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part i - chapter v. week iv

Angie didn't like surprises. She never had and she didn't believe she ever would. There had only been one surprise she'd ever enjoyed, and that ended up in flames. Therefore when Vincent called her up during his lunch hour and told her to come to his class once school was over because he had a surprise for her, she was extremely reluctant. It didn't help that Vincent specifically used the word 'surprise', which only made her more apprehensive about what was waiting for her in his classroom. He managed to convince her to come by giving her the slightest of hints and because she was cursed with the trait of being too inquisitive for her own good, Angie just had to figure out what was going on.

So at 2:30 exactly she headed out of his shabby apartment and walked the few blocks it took to get to his workplace. The woman let her mind wonder what Vincent had set up for her. She hoped it was a plane ticket back to New York and a going away party but she was sure that wouldn't be the case. By the time she'd gotten to the establishment, she has plenty of ideas swarming around in her head, none of which were even close to what she was about to walk into. She went to the main office where she found her best friend chatting with one of the secretaries. She walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder, causing the red headed man to turn and give her an excited smile that actually scared Angie a little bit.

"Oh, look! My favorite brunette!" He exclaimed before turning around to face the woman he was previously talking to. "Besides you of course, Marg." He whispered, and then went back to Angie, linking their arms.

"So what's this surprise you have for me?"

"You'll see very soon." He told her and led the way to his class. The entire walk, Angie made guesses, all to which Vincent simply shook his head in response to with the same smile that made her uneasy before.

"Are you going to kill me?" She suspiciously questioned, noticeably slowing down her steps. Vincent let out a laugh that definitely did not make Angie feel better about the situation at all and tugged her along.

"No, no. I'm not going to kill you... Though, you might have a little bit of a heart attack," Angie's head snapped in his direction, wide eyes staring at the side of his head. Whatever was going on, Vincent sure didn't make it seem like something she would enjoy and to be honest, she was cursing her curiosity.

"I was kidding... Or at least I hope I am." He audibly mumbled without meaning to.

"Vincent! What is going on?!" The younger woman shrieked just as they arrived at the classroom's closed door.

"Go inside and find out." Even though it sounded like Vincent was giving her a choice, he didn't give her a chance to turn down the offer, rather shoving her in the room. Through the small window in the door, he saw her freeze and he began to wonder if what he'd done was a good idea after all. After a while of watching, he felt his phone come alive in his back pocket, causing him to pull it out and check his notification bar. He noticed a new text had come through, which he wasted no time opening and reading through, the words bringing a smile to his face. Peeking through the window one more time, he shrugged before stalking off to his car.

• • •

Zakary couldn't help but think he was making a mistake. Yes, he wanted to know more about his mother and yes, every other option he had tried led to dead ends, but there was also the possibility that this option, his last option, would end just like all the others had.

The preteen had told his father he would be staying after school for geometry tutoring, which technically wasn't a lie because he had gone for about 10 minutes before making his way to his true destination. He didn't know how his father would react to what he was doing now. He knew Tristan would obviously disapprove since he'd warned his son against it on a numerous occasions. He wondered if he would be grounded for a month or more, have all his prized possessions taken away, simply yelled at. It scared Zakary more than he thought it would.