I don't know how I skipped one but I only just saw that it's missing.
When they get home Rachel isn't tired yet so they just sit together and chat for a couple of hours. “I want to change, but not for a while. A couple of years maybe. So I've got time to do a few things. Maybe I'll go on holiday somewhere far away for a couple of weeks just so I can say I've been there. Shame you can't go with me.”
“I'd have to go in a box or something, and then I'd have to get through customs. Can you imagine if they tried to open a crate with a cold, bruised and fed up vampire in it in customs?”
“Huh, yeah.” She can hear Rachel's heart beating slower and slower and she falls asleep and she thinks again about Rachel being her mate. “You ok? You've gone quiet.” She moves and Rachel asks what's wrong. “Just thinking a bit about what would have happened if I'd found a mate like Glade with Raine.”
“You'd probably be the same.”
“Not quite. If Brock had chosen me he probably wouldn't have changed Quercia, which means Angelo wouldn't have been changed either. Then I wouldn't have known either of them, then I wouldn't live here because Quercia wouldn't have been around to tell me about here.” She notices that Rachel is asleep and laughs, then carries her to the bed in the spare room. “I can't be alone forever.” She leaves Rachel to sleep and stays up watching tv till her favourite channel closes down and goes to bed.
When Fulmine closes her own door Rachel wakes up and panics for a few seconds because she doesn't remember where she is. Once she calms down she decides to just go. Fulmine isn't around and she doesn't want to disturb her so she just leaves a note. She sees a bus stop at the end of the road and sees a familiar number on it, so rides out to the coast to get breakfast in her favourite place. She slips in without making the bell above the door ring and sits down where she can see the water. Her friend sees her and wanders over. “Tea and fried bread?”
“Oh, Hi Sandy, yeah, tea and fried bread please. You're not usually here early.”
“Greg's on holiday so I swapped shifts. I haven't seen you around here for a while.”
“I know, sorry about that.”
“What you thinking about this time? Is he cute?”
“Not really cute, but he's....different.”
“Looking forward to hearing all about him. Is it any use asking you to have something a bit more healthy for breakfast?” She smiles and laughs.
“No chance. Maybe I'll try to hunt down an apple on my way home. Does it count if it's in a pie?”
“I don't think apple pie counts as fruit. I won't be long.”
“Thanks Sandy.”
“I haven't done anything yet.” She smiles again, then remembers that if she changed, she probably wouldn't want fried bread any more, so she wouldn't want to come here any more, and she'd probably miss Sandy. It isn't long till Sandy brings her food over. “Come on then, tell me all about him.”
“Well, he's different, but he's what I've been looking for. I like his friend too.”
“So what's he like?”
“She, and she's his cousin.”
“I've heard that before. Remember when we went to pizza hut and you told me she was your cousin.”
“It's not like that, he definitely doesn't love her. He loves someone else.”
“Best not bothering with him if he loves someone else.”
“Oh, he can't be with her, she's sort of not here.”
“I get it. Heartbroken and looking for love, then you wandered into his life and filled the hole.”
“I guess. I was just thinking, he asked me something big and I don't know if I should say yes or no.”
“Oh honey you should do what your heart says.”
“That's the problem, my heart is right in the middle. If I accept, everything will change, if I don't, nothing will ever change.”
“You know that saying about fish and the sea?”
“Yeah.”
“So look for someone who won't ask you to change.”
“But I want to change. I don't want to be like this forever. If I accept, I can stay with him, and if it doesn't work I know I'll be able to find love somewhere else, but if I stay the same I won't know.”
“Tell you what, if you're right in the middle, and there's no way you can decide, flip a coin and go with that.”
“How would that work? A coin wouldn't know what's best.”
“No, but it would stop you trying to tear yourself in two trying to decide.”
“Thanks, maybe I'll try it.”
“He'll be waiting for an answer and your tea is getting cold.”
“Oh, I nearly forgot. Thanks. When's your break?”
“I took it just before you came in.”
“Get back to work then.” Sandy laughs as she wanders off to another table and Rachel watches the water while eating. After a while she smiles and digs for her phone. “Hi Glade, want to meet up?”
“Uh, hello Rachel. Yes, I would. Where and when would you like to meet?”
“Corner of Tower Lane and Broad Street, at about eleven, there's somewhere I need to go first.”
“I will be there.”
“Thanks.” She hangs up first and calls another friend. “Hi Marcy.”
“Oh hi, you coming tonight?”
“Yeah, still meeting at yours first?”
“Yeah, aren't you meeting that guy tonight?”
“Yeah I'm meeting him at eleven.”
“Ok, come about nine.”
“I'll be there.”
“Great. See you then.” Marcy hangs up suddenly, leaving Rachel feeling like she wasn't wanted.
“No, I'm just being silly, she's like that with everyone.” She says goodbye to Sandy and hurries out, worrying that she'll be late for her last day of work.
There's no notes or cakes in the staff room, just a note in her locker to remind her to leave her uniform in it with the door unlocked and anything personal not there. A few people say goodbye quietly but nobody makes a fuss. She'd told her boss that she'd just had enough and she had come into enough money that she wouldn't need to work if she was careful with it. Obviously the story about her being a distant cousin's favourite had spread.
She goes to the party with everyone else and is still the odd one out. “Hi Marcy.”
“Rachel, nice to see you, was it your last day today?”
“Yeah, but that doesn't matter, you're having a baby. That's a lot more important.”
“I know.” Marcy wanders off to rejoin her party and leaves Rachel alone. She waits till she's meant to meet Glade and tries to say goodbye but Marcy doesn't want to listen to her.
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