Eastern District School

Chapter 5 - The Tour

Three hundred and seventy miles! She'd travelled three hundred and seventy miles, away from home, and he was here! How was that even possible? At first, she thought maybe a twin, or a close relative but there was no mistaking that distinctive way that he looked at her. Twenty four hours ago, they were both in her hometown, and now they were here. Was he following her? She looked back over their shoulders but he was already walking away.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Benny asked.

"I told you it was going to get awkward." she said. Her voice sounded a lot calmer than she actually felt.

"Yeah, I know you did...but...what the hell Titch. Do you know that guy?" The look of pure puzzlement on his face would have been quite amusing if Rose hadn't had her mind on other things.

"No!" She was quick to answer. "I just....had a run into him before."

"Oh?"

Of course he was intrigued. That must have been entertaining to watch.

"I just bumped into him in a cafe yesterday."

He pulled his head back in confusion. "I thought you just drove down here?"

It was all the same conversation she'd had in her head. She tried to busy herself, faking an appearance of being casual by looking at some outside details of the building, but to be completely honest, she couldn't concentrate on the job yet. He'd completely taken that enthusiasm out of her. "Yeah I did....but I bumped into him in a cafe just round the corner from where I live."

"What?" he spat, "You mean...man, how far is that from here like three hundred and fifty miles?"

She nodded.

"Man, that is proper messed up. What…is he stalking you?"

Rose smiled, gently shaking her head. "I dunno, he seemed pretty surprised to see me here."

"Well what about all that 'I'm pleased to meet you' business? Why bother with that pretence?"

"Oh no, he didn't know my name, like I said I bumped into him. He did offer his name, but I didn't give him mine."

"That's just trippy! I'd watch him Titch, something is not right there!"

"I will, believe me!" she said. "So hadn't we better get something written down here. Did you see this...it used to be a back entrance perhaps...?"

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Benny and Rose were deep in discussion around the west side of the building, when Rich found them.

"Are we ready?" he asked simply, startling them both.

Rose glanced down at her watch. She hadn't noticed it had gone by so quickly.

"Well I thought we could take a nose around inside, as we've been given the clear to enter now. Your men work fast." he commended Benny for his team.

"Yeah, thanks." Benny said, not sure what to actually say to this guy, being grateful for commendation, but still wanting to have Rose’s back..

"So have a little look at all these secrets, and then maybe we can even have our lunch. You know there's a rooftop playground, right?"

Rose's eyes lit up, "I knew it," she said excitingly, but she was mainly talking to Benny. "I've always wanted to see one!"

Rich smiled. "I think you're going to love this place. There's a lot hidden inside these walls!"

Rose wasn't sure why he said it like that,but everything about this guy was strange so she disregarded it.