Nevada Confidential

Nostalgia

Great. Just great.

Brinley's stomach had sunk to her feet, and her shoulders slumped along with it. Where could he have gone? She knew that he'd be finding somewhere to stay, but she'd at least hoped that he'd leave a hint as to where. How was she supposed to find him now?

She pushed the door open and walked out of the room, looking around the hall as if it would give her a clue. She walked straight and then turned left, finding herself in the main lobby with the filing cabinets where she'd originally gotten her lab coat.

Natalie rounded the opposite corner, stopping in her tracks when she saw Brinley.

"Oh. I guess you're one step ahead of me- I was about to come get you," Natalie said with a smile. After pulling her ID card from the pocket, she folded her lab coat and set it in the filing cabinet.

"Why do we need to take these off here, anyway?" Brinley asked, following Natalie's example as she put her own coat in the drawer.

"Something about quarantine," Natalie said with a shrug. "They clean them every night."

"Oh. Makes sense," Brinley nodded.

She wouldn't be able to get away from Natalie to find Simon, so she said I silent prayer that he had found something to eat.

Natalie lead her through the main door in the front of the lobby, and Brinley once again met the air of the desert. It was cool, now- or at least as much as it could be. The sky was velvet, as if a sheet had been laid across the world. Stars danced across the light fabric of the air, twinkling and swimming in the murky blue swirls that were the heavens. A crescent moon glowed white in the midst of its smaller sparkling friends, watching the world below with a peaceful authority.

"It's breathtaking, at night," Brinley remarked. "It's hard to see the beauty of it during the day, when you're trying not to burn to death. When it's dark, and the sun isn't tormenting... it's so peaceful."

"Yeah," Natalie agreed, looking up at the sky. "It's so open out here. Just you, the sky and the Earth. Well- if all of these buildings weren't here. I love being able to see the stars... no blinding lights to hide their light."

They continued walking in the direction of the dormitory building, which Brinley could see from the door to the lobby. She turned to Natalie after a moment, eyeing her curiously as a thought crossed her mind.

"Where are you from?" she asked. "A city?" Brinley couldn't think of what else could block out the illumination of the stars.

"My parents immigrated here from Ireland when I was little," Natalie began. "We had some financial problems. We moved to New York City, because there are so many places to rent. We got a cheap, run-down place... it was only supposed to be temporary. The thing is, my dad... well," Natalie trailed off, her eyes distant. "He has some drinking problems- he has for as long as I can remember. My mom's always wanted to lead a more... simple life. Get a farm, raise a family. She was setting aside money to buy a nice little house with some land in South Carolina- but... it didn't work out."

"Why not?" Brinley asked quietly.

Natalie's frowned, her eyes on the ground as she walked. "She needed to spend it all. Last year. To bale my dad out of jail."

Brinley wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't honestly tell Natalie that she understood, because she didn't. She was raised in a middle-class family with stable parents, and she always got whatever she wanted. Maybe this was why Natalie had been jealous of Brinley's higher contract during dinner.

"I'm so sorry, Natalie" Brinley finally offered. She knew the words wouldn't do anything to help- but at least she could show that she cared.

"It's alright," Natalie said with a shrug. "That's why I'm here. My mom deserves to live her dream- so I want to earn the money. It's really important to me."