„Mr. Anderson?" A female voice asked as Auggie passed the security control at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany.
"That would be me." Auggie answered with a smile on his lips.
"Hello, I'm Kerstin Huber, if you don't mind I'll assist you during your layover in Germany until your plane to Eritrea leaves. Do you have any luggage, Mr. Anderson?" Kerstin asked in a very polite way.
"No, just this duffle bag. And please call me Auggie." He answered. Auggie pulled his mobile phone out of his jeans and when he turned it on, he heard an electric voice tell him: "Four missed calls. One new voicemail. "
"If you'd excuse me a second." Auggie told the woman and walked a few feet away.
He pushed some buttons until the electronic voice told him the missed calls and the voicemail came from Joan.
"This better be important." He thought and then listened to the voicemail Joan left.
"Auggie, I know you're on vacation and you're probably somewhere oversea by now, but I thought you might want to know this. Annie had been in a car accident. The emergency doctors just brought her in. I don't know what had happened or how she is doing, but be sure she'll be taken care of. Try to enjoy your vacation, I'll call you when I've got something new."
Auggie just stood there, unable to do anything. Annie had been in a car accident and Joan wanted him to enjoy his vacation. Annie had been in a car accident. His hands began to shake violently. No, this could be happening. She was out in danger every day and always got home safe. She always came back. She always came back to him.
"Mr. Anderson?... Auggie? Are you okay?" Kerstin's voice called from behind, but Auggie almost didn't her hear. Suddenly Auggie felt really weak on his knees and stumbled forward. He was able to catch himself before he hit the ground. Feminine hands pulled him upright again and steadied him, while they led him towards a chair.
"Auggie, are you okay?" Kerstin questioned once more, concern in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Auggie answered immediately. He took his mobile phone once again and dialed Joan's number. Nobody answered. He dialed again. Still no answer. He tried it one last time and received the same answer as before. "You gotta be kidding me." He mumbled to himself.
"Excuse me?" Kerstin asked confused.
"Sorry, my boss isn't picking up her phone." He explained. He heard the woman nod in comprehension. After a second he dialed Danielle's number. Auggie waited and waited. Nobody picked up. When Auggie was about to hang up he heard Danielle's voice talking.
"Hello, this is Danielle. It seems like I'm not available right now, so please leave a message and I'll call you back right away."
"Danielle, hi, it's Auggie. I've heard about Annie. Call me back ASAP. Thanks." He left the voicemail and hung up. Then he turned towards Kerstin, at least he supposed he turned to her direction.
"I need to rebook my flight." Auggie said without thinking about it twice. "I need to get back to Washington D.C."
"Alright… I'll see what I can do." Auggie could her Kerstin's confusion in her voice, but luckily she didn't ask questions.
Auggie followed Kerstin through the crowded airport to the reception where Kerstin was talking to the man behind a desk in German. Auggie wished he could understand what they were saying, but all he understood were some words and he wasn't able to reconstruct the conversation. In situations like these it was good to have an Annie Walker beside you, but this time Auggie was all by himself.
He leant his weight slightly on his cane and his thoughts drifted away. He was rebooking his flight back to the U.S without even thinking about it. Parker was waiting for him in Eritrea, he'd be able to see the woman he thought he was in love if he'd get on the plane to Eritrea now and leave. But this would mean he couldn't be there for Annie, he wouldn't even know how she was doing until Joan or Danielle decided to call him back.
Flying to Africa wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for Parker. He knew he'd spend his whole time worrying about Annie. Parker was an amazing woman, but she wasn't Annie. The realization hit him like a punch in the face. She wasn't Annie. When did he start to compare the women in his life with Annie? He did it with Liza although she just had been a mission, he did it with Tasha and Auggie was doing it right now with Parker.
"Mr. Anderson? Mr. Anderson?" Kerstin's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry, what did you just say?" Auggie answered and turned towards the female voice.
"There's an Economy class flight back to IAD at 5.40 pm tomorrow or a first class flight in one hour." Kerstin repeated for Auggie.
"I'll take the first class flight." Auggie answered immediately.
"Alright then." Kerstin answered and turned towards the man behind the desk again.
45 minutes later Auggie was seated in a comfortable first class seat. His folded up cane was placed on a table right beside him. Slowly he pulled his cell phone out of his messenger bag and dialed Joan's number again. Nobody answered. After he hung up he pressed the cool metal against his forehead. Why didn't Joan answer her phone? It's been almost three hours since Joan left the voicemail. Was she still in the hospital with Annie?
Annie. His mind always came back to her. Why? There had to be a reason. Deep inside, he already knew why. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. He was in love with Annie Walker. He was in love with his best friend. No, he couldn't feel this way for his best friend. He couldn't allow himself to fall for Annie, because he knew there wouldn't be a way out. If he messed up with Annie, he would lose the best friend he ever had, before his accident and after. Annie had too much power over him, even as best friend and he clearly didn't like it to be helpless, but this time he was. He wouldn't survive losing Annie, because he loved her.
An: I don't own Covert Affairs..
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, tell me if you like it in a review, thank you :)