“Believe me, Max, I won’t be forgetting my place around you,” she said in a sugary sweet voice that made her sick. He looked at her suspiciously, but thankfully let the topic drop.
“I need you to fill out these forms. You’ll be acting as my secretary on this trip so you need to get paid,” he said, pushing some paperwork toward her. She immediately began to protest. She in no way wanted him to be her employer, but on the other hand she was grateful he was dropping the whole scheming conversation.
“I don’t have time to argue with you, Cassie. We leave first thing in the morning and I have to leave here in twenty minutes for a business dinner. Fill them out if you want to go, or leave them if you don’t,” he said. He turned back to his computer and started typing as if he didn’t care what she did at that point.
With a bit of a pout, Cassie placed her bags down, picked up the papers and walked out of his office. Cynthia was gone for the day, as were most of the other employees, so she sat at her desk and began filling out the huge stack of papers. She was only half finished when Max walked out of the room and paused at her desk.
“Leave those in Cynthia’s out box. She’ll be in for a half day tomorrow and will make sure they get to HR. Meet me here by six A.M. on the dot. We’ll be able to fly directly into Cordova with the company jet but have to stop in Anchorage first and dump some fuel. The runway is small in Cordova and the jet has weight restrictions.” He was speaking to her as if she knew what he was talking about. She nodded her head to let him know she understood. He looked at her for a moment longer before he finally left.
Cassie finished her paperwork, left it for Cynthia, grabbed her bags and headed toward the elevators. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to go home, get packed, have a hot shower, and try to catch some sleep before they left.
Upon arriving at her apartment, she popped a dinner into her microwave and sat down in her favorite chair. She was just beginning to drift off when her telephone rang. She almost let it go to voicemail, but thought it may be Max with some last minute demands before their trip.
“I’m so glad I caught you at home. With this time difference, it’s almost impossible to reach you,” her best friend’s voice came over the line.
“Kinsey, I’m so glad to hear from you! It’s been way too long. You’ve got to check in more often so I know you’re still alive,” Cassie said, overcome with excitement to hear her voice.
“I know. I’m a terrible best friend. I’ve been so busy, and it’s really hard to get to a phone, but I haven’t been able to get you off my mind so I took a trip into town to give you a call. Before you give me a well-deserved lecture, be aware that this call is costing mega-bucks,” Kinsey said in her naturally good humored voice.
“Okay, I suppose I won’t lecture you this time, but when you finally get back here, be prepared for an earful,” Cassie warned.
“I have zero doubts about it. How are you doing?”
“I finally got Max Anderson to agree to my interview. I’m doing an in-depth, month long interview and I know it’s going to give me my big break,” Cassie told her excitedly.
“Oh my gosh, Cassie, that’s amazing. I can’t wait for you to tell me all the details. I knew you wouldn’t give up. You’re the most amazing person I know. You’re going to have to tell me about it when I get home next month,” Kinsey said. It took a few moments for her words to sink in.
“You’re coming home? For real? Please don’t be toying with me because I miss you too much for that,” Cassie fired questions at her.
“I’m definitely coming home. This village is thriving now. There’s still so much more work to be done, but thankfully many volunteers are coming over, now, and I’m missing you and my family too much to be away any longer. I’m coming home and will be staying. I’m sure I’ll get the bug to come back over, but it will be for much shorter visits. You’ll have to come with me since you’re going to be a big city reporter. You can get Pulitzer Prize articles written in places like the village I’m in,” Kinsey said.
Her words brought tears to Cassie’s eyes. They’d always believed in each other more than anyone else ever had. She knew with her best friend back she’d have much more confidence in herself. She knew it was going to be the longest month she’d ever had to endure. She didn’t want to tell her about the accident and have her worrying, so they chatted for several more moments, before Kinsey had to end the call. Both girls were crying as they hung up their phones.
Cassie tiredly got to her feet and decided not to eat her pathetic dinner. She climbed into her warm bed instead and fell asleep within minutes. The next day was going to be her first ride on a jet and she couldn’t wait.
Chapter Six
The sound of her alarm clock dragged Cassie from a restless sleep. She blindly reached out in the dark, taking several tries before she managed to hit the snooze button, shutting up the obnoxious machine. She turned over and quickly fell back asleep, only to be rudely interrupted by the buzzing again after only a few moments.
She gave up on snoozing any further, dragged herself from bed and made her way to her small bathroom. She didn’t dare look in the mirror. She was sure the sight would frighten her worse than if she saw a ghost.
A hot shower woke her up a little bit, but she was still grumpy. Cassie had never been a morning person and getting up at four in the morning, when she hadn’t gotten to sleep until after midnight wasn’t helping.
She climbed from the shower, quickly dressed and headed to the kitchen, where thankfully her coffee pot’s automatic start had actually worked. It decided on the days it would work and when it wouldn’t. She poured herself a cup, then sat at the table, allowing herself a few moments to properly wake up. She started feeling more human after the first cup. She quickly poured herself a second one and drank it while gathering everything she’d need to take with her.
She always felt she was forgetting something when she left on a trip. It was frustrating because she knew she’d triple checked already, but she feared she may have a bit of obsessive compulsiveness in her.
She locked her apartment and made her way downstairs, where she had a cab waiting. She loaded her bags and sat back while the driver breezed down the normally busy Seattle streets. She thought it was nice to leave so early, before there were hoards of traffic. The only downfall was she arrived much earlier than she needed to be there. Max told her to meet him in the lobby, so she didn’t want to head to his office, which left her sitting in the nearly vacant security area.