^{If you missed the first book - Fireflies - you might want to start there. It's here in its completion, written for Steemit. If you enjoy it, feel free to ask to be added to the subscriber list for the sequel, where new chapters are being released daily.}

Entry 30

The sound of the doorbell roused her from her notepad. She had been detailing the order of steps that she needed to take, in this world and her own.

Too early for the mailman. As she opened the front door, the color drained from her face. Quite literally, she willed the blood to circle back into her cheeks.

"Hi there! I don't know if you remember me. We met briefly almost two weeks ago, but then I didn't see you around! When I saw you pull into the driveway last night, I figured I'd come check up on you - maybe see if you wanted to get together for coffee sometime?"

Well, this was part one of her plan: Keep your enemies closer. She hadn't been sure how she would take that first step, but it seemed he was going to make this easy on her.

"Hi Derek." She forced her most sincere smile. "I think that would be a great idea. I recently came back from a trip, and I'm a little out of sorts. Jetlag and all. Getting back into a normal routine with a new friend would be nice." She hoped that he didn't notice the hard swallow as she forced her mouth to form the word "friend".

"Forgive me - I feel like an idiot, especially now that you remembered my name. But refresh my memory?"

"Aria." She stuck her hand out to greet him formally, once again feeling for any sign of power pulsing beneath his flesh. There was none.

"That's right! For some reason, I could have sworn it was something else!"

She stilled her heart which had picked up its pace. "Oh really?" Laughing nonchalantly, she pressed further. "What name was that?"

"I don't know now!" Bemused, he joined her in laughter. "It seemed like it was right on the tip of my tongue, but now it's completely gone!"

She shrugged, relieved. "So when would you like to get together?"

He paused, and then dared to be bold. "What are you doing now?"

No time like the present

"Let me get my purse and I'll follow you there."

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