Intersection (13 page)

“Cassie?”

“What?” Cassidy said snapping out of her momentary haze.

“Did you sleep last night?”

“Some, not a lot, no.”

“I can tell,” Rose said chalking up her daughter’s absent mindedness to fatigue.

Alex felt a gentle tug on her shirt. She turned slightly to bring the small face into focus. “Hey there, Speed Racer.”

“I don’t want to go to Daddy’s,” he said plainly.

Alex shut the computer again and pulled him onto her knee. “Why not?”

He shrugged. “I don’t like it there.”

Cassidy looked down the hall again. “Dylan must still be playing upstairs,” she said to her mother.

“Do you want me to go get him?”

“No, I’ll go…but can you do me a favor? Call George’s and see if they have seats in one of the cars for lunch.” Cassidy had decided that lunch at one of Dylan’s favorite places was in order and she suspected that Alex would enjoy it as well. She
made her way down the hallway and stopped just short of the stairs at the sound of familiar voices.

“Dylan, I’m sure your dad just misses you.”

“No he doesn’t,” Dylan said plainly. “He’s never even home. Cheryl will be there.”

“Cheryl?”

“Yeah…and she’s no fun. She hates Kung Fu Panda and she thinks superheroes are stupid,” the boy explained. Cassidy listened from the bottom of the stairs, her irritation with her ex-husband growing as she listened to Dylan confide in the agent what he had never confided in his mother.

“I see,” Alex said.

“She’s not like you,” he continued. “I want to stay here with Mom and you.”

The agent tried not to smile. She was growing very fond of the young man who had now taken up residence in her lap. “Well, let me ask you something.” He looked up at her inquisitively as she continued. “What does Cheryl, that’s her name right?” He nodded. “What DOES Cheryl like?”

He shrugged his shoulders all the way up to his ears. “I dunno!” He confessed.

“Hmmmm…. Well…maybe you could ask her what she likes to do and try that,” Alex smiled.

“It’ll probably be picking flowers or some girlie thing,” he said crinkling his nose with displeasure. Rose was headed toward Cassidy and began to open her mouth when Cassidy stopped her. The teacher silently put her finger to her lips in a sign to hush and directed her mother to listen to the dining room conversation.

“So… Cheryl’s kinda’ girlie, huh?”

“Yeah… and I’m not playing with Barbie dolls.”

Alex tried to suppress her mounting amusement, knowing that Dylan was confiding in her. She was accustomed to these sort of conversations with her nephew when they spoke over
the phone about Alex’s mother. “Well, maybe if you ask her you two can find something you both like.”

“Like picking flowers?” He said with a degree of young sarcasm.

Alex shook her head, “like maybe, pizza…or games…or maybe drawing, something like that.”

He huffed and looked at her with a serious face. “Okay… but can’t I just stay here with you and Mom?”

“You know what, Speed Racer, I have a feeling that we will see each other soon, and then you can tell me and your mom all about what you did at your dad’s. Think about it like an adventure. Maybe you could pretend you are Batman… you know… on a mission and when you come home it’ll be like landing in the Batcave.”

“Okay, but The Batcave is way cooler,” he said.

Cassidy scurried her mother back down the hallway and the two began to laugh when they entered the kitchen. It was only a few seconds before Dylan came strolling in with Alex following close behind. Alex was still sipping the soda Cassidy had poured her. “Feeling up to pizza at George’s?” Cassidy asked the group.

“Yep!” Dylan answered. “Alex…George’s has cars you can eat INSIDE!” Alex nodded her approval with wide eyes, trying not to choke on the ice in her mouth.

“Yes, and they have a CAR for us in half an hour, so we’d better get moving,” Rose said. “Come on Dylan, let’s get your jacket.” He followed his grandmother dutifully down the hall.

Cassidy stepped squarely in front of the agent and looked up into her eyes as she was bringing her glass to her lips a final time. “Batcave, huh?” Alex nearly choked on the ice at the realization that Cassidy had overheard her conversation with the boy and soda dribbled over her lip. Cassidy just looked at the agent and wiped the soda away with her thumb. She leaned up and planted a light peck on the agent’s lips, smiling at Alex’s
obvious shock. “Get your jacket Alfred. We wouldn’t want to keep the Dark Knight waiting,” she said as she walked away leaving the agent speechless.

Lunch went by too quickly for Cassidy’s liking. She was enjoying watching her son chat up the agent and found that her emotions welled inside of her every time Alex managed to divert a glance her way. When Dylan grabbed the agent’s hand and pulled her across the restaurant to an empty truck cab that had a driving game in its dashboard, Rose finally spoke. “Cassie….”

“Yeah?” Cassidy answered smiling broadly as she watched Alex lift Dylan to the driver’s seat that sat in the front of the cab.

Rose smiled to herself as she heard Dylan scream Alex’s name in delight. She took a deep breath. “She’s great.”

“What?”

“Alex….she’s great,” Rose said.

“Yeah…she is.”

