| "Getting to Know You" | ||
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June 20, 2008 Bella's Apartment 09.03 hours Bella moved around her apartment getting herself a glass of water. It was about 9am and the sun was shining brightly in the window. She considered her options, read a book, study, investigate the city a bit more. She couldn't go work out like she'd have liked to, a few more days of this and she'd be jumping out of her skin with unspent energy. She couldn't even go for a drink because of the bullet wound. She smirked a little thinking about the reason she was injured and how even dead he's had the last say. No, she didn't want to stay in today, but what�Paige was out of town, Declan�well he seemed too interested in other things, ooo Jordan. Jordy had been friendly enough, but would she be at work? Ah who cares, the joy of being who and what they were, was that they didn't have to answer to people at their day jobs. She reached for her mobile and looked up Jordy's number, then made the call from her apartment phone. "Hello?" "Jordy? It's Bella." "Oh hey Bella. What's up?" "Bored, thought maybe you'd like to have lunch or something, show me a bit of this city, get me outside the flat before I break something. That kind of thing." Jordan laughed, "Sounds like a great idea! I was planning on playing some soccer later, wanna join me?" "Soccer...Aye sure why not. *amused* That doesn't involve arms right?" Soccer, this should be amusing, she knew nothing of the game, but so long as she was careful she should be able to have a go at it. "Arms, no, what's wrong with your arms?" "Got shot." No need for more details than that the less people who knew the better. "Shit, must hurt like a bugger. On a mission I assume?" "Aye, and aye it hurts, but i'll live. What time?" "How about in a hour? You know where Thompson Park is?" "um...aye i can find it. An hour? No problems." "Awesome, I'll see ya there then." "Great, thanks Jordy. I hate all this sitting around. We'll see you then." "okay, bye" Bella hung up, she had always hated long goodbyes, and it had been Lachlan's desire in life to have the last word not hers. She went into the bedroom to find some day clothes to wear. About half an hour later she emerged, her arm sore, which is why it had taken so long, but she was dressed and her hair pulled back in a tight pony tail. She had decided on short denim shorts, shiny new white sneakers with white ankle socks, and a long sleeved grey top that was made of very light material. It was too warm for long sleeves but she didn't really feel like showing her injury off to the world. She refused to wear the sling that had been given to her, and despite strict orders she had taken it off as soon as she could. Her outfit made her appear as if she should be taller than she was, but it was practical for the weather and the activities of the day. She's plastered on some sun screen and her makeup was minimal, kind of going for that `look at me I have no makeup but I still look amazing' look. She'd strapped on a wrist sheath with a knife under the shirt on her left arm, deciding not to carry any other weapons, it was soccer, not combat. Looking in the mirror by her door one last time she grabbed her purse, and headed out of the apartment. The park was within walking distance and she had the energy to burn. The day was bright and she was glad she'd left her sunglasses in her purse. People moved around cars everywhere, it was busy, but then it was New York, so�duh. As she approached the park she realised that it had been a long time since she spent any time in a place like this, it would be nice. There weren't too many people in this park which meant she and Jordan would have more space, something she might need due to her lack of soccer kicking skills. She had a feeling that she'd spend much of her time fetching the ball rather than kicking it. Thompson Park 09.35 hours Leaning against the fence, Jordan waited for Bella to arrive. Getting bored she turned around and started kicking the soccer ball into the fence. She moved her feet quickly, kicking the ball at different angles. "Hey Jordan." She turned around and caught sight of Bella walking towards her. Jordan watched her for a moment, trying to decide which arm was hurt, but it was hard to tell with the long sleeved shirt she was wearing. "Hiya, which arm is it?" she immediately asked. "Left." "Good, then I'll be sure to run into your left side," she replied swiftly with a grin. Bella laughed, "Whatever Jordan. So how do you play this?", taking the ball from her hands and bouncing it on