Philautia || Amour Éternel Series BOOK ONE ||

Fifteen - SHANNON

May 2015

The morning sunlight shone through the window, skipping over Callie's bed and hitting Shannon straight in the eye. He groaned and rolled over, hoping to slip back to sleep before his mind registered too much about his surroundings. It was pointless though, because he was already awake. He opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room. In the light of day, it didn't look much better than it did the night beforehand. He sat up and rubbed his face.

Callie was asleep in her own bed a few feet away from him. Somehow, she had managed to cocoon herself into her blanket, leaving only her face free. He watched her for a second and felt a smile creep across his lips. When he had first suggested this trip, so many months ago, he thought things would be a lot different from where they were now. He actually felt like they could make a decent go of being friends.

Stretching his arms over his head, he walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the toilet, leaning on the wall and sighing as he emptied his bladder. He heard Callie shift in bed and he washed his hands as quietly as he could. He shut the door and padded across the room silently, pulling a pain of jeans on over his boxers. He was halfway through pulling a t-shirt over his head when he heard Callie groan.

"I thought it was just a bad dream that we were staying here," she said thickly.

He chuckled. "Unfortunately not, sweetheart." He sat on the end of the bed and pulled on a pair of socks. "You'd better get up and get dressed. We need to check out in about half an hour."

She sighed and sat up slowly and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "We can skip breakfast, if its all the same to you."

"I'm going to check on the bikes. I'll get a coffee. Sure you don't want anything?" he asked, tying his boots. She shook her head and he left the room.

The sun was up and shining brightly as he walked across the parking lot to the diner. The lot was gravel and empty, save for two beat up pick up trucks parked near the front door. A bell jingled on the handle as he pushed the door open. The smell of sizzling bacon and cooking pancakes met his nose, making his mouth water.

"Be with you in a minute!" a waitress called from the other end of the counter. She finished pouring two cups of coffee before walking back toward the register. "What can I get you?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron and picking up a notepad.

"Just a coffee to go," he said. "Black, no sugar."

She jotted it down and walked over to the coffee makers, pulling a paper to go cup from a stack next to the brewer. He watched as she poured the black liquid into the cup and secured a lid over it. She slipped a cardboard sleeve over the cup and walked back to him.

"That'll be a dollar-fifty," she said, keying it into the register.

He paid in cash. "Keep the change."

Shannon sighed as he sipped, enjoying the way the coffee scalded his throat as it went down. He paused in the lot and looked around. The sun had risen a couple of hours ago and by now, then dew had melted off of the grass in the fields nearby. The weather looked nice and they'd make good time down to Point Reyes, even if they stopped for lunch somewhere. He gave the hotel manager a nod as he passed through the lobby and took the stairs to the room. Callie was packing her things into her rucksack when he walked in.

"Ready?" he asked, setting his cup down on the night stand to gather his own belongings.

She nodded. "Yep. Just have to brush my teeth and I'll be good."

He watched her and sipped his coffee. After a few minutes, his cup was empty and he could feel the caffeine coursing through his veins. "Alright," he said, tossing the cup into the trash can. "Let's get going. If we're lucky, we'll get there around three."