The Fire Within

Chapter 19 - High

Shuddering from the coldness of the night, Sarah hugged the jacket closer to her body. As she stood on the pavement outside her apartment waiting for Jessica and Cole to pick her up, she cursed herself for agreeing to go with them.

She wasn't sure if she was mad at Jessica for literally dragging her to the club, or at herself for giving in. Nothing was going according to her plan and she was starting to get seriously worried.

After barely making it out alive the first time, she'd decided it would be best to lay low for a few days until the whole thing was forgotten. But it had been a while now and she was anxious to get back on task. The entire week she'd been up late at night thinking and working out her next move. She'd been planning to do the same thing that night too, but instead, she was out on a cold night, going to an event she wasn't even invited to.

The sound of horns blaring startled her and when she turned her head towards it, she was blinded by a car's headlights. Jessica and Cole were seated inside and were beckoning her to get in. Sarah sat down in the back seat beside Cole, who stared at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She raised her eyebrow at him questioningly, but he just shook his head.

Jessica let out a low whistle from the front seat. "You look amazing, Sarah." She was looking at Sarah's fitted, knee-length black dress. "It's a little formal, but it looks good on you. How do you manage to buy such expensive stuff anyway?"

Sarah chose to ignore the question. "Thank you. I know it's formal but it's all I have right now." She then took a close look at Jessica's low-cut dress which stopped mid-thigh. "You don't look so bad yourself. Trying to impress someone?"

"Definitely not. Just trying to have some fun."

The club in question was a ten-minute drive from Sarah's place. When they arrived, the place was already swarming with people. Sarah even recognised a few faces from the company. Once inside, loud music filled her ears and the dancing lights almost blinded her. The place was completely packed with people dancing, talking and drinking.

"This is even better than I imagined!", Jessica exclaimed. "Oh, there's David. Guys, I'll be back in a minute."

"She always does that", said Cole shaking his head. "Come, let's get some drinks."

They wedged their way between people dancing on the illuminated floor and made it to the bar on the other side. Cole ordered a beer and Sarah settled for a soda. When the bartender left to get their drinks, Cole leaned closer to Sarah and looked into her eyes.

"You can tell me what's bothering you, Sarah."

When Sarah looked puzzled by the question, he said, "Don't tell me it's nothing. I saw your face back there - when you got in the car. Your eyebrows were pulled together and you were squeezing your hands. I know it all too well."

Sarah was surprised to learn that he'd been observant of even the smallest things about her. She didn't know if she should feel happy that he cared for her or scared because he probably knew too much about her.

"You know me quite well", she smiled softly at him and then looked away. "But it's nothing really."

She could already tell he didn't believe her.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me", he said, still looking into her eyes. "I just want to be there for you. You're new to this place and I just... I don't want you to feel alone."

Sarah's heartbeat picked up at those words. An unknown sensation coursed through her body. It was a mixture of happiness, relief, guilt and something else that she couldn't put her finger on. It was something that she hadn't felt for a long time. At that moment though, as she looked into his eyes, guilt overpowered every other emotion. She felt extremely bad for putting him in trouble when he was being so kind to her. She wished she could take it all back. She wished she'd done things differently.

She put her hand on his' and squeezed. "Thank you for being there for me, Cole. I can't tell you how much this means to me." She retrieved her hand and sighed. "It's not a big deal though. I don't want to talk about it now."

Cole nodded his head in understanding. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm all ears", he smiled at her. "Excuse me, I'll be right back. I need to use the washroom." He disappeared behind the sea of people.

Sarah was left alone with her thoughts. She began to wonder why she was feeling differently about Cole all of a sudden. Why did she feel so guilty about doing that to him? She'd taken an oath not to let people into her lives. Not to get affected by anyone or anything. Was it because she cared for him? But she thought she wasn't capable of caring anymore. She thought she'd turned into a stone.

What was happening to me?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the scraping of the stool against the floor. She looked up to see an old man seated on the stool next to her. When he turned towards her, she immediately recognized him. It was John Williams, the Chief Financial Executive of Harper Inc.

"Get me a glass of wine here!", he boomed impatiently, hammering on the counter.

Sarah was taken aback by his sudden outburst. Silently, she watched him drink two glasses of wine. She didn't know him well; she'd only spoken to him a couple of times. But she was perfectly sure of one thing - that he was a member of the Unspeakables.

And then it struck her.

Maybe coming here wasn't a bad idea after all.

John Williams turned and noticed her staring. His eyebrows pulled together as if he was trying to recall something.

"Do I know you?", he asked her.

"Uh, I - I'm sorry, Mr Williams", Sarah blushed, embarrassed at being caught staring. "I think you do. At work. I'm Mr Harper's assistant. Robert Harper."

"Oh, you're Robert's assistant", said John, studying her for a moment before turning back to the bartender. "Is it here yet?" He barked for the third time.

"Coming right up, sir", the bartender came rushing anxiously. John got himself a generous pour of wine while Sarah's mind was rapidly forming a plan. She looked around to see if Cole was coming back but he was nowhere to be seen. John took a sip of wine and sighed in pleasure.

"Ah! This stuff is good. Have you tried it?" He asked her.

"I don't drink, Mr Williams."

"Why not?" He took another sip.

"Let's just say that I prefer to be in control of my actions."

"You sound like Robert." He chuckled. "He doesn't drink too, just like you. You know Ms eh-"

"Brooks. Sarah Brooks."

"Ms Brooks. They say alcohol is man's best friend. I completely agree with that. In the cruel world out there, people can let you down. But alcohol?" He gave a loud laugh. "Never."

A few minutes later, he was completely drunk and out of his senses. Sarah was sure of that when he started slurring his words and speaking nonsense. She looked around to make sure no one was watching them. Cole wasn't back yet. She decided it was time.

"Mr Williams. Let's go get some fresh air, shall we?"