Rose licked her lips. She was not going to dive directly into these waters just yet, but she did know her daughter better than anyone and the look on Cassidy’s face told Rose every single thing that was in her daughter’s heart. “So, what did you do yesterday?” Rose asked. “Did you go for that drive you were talking about?”

Cassidy was still engrossed in the display that was unfolding across the room. She couldn’t see Dylan but she could hear him laughing and she could see Alex standing over his shoulder. It was a sight she had seldom seen with her husband and it filled her with happiness to hear her son’s laughter and to know that Alex was its cause. “What?” She asked realizing her mother had spoken but having missed the words.

“I asked if you went for that drive yesterday.”

“Sort of.”

“How do you sort of take a drive, Cassie? Either you are in the car driving or you are not,” Rose kidded.

“Ha ha…I did, but I didn’t drive, Alex did.”

“Ohhh….what did you two do?” Rose was truly curious now.

“Well, you know…after Agent Fallon called about the letter…”

“I thought you said it was a picture?” Rose was confused.

“No…well… yeah...but that was when we got home.”

“Are you telling me there was a letter and a picture?” Rose’s voice began to tremble.

“Mom…. Yes…just….can we just not talk about that today?”

Her mother took a deep breath and let it out with a groan, “Fine, so tell me about this drive.”

“Well… You know…I was a little upset with Dylan leaving for the weekend and Agent Fallon’s call…so Alex took me for a drive.”

“And….”

“Oh… well, we went to her brother’s restaurant in Connecticut,” Cassidy explained.

“Alex is from Connecticut?”

“No. Massachusetts, but Nick has a restaurant in Stonington by the ocean.”

Rose looked down at the table and toyed with her napkin trying not to be too obvious about her suspicions. “So…was it nice?”

Cassidy really wasn’t thinking about her answers. She had long considered her mother her best friend and she did little to censor herself in front of the woman. A very subtle glow seemed to wash over the teacher as she spoke now. “It was wonderful,” she said as if transported back to those hours. “We sat outside for hours and talked.”

“Cassie…it was about 48 degrees last night.”

“Oh yeah… there’s this awesome fireplace outside that we sat next to… It was beautiful, actually.”

“Hmmm…. Sounds like you had a good time,” Rose continued playing with her napkin beginning to suspect that her
assumptions were correct. Her daughter was falling for the agent.

Alex appeared walking behind Dylan who was still pretending he had a steering wheel in his hands. Dylan jumped onto his mother with excitement. “Alex and I made it all the way to level 32!”

Tomorrow would not be an easy day for the teacher and she knew it. Dylan often got emotional when he had to leave for more than a weekend and she knew more about the reasons why now; thanks to his conversation with Alex. Right now he was happy and so was she. He was demonstrating their victory to his grandmother excitedly with Rose laughing at his theatrics. Cassidy looked at the dark haired woman who seemed to be able to calm her with just a glance and mouthed the words ‘thank you.’ Tomorrow was a problem that could wait.

The man watched out of his car window as the women walked slowly to the SUV that was parked across the street. The clicks of the camera rattled off almost like the sound of crickets chirping on a summer evening. He peered through the lens and focused it, zooming in; click, click, click. He turned the lens to the right as the sun reflected off the rear view mirror, momentarily blinding him. He flung his hand wildly at it, knocking it to one side and resumed his task. The face was clear now. He could even see the green of her eyes; tick, click, tick.

He jostled himself in his seat as the tall woman held the door open for her. A sound like the grunt of a wild animal stalking its prey escaped his lips as he watched her close the door and he zoomed in closer on her face; click, click, click, click, click. He cringed at the constant sound wanting to will it away, but he continued. His breath was heavy and his eyes narrow. Carefully, he focused on his subject. He looked through the lens, wanting to feel closer as he watched them drive away. He
breathed a heavy sigh and grabbed the cigarette that had half burned away in the ashtray during his brief escapade. Smoke filled his lungs and he inhaled fully, holding the smoky air in as long as his body would allow before releasing it. On the passenger’s seat sat a manila envelope. He touched it with his gloved fingertips as if he were exploring a lover. Carefully he picked it up and brought it to his nose, inhaling its papery scent as though it were a fine cigar. His eyes closed with satisfaction and he opened his door. He walked three or four yards to the blue box at the side of the road and stopped to ponder it. The door squeaked as he pulled its handle and it opened. It reminded him of a mouth and he tipped his head to the side considering it again. Again he brought the envelope to his face. He longed to feel it, but the black leather that covered his hand prevented the sensation he so desired.

Slowly he allowed it to slip from his grasp into the awaiting blue mouth before him. He stood as it was swallowed and he waited, staring blankly at the vacancy in his hand. A slight shudder ran through him as he made his way through the truck’s door. Another long drag from his cigarette and an exhale of satisfaction. His hands gripped the wheel and he straightened the once offending mirror. Looking over his shoulder he saw the red duffle bag and smiled. “Assignment,” he mumbled as he drove away.