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Julia hung up from yet another phone call, another
museum now up to date and paperwork complete as she wrote out the final notes in
the file's assigned section.
Yup, she thought, she really did like these
headphone type phones.
She looked at the clock and calculated the time in
London before dialing out the House's number.
Four rings, in double quick successions as most
oversea phone lines were apt to do and the secretary to the London House was
answering the phone "Luna Foundation, London Branch."
Julia smiled "Hello, Patricia, is Sloan
in?"
There was a slight pause and then, in a pleased and
kind of surprised tone "Julia...? I should have known you'd
call."
And what else could she have said to the woman that
had come back from the dead? Patricia asked herself, remembering the woman she
had known before that fateful day in Ireland.
And she was back?
"Hold on a second." she said before patching the
call into her husband's private line.
William Sloan answered a second later "Hello......
Julia."
"Hello..... William." Julia replied in like
fashion, although her tone was obviously humorous and with a measure of mocking
"You need to get your act together and take care of something."
"Actually I was speaking with Cross about
you."
"Ah, lovely. So when will you have this all
hashed out?"
Sloan paused. She sounded like Julia and had
the same no nonsense way about her, all the way down to the mocking tone.
But was it Julia?
"As soon as we do the standard tests and
checks. You're keeping busy I assume?"
"Yup." she answered, not giving him details and
getting the impression she was being giving the stall routine. And
frankly, she wasn't in the mood to really be baited into one of their infamous
debates and so started to end the call "And on that note I need to get back to
it. But now you know I'll be bugging you until this matter's resolved
so... just like old times Sloan. Talk to you later."
With that she hung up, just as Alex entered and
grinned at the gadget on Julia's head.
"Look at you, miss executive assistant." her friend
teased her. Alex then blinked at the stack of paperwork - not because of
the amount of it but the lack of amount of it and knowing it had been a lot
taller yesterday. "You ready to go?"
Julia stood and took the headset off, laying on the
desk as she opened the drawer she had put her credit cards in and slipped them
into her front pocket.
"Of course. Get enough sleep?" she asked in
turn, taking the keys from her other pocket and both women heading out the door
and then downstairs to the front door.
"You will soon find out." Alex teased, both of them
knowing her fondness for shopping.
Julia chuckled as they neared the UV, Alex
whistling in compliment as she got in and fastened her belt, only to look around
the new auto.
"How did you get this?" Alex asked, thinking of the
trouble Julia would get in buying a new vehicle.
"Mmmm, I think Derek got tired of me taking his
baby." Julia quipped as she started the UV and started out from under the
covered drive and toward the gate "So he bought it."
"Wait." Alex looked like she was about to do a
double take at that "It has a red stripe on it. Red, Julia. Derek
buying something with red on it?"
Julia looked over at her after they cleared the
gate and drove toward the ferry "Don't pick on him. I like this
puppy."
Alex grinned and was already looking at the
entertainment center in the back seat "Egads, has Kat seen this
yet?"
"This morning. I'll be picking her up when
she gets out of school so she'll be probably be at it again then
too."
The ferry was there and she pulled up on the boat,
rolling down the windows and turning off the engine as it started forward.
They had pulled up to it just in time.
* * * * * * * *
"Two hours does NOT a shopping spree make." Alex
stated when they exited the latest store they had visited. Whereas Julia
was still carrying one shopping back from the different places they had been to,
Alex was already counting four and about to start on a fifth "And are you
feverish?"
Julia laughed at that as they headed toward the
eatery "I'm just fine, thanks. I'm not ready for a complete buy out
fest."
"Ha, you haven't even made a dent in that credit
card, my friend." Alex teased her "What gives?"
"A contributor." Julia replied with a wink as they
got a couple of sodas and made their way to a vacant table.
"Hardy har har." Alex mock laughed before taking a
sip of her drink and gazing at her friend thoughtfully, who was enjoying her own
drink and looking out toward the center of the eatery before feeling Alex's gaze
and raising an eyebrow.
In truth, Julia had bought a couple of outfits
consisting of slacks, blouses, more casual shirts and jeans and had made
arrangements for it to be delivered to the house while she and Alex continued
their outing but she didn't think the looks she was getting now pertained to her
lack of going shop-mad and so waited.
"I have loads of questions to ask and not sure
where to start." Alex admitted with a half smile, taking another sip of her
drink.
"Try asking the first one that comes to mind."
Julia suggested with a light tease "It's not like we haven't dove into mass
questioning gigs with each other before."
"True but I already know the answer to one of the
questions I have."
Julia raised an eyebrow "What question is
that?"
"About........ you and someone else."
"And the answer is?" she asked with the same
grin.
"That you love him and to let it stay between you
two."
Julia tilted her head to the side for a full minute
and then nodded, chuckling "Yup, that would be the answer."
She met her friend's gaze and explained "It's not
that I don't trust you, Alex. You're my best girl friend. But
-"
Alex smiled at that, glad Julia said so and then
raised her hand to stop her friend's explanation "I understand. And I
don't blame you in the least. This way you concentrate on each other
without having to deal with an audience. Why do you think we haven't said
anything out in the open about it?"
"And let's face it, neither one of you are
exhibitionists." she added, grinning when Julia covered her mouth over an
outright laugh.
"You know....." Alex said with a slight, slow smile
as she thought of the past "Looking back at things now, with the way we ended up
sending you to him about things we knew he'd shoot down, I think we all knew on
some level that you were different with him."
Julia grinned, remembering but also pointing out
"There were times he told me no too. He's no wuss."
Alex chuckled that time and nodded "True.
Very true."
They sat in companionable silence before Alex asked
her next question "What was it like? Being over there?"
'Over there' obviously meant 'the other side' and
Julia looked at the center of the food court thoughtfully, turning her thoughts
inward before answering "You could feel that you were surrounded by holy Beings
and that you were supposed to find a serenity there. But I never
did."
She looked at Alex and answered honestly "There
wasn't a day gone by, even when I was helping with things there, that I didn't
want to come back here."
"But how did you.. well what finally changed Their
minds about letting you come back?"
Julia paused and stirred her drink thoughtfully
with her straw "Thinking about it now, I think they always had the thought that
I should be back here. It's just a feeling I have. Something just
had to happen first before I could come back and it did happen. Matter of
fact I remember one of Them saying I was being returned to what should have been
before evil interrupted something it shouldn't have."
They both fell quiet then, thinking about
that. Then Alex grinned and stood, picking up her bags "The rest I can ask
you while we're shopping some more. Come on, Walker. We have to get
you back into shape for the shop-decathlon at Christmas time."
Julia laughed at that and followed, tossing her
near empty plastic glass into the nearest trash bin.
<to be
continued> |
- Re: [PTL Game]: Julia, Alex j/p spfoley
- Re: [PTL Game]: Julia, Alex j/p julia walker
