My Life In Ruins

2. Well, I Guess I Should Have Showered This Morning...

Chapter 2

Well, I Guess I Should Have Showered This Morning...

"What is he talking about, Dad?" I asked, turning toward him.  "What about a new intern?"

Dad sighed and looked over at me.  "I've hired an intern who was looking for some field experience for his major in history.  Like Edmund said, he's studying at Oxford.  He's name in Max Knight and we're going to pick him up tomorrow when we go to England.  That's why we're going actually."

"But an intern?" I asked.  "It's always just been the three of us on our expeditions!  We can't add another person!  It completely throws our team out of wack!"

Dad gave me a hard look.  "Yes, I can, Calliope," he said, using my full name.  He only did that when I knew he was serious.  "And he's going to be with us for a few weeks, maybe even months.  You're going to have to suck it up and get used having him with us."

I sighed.  "Have you even met him?  How old is he?" I asked.

He shook his head.  "I've never met him, but I know his parents.  And for your second question, he's twenty-two," he said. 

Huh.  I wondered what he looked like.  And he was English, which was a definite plus.  I had a weakness for cute guys with British accents.  I saw Brielle raise an eyebrow in my direction.  She knew just what I was thinking.  I rolled my eyes. 

"Now, we'll discuss this more tomorrow morning.  But for right now, let's just enjoy the evening," Dad said, and then smiled.  "Let's go look at everything else that they've put out."

The rest of the evening was okay.  I mean, it kind of got boring at times, but I was talking with Brielle, which made it even more fun. 

When the night was over and we headed back toward where our car was waiting to bring us back to our hotel, I looked over the top of the car before getting in behind Brielle and my dad.   There, standing just on the other side of the street about to get into his own car, was Edmund Lewis.  Still, even after spending the evening with him in the same room and knowing him for a few years now, I didn't like the man.  There was just something menacing about him and I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. 

He looked up as I watched him help his date into the car.  When his eyes met mine, he grinned and held up a hand in a wave.  I just stood there and made no move to wave back. 

The next morning when I woke up, I didn't even want to get out of bed for our nine o'clock flight to England.  And since we didn't get back to the hotel until about three in the morning, I only got about three hours of sleep.  Hopefully I would be able to get a little on the plane. 

I got up and got dressed, not bothering to take a shower since we'd be on the plane all day.  It wasn't like we would be seeing anyone important that I had to look good for.  I just threw on my jean shorts, a navy blue take top, and a pair of brown leather sandal and put my hair up in a ponytail. 

After I finished getting dressed, I packed up my things - and zipped up the gown that I'd worn the night before in a garment bag to it could be shipped home to Boston - and took everything out to the living room area of our room.

Brielle was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed, her laptop in her lap.  When I slung my backpack over the couch beside her, she looked over at me.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were up,” she said, smiling up at me. 

“Yep,” I said.

I pushed down the handle of my suitcase and jumped over the back of the couch, landing beside her.  I shifted over to see what she was looking at on her laptop.  She closed the screen, but not before I caught sight of two words.