the pavement. "Well, first no hands," Jordan said. After a brief intro into the game play of soccer, which was much different when only playing with two people, they started. Jordan figured they would play a game similar to 21, but instead of the basketball, they'd play soccer. Two trees close together served as their goal. They started off counting goals, but as their game intensified, Jordan forgot the score. After Bella had managed to trip Jordan and score, she laid down on the grass, panting. "Dude, what was that about?" she yelled over to Bella. "Just making the game fair, I have a disadvantage with my arm," Bella replied and laughed. "The hell you do!!" Jordan replied, looking at her watch. It was almost noon. Where did the time go? She was supposed to go into the bookstore later that day. Bella came and sat down besides her, "So who won?" "No idea, I lost track," she replied, curious as to why Bella cared so much. It was just a game. "Then how are we going to tell who's buying lunch?" Bella replied. "Lunch?" she replied. She didn't know anything about lunch. Before Bella could answer, one of their phones was ringing. Jordan grabbed hers and saw the call display. Her heart, although beating fast from the game, picked up even more. How the hell did she get this number? "Sorry, one sec," she said to Bella as the got up and walked out of earshot of Bella. "Hello?" she answered, knowing who's voice would be on the other end. "Hey Jordan! It's Vanessa, I hope this isn't a bad time." "How did you get this number?" she asked immediately, without even saying hi. "Oh, I got it from Carol I think it was, from you store. I hope that was alright." Jordan took a deep breath; obviously, she would have to speak to her staff. They should not be giving out her number. "Oh, that's fine, but can I call you back? I'm in the middle of something right now." "Sure sounds great." "Bye," Jordan replied hanging up. She walked back over the Bella, apoligizing, and telling her it was work calling, just a minor problem, but nothing that required her having to leave. Pushing her thoughts about Vanessa back into the depth of her brain, she said, "So about this lunch, I know a great place, but I want a shower first." Bella nodded, "Me too. How about I pick you up in about �" "No," Jordan said, interrupting, "I'm driving. You need to rest your arm." Bella looked like she was going to argue and Jordan glared at her. "Okay, then why don't you pick me up in about 30 minutes?" "Great, what's your address?" Bella gave her the address and then they both parted ways, each going home to have their showers. Bella was holding her left arm across her stomach by the time she reached her apartment door, she had pushed it too far, and when she was inside she made a beeline for the fridge where she kept her tablets. She picked up the container sitting next to the ones the doc gave her. Feverfew and Willow bark was her preferred pain killer. She downed them quickly with a glass of water, with any luck they would kick in before Jordy came to get her. She went and had her shower, it was slow going, but it felt good. This time she donned another close fitting long sleeved top, red this time, and a long flowy black skirt that went to her ankles. She put on some sandals and she noticed that by the time she had dressed her shoulder was feeling better. Just in time too because Bella heard a knock at the door as she strapped her last shoe on. She hurried to the door, briefly checking through the peephole before opening it. "Hey, come in." she said leaving the door open and walking away from it. Jordy had showered and changed too. "Thanks. Who's your decorator? You have the same sofa as I do." She replied, smirking. Bella laughed a little. "Came with the apartment. My home decorations haven't come in yet, most it is custom orders" the place has bare walls all over the place very little decoration. "Hey can we skip lunch, my stomach is all upset with me." "Stomach upset, sure, nothing serious I hope?" "Nah, happens all the time, probably just a little tired after the game. I could damage a coffee though." She knew that coffee wasn't good for the stomach but she didn't care she still wanted done. "MMm...tea sounds better. You know what's great for an upset stomach, ginger tea, doesn't taste great, but if you put enough sugar in it, just takes like sugar." Jordan laughed, "But of course, ginger tea isn't for everyone." Bella looked steadily at Jordy. "Tell you what, I'll put ginger in my coffee" Bella hated tea, but she did like ginger. She grabbed her purse to indicate she was ready