Mind's Echo

Eva

Eva bent down and collected a flashlight and a small video camera from Mark's supplies. She lifted them in a shrug toward Quincy, feeling a bit silly under his intense gaze.

"It won't hurt to try and catch something. I promise I won't interfere in your investigation."

He scowled. "I'll try not to interfere in yours, then."

She smiled timidly. "Ok. Good. Thanks. Um. Do you need a flashlight?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I'm good."

"But what if something happens and we get separated? I'm the only one with a light ..."

His dark eyes narrowed. "I said I'm good."

She threw her hands up in surrender. "Ok. I get it. You're good."

They stared at each other for a moment in uncomfortable silence. Eva began to rock back and forth on her feet while twirling her hair around a finger nervously. She bit her bottom lip. The moment stretched out into an eternity. Why is he staring at me like that?

"So, um ... are you good enough to have a map or something?"

Quincy rolled his eyes as Eva's question reminded him that he could no longer read the wet map with ruined ink, and could only recall that the secret vault was located somewhere in the East wing.

"Only the map in my head", he replied tapping his temple. "We'll start on the bottom floor of the East wing so I know what we're dealing with, and then work our way back."

Quincy didn't want to run into any surprise squatters, or homeless people. You never know who you could run into in an abandoned building. In this particular building, he certainly wasn't in the mood to run into something worse. He was anxious to get started because he knew the longer it took to find what he needed, the harder it would get to resist the temptation to offer Eva a ride. The longer he was with her, the more he wanted to be with her. He didn't need that sort of complication. Not when his life was about to become so much easier. 

Eva had to admit that she enjoyed seeing the infallible Quincy roll his eyes. It made him much more human. She quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah? Well, do you have a compass or something? I mean, which way is the East wing? I'm so confused in this place ... I almost can't tell up from down."

Quincy raised a hand and casually pointed at the wall behind Eva. She turned and saw a plaque engraved with East Wing clearly identifying the hall opposite the one the others had disappeared down as their route. She turned back around and frowned at him.

"Oh. Well, I don't have eyes in the back of my head, you know?" she snipped, blushing.

Quincy smirked at her. She was suddenly aware of his awesome cheekbones. He's very handsome. I like the sexy scruff he's got going on ... She shook her head. Handsome or not, he was clearly here to do a job. She needed to show she was on board with that. She definitely didn't want to get on his bad side by making googly eyes at him.

Still, she couldn't stop herself from mumbling, "You should smile more often. You have a nice smile."

His lips turned down in the corners, and she regretted having said anything.

"I'll smile when I find what I'm looking for."

"Well, then," she said, squaring her shoulders, "let's get to it."

He gestured toward the hall labeled East Wing. "Ladies first."

Without another word, Eva turned on her heels and headed off. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder to see if he was checking out her tush as she walked away.