Quiet One

Friends

Phil pulled up in front of Hannah and Lilly's apartment and turned off his motorcycle so they could talk easier before he had to go.

"Thanks for the ride and for lunch," MC began after dismounting the bike. "It was a fantastic way to spend the day, Phil."

"I am glad I saw you sitting by the fountain this morning, Beautiful," he replied. "It made the day fantastic for me too. It also makes the wait till our night out positively unbearable."

"Well, you're just going to have to manage somehow," MC laughed.

"Sunday? The bar is closed on Sunday and Monday. Go out with me on Sunday, MC?" There was almost a plea in his tone. It took MC by surprise as it seemed out of character for this normally confident, some would even say overconfident, man.

"Yes. I would like that," she replied, "I suppose I should go now. Everyone will be here soon and I would like to freshen up before then. Thanks again for today."

Phil got a mischievous look in his eye and smirked.

There is that confidence.

"How about a little thank you, MC? Right here," he said, tapping his cheek.

Cheeky bastard wants a kiss.

MC hesitated a moment, before making up her mind as to what to do next. She leaned towards him, focused on his cheek before reaching out to take a hold of his jaw. She used the tip of her thumb to rub over the spot on his cheek he had pointed to while her fingers lightly rested under his chin. Her face came closer focused on its destination. Without thinking, she wet her lips with her tongue. At that moment, she tightened her grip and sharply turned his face towards her own, crashing her lips onto his. His eyebrows shot up in surprise before relaxing and reciprocating the kiss. Tipping his head slightly to get a better angle, he reached up and firmly placed a hand on the back of her head interwinding his fingers into her hair as he deepened the kiss.

MC was the first to pull away. She whispered, just inches from his lips, "Sunday," before handing him the helmet in her hands, turning around, and entering the building. She left Phil sitting on his bike staring after her. He shook his head returning to the present, grinned, placed on his sunglasses, and rode away smiling.

No one was home yet, for which MC was thankful. She took a shower washing off the dirt and sweat from the ride. Before she stepped out, she turned the knob and felt the temperature drop as all the warmth slowly dissipated till there was nothing but cold water raining down on her body. She felt the heat of her body leave as it was replaced by cool calmness. It focused her mind.

Jake. Flux. Who was he? Where was the next puzzle? Why the mystery and riddles? There was really nothing to do but wait and look for what was next.

Jessy. Hopefully she will be here tonight. If not, tomorrow was open and it was time to meet her and see for herself how she was doing. The conversation with her brother went well enough. She had said what she wanted too. Now it was on him.

Him. Phil Hawkins. What was he doing to her? Right from the first night when he asked her to dance. And today?

"Shit. I am not falling into his trap!" She punched the water off and jumped out of the shower grabbed a towel and roughly dried off before wrapping the towel around herself. She stormed from the bathroom and into her bedroom. Flopping down on the bed, she took a few deep breaths, calming herself, before getting up to pull her laptop from her backpack. She set it up on the desk, as it booted up, she dressed in a pair of jeans and a black v-neck tee.

A quick check of her email showed there was a new message from Flux. The only thing written was two strings of numbers. MC instantly recognized it as latitude and longitude coordinates. A location.