On The Run: Part Two

Chapter Fifteen - "Reality Shift"

Sarah

Did that actually just happen?

I sat behind the wheel in my car, staring out into the dark, empty parking garage wondering what I was supposed to do next.

Did I really just meet my daughter?

It was hard to wrap my head around it. Where the hell did I go from there? Back to reality?

There was one thing I was sure of – I wanted to see her again. As I’d stood there making small talk with her, for a second, it was like none of the trauma had happened. But then, if it hadn’t, we wouldn’t be where we were at this point.

She’d seemed happy enough; perhaps her past hadn’t ruined her like I’d thought. It made me feel a little better, but then I realized that probably meant there wasn’t room for me in her life.

Roxy let out a bark, and I turned to the passenger seat.

“You smart, smart dog,” I murmured with a smile.

This was something I couldn’t dwell on; I had no idea what to do next about her, but I did know that I had to keep moving forward. The question was, to what?

And I really wanted to tell someone.

My dad? He would be terribly mad if I didn’t tell him, but then, a part of me wanted to keep it all to myself for a little while.

I met my daughter.

Jake? He was occupied with his consultancy with the FBI and the case I’d abandoned him with.

Jerry? He’d be thinking as a public relations officer and crisis manager, not exactly the best confidant.

Aubrey? Maybe.

Even saying it sounded strange; how would I say it?

“I met my daughter,” I said aloud to myself, each word sounding more foreign than the last.

At this point, I was dwelling, and that would get me nowhere. With the way the afternoon had played out, I was surer now that whatever was going to happen would eventually. I needed a distraction; something heavy and important; something that required my full attention; something that left no room for breathing, let alone thinking about my child. A distraction was exactly what I needed.

So I picked up my phone and called Jerry.

“Go for Jerry,” he answered on the first ring.

“Hey, it’s Sarah. I was wondering – do you need an extra set of hands?” I asked.

They were setting up at the campaign office, and preparing everything for the beginning of the election campaigns. I figured it would be a mess of people hurrying around, trying to get posters and buttons together; talking to reporters about their predictions for the future; interviews for possible campaign workers; running through the final plans and route of the campaign; and a million and one other things that they probably couldn’t go through in a month, but would anyway.

“Yeah, are you nearby?” he asked, and barked at someone in the background, “NO! I SAID BLUE, YOU IDIOT! IS THAT BLUE? YOU TELL ME IF THAT LOOKS ANYTHING LIKE BLUE!”

Now I was regretting my offer.

“Sorry, Sarah. What were we talking about?” he asked.

“Helping out,” I answered.

“Oh, yeah sure. Could you bring twenty-four cups of coffee? Make mine a decaf,” he said, and hung up before I could even respond. I was in absolutely no mood to get barked at by Jerry this afternoon. He’d never actually yelled at me, but I think the stress was making him a little unconscious of his behavior. He wasn’t a mean person; he just had the mechanism of a busy political genius that had an addiction to power and authority.