ear.
"Caitlin?" the voice on the other side said.
"Hi, yes!"
"I'm so happy you called! I just got my phone back on. I dropped it in a puddle and I've been running from event to event. I just got it replaced and heard your message."
"I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat? Catch up a little? I 've got a break in about an hour."
I saw Lacey 's intent face and she mouthed ' who is that'?
' Old friend,' I mouthed back.
' Cute?'
I nodded. He was cute, I wasn 't lying.
"Perfect. Just tell me where," Rick said with enthusiasm.
He named a café on the strip that had outdoor seating. I agreed and hung up, already feeling guilty. I wasn 't using him. I would want to see him even if he didn't have a connection to the senator, but I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass, either. We didn't know what he was and Rick was someone that had close contact.
My mind drifted back to the day Rick had given me the book of Monet prints I still had. It was the first gift I 'd ever received that hadn't been an obligatory doll. It was as priceless to me as the real Monet Cormac had given me, after I'd gotten sick, that hung above my bed .
It took me ten minutes to appease Lacey 's curiosity and get her out the door and another ten to pull myself together. It wasn't a date, and I felt a little bad letting Lacey think it might be. I felt worse about meeting him for his connection to the senator. He was one of the few people I held fond memories of and the idea of using him, in any sense, bothered me.
The place I was meeting him was only a couple of blocks away but I had to get out of the casino unseen first. No one ever said I was being watched, but I didn't seem to be able to leave the casino without a tail showing up.
The ramp. My guess is Cormac had people posted near the doors that kept tabs on me , but I doubted they were watching the ramp out.
The last thing I wanted was for Cormac to come to this get together. As much as we were supposed to be working together, my past wasn 't an area I was ready to lay open for anyone. I didn't know what tidbits might slip out if he were there with me. Who would I even tell Rick he was? There were things about my past I wasn't ready to open up about, things that Rick had knowledge of.
It was a bit odd, making my way down the four story ramp designed for cars, but it was the best way out. I tried to duck near the sides every time I noticed a camera. Most of them appeared to be pointed toward the dead center of the ramp but I didn't know how wide a shot the lens might have.
Fifteen minutes later, I was searching the café for Rick. As I scanned the crowd, he stood up and waved me over to the table he had claimed in the bustling restaurant. A large, striped canopy shielded most of the patrons sitting at the tables. I walked over and before I knew what he was going to do, I was enveloped in the warmest hug I'd ever received.
"It 's so great to see you," he said, still hugging me.
"You too," I said and meant it, hugging him back. We let go and I settled into the wrought iron seat across from him.
"I ordered some food. I hope your tastes are still the same," he said, motioning toward the food in front of me. That was Rick. He hadn't ordered it to rush the lunch, he had ordered it to show he still remembered, and prove what I had meant to him. I looked down to see a turkey club on the table. It had been eight years and he never forgot.
"So , tell me what you've been up to? You look fantastic."
"Just finished up my four year degree at UNLV. I 'm thinking about Med school but decided to take a year off in between." I sipped my ice tea.
"That 's really wonderful, Caitlin."
It was so strange to hear that name , from what felt like a lifetime ago. "So how are things going with you?"
"I 've been with the senator for about a year now."
"Political life?" Sitting across café table from me in his navy blue suit with lapel pin, he looked the part.
"Yes, but with the best of
"Caitlin?" the voice on the other side said.
"Hi, yes!"
"I'm so happy you called! I just got my phone back on. I dropped it in a puddle and I've been running from event to event. I just got it replaced and heard your message."
"I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat? Catch up a little? I 've got a break in about an hour."
I saw Lacey 's intent face and she mouthed ' who is that'?
' Old friend,' I mouthed back.
' Cute?'
I nodded. He was cute, I wasn 't lying.
"Perfect. Just tell me where," Rick said with enthusiasm.
He named a café on the strip that had outdoor seating. I agreed and hung up, already feeling guilty. I wasn 't using him. I would want to see him even if he didn't have a connection to the senator, but I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass, either. We didn't know what he was and Rick was someone that had close contact.
My mind drifted back to the day Rick had given me the book of Monet prints I still had. It was the first gift I 'd ever received that hadn't been an obligatory doll. It was as priceless to me as the real Monet Cormac had given me, after I'd gotten sick, that hung above my bed .
It took me ten minutes to appease Lacey 's curiosity and get her out the door and another ten to pull myself together. It wasn't a date, and I felt a little bad letting Lacey think it might be. I felt worse about meeting him for his connection to the senator. He was one of the few people I held fond memories of and the idea of using him, in any sense, bothered me.
The place I was meeting him was only a couple of blocks away but I had to get out of the casino unseen first. No one ever said I was being watched, but I didn't seem to be able to leave the casino without a tail showing up.
The ramp. My guess is Cormac had people posted near the doors that kept tabs on me , but I doubted they were watching the ramp out.
The last thing I wanted was for Cormac to come to this get together. As much as we were supposed to be working together, my past wasn 't an area I was ready to lay open for anyone. I didn't know what tidbits might slip out if he were there with me. Who would I even tell Rick he was? There were things about my past I wasn't ready to open up about, things that Rick had knowledge of.
It was a bit odd, making my way down the four story ramp designed for cars, but it was the best way out. I tried to duck near the sides every time I noticed a camera. Most of them appeared to be pointed toward the dead center of the ramp but I didn't know how wide a shot the lens might have.
Fifteen minutes later, I was searching the café for Rick. As I scanned the crowd, he stood up and waved me over to the table he had claimed in the bustling restaurant. A large, striped canopy shielded most of the patrons sitting at the tables. I walked over and before I knew what he was going to do, I was enveloped in the warmest hug I'd ever received.
"It 's so great to see you," he said, still hugging me.
"You too," I said and meant it, hugging him back. We let go and I settled into the wrought iron seat across from him.
"I ordered some food. I hope your tastes are still the same," he said, motioning toward the food in front of me. That was Rick. He hadn't ordered it to rush the lunch, he had ordered it to show he still remembered, and prove what I had meant to him. I looked down to see a turkey club on the table. It had been eight years and he never forgot.
"So , tell me what you've been up to? You look fantastic."
"Just finished up my four year degree at UNLV. I 'm thinking about Med school but decided to take a year off in between." I sipped my ice tea.
"That 's really wonderful, Caitlin."
It was so strange to hear that name , from what felt like a lifetime ago. "So how are things going with you?"
"I 've been with the senator for about a year now."
"Political life?" Sitting across café table from me in his navy blue suit with lapel pin, he looked the part.
"Yes, but with the best of
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