Chapter 4

Sawyer got a headache when the inconvenient sound of the alarm clock woke him up. He moved in bed trying to find himself in the space-time zone. The alarm continued buzzing.

"Son of a bitch!"- he cursed and turned in bed, his hand touched the night table trying to turn off the alarm without success. He raised his body so fast from the bed that he ended up hitting his head in the night table corner.

- Bloody hell! - he screamed taking his hand straight to the spot in his head where the pain as unbearable at that moment and with the other hand he finally turned off the alarm.

Sawyer sat in bed and noticed that he was naked. Suddenly, flashbacks from his crazy night with the girl he had met at Cocktail Bar invaded his mind.

- Ana... – he whispered.

He hugged the pillow looking for the smell of her essence and smiled. It hasn't been a dream after all. She had been there.

- Ana!- he called her noticing that the washroom door was half open. But there was no answer. He stood up and went to the washroom but she wasn't there. He sighed frustrated. Maybe she had left to get them some breakfast?

Suddenly a bad thought came to his mind. What if she was a con just like him? What if she was used to go from bar to bar seducing men just to runaway in the middle of the night taking their belongs?

"Damn it!"- Sawyer yelled and went to look for his wallet. It was in the same place where he had left before, inside his jacket pocket. He opened it and found everything in order, cash and credit cards. She hasn't taken anything after all.

Sawyer felt relieved. A plane ticket that was carefully folded inside his jacke pockett reminded him that he had a flight to catch back to LA. But he really wanted to know why she left without saying good-bye. He had asked her to be there by morning but she hasn't promised him anything.

"What an amazing woman!"- He told himself.

He decided to look around the bedroom for any note she could possibly have left for him, a telephone number, anything but he found nothing. He took a shower then and got ready to go to the airport.

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Ana-Lucia woke up feeling Sawyer's muscular arm around her waist. She sighed with pleasure and stretched comfortably in bed. The bedroom was completely dark. She had no idea what time was but she didn't care about it. All she wanted was to stay in bed with him enjoying the moment and not think about anything. She closed her eyes again trying to get back to sleep and a whispered voice made her open her eyes again.

- Sara?

Ana looked at Sawyer, sleeping beside her. She heard his deep breathing showing that he was asleep. She closed her eyes again.

- Sara?

The same voice. She turned in bed and looked around.

- Sara?- the voice sounded directly in her ear now and she shuddered. She felt scared. She got out of bed. Sawyer's arm fell heavy on the spot she was laying before but he didn't wake up. She quickly looked for her clothes and got dressed. She was feeling confused.

Suddenly a man showed up in front of her.

"Tom!"- she said. "What are you doing here? How did you...?"

"Sara, tell him, please. - Tom spoke. His eyes were sad. "Tell him my son that I love him…tell him!"

"Tom you should tell him yourself!"- Ana said.

"Tell my son that I love him!"- Tom repeated.

Ana-Lucia suddenly opened her eyes. She felt that her soul was transported back to her body so fast that she could barely breath in the first few seconds of her suddenly awake.

"Tom..."- she whispered when she caught her breath back. "Damn it, Tom!"

She got up. She looked for her clothes and locked herself in the bathroom. She called a taxi from her cellphone. Then she put her shoes on and arranged her hair with her fingers. Before she left she gave one last look to the handsome, fun, charming and in a certain way romantic man she had met at the Cocktail Bar. Ana blowed him a kiss and left.

The taxi took her back to the building where she had been previously with Sawyer. Ana went to the parking lot and got her car. She drove back to the hotel where she was staying with Tom. The dream she had had with him disturbed her a lot and she needed to know if he was alright.

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Sawyer made one last attempt to find the girl on his way to the airport. He asked the taxi driver to stop at the building where he had been the previous night with her. He knew she had left her car there. But when he went to the parking lot he didn't find it. He remembered its color, the model and even the plate license number of her car. He felt pathetic. He went back to the taxi and continued his way to the airport.

He spent some time lost in his thoughts, thinking about the girl and the night they had together. It was one of the best nights of his life and she didn't bother to leave him a note. He felt sad but also angry. A woman had never disappeared on him before, usually he was the one that would do that. Maybe he was being punished, he thought.

"What did you think o Sidney?"- the taxi driver asked.

"It's a big city like any other one."- Sawyer said not very interested in the driver's conversation.

"Tourism or business?"

"Business that went wrong I must say."

"But did you have time to do anything interesting?"

"You know, I'm not the tourist kind of guy. But I met a girl last night. Beautiful and intelligent…"

"Then the trip was worth it."- the taxi driver commented.

"It worth it a lot!"- Sawyer agreed.

"Are you seeing her again?"- the driver dared to ask.

