for skipping work for a long 'break.'
I started off with a skyscraper of papers when my assistant came in again. "Need anything?
Tea? Coffee?"
"No. I'm fine." I could've used the coffee at that point in time, but I had work to do so I
could live. Who cares about coffee when you need to catch up on work so you can get
payed and not die?
There was a unusually, awkward pause before she broke the silence. "Not to butt in on your
personal life or anything, but I'm just wondering why you haven't been here in days."
I thought quickly about what to say. I couldn't just tell her, 'Oh, well, my fiancé believes
there's another part to the Templars' treasure we didn't know about, and there's proof also.
So he and the head agent of the FBI are on another continent trying to figure out the clue
while his best friend is lying around the house lazy, going to make another 'tornado' come
through the house. And addition to that, Ian, my fiance's most hated rival, has escaped from
prison, stolen the clue, and is probably now going to kill both him and the agent.' NO. I
couldn't tell her all that in detail. It was too personal for me to say out loud, although I did
share a lot of my personal thoughts and experiences with her that I haven't even told Ben.
And I'm not real sure what he'd say about them if I did. But what to say?
Then, an answer came to me. "Oh. I've been having to stay at home a lot. There has been
some...issues that have not allowed me to work recently."
"Well, okay. If you say so." She walked out of the room a little confused. Something was
telling me that she knew I was trying to hide something, but if she asked any questions,
then she thought she'd be fired in a heartbeat.
I gave out a huge sigh, thinking of what my day would bring me.
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After talking to several officials, making endless phone calls, and getting papers done that
were a mile long, I thought I should call Ben now, when no one was around to interrupt me
with some super official crisis they had to fix or else it would be the end of the world.
Maybe he's had a MUCH better day than mine's been.
I dialed his cell number on the black buttons on the phone receiver and put the phone up
to my ear, waiting on an answer. After a few rings, he answered. "Hello?" he asked in a
concerned tone.
"Hey. Where are you?"
"Well, right now, we're in Cairo trying to figure out where this clue can be." He sighed.
"We have several hunches, but so far, nothing. You?"
"I've been here at the Archives, working myself to death to catch up."
"Awwww. I'm sorry. Can I do anything to help?"
"No. I'll be fine with my super officials." I chuckled. "Listen, I wanted to call you about
something." Wonderful. My tone squeezed in a something-bad-is-going-to-happen hint
that caught him off guard.
"What's wrong, Abigail?" he questioned in an even more concerned voice.
I swallowed hard. "...Well...yesterday, right when you left, I was watching the news."
"Keep going."
"While I was watching, I discovered something..." I swallowed again. "B-bad."
"Okay. ...What was it?"
"I-I-Ian. He...he...escaped from prison...6 days ago." I felt tears fill my eyes quickly.
"WHAT? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Ben, I'm so sorry! I was going to tell you yesterday, but I didn't want to bother you!"
Tears slid down my cheeks softly. I didn't know why I was crying or why my hormones
decided to go up and down at that second, but they were while I was letting my feelings
take over me. Whether I liked it or not.
"Shhhh...shhhh..." He was doing everything to calm me down. "Everything will be okay.
Just relax."
"Ben, I can't relax! I know everything's not going to be okay. I just know." My hormones
overpowered my ability to do anything. They wouldn't let me do anything, but scream my
emotions out of me. Then, I lowered my voice into a whisper that Ben could just barely hear. "Ben, I'm so scared. I'm so scared for you."
"I know you are. And I'm just as scared as you are. I promise. Look, I've gotta go and look
some more."
"No! Please don't go!"
"Abigail, please relax. Look, I'll see you tonight at the house. Okay?"
"Okay." I didn't want him to hang up, but I had to let him.
"Alright. I'll see you tonight. Bye."
"Bye."
I hung up the phone and looked over at my computer to a confidential e-mail someone had
sent. A few minutes later, my assistant glanced into the office, seeing my eyes. Mascara had
most likely run down them, making my overall appearance to my eyes a disaster. Plus, my face was probably a wreck, not only in appearance, but in feelings. I could tell by the facial expression on her face that my face didn't appear to seem the same. A serious face. But a gloomy one.
"Are you, alright?" She had a concerned look on her face, waiting for me to give some kind
of response.
I looked up, startled by her question. "Yeah. I'm fine."
She gave me a weird look, then continued with her work as it was. When she was out of
sight, I grabbed my purse and searched through it for a mirror I had in it, which was hard
to find due to the size of it. The mirror is small, but it really does help you out in...beauty
ways let's just say. So, after about a few minutes, finally I find the thing at the bottom of
the bag. Well that's a convenient place to put something you need all the time. My fingers,
trying not to break it, carefully opened it up and showed me what I really looked like.
Turns out, I was right. My face was a mess. Especially with the mascara all messed up. This is what I hate about make-up. It stays on you perfectly fine until you cry like I did. Then that's
when it starts getting aggravating. REAL aggravating. Thankfully, I had my make-up remover
with me. I knew I wasn't going to look as clean without make-up on, but trust me. It WAS
for the better. I slipped out of the office and into the bathroom nearby. When I got into some
privacy, I started to scrub my face just as hard as right after I got back from the opening.
And just like the scrubbing I had done after the opening, light red covered my face, once
again. It didn't feel good at all, but it was worth it.
When I finally got through, I realized how much time had pasted by. I never knew that
scrubbing off make-up could take so long. But yet it only felt like 3-4 minutes. My
mind had drifted off into some other universe for one split second, so that was probably
the cause. I slipped back into my office and into my official looking chair to finish off
the long day.
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I opened up the front door in a relief. Finally, I was at home and at peace. But not for too
long. Riley had pulled it off, again. The living room was a disaster, only worse than the
first time, however. A vile odor filled all of my what-used-to-be fresh breathing air, making
it impossible to breathe. So to get to the living room without choking from the smell, I
held my breath and walked briskly into the room so I would have oxygen in a decent time.
I breathed hard several times. "Riley, why does the house smell so disgusting?" My
words demanded for an answer, but he didn't even seem to care.
"I don't smell anything. Why are you making such a big deal about it, anyways?"
"Because..." My words suddenly trailed off when I saw a pair of what seemed to be damp
socks and his sneakers. "Just...never mind." I walked back to the front door and outside, now furious at Riley. He making the house smell bad, after I told him to keep the house in
at least decent condition? That was just so...irresponsible of him. Then, again, I shouldn't
have left him here while I went to work. That was a bad decision to make from the start. I sighed, thinking of several possible ways to get rid of the odor when Ben's car showed up and pulled into the driveway. I sighed in both happiness and somewhat relief as he got out of the car and started to walk towards me.
Before I could even speak, he had something to say. "You'll will never guess where the
next clue is located," he said plainly.
"Is that saying that whether you give me my three guesses or not that I'll never figure it out?"
"Exactly."
"Okay, then. Where?"
"Mount Vernon."