A brunette girl laden in a feminine black suit tapped Charlotte Lewis on the shoulder. Red-headed Charlotte whirled around, almost spilling the hor d'oeuvres all over her. The lady smirked. "Your shift is over." She said, snatching the tray from Charlotte, whose grey eyes widened in surprise. Pathetically, she walked up the grand staircase, pressing her ear to every door until she heard the muffled voices of her colleagues and knocked.
" 'oo eez it?" Cooed Annie, putting on her accent.
"Charlotte."
In a split second, the two women opened the door, sucking Charlotte in. She turned on the lights, seeing the sisters, both dressed in evening gowns, sitting near the closeted curtains.
"I'm not a server, I'm a bloody anthropologist!" Charlotte complained, tossing her apron at the window. She then composed herself, looking both of them up and down. "I could have picked out a nice emerald dress and been the life of the party-"
Juliet smiled warmly. "Nice to see you, Charlotte."
Charlotte nodded. "Widmore hasn't arrived yet. He was on the guest list. So was the Mercenary group." She grabbed a chair and sat down. "So, how did you get off-"
"The island?" Annie said, rolling her eyes over to Juliet. "She won't tell."
"Did it have anything to do with Tunisia?" Charlotte asked giddily.
Juliet spread a modest smile on her face. "No."
"You should have seen her when she found that polar bear in the middle of the Sahara." Annie commented, folding her hands over her satiny cream dress. "I thought the heat was getting to her or something."
Charlotte laughed, and then let her facetious tone fade. " The island disappeared. We got picked up by a fishing schooner after about 12 hours, and….that was it." She rolled her pale freckled hands in knots. "Nadia was murdered three days ago."
Juliet's mouth gaped silently in terror. "Where-"
Annie picked up her question. "She was on her way to Sri Lanka. We were going to meet her at Port L'ovrea and then make our way here." A sullen expression overcame Charlotte and Annie as they exchanged glances. "She didn't even make it to the Los Angeles airport." Juliet's hand met her mouth in a fixed glance of sorrow as she revealed something herself. "Ben moved the island."
Annie looked up from the floral couch where she winded tissues like croissants. "And where would he be now?" She asked grimly.
A scream interrupted the three acquaintances, erupting into their ears, as they could hear bullets firing downstairs. Peering outside, the three women could see people ducking down, as a group of men ran through the maze of bushes in the courtyard, towards the embassy. Thinking quickly, Annie grabbed the candelabra and shoved it between the two handles of the door, locking them in the room just as the door surged forward under the weight of Widmore's mercenaries. Charlotte's head darted in all directions, searching for a plan of escape. Juliet quickly opened the window, looking down from her two-story place of stand. It had to be nearly 30 feet to the ground. The soldiers again pushed against the steadfast door, cracking the candelabra.
"Jump!" Juliet said, as Annie looked off in a trance at the picture on the far wall of the posh sitting room. Tearing her dress, Juliet hurried her friend to the window ledge, and pushed her off, into the courtyard just as the door burst open.
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"We're leaving." Annie said softly, as she eyed her periwinkle converses that limply hung from the swings. Sixteen year old Benjamin Linus looked over to her, loving concern on his quiet face. She only glanced up at him, innocent freckles beaming in the humid sun, and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Dad's getting married next month. He's already got a job in Portland." She bit her lip so hard that it went numb. "She's really nice." Annie tried to force a hopeful look on Ben, but it turned out only as the most sorrowful expression he had ever seen, pathetically trying to be feigned by a transparent mask of joy.
"Y-you're not coming back, are you?" Ben asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"No." Tears pricked at her eyes. "No, Ben, we're not." A long pause. Ben stood up, and stood in front of her on the swing. Annie looked up at the blue skies, grasped the swing, standing up on her toes.
"You know he's leaving because of…" She was lost for words as she saw his pure blue eyes watery as well. "They can't be trusted, Ben."
"Trust me, Annie. They'll be gone." He took her hands as she shut her eyes, trying to compose herself. "Just a few more years of them…of this."
"No." She opened her tear stricken eyes with zealous determination. "I've had enough. You know what they're doing; I know what they're doing. And my father is being smart for not wanting to be here when they all doom themselves…" She looked around at the empty barracks, and quickly kissed him on the lips. "You'll be wise enough to escape." She whispered. "I don't want to leave you here." She turned away, hoping that he wouldn't see her crying, and lifted the swing over her head, letting his hand go from hers.
"You can't leave!" Ben cried suddenly. Annie was almost half-way to her house as she turned around, flushed red with tears. He ran up to her awkwardly, stared at her for a long moment, before pulling her into his embrace. Their fingers entwined as she rested her head on his shoulder, before hesitantly leaning in to kiss him, and then backing away. Her brown eyes searched his, before she finally sighed and turned around, running to her house.
It was the last time Ben had ever seen Annie.