SYNCHRONICITY (The Lone Wolf)

40

Sebastian's eyes opened before his alarm was set to wake him; he was far too excited and hadn't slept much during the night. He could hear the even breathing of Sally as she snoozed on her downy pillow at his bedside. Rolling over onto his back, he inhaled deeply the cool morning air wafting through the open sliding glass door. His face already ached from having been smiling so hard...This was the day he'd been waiting for since they parted. This was the day he'd been dreading since the day they parted...Would she have any real memory of him? He remembered well that she knew who he was on sight, but she had no recollection of their time spent together. He'd tried to tell her in London while she was on holiday but he wasn't quite certain that he was all that successful. Obviously she was aware that they'd been together, because she had miscarried following an altercation with a Wraith for which he still grieved.

He rolled out of bed and walked over to the tiny room just outside his bedroom and turned on his computer. He noted several emails, but he was looking for one in particular and he smiled when he eyed the sender's email address and clicked the email to read it. He noted the zipped file with anticipation.

He learned that she had married a successful canine behaviorist, he knew that much already from Topher's speedy and meticulous search. He hoped that her husband had made her happy. He only learned the day prior, via Doctor Mike that she had left the coast for the serene hills of eastern Pennsylvania some fifteen years prior and immediately put his operatives to work...She had her cats of course, plus some dogs and a couple of horses. He frowned when he learned that the couple was childless, having spent a small fortune trying to get pregnant with no success and he had no difficulty visualizing her saying to the medical people that enough is enough...he understood that the quest to combat infertility was ridiculously invasive and none of that would have sat well with her...he remembered well that her wish for privacy was one if the most important quests in her life...even more so when she learned about the part she was to play within the confines of The Prophecy.

He clicked open the files and viewed many of the photos that he'd seen from Topher's search.

But why the Bed and Breakfast? Why Manitou Springs? Was it because it was familiar? He knew that she'd lived there during her time at Uni...he inadvertently had her evicted from her home, hadn't he? Even before he knew that she was the stubborn tenant, he admired the young woman's tenacity, especially when he learned what his attorneys had put her through...he didn't wish that on anyone, especially Alison. Still after all the years that had passed, he had never forgiven himself for the eviction.

He reckoned that he'd learn all the answers to his questions soon enough.

He looked into the mirror, trying to decide if he ought to shave the beard from his face...he remembered her teasing him when he was toying with the idea of trying to grow one during the summer they spent together..."Who the hell grows a beard in the middle of summer, Bastian! Besides, you already look like a hippy," she had said, as she peered around his shoulder while standing in his closet of a bathroom. "People who don't like to shave," he had replied with mock aggravation as he sneered at her. He remembered the feel of her breasts at his back when she giggled, and it made him smile.

"Still don't like to shave," he said to his reflection, then stuck his tongue out, pretending she was still behind him....but he always felt she was behind him, didn't he? Always counseling him to push himself, but not too hard...to do better, but don't be a big dumb guy about it...make a better life for himself or anyone else who might happen along, whoever that might be. His thoughts turned momentarily his son James; how would he be received? He remembered that Mary had told him that she spoke to her right after he first visted with baby James in tow, but then, there was always the nagging feeling that the miraculous entity that was James was, was actually his own flesh and blood...His eyes welled up and and he rolled his eyes and turned toward the shower.

Deciding on just trimming his beard, he hopped in the shower and washed his just longer than shoulder length hair and then stood beneath the warm stream of rain water to the point that he felt that if he stood there long enough, he would fall back asleep...standing up. But he had four meetings that he had to sit for and only one he could push off till later.

He exited the shower and towel dried himself, then looked into the mirror again and sneered at his reflection. His left eye still carried the scar of the nasty fight with the Evil Doers, although it had faded considerably. He plugged in the electric shaver and placed the plastic guard over the blades and brushed it through the length and when he was satisfied, he cleared his skin of the long strays of coarse hair...he looked into the basin and grimaced, unaware that he'd probably looked like a mean albeit misunderstood mountain hermit. He dried his hair the rest of the way and cleaned up his mess and left his spacious bathroom for his closet to pick out a suit for the day.

Once he was dressed, he realized that he smelled coffee and was hearing cartoons on the television in the living room and smiled. Then, he heard a knock on his door. Opening the door, he flinched when he saw a cup of coffee thrust in his face and gazed just beyond it into the brown eyes of the young man standing before him.

"Mornin' Pops," James said with just a touch too much joviality in his voice for Sebastian's liking.

"Mmmm...."

"Grumpy much?"

"Didn't sleep well," Sebastian grumbled as he gratefully accepted the large mug of go-go juice. He held up the mug in a salute and invited his son into the room. Sally was just returning from her morning outing with her grown pups and he moved outside to his little private patio and sat down at the glass table. James plopped in the chair across from him and looked out toward the mountains in the distance. "What's on your mind Son?"

"I was just wondering exactly how nervous you are right now?"

Sebastian's brow craned high as he stared at him from over the rim of the mug.

"That nervous huh," he chuckled seeing his father's expression. "That's alright, I'll never tell," he said cheerfully. "Okay, so her flight gets in at noon and it should take about two hours for her to get here?"

"Try about ninety minutes."

"Ooo...Lady speed demon, is she?"

Sebastian chuckled. "Something like that. Not very patient with traffic as I recall."

James grinned. "Road rage?"

Sebastian thought for a moment, trying to visualize a grown up, mature Alison behind the wheel. Finally he nodded and grinned. "Probably. I remember her having no patience for the stupid."

James laughed heartily. "No wonder you fell hard for her...even without all that prophecy bullshit."

Sebastian smiled and nodded his head as Sally walked over to him, and placed her head in his lap for attention.