EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA) (39 page)

But we're just perfect in my world.

Who cares if we're a little different?

Who cares if we're not what they say is okay?

We don't need to listen.

We might be messed up in their worlds,

But we're just perfect in my world.



The next thing I knew, the sun was blinding me and
kisses filled my thoughts. I knew I was madly in love with Daniel and that’s all that mattered. It was nine and I needed to hear his voice.

“Good morning. Where are you?”

“Good morning, sleepy head. I’m near the airport.”

“I wanted to see you before you left.”

“I thought of that too, but I knew I’d miss the plane if I did. Don’t do anything crazy while I’m gone.”

“Oh yeah, with my one arm?”

He laughed and said, “I’ll call you as soon as I get back.”

This weekend would drag until I saw him again. Hearing lots of barking, I threw on a bathing suit and rushed downstairs to see what was going on.

At the front door stood Mrs. Clark talking to Mom and Grammy while her dog, Ranger and Amber chased each other around the house.

“Good morning. Sounds like they’re having fun,” I remarked as two fur balls raced by.

“Morning, would you mind letting them out through the patio and just keep an eye on them?” Mom asked pleadingly.

I grabbed some magazines and scooted the dogs outside. They tore off on the sand and jumped right into the bay. I sat by the water and watched them. Mrs. Clark
eventually came out and took Ranger home. Amber collapsed on her dog bed from sheer exhaustion.

After some breakfast, I grabbed my poetry book and read the biography section on Percy Bysshe Shelley. Perhaps to be a good poet, you needed to have a life full of turmoil
and angst. Shelley had a tumultuous life and his scandalous relationships with women had overshadowed his writing. He died at the age of thirty from drowning.

One poem was called Mutability. After looking up the definition, it means changeable.

MUTABILITY

We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;
How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly!—yet soon
Night closes round, and they are lost forever:
Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings
Give various response to each varying blast,
To whose frail frame no second motion brings
One mood or modulation like the last.
We rest – A dream has power to poison sleep;
We rise –One wandering thought pollutes the day;
We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep;
Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:
It is the same! –For, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free:
Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow;
Naught may endure but Mutability.

‘Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow.’ That line really struck me with its poignancy especially because of Daniel. Changes, that were wanted or not, occurred in everyone’s life. That was how I spent the day, reading, fantasizing about Daniel and worrying.

When Lily and Noelle arrived, they wanted to hear what happened with Daniel. Noelle didn’t understand why the music was on so loud in the bedroom.

“I don’t want my mom to hear
,” I fibbed and told them everything except for the time travel stuff.

Noelle went to the bathroom and
Lily asked, “Aren’t you worried about all this spying and those men that are after you?”

“Yeah, but I’m hoping that it’ll all end soon.” Noelle came out and we stopped talking. 

We had dinner outside and it began drizzling. The awnings kept us dry but the winds were strong, so we moved inside to finish.




Saturday morning, the sky was dark and it was still raining. After talking to both moms, we decided to go out for breakfast and drive out to Orient Point. Grammy had already eaten so she declined our invitation, as did the dads. They were golfing at the North Fork Country Club as soon as the rain let up.

After yummy blueberry pancakes and omelets in Southold. The sky was brightening and exposed sporadic peeks of the sun. We were about to take the North Road and head to Orient Point when Lily saw signs for Horton’s Point Light House. She asked to show Noelle the beach with the humongous rocks.

Then, we stopped at the Lavender farm in East Marion. The aroma was amazing. After picking our own lavender and taking pictures, we set out to the beach at Orient Point, the tip of the North Fork. While collecting beach glass, we saw the ferries going to and from Connecticut.

On the way home, Mom and Aunt Cecile stopped at their favorite winery in Southold, Croteaux Vineyards to get rose wine. Sitting in the car waiting for them to return, Lily said that the picturesque scenery reminded her of the South of France.

Back home, we spent the rest of the day in the pool and had a barbeque
that night. Mom offered to take us to the movies but after calling, there was nothing we wanted to see.




On Sunday, Noelle and Lily went bike riding while I tried to finish my poetry homework. I didn’t want to take any of it with me to London.

As I sat by the pool, I looked at my cell. It was almost three o’clock and I still remembered everything. My phone rang and when I saw it was Daniel, I jumped for joy.

“I see you’re still alive,” he joked.

“So what happened?” I asked eagerly.

“Well, nothing horrific, so believe it or not, it’ll be fine with you knowing my secret.”

“YEAH!” I screamed. “I was so worried.”

“I’m leaving DC shortly. Call me when you’re home. I need to see you,” Daniel said.

Even though I couldn’t wait to get back to the city to see Daniel, I’d miss being at Grammy’s so much. Besides being a special place because of my family, Nassau Point would now also be the place where Daniel and I became a couple.

Saying goodbye to Grammy was quite difficult.

“Grammy, thanks for letting me stay with you.”

“Don’t be silly. I loved it. Next week, you’re off to London and you’ll forget all about me.”

“No, I won’t,” I protested.

“I’m kidding please say hi to Nana for me.”

Tears and hugs ensued and finally, we were on our way. Afraid of what awaited me in New York, I was miserable the entire ride home. Only thoughts of seeing Daniel kept me rational.             

