August

Chapter One

The salty air filled her lungs as she took a deep breath, her eyes staring at the sea in front of her, it was breathtaking. The sand was warm and soft underneath her feet and for the first time since she came back from her kidnapping she took a deep and long breath. At first she didn't believe that taking a vacation before joining the FBI again was a good idea but, damn, she was so wrong. She had been there for what? An hour? And she was already loving the Rhode Island sea. She had left everything behind two weeks after Flynn's birthday, telling him that obviously if he had needed her she would have come back as soon as she could, but she just needed some time for herself to try to have her life back, enjoying the little things again and relax. She had totally ignored that detective who was clearly flirting with her at Flynn's party, his name was Tommy, she kept questioning to herself why was he even there. Who invited him? She didn't care.

She had even decided to bring with her different types of clothes, giving a break to her usual sweaters. Obviously girlish dresses were just out of her mind but she did like the tank top cropped jus above her belly button, she didn't care if someone could have seen her scars, no one knew her, no one was gonna ask questions, she was free.

She had booked an apartment for the whole month of August in Warwick. Thirty one days for herself, no one chasing her down, no one pushing her to remember what happened, no FBI, nothing. Just her and whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Something that she really craved in that moment was a popsicle, she hadn't eaten it in ages. She eyed a bar on the beach not too far away and she headed toward it, her feet leaving marks on the sand. She bought a strawberry one and going back to her towel she looked around; the beach was starting to get empty as the sunset approached, she had taken almost all her first day to get there and unpack, but she didn't have anything to do so she could have gone to bed even at 3am if she had wanted to.

She wanted to take a look around the city, eat something for dinner in an isolated restaurant no one used to go to because it was too far away from the city center, take her freedom back. As the sun set she collected her things and headed back to her apartment. It wasn't really big, just an open space for both living room and kitchen, a bathroom with bath tub, a shower and one bedroom. She couldn't afford more than that but honestly it was enough, she didn't need more. The hot water washed away the salt and the sand on her skin, giving back to her hair that normal smell given by her shampoo. She put on a light bluse and a pair of shorts, her legs weren't as fit as they used to, she was way thinner but honestly she didn't care. That was the mood of her vacation, do what makes you happy without thinking about the consequences, after all no one knew her or would have followed her back to Boston.

August had just started and the streets were still full of tourists visiting the city or taking a walk even at night, relaxing on the beach or eating an ice cream on the benches. After eating a good burger with fires she walked around for a bit, admiring what the city had to offer and taking notes about the fancy places she saw to try them the following days. She ended her night by buying a new pair of sunglasses since she totally forgot hers in Boston, she would have needed them for sure.

She went to bed around midnight, after all she was tired and she wanted to have enough energies to go through the following day. The sheets were fresh and smelled good, the bed was huge, she wasn't used to sleep in a huge bed alone, not anymore. In those weeks she had rented a new apartment and the furniture still had to come so she had been sleeping on the couch. It was the first time she slept in a king size bed alone in ages, the last time she could remember was one day when Nick was investigating a case and he had to stay at work till late. She closed her eyes, enjoying the peace of her apartment, she was gonna love this vacation, she was sure about it.

As her eyes opened she saw the sun rays light up her room, she didn't put any alarm, neither she thought she will ever put one while she was there. She got up and got ready to go out for a run, she had always loved running, plus, the previous day she had seen a bakery down the street and she thought that she might have liked a slice of cake for breakfast, so she planned on buying one when she would have come back. She put her earphones on and left, running on the nearly isolated streets of the city, she didn't even check the clock when she went out. As she took out her phone she noticed it was only 8am, that must explain why almost no one was around. On her way back home she spotted a big motorcycle out of a bar, just in front of the bakery she had to go to. It had been a while since she rode one, she had to buy one again once she would've been back to Boston for sure. It was black and shiny, its owner must have taken a pretty good care of it, she would have wanted to wait for them to come back just to ask which model it was, but her stomach was now rumbling, so she decided to just buy what she needed and maybe wait later. Unfortunately when she came back the bike wasn't there anymore.