| Subject: Priority Mail 258 |
Author:
Nikita507
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Date Posted: Sunday, June 05, 05:15:17pm
In reply to:
Nikita507
's message, "Priority Mail 257+" on Saturday, June 04, 11:20:47pm
Michael walked into the small neighborhood coffee shop and he felt so comfortable there. It was so unlike the chain coffee shops that he stopped at frequently. There was no counter for him to go stand in line. In fact, they wanted him to just sit down wherever he wanted, which was nice.
Since it was mid-afternoon and school was not out yet, Michael found only one table taken. He walked to the back corner and settled at a table that allowed him to look throughout the establishment, but he found that it was not even that dark, which was abnormal for the corner tables.
Glancing over the menu, Michael found the unique listing of coffee drinks to be well beyond what was offered at those chain stores. He knew that he would have to bring Nikita here sometime as there was also an exhaustive list of teas and tea drinks. He settled on an Espresso Romano when the barista came over for his order.
He was just sipping his drink when the bell above the door clanged and Tom entered. He nodded to the barista and walked over to the table. “They know me here.”
“And you are drinking?”
“Coffee, black,” Tom winked as he chuckled. “I thought you would like this place.”
“I thought we had something to talk about more than coffee,” Michael commented and Tom snorted. “Is it always business with you, Michael Samuelle?”
“Michael Pomeroy,” Michael corrected Tom with a curt rasp as Tom’s drink was brought over. Tom smiled. “Lisa, I’m also going to need a Café Bombón in about five minutes.”
“Of course, Mr. Hanson,” the barista replied with a smile as she turned and walked away. Michael arched an eyebrow and Tom rolled his eyes. “We both seem to have identity crises now and then.”
“I’m more interested in who is joining us,” Michael said as he calmly picked up the drink and took another sip, although inside he was starting to calculate his routes of escape because he was not going back into any sort of business because of Tom asking.
Tom sipped at his coffee as he leaned back in his chair and hooked an arm over the back. “You wanted some help for Nikita… someone that she could talk to…”
“I figured that we don’t have to go over things we both know,” Michael coldly stated and Tom tilted his head to the side. “We aren’t enemies here, Michael. I was all along on Nikita’s side and she… she couldn’t accept that.”
Michael turned the cup around in his hands as he took in what Tom said. He didn’t quite understand what was being said. “Explain.”
Tom rubbed his free hand along his neck and took a long sip of his coffee. “They played a lot of scenarios out… one had you staying in power of Section… but we weren’t sure if Nikita could live on the outside without you… and we knew that she would struggle once she was out…”
“You are part of the powers that be…”
“It’s complicated… but I was consulted… and I suggested that we use one of our best therapists to help Nikita adjust once she was out… but we did have a problem…” Tom explained. Michael narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure that he liked this. He had thought that Tom was a handler that had some knowledge, but not part of the group that had orchestrated the end of Section.
“We were on your side, Michael… we never knew that Nikita was pregnant… we would have done something else,” Tom leaned forward in the chair. Michael looked into Tom’s eyes and could see something there to trust.
Until he broke Michael’s trust.
“Who is this person?”
“Our best…”
“Who is?” Michael questioned and Tom sighed. “She’ll be here soon.”
“Did Nikita know her?” Michael questioned.
“They never met,“ Tom answered and Michael shook his head. “Then what is the big worry about?”
Tom glanced at his watch as the drink was delivered. Michael looked at the drink then back to Tom. “What is the big worry, Tom?”
The bell clanged above the door again and Michael looked up. He felt like he saw a ghost. He leaned back in his chair, ready to jump to his feet. Tom clamped down on Michael’s hand. “It isn’t who you think it is.”
“Hi, Tom,” the woman spoke as she walked over to the table. “Be-linda?”
“You knew my sister?” the woman questioned as she sat down. Tom let go of Michael’s arm. “Michael… this is Beatrice… Belinda’s twin sister.”