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
Einstein

Our arrival at the apartment was uneventful. Amber was a little disoriented at first, but after finding her favorite squeaky toy, she settled right back on the couch with it. I went to my room and felt as if so much time had passed.

I dialed Daniel’s
cell and the need to see him was overwhelming. “Hi, I’m home.”

“Great. Can I come over?”

“Yes. I can’t wait to see you.”

“Paige, I don’t want you going out today or tomorrow, not even to walk Amber unless you’re with me. So feign sickness with your parents. I’ll explain later.”

“Okay,” I said nervously.

I found my parents in the kitchen
looking through the mail. “Daniel’s coming over. Okay?”

“Sure, no problem,” Mom said.

The doorman announced Daniel, so I waited for him in the hallway. Exiting the elevator, he engulfed me in his arms and I melted as our lips met. What I felt for him was unbelievable!

Daniel’s eyes twinkled as he said, “Has it only been a few days? It feels far too long.”

“I missed you so much.” Daniel put both hands on my face and kissed me again.

The elevator door opened and we released our grasp as Mrs. Braxon exited giving us a surly look. Exchanging pleasantries didn’t change her furrowed expression one bit. As soon as she turned her back, I kissed him, but Mrs. Braxon turned and gave me a reproachful glare. I quickly dragged him through my front door.

My parents heard us in the living room and came out to say hello. Dad and Daniel immediately got into a debate about English soccer and the Liverpool team.

Amber was sitting on the couch and was licking her leg like crazy. Mom went over to see what was going on and presumed it was a tick since there were a lot on Long Island, but found a large lump
instead. The skin all around it was raw and enflamed and Mom said she’d call the vet in the morning.

We went to watch TV in the den. Daniel said, “I’ll be over as soon as you call tomorrow and we’ll search your dad’s office.”

“Okay, but why can’t I go out?”

“You’re supposed to get abducted. Again, things constantly change, but nothing can happen if I am always with you.”

“What are you talking about? They can kill both of us,” I answered nervously.

“That won’t happen, we have security.”

“Wait, if they kill us, time travelers can go and change it, right?” Something was nagging in the back of my mind.

“Yes.”

“How come you didn’t save Frank, the agent that died?” I watched as Daniel’s shoulders hunched over from hearing Frank’s name.

“I figured you’d ask why we saved you but not Frank, one day. That’s one of the reasons why James thinks we have someone inside the agency working against us. There’s always a traveler on duty at each machine in case something needs to change. The window to correct a death is thirty minutes, after that, the event occurs
.”

“I don’t understand.”

“All the times you died, we had thirty minutes to undo it.”

“Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I almost did, but since I had to leave you for the weekend, I didn’t want to worry you. So much was thrown at you, I wasn’t sure if you could deal with much more.”

“What happened with Frank?” I asked.

“The agent stationed at the closest time machine was sent away into the future, but there was no information as to who sent him. So when James called to instruct the traveler to go back in time before the murder, he wasn’t there. Then he called the other machines on the East Coast and mysteriously all those guys were on travels also. There was no time to get someone else there in 30 minutes. There’s an internal investigation going on right now. In all these years, that was the only time we lost an agent like that. Because of Frank’s death, backup procedures have been implemented so this never happens again.

Daniel looked so upset. I
looked into his beautiful eyes and said, “I’m sorry about Frank, but all we can do now is try and stop this.” Daniel closed his eyes and looked exhausted.

I stared at him and thought of something. “Why weren’t some of the past political assassinations corrected?”

“Because the thirty minute window wasn’t discovered until 1981. That window is absolute only for changing someone’s death, not other things and was discovered by accident. An agent was at a location where someone died. Since he needed to alter something else, he phoned it in. Another agent went back in because the time machine’s location was nearby and discovered that someone that had been killed was alive. That was the first time that someone’s death was reversed. EMIT hadn’t known that was possible before, so there is someone at each time machine in case of emergencies.”

“But if I die in the future?” I babbled, getting lost with my train of thought. “I should be dead?” This was so hard to understand.

“It hasn’t happened yet.”

“But….”

“Don’t worry about the future; I’ll take care of it,” Daniel said, not as confidently as I would’ve liked. “Do you know what Einstein said about the future?”

I shook my head no.

“I never think of the future- it comes soon enough,” Daniel answered. “Can we just relax and watch a movie? Time travel knocks me out.”

I grabbed a pillow and put it on my lap. “Here, lie down.”

Daniel did and I scratched his head while we watched the movie. He was so quiet that I think he fell asleep.

I heard Mom coming downstairs to take Amber for her
last walk and saw that it was almost midnight. I paused the movie and Daniel sat up.

“Do you want me to take her?” I called out.

“No, your dad and I feel like taking a walk. He’s finishing something up and will be down in a few minutes,” Mom answered and went in the kitchen.

“I better go. I’ll be downstairs in the apartment.”

“Where is it?” I wondered.

“Fifth floor, apartment four. If you’re ever in trouble, go there.” I walked him to the elevator.

When I got into my bedroom, I got my journal out of the closet and wrote for about an hour. Since my last posting, a lot had happened. I wrote about everything in Long Island except the classified things. I took his photo from the Eiffel Tower out and put it back in my bag. Why hadn’t we taken any pictures while we were in Long Island? I felt like screaming! I had left my camera home thinking that taking pictures with one arm would be difficult. I should have taken some with my cell.