Awakening by J. E. Swift Page A

sister. When they returned the day after the funeral, she had been insistent that they immediately go back to training, longing to immerse herself in something, anything to take away the pain. She had forgiven herself that day for the transgressions she made against her sister; but it had not removed the sting of her passing; had not made her forget that she had lost the only family member left that she knew had loved her unconditionally.
    Garrett naturally disagreed with Caitlyn’s enthusiasm for returning to training, insisting that she should be taking more time off than the two days she allowed herself. Caitlyn persisted, stating that this was what she needed and Garrett, whom she was sure still saw the pain in her eyes, finally gave in to what she needed. His agreement did not come without a condition, however. The condition he established was that in a little over a week’s time from their return, she must take a full four days off and attend the annual Trust Gala down in Cape Cod.
    Now as she stood here, fidgeting in her dress, she wondered what would have possessed her to agree to this. It would have been easier to take an additional four days off in the beginning rather than standing here in this cocktail gown, making sure everything looked perfect. She did not know why she was nervous; Caitlyn normally did not have a problem being in social situations. In fact, she had often been complemented on her networking skills in various gatherings while in college. This was different though. She assessed that her nerves stemmed from the amount of influential people that would be milling about in the room. This was not simply going to be college professors spouting off and bragging about their recent research findings and self-important chatter about who obtained what grant. She knew that a majority of these people were in real positions of power, people who had influence on changing the world. She wanted to impress them; she did not want to seem sorely out of place.
    “Caitlyn, meet me in the Lobby in five minutes.” It was amazing how quickly she had gotten accustomed to Garrett’s voice randomly popping in her head. His voice in her head was becoming second nature.
    “Okay, I’ll be there.”
    She checked her makeup and her dress once more, mentally chastising herself that she should not be so snobbish, before grabbing her clutch purse and heading out of the hotel room door. The elevator music hummed quietly in the background, her mind going through various customary and witty greetings in her head, in preparation of her initial introductions tonight. It was a ritual Caitlyn had in college and she hoped it would serve her as well tonight, preventing her from making a fool of herself, or worse yet, Garrett. Garrett had already prepared her for the fact that she was going to be the only Actual there who had not taken the Threshold yet. As if Caitlyn did not need anything else to be anxious about this evening.
    The lobby of the hotel was relatively quiet, and she spied Garrett staring out a window. She began to walk over to him in greeting but stopped; the view he took in was of the park next door, but she quickly realized that he was staring at nothing at all.
    She silently observed him in interest for a few moments. His eyes held a hardness to them that she only encountered in moments such as these, his normally serene facial features weary and tired. She wondered what it was that burdened his mind so that it made him look like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was such a grand departure from the Garrett she typically saw.
    “You clean up well.” Caitlyn stated as she resumed her walk over to him. Garrett was wearing a hand tailored suit, the straight lines of the jacket fitting him very well.
    He looked up, startled at the voice that greeted him. It was rare she caught him off guard. He rose to welcome her, his mask coming back once again. He bent over and kissed her cheek softly. “You