Secrets? Never.

11. Who'd Have Known?

As children, it is instilled in us that our familial relationships are of paramount importance; and that we must do everything in our power to restore, protect, and fortify them at any cost. So when these relationships are tarnished, ruined, or even threatened, our immediate reaction is to take action.

Emily Grayson had to do this on more than one occasion. The first time being when her relationship with her father was obliterated by the Graysons, when she first decided to seek vengeance. This led to the second time Emily had to take action.

Emily and Nolan sat outside a restaurant in Manhattan, discussing plans. "So Ems - phase one? Where do we begin maestro?" Nolan began, sipping a Long Island ice tea as he looked her dead in the eyes. The question was simple enough, and one about which Emily had thought long and hard. It was after days of planning, that she'd finally decided on a plan of action. It reminded her of the first time she'd had to go about such a task, it was decades ago, but she still remembered it in such great detail that it seemed as though it had only happened the previous day.

Flashback;

Emily had spent weeks closed off from civilisation, surviving on whatever meagre rations of non-perishables she had.

She planned; feverishly and with more than a touch of Machiavellian excitement visible in her eyes, wide from sleep deprivation mixed with copious amounts of strong black coffee.

She wrote notes, circled faces in photographs with red permanent marker, she scrambled for names in diary entries, matching them to her notes and photographs; until... she took a step back to marvel at what her mind produced. It was brilliant, even she could admit it was twisted, and it would feel oh so good once it was finally completed.

Present;

Alas, it wasn't to be. Her first plan was to be slowly extinguished by fate and chance, like a flame, deprived of oxygen. If only she'd known that her second bout of planning was to be in vain too, but not for nearly the sane reason. It would most certainly go ahead, but not in a way she could have ever forseen, until...

"Well, it all begins with- ..." she was struck dumb by what she saw next. Keeping her head low, she kept her gaze fixed on the woman sitting at a café across the street, tipping the last few drops of coffee into her mouth, and snuffing out her cigarette.

Nolan's head darted between Emily, and the street across from them, as he tried to deduce at what she was looking. He only realised the magnitude of what she was staring at when she continued, without moving her gaze, "with her. It all begins with a one Ms Lydia Davis."

© Sarah Egan 2014 - 2015. All rights reserved. This story is subject to copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without the express permission of the author.