to leave. "You know a good coffee/tea house?" "Sure do, let's boogie then." Walking along the beach Bella held her coffee in her right hand, holding it up to her face enjoying the smell of it, nothing like a good coffee. "So, I bumped into the guy who nabbed me in Russia the other day, seems he's in town for some meeting or something." "What?! He was here? Where?" Jordan seems quite surprised by this, seemed strange that anything like that still surprised any of them. "At the safe house, don't know anymore had to rush off to my Russian class." "Hmm..That's rather interesting. Sure would like to know he was here. Maybe him and his boss are shacking up with Rebecca." Bella didn't reply "So Russian classes, how long have you been taking those? I learn Spanish and Chinese in school" "Ya, I also took French in school, but it's pitiful what I know in it. Gaelic, now that's impressive. Hey, I could order you some books in Russian if you want, give you a discount on them." "Actually if you can find anything on their mythologies, or some poetry books that'd be great. Gaelic isn't really all that impressive if you consider my heritage, my mother used to speak it all the time I learnt it from a baby. I picked up French and Italian in uni, the fashion industry and all." "Sure, we might have some now, I'll have a look next time I go to the store." Bella smiled "Thanks" she sipped her coffee, "So what about you, what do you do in your spare time?" "Spare time, shit, that's a thought...Not a whole lot, I do the store of course, order office supplies" Jordan paused laughing, "One of my fetishes. I exercise at Madison; never seen you there though, must keep missing each other there. Have you been out on the boat yet?" "No I haven't, more of a land person really but I like speed boats." "No to boats? Hmm...You'll have to get over it." Bella laughed "Why so?" "Because all of us are going to go out on it sometime, fish or whatever, have dinner on it." "Hmm sounds nice, I'll be there. I didn't say no boats I just prefer land based activities, unless of course the boat goes really really fast." She grinned as she said this. "Who's all of us anyway?" "You, Saf, Paige, and I" "No new guy?" "New guy? What new guy?" Bella finished her coffee and dumped it in the nearest bin. "Declan, came in for my last mission. Guess you haven't met him yet." "No...He's in alpha?" "Aye, I guess" She paused, trying to be delicate about this, "we were a man down." "He'd damn well better know what he's doing." Bella looks at Jordy to see if there is hostility there. "He seemed capable, ready to defend team mates on his first mission so..." "Ya, I suppose we shall see," replied Jordan, who seemed distrustful of Declan who she still had yet to meet. Bella laughed a little. "Jordy, are you always this distrustful?" Nodding, "Yup," and in a quiet voice so not to be overheard by anyone, said, "We can thank Section for that." Bella's laugher died down. She knew these guys had hated section, and she had come out of it with her own paranoia so she kind of understood. She was however grateful to have been spared this distrust. Section had its good points. "They taught us to survive." She said it quietly than after a moment she changed topic. "So...what time of day are you usually at Madison?" "Mornings, afternoons, evenings," Jordan replied, "I don't really have a set schedule, plus I don't get there as much as I should." "SIA rules or your own?" "By SIA rules, I'm surprise Gray hasn't mentioned it." "He may have, I'm usually in there once a day maybe sometimes every second day, I train a lot. But with this thing" She indicated her shoulder, "I'm going mad." "I bet you are. Soon though. The soccer helped this morning though ya?" She nodded, "Aye thanks for that. Too much pent up energy." "Ya I was going crazy in L.A. with Saf, we were going over a past mission, involved many hours listening to phone taps and watching video feed. Drove me mad." Bella laughed, "An action girl like me then?" "I think we all have to be action gals and guys too in this line of work." "aye, some more than others." Bella stopped and looked out over the water, "No doubt there'll be another mission soon. I'm just hoping it holds off for a bit." "Yup, that's just the way it goes." They chatted, walked, and had a lovely afternoon until Jordy drove Bella home, but she had take off to her store. Bella settled in with a Russian book for the rest of the afternoon and the evening, her energy sufficiently depleted to allow her to sit still and concentrate. Return |
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