Chapter 6 – To Each His Own

Abby pulled on her clean clothes and used her cell phone to call Sarah. "Can you come to the Pub with me tonight?" she asked urgently. After a pause to listen to Sarah's reply she said, "No, you can't bring Becker. Girl's night, yeah?"

Abby gathered up her dirty clothes and walked to the door as she finished her conversation, "Fine. I'll meet you at the Main Ops Room in a few minutes." She pulled open the door to find Connor standing outside. "Oh, hi," she said as she avoided looking at him.

"Abby, I'm really sorry…" he began nervously.

"It was my fault, and honestly, we're flat mates. We were bound to see each other sooner or later," she said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Connor nodded his head in agreement, "Yeah," he said with a small smile. He stared at her, desperately wanting to tell her how he felt, "Abby…"

She quickly cut him off, "Connor, I've got to go. Sarah and I are going to the Pub."

"Oh, right," he said in disappointment. "I'll be out with Jayne tonight, but I'll see you later," he called after her as she walked away.

Later that night, Connor sat in a dark theatre and listened to the crowd scream. The horror flick was only O.K., as far as he was concerned. Lots of blood and gore, but the killer was trapped in a coma and had to possess others to do the actual killing. He thought it was a waste of a bloody good actor. It did keep Jayne pressed against him though. As she hid her face against his neck for the third time in the last five minutes, Connor looked down at her. She tipped her face up and leaned in. Connor hesitated for just a second, and then lowered his head to kiss her. As Jayne snuggled closer and kissed him back, he couldn't help but feel guilty that his mind was on Abby.

Several blocks away, Abby was having a wonderful time. She was on her third pint and flirting with the cute guy Sarah had told her about. His name was Ron. He said he had just moved to the area and was looking to meet new people. He gave Abby a grin and lightly touched her arm, "Why don't we go somewhere a little less crowded," he asked shyly.

Sarah stepped in, dragging Abby away. "Excuse us for a minute," she said to Ron with a tight smile. She tugged Abby down to the opposite end of the bar and faced her. "What is wrong with you?" she asked unhappily. "I've never seen you behave this way."

"Oh, lighten up, Sarah" Abby said in drunken bliss. "Why should Connor be the only one dating?"

"Look, you should go home," Sarah said with a worried frown.

As the two women continue to talk, Ron studied Abby from across the room. He was positive now that she was the one he had seen with Temple at the anomaly earlier today. He knew exactly how drunk she was. He couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. If he got her into bed, it would definitely mess with Connor Temple's thinking… slow him down. Perfect, he thought, I'll get paid well and laid well. He fixed a pleasant expression on his face as he watched Abby shake her finger at the dark haired woman and walk toward him.

Abby laughed at the expression on Ron's face. It was so innocent. It reminded her of Connor. With a smile, she said, "It's too hot in here. You want to go to my place?"

"Sure, beautiful," Ron said expectantly.

As Abby led Ron out of the Pub, Sarah punched in a text message to Connor.