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5 YEARS LATER...
CAMI GREETED EVERYONE WITH A WARM SMILE AS SHE MADE HER WAY DOWN THE HALL TO HER OFFICE. She had moved back home to Washington D.C. four and a half years ago and had gotten a job at the Department of Commerce as a writer, publishing blogs and pieces on their website on the latest news from the National Weather Service.
She hadn't been on the field in so long.
It wasn't hard to adjust being home, falling back into the groove of the fast-paced East Coast. It was easier to adjust in a "new" place with new people. The capital was vastly different than the Southern Midwest she had grown accustomed to years before. It was a blank slate, a fresh start, and one she had desperately needed.
With her morning matcha in her hand and her notebook in her other, she walked into her office and set her things down on her desk beside her computer and assortment of colorful pens, markers, and sticky notes. Her black heels clicked on wooden floorboards as she walked around the room and lowered the shutters to slightly dim the bright sun shining into the room. In her tailored black pantsuit, she appeared rather imposing. But everyone in the office knew that she was sweet as pie, and so cheerful and kind.
She had just sat down at her desk and taken her first sip of matcha when the office assistant knocked on her open door. "Cami, there's a guy here to see you. He's in the conference room."
"Thanks, Miriam." Cami smiled thankfully and rose from her desk. "How was Ben's t-ball game last night?"
Debra smiled softly at the question. "He scored the winning point and they all rallied around him. It was a true proud mom moment," she preened.
"Aw, that's amazing." Coming from most people, the compliment might have been less genuine. But coming from Camille Kennedy, everyone knew she was sincere. "Hey, I'll catch you during break. I wanted to get your opinion on Love Island last night."
"Oh, yes!" Debra clapped. "Oh, and the car will be here at 1:00 pm to pick everyone up." Cami was going to sit on a conference between the department and congress that afternoon, hence why she was dressed so seriously. She usually wore lighter colors and dresses, but only when she was working strictly in the office or having less high-profile meetings.
"Perfect. See you later." Cami waved back at her coworker before walking down the hall toward the conference room. She didn't get a look at the man as she walked in and shut the door behind her. "Hi. I'm Cami."
"Hey, Cami." At the familiar voice, she lifted her head sharply to see Javi Rivera standing before her in a fitted grey suit and a warm smile.
"No way!" She ran at him and pulled him into a hug. He grunted at the impact and hugged his dear friend back, having missed her since she moved. They hadn't spoken to each other in five years.
Cami and Kate kept in contact, but Kate moved back to New York and began working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a meteorological operations officer. The two friends messaged every few months to catch up, as well as called for birthdays, but that was the extent of it. It was simply too painful to rehash the past, much less see each other in the flesh.
But here Javi was, in the flesh, hugging her in Washington D.C. "What are you doing here?" Then she realized her manners had flown out the window. "Sorry, I mean, how are you? What have you been up to? And, also, what are you doing here?"
Javi chuckled, having missed his bubbly friend. "After graduation, I went back to Miami. Felt like I needed to regroup." Neither said the obvious, Cami simply nodding with understanding. She and Kate had both done the same thing themselves. "Shit, you wouldn't believe it. I joined the military?"
Cami's eyebrows rose with surprise. "You joined the military?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. I was just feeling kind of lost," he told her wistfully. "I tried reaching out to you a few times. Kate too."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I kind of put blocks on everything related to..." She didn't need to say it for Javi to understand she had blocked him out of her life. He understood. He hadn't been on the field, after all. As if he didn't need a reminder, he knew of the long, jagged scar along her entire back.
"Yeah, I figured," he replied understandingly. "You know, life and all."
Cami nodded, her skin prickling. The scar on her back suddenly felt like it was clawing at her. "So, um, what are you doing now, then? Military kicked your weak butt out? Or you got so promoted you're now a general or something cool?" Javi accepted the change in subject, now wanting to rehash the past himself anyway.
"No, but I'm flattered you think so highly and so lowly of me," he chuckled. "No, I didn't get booted or promoted. I work for a company called Storm PAR." He then pulled out his phone and showed her a photo of some type of satellite panel. "My job in the military was operating one of these. Phased Array Radar... PAR. You know, scanning for missiles."
"You leveled up from Dorothy," Cami whistled, eyeing the equipment with fascination.
"Many levels," Javi nodded. "This thing was so powerful and so fast, I could watch a moth fly from, like, a mile away. But I kept asking myself... What if we point this thing at a tornado?"
Cami was no stranger to the word, having written about them countlessly during the past four and a half years, but coming from Javi's, memories seemed to smack her in the back. She almost tripped over her feet while somehow standing still as she processed what he was saying.
"The military, they came up with portable units, and they're small. I got my hands on a few prototypes. We place portable PARs around it to get a three-dimensional scan. The most perfect scan of a tornado ever. And, Cami, we can use this data to save lives back home." The last part of his sentence caught her attention, and Javi caught that. "I'm going up to New York tomorrow to talk to Kate. See if she'll help us out."
Cami had low hopes that Kate would accept his offer. Kate too hadn't stepped into the field since that fatal day, scarred perhaps even more so than her. Kate hadn't just lost her best friends, she loved her boyfriend, the love of her life, protecting her. It's a pain she'd carry forever.
"Kate doesn't chase anymore, Javi. And neither do I," Cami told him carefully. She wanted to help, truly, but she didn't know if she could bear it, being there without Addy, Praveen, and Jeb. Storm chasing without them would be like Harry Potter searching for the horcruxes without Ron and Hermione. "It wouldn't feel right to do this without..."
It had been five years since she discussed it aloud, her mind already attempting. To unlock the vault of memories she had blocked as deep down into the abyss of pain as she could.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't just up and leave. I don't want to waste my sick days on this. Plus, I have a cat and I can't just leave her here." She knew her excuses were weak, but she was desperate. She wanted to get out of there, the conversation so thick she felt she was drowning. But Javi wouldn't let her leave just yet. "Look, Javi, it was nice seeing with you, but I have to get back to work-"
"Getting this data could help so many people. Knowing you, you've never used a single vacation of sick day without necessity. And you can bring your cat. Give me a week. Just a week, Cami. That's all I ask." When she didn't answer, he sensed she was retreating. As one final hail Mary, he then asked, "What if Kate agreed? Would you come, then?"
The thought was a good one, just as intriguing as it was complicated to answer. Everything in her mind wanted to scream "no," that she wouldn't go. But her gut couldn't help but trust Kate, even a hypothetical one. So, without a seed of doubt, Cami found herself replying. "Yes."
And the doubt only finally creeped in a weeklater as her plane touched ground in Oklahoma.
