Second Love to the Right (Neal Cassidy/Baelfire Love Story)

Chapter 2: Contacted

I get home to my apartment at 5:00. It was a long and tiring day. I'm head writer at the Baltimore Sun. I throw my purse on the kitchen table and flop on the couch. My cat, Peach, jumps on the couch and curls up right next to me. I gently stroke her fur.

"Hi Peach" I say.

She meows then hops right off. After a few minutes of lying down, I get up and walk towards the kitchen. I'm too lazy to cook so I just heat up one of my microwavable meals. As I eat it, I decide to check my phone or anything. I half expected my friend, Lilly, to call but it actually wasn't her. I actually didn't recognize the number. It seemed that they called while I was still at work. I decide to toss it aside and not worry about it. After I finished eating, I was just too tired to clean up or do anything else. I quickly took a shower, brushed my teeth, and then headed off into bed.
I awoke suddenly when I heard my phone ringing. I reached down next to my nightstand to pick it up. I looked at who was calling. It was the same number from before. I guess it must've been important what they were trying to contact me about. I click the button and answer it.

"H-Hello?" I say really sleepily.
I was trying my best to not sound like that but I'm just too tired.
"Molly?" the person on the other line asked.
"Yes?" I said.
"Hi!" they shout.
"Um...hi?" I say.
I honestly couldn't recognize who it was.
"Sorry were you sleeping?" they ask.
"Oh no...I've been up for hours" I say sarcastically.
"Liar" they said.
I guess they caught it. I'm starting to get a little scared because I had no clue who it was still.
"I'm sorry who is this?" I ask.
"You mean you don't know?" they say.
"Uh...no" I say.
"It's your godfather!" they say.
I shrug my shoulders despite the fact that they can't see me.
"You know....Greg Mendell?" he says.
My face still had the same blank expression.
"Right" I hear him whisper under his breath. Then he says, "Owen Flynn" quietly.

I don't understand why he said it quietly but the good news is that I actually find figured out who he was. Owen Flynn was a good friend of my father and my father made him my godfather after I was born. Only problem? I haven't seen or heard from him in about 20 years till now.

"Oh Uncle Owen! Hi!" I say.
"Shh!" he says over the phone.
I get confused.
"Why do I have to be quiet?" I ask.
"I don't go by that name anymore. I go by Greg Mendell now. I forgot you didn't know" he whispers.
"Why did you change your name?" I ask.
"Personal reasons" is all he says.
I widen my eyes and what the reason could possibly be but I decide to not ask.
"Why are you calling me?" I ask.
"I want you to come to where I'm at" Greg says.
"Listen....Greg. I have a job and I just don't have the time and energy to go anywhere" I say.
"You're a writer aren't you?" he asks me.
"Yes" I replied.
"Well I promise you. Where I'm at right now; it'll be the highlight of your career" he says.
"I'm already head writer at the Baltimore Sun. I don't need anything else. I'm fine just the way things are" I say.
"Listen Molly. By the way you sound, you're very tired, and not just because it's 5:00 in the morning. You probably sound like this often. You're exhausted, you're stressed, you need some time off. Am I getting anything wrong?" he asks.
Surprisingly, he hasn't. As much as I love my job, it's very stressful.
"No" I say.
"You need a vacation. Please come visit your godfather. Don't necessarily worry about the job I'm offering you. Just take some time off and enjoy yourself" Greg says.
I think about this for a minute and I decide to consider it.
"Alright, where am I going?" I ask.
"It's a small town in in Maine. It's known as 'Storybrooke'" he says.
If we were having this conversation face to face, he would know that I just made the biggest "WTF" face ever.
"I'm sorry?" I say.
"Storybrooke" he repeats.
I laugh a little.
"Greg, I think you've been drinking without realizing because never in my entire life have I ever heard of that name" I say.
"Are you calling me crazy?" he asks.
"A little bit yeah" I reply.
"Well, I want to see you call me crazy once you get here" he says.
I have a feeling he hung up because I heard my phone click.
"Hello? Uncle Greg? Still there?" I ask.

Yep, he hung up. I growl then put my phone down. I quickly get dressed then walk into the living room. Peach is lying on the couch like she usually does. She looks up as I walk in.

"Well Peach, I guess I'm taking a vacation to Storybrooke" I say.

(Well that's it for that chapter! In the show I realize Greg is actually supposed to be only in his 30s as well, but for the sake of the story, I'm changing it a bit. So for this story, I'm going to say he's around his 50s.)