Cape Crossed

Chapter Five

There were several awkward glances his way when Jake returned to the Merifield Local. No one tried to meet his eyes and he noticed the interns scurried into any nearby room when he went by. Randall ran straight into the women's restroom. That cheered Jake up a bit at least.

Natalie was blissfully absent from the office, allowing him to slide into his chair unbothered. A small stack of papers waited by his keyboard. One bright yellow sticky note rested on top with a familiar scrawl across it. Jake ripped it into confetti fine enough to rival the Phantom Clown's and sprinkled it in his mini wastebasket.

"You've been busy," Jake observed, looking around at the papers spread around Warren's closet sized office. It was a closet actually. Warren had bribed one of the janitors to move their supplies elsewhere so he could do his editing behind a closed door. It made a convenient meeting place as well when the two of them needed to cobble together a plan.

"No mistakes this time, Jake. After your little debacle I wanted to make sure I had back up plans," Warren said. He pointed out a detailed map. "Back exits, guard routes, including the extra ones they've hired since last time. They won't be a problem."

"As long as I do my part correctly, right?" Jake finished for him. "It wasn't my fault the schematics were outdated." He helped stack the papers back into neat piles that Warren his under a false bottom of a drawer.

"I thought wiring was your passion project. Master of electronics I believe you called yourself," Warren countered. He smacked Jake's shoulder playfully. "Hey, if you screw up this time I'll dope you up and leave you as a gift to whoever comes around."

Jake rolled his eyes and elbowed past him to head back to this desk. Someone was waiting for him now, but thankfully still not Natalie. The man was tall, dressed in an inky black suit with his hair combed back. He was leaning against Jake's desk with his right ankle crossed over the right. "Can I help you?" Jake asked hesitantly.

"Ah, Mr. Erwin, I was hoping I hadn't missed you before you dashed off for your next scoop," he said excitedly. "Simon Lauder, delighted to meet you." He offered Jake a smooth but strong hand.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lauder, I'm a bit confused. Was there something I can help you with?" Jake glanced over his desk, checking for anything out of place. The drawers were closed and none of the papers had been shuffled, but he noticed his computer monitor was on and his last article was open on the screen. The harshly worded thrashing of supers was likely to be rejected by Natalie but she always told him to write what most excited him.

"I was just introducing myself to Miss Pruitt and couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell you how much I admire your work," Simon explained. "I only just moved here last week but I have been thoroughly enjoying your articles on the danger of blindly following the, what did you call them, caped wonders?"

Jake couldn't suppress the grin that spread across his face even if he wanted to. "I'm glad to hear they made such an impression. What did you move to the city for?"

"Business. My younger brother had grandiose plans that sadly fell through so I've come to clear up the pieces. Merifield is quickly growing on me though and I was thinking of taking up a permanent residence." Simon walked to the floor to ceiling window nearby and looked over the city sprawled below him. "So many opportunities just waiting for the right person to come along."

Something in the quietness of his tone sent a shiver along Jake's back but he dismissed it as the awkwardness of meeting someone new. "It's not half bad in my opinion, though I am a little biased. I was born here after all and with luck I'll start my own family here."

"With her?" Simon asked, nodding to the framed photo on Jake's desk. He walked back over to pick it up. "She's rather pretty, isn't she?"

Jake itched to take the photo back from him and return it to the front and center spot it had occupied on his desk for the last two years. It was a badly angled photo of Hannah and himself, though mostly it was only Jake's eyes and the beginning of his nose in the bottom left corner. Hannah was the star, dressed in a purple cap and gown with her hair curling wildly over her shoulders.