"I don't think so. - Sawyer said. "Probably what fascinated me about her all was the mystery she represented to me from the moment we met. Maybe if I see her again in the daylight I'll realize she's just common."

"Or maybe you are afraid that she'd realize that about yourself."- the driver said.

"Man, are you sure that you are a taxi driver? You seem like a damn therapist to me."

The man laughed.

"Taxi drivers and bartenders are the best therapists in the world."

"I'll remember that."- Sawyer said. He paid the driver and took his only suitcase from the truck. Then he walked towards the gate of the Oceanic Airlines.

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"What do you mean he left the hotel?"- Ana-Lucia asked. She was very surprised when the hotel manager told her that Tom had paid the bill and left.

"He left the hotel in the middle of the night, miss. - the manager calmly said. He was obviously ignoring her concerns. "And since Mr. Tom paid the hotel's bill I'd like to ask you if you'd like to extend your staying with us or if you have other plans?"

Ana-Lucia sighed. No, she didn't have other plans. All she wanted was to go back to the States but to get a flight to leave that same day would be a challenge. She was feeling so mad at Tom for disappearing like this. She felt angrier to herself for making the stupid decision of following him to Australia. What did she know about him after all?

"Miss?"- the manager brought her back from her thoughts. "Would you like to extend your stay?"

"No.- Ana-Lucia answered. "I'll go back to my room to get my stuff."

"As you wish, miss."- the manager said. "Oh, Mr. Tom left you this envelope."- he revealed showing her a white envelope that had the name Sara on the back of it.

Ana held the envelope and told the manager without hiding the frustration in her voice:

"You're not going to tell me his real name, right?"

The manager shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Sara but I can only tell you that this is not the first time that Mr. Tom ask us to preserve his identity.

"My name is Ana-Lucia"- she said before leaving the reception towards the elevators thinking about her options.

When she got back to the bedroom she opened the envelope and saw the generous cheque that Tom had left her as payment for her bodyguard services. It was higher than the cheque he previously had offered her.

"Fuck it!"- she exclaimed. She had made her decision. She got her cell phone and called the Oceanic Airlines. "Hello? When is the next flight to Los Angeles? In six hours?...Yes, do you still have any seats for this flight?..ok, yes, is it full?...oh there was a canceling?...back seat? Alright, I'll take it. What can I do?...I'll buy on my visa, can you give me a second?-_she asked looking for her credit card in her wallet.

Ana bought her ticket and decided she'd stop at the bank to deposit Tom's cheque in her account before heading to the airport.

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Sawyer mentally read the document that he had just got from the immigration sector right after presenting his passport in the window towards the boarding gate.

"You don't have permission to re-enter Australia due to bad conduct and breaking the law number…"

"Go to hell!"- he whispered. He wouldn't take good memories from Australia except the wonderful night with the girl he had met at the bar. He was still upset that she had left without saying good-bye but he knew that the best way to heal his heart was to go to a bar in Los Angeles, have a few drinks and meet other girls.

The world was full of beauties and he still considered himself charming enough to attract the right girls. Maybe he would find a new wife married to a very rich husband, bored with life, dreaming about a romance she never had. That thought made Sawyer feel a lot better.

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A few hours later, Ana-Lucia arrived at the airport and did her check-in at the Oceanic Airlines booth. She frowned when she read the number of her seat in the ticket: 42 F. "Right on top of the wheels", she thought.

She checked her watch and there was still about an hour to board. She decided to call her mother.

"Hello?"- Teresa's voice sounded sleepy.

"Did I wake you?"

"No.- Theresa answered. "I was just having a nap. I went to your house last night but you weren't there. I was hoping to take you for dinner…"

"Mom."- Ana-Lucia said in a sad voice. "I'm at the Sidney Airport."

"Sidney, Australia?"- Teresa asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Ana you've been missing for a week, hija. I called you many times, to your house and your cell phone. You never answered. How long have you been in Sidney?"

"A few days, mom."- Ana told her. "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you about my trip to Sidney but now it doesn't matter anymore. I just want to go home. I need help to deal with that situation, what I've done was a mistake…"- he voice was tearful. "I just want to go home, mama..."

"Then come home, mi hija. What is your flight?"

"Flight 815 Oceanic Airlines."

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The flight departed at the right time, no delays. Sawyer turned on the light in his cabin. He looked at some magazines offered to the clients for a few minutes. He threw the magazine away.

"It's going to be along trip.". he thought. He closed his eyes, images of himself making love to Ana-Lucia came to his mind and helped him to fall asleep.

Sawyer suddenly felt a bump under his seat, an emergency mask fell over his face. The sound of an alarm was whistling with no stop. He took a deep breath inside the mask, pushing it tight against him. He closed his eyes again hoped for the best and waited for the worst.

To be continued…