Falling

Chapter Twenty-Three

When they arrived in Saint Paul a collective shiver went through the group. Jolie noticed the particular way that Sarah was shivering, having bundled up Mica. In response, she pulled off her favourite comfortable hoodie and forced Sarah to put it on, despite her protests. Owen looked at the scene with an adoration for Jolie he'd never had before. Jolie offered to hold Mica while Sarah grabbed their bags and she accepted with a smile.

"Trying to make her fall in love with you?" Owen asked Jolie and she smirked.

"Well, if you're going to let her slip through your fingers. My parents are picking me up, I guess I'll see you at the range tomorrow."

"It's just practice. You should come by on Tuesday, we'll be doing seven-twenties." Jolie nodded and passed Mica to Owen as she got a call.

He hoisted her bags onto her shoulder, kissed Owen on the cheek, whispered: 'Seriously though, if you don't seal the deal, I will.' and left.

When Sarah got back she was silent as Owen passed her Mica.

"I don't like New York." Owen said when she started to head towards where Amelia was commanding a battalion of younger archers.

"Why not?"

"There's a million reasons, but the biggest one, is there's no you." Sarah sunk her teeth into her lower lip and looked up at Owen.

"We have to shoot this week, let's not complicate things. You'll be going back in a few weeks."

"No I won't. I refuse to go back. There's nothing for me there."

"But Jolie-"

"Has finished her degree. She'll be in New York, working not studying."

"But don't you want to be near her."

"I can text her."

"But that's hardly a relationship worth having if you don't care." Now to most people, the ability to gauge the reactions of people around them would have informed them what people thought. Specifically that they, and another, were together. Owen is a rather oblivious human being.

He didn't realise no one had figured out that, since the valedictorian speech, that Jolie had had a crush on Sarah, not Owen.

He didn't realise that bringing a girl home is code for, 'hi guys, we're dating and it's serious,' not, 'she's never been to New Mexico and wanted to see some of it for herself.'

"Jolie's a lesbian. We're just friends." Owen said bluntly and watched realisation rush through Sarah.

#

Four Months Earlier

"I think my boss was the man who raped me." Nola didn't say anything as Sarah came through and sat on the edge of her desk. Her head shot up and foreboding ran through her veins.

"Okay." Nola replied, not questioning it for a moment. Sarah let out the air in her lungs. She put Mica down on the floor and let her totter over towards Nola.

"Can you say No-lah? No-lah." Nola pronounced, now her greeting whenever she saw the little girl.

"LoLo." Mica smacked her lips as she said the name and Nola went to scowl before deciding it was good enough for her.

"Okay, that's sorted, my name ranks eighth for words she knows. Why do you think he's the arsehole?" Sarah tapped her fingers against the desk until Nola scowled, forcing her to just get on with it.