Revolution (Book 3 of POE Chronicles)

Chapter 3 Tete a Tete

I am sorry but I had to go. My family needs me. I will find you.

Grimacing, I carefully re-folded the paper and tucked it in my jacket pocket. I didn't know why I expected more, Tom was never the type to shout his emotion from the roof top. Still, I thought things might be different now that our feelings are out in the open. Apparently not.

Feeling slightly disconnected I tried to rub the tiredness out of my eyes. Romantic relationship was never something that came naturally to me; I never knew what to do, or what to expect. I did know that it was not normal for couples to be separated after they have affirmed their feelings for each other.

Without remembering how, I managed to make my way back to my room. Collapsing on my lavish four poster bed, I tried to search for the relief that I thought I would feel when the meeting is over. However, instead of feeling like a huge burden had lifted off my shoulder, I felt like there were more issues riding on my back than ever. There was a heavy feeling in my heart that I couldn't shake away. I didn't know if it was because Tom had taken off, or that the response from the Legacy families weren't that positive.

"Hey Gail, are you in there?" a muffled voice came across the door and I blinked.

 "Yeah." I replied quickly, smoothing any creases on my shirt and wondered why it didn't occur to me to change out of this stiff attire. Clambering out of my bed ,I pulled open the door to see a smiling Casey smirking at me. On seeing my face, however, her smile dropped and concern flooded her face.

"What's wrong sweetie?" She asked, her hand reaching for my forearm. I raised my eyebrow at her, not sure what she was talking about. Now scowling at me, she pushed me back in the room and closed the door, causing a loud bang that made me wince.

"Nothing." I retorted, but realised my voice was high-pitched betrayed my thoughts.

"Right." Casey rolled her eyes at me and pushed me to take a seat on the bed. Settling beside me she looked at me expectantly. "Spill."

Engaging into a staring contest with her I pondered whether or not I should tell her about Tom's message. The eye contact was starting to make me feel a little uncomfortable and guilty for no reason.

"It really it's nothing." I said, trying to convince both her and I. "I heard from Tom." I added and Casey's face lit up. Leaning forward eagerly she waited for me to break the news.

"He's gone back to Paris Citybase." I said, my voice cracking a little at the end. Casey's immediately thrown her arms around me and rubbed a hand up and down my back soothingly. Then like a dam burst through, a flood of emotions hit me as I began to question everything. Was I really doing the right thing by excluding my kinsman? Did I waste too much time preparing for a meeting that might lead to nothing? Did I fail Akram, my ancestor that seemed to have an abundant faith in me? And most of all, was my relationship with Tom going to pull through?

"Did he say why?" Casey asked as I tried to hold myself together. I was hardly ever the dramatic one and was caught off guard by the amount of emotion that was racing through me. I tried to rein in my snobs, but nothing seemed to be working.

"He said, he had to go back to his, family..." I hiccupped, and belatedly realised that I knew nothing about his family whatsoever. It was a topic that was never brought up when we were on the run and I couldn't help but wonder how much did we really knew about each other and whether or not our love for each other were merely brought on by the fact that we were scared and wanted to make the most of what we did have. I fumbled for the note in my pocket and handed it to Casey.

Casey's mouth twitched as she took in the lack of content before trying the plaster on a neutral face. She's one of the most honest person I ever met and she rarely ever hid her emotions from others, even if she knew it would upset other people.