Michael leaned back as Beatrice sat down and took the cup. She sipped it and licked her lips. “This is really good, Tom.”
“I told you it would be,” Tom patted Beatrice’s hand. He focused on Michael. “If it had gone as planned… if Nikita would have used me for her exit… as we thought she would… we could have handled the situation… she would have started to work with Beatrice right away… instead, we’ve been in a jam… but talking with Walter…”
“You are worried about Walter,” Michael looked at the woman across from him and swore that if Tom wasn’t telling him it wasn’t Belinda, he would swear it was Belinda.
“Was that the man that my sister married?” Beatrice asked and Michael nodded his head. He pushed his hands away from the cup and rolled his head around. “God… this is a mess.”
“I don’t think so,” Tom inserted. Beatrice nodded her head up and down. “I heard that you are friends with someone who is a twin of someone you all were close too.”
“Yeah, but we all know that he is a twin… and even then,” Michael turned his head away, thinking about how many times Nikita slipped and called Jason Birkoff. Hell, Jason even used Birkoff as his hacker name. Michael rubbed at his neck and shook his head. “There has to be another option.”
“I’ve been read into Section… I’ve been given the background since my sister was there… of course, I didn’t know that she was in Section… but I knew that she hadn’t died… twin’s intuition,” Beatrice explained as she didn’t wait for Tom to speak. She leaned forward. “It sounds like Nikita needs help with transitioning… and dealing with PTSD flashes… from Section and a traumatic childhood.”
Michael rubbed his face as he shook his head from side to side. “Nikita was hurt with what happened to Belinda too…”
“I can help her,” Beatrice inserted as she looked at Michael. “I’ve read what files there were that Nikita shared back to Tom recently… I’ve looked at what was noted by Madeline about Nikita… Madeline was off on a lot of things.”
“Those may not have been her only notes,” Michael stated and then he closed his eyes, sure that no one else knew. As he opened his green eyes Michael focused right back on Tom and saw that he didn’t have a clue. Michael cleared his throat after taking a gulp of coffee. “Nikita found handwritten diaries… it seem as if we were a frequent topic for Madeline… often countering what was written electronically.”
“That doesn’t surprise me about Madeline,” Tom shook his head from side to side. “But those notes won’t help Nikita now… she needs to talk to someone about it… someone outside the circle of friends.”
“But, don’t take offense, but I look at you and see Belinda. Nikita will too,” Michael pointed out and he groaned. “And Walter…”
Tom nodded his head up and down. That was his concern also. “I’ve weighed our options, Michael. I can’t read anyone else in…”
“And now that you’ve met me…. You won’t be able to keep me a secret,” Beatrice added before Michael could reply to Tom’s statement. Michael found his statement slipping away as he closed his mouth.
Beatrice was right.
The trio sipped at their coffee drinks for a while and Tom sighed while he finished his. “Obviously, we would want Nikita to meet with Beatrice for a bit… before bringing in Walter.”
Michael thought of all of the people that stopped in the house. There were too many people around and no doubt that someone would sip sooner than later. “Walter needs to be told… pretty soon.”
“That’s what I outlined for Tom,” Beatrice smirked with a small huff. “He doesn’t always like to listen to me on those types of plans… tells me that I’m not the planner… I’m the listener.”
Michael exhaled slowly and leaned forward. “How would you plan on helping Nikita?”
“First… she needs to know that not all of her memories that she has been having are bad… and not all of them are PTSD flashes… and I need to educate all of you on what are PTSD flashes and what are not PTSD flashes,” Beatrice outlined as she rubbed her hands along the table. “I hate to admit it, but having Walter deal with me being Belinda’s twin sister… it may be a good teaching tool to show Nikita that we all have to deal with bad memories… but they aren’t always related to PTSD.”
Michael liked how Belinda had answered. He had heard Nikita many times say that she wasn’t always have PTSD flashes. He looked at Belinda and leaned back into the chair.
It was time to plan this.
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