Inspiration Point (36 page)

“Ethan, I am so glad to see you,” he said as he
invited me into the house.

“I am sorry it has taken so long Spencer, but I wanted
to be thorough, you understand,” I said smiling.

“Of course Ethan and I would like to thank you again
for helping me with this.  I truly appreciate it.”

“Well I have good news,” I reassured him.  “You
and Christian have indeed been successful with this strain.  All my
testing has been entirely positive.  The work is truly ground breaking.”

You could see the relief spread across his face, and I
felt it too.  It seems Spencer’s implant was also a success.

“You have no idea how happy that’s made me
Ethan.  The last week or so I have been struggling to come to terms with
my brother’s death.  The days seemed to have all blurred together. 
But to know I will be able to make this discovery a legacy to him is a dream
come true.”

The words he used were almost exactly word for word from Hayln’s
implant, it was incredible.

“Well, I was honored to be part of it.  Even in
this extremely small way.  It will help millions of people, you should be
immensely proud.”

“Believe me, I am.  But I was wondering if I
could trouble you for one more favor.  I know you've had some experience
in these things Ethan, and I wondered if you knew anyone who I could take our
work to.”

“Of course, I have a good friend at the Federal Health
Centre, and he would be more than happy to help you.  I will write down
his details for you.”  He handed me a pen and paper, and I wrote down the
name and number of my friend.  The relief that this had all gone to plan
nearly exploded out of me, all I wanted to do was go home and tell Hayln.

“Well thank you again Ethan, I was lucky to have
someone like you to confide in,” he said shaking my hand.  “I will leave
Cape today and go see this Steven Benson as soon as possible.”

“Well I look forward to hearing about your successes,”
I said as I went to leave.

“Oh how rude of me,” Spencer said making me turn back
to look at him.  “I didn’t even ask you how your family was.”

“My family?” I said nervously.  I could suddenly
feel the weight of the gun behind me and wondered how quickly I would be able
to turn it on him if I had to.

“Yes, last time I saw you, which was years ago of
course, your wife was pregnant.  Wasn’t she?  I assume everything
went well?”

I felt ill with him asking questions about my family,
especially Hayln.  I certainly didn’t want to say anything that may
trigger a memory.

“Yes, my family is all well,” I said with a nervous
laugh.  “Thank you for asking.  It was marvelous to see you again Spencer.” 
I made my way back to the door.

“You to Ethan and thanks again,” he said as he closed
the door.

As I started the car, I found myself holding back
tears.  We were safe.

Hayln

When I woke up, I knew I had slept in.  I rolled
over and looked at my clock, it was nearly lunchtime.  I guess I really
had been exhausted.  All of a sudden the events of last night rushed back
and I jumped out of bed and went to Mum’s room, she wasn’t there.  I
called out to everyone on my way downstairs and heard Emin yell back from the
kitchen.  He and Mum were at the table talking, their bags were packed,
waiting at the door.  I looked at Mum she looked well considering, she had
color in her cheeks again but a guilty look on her face.

“What’s going on?” I asked innocently.

“Your father hasn’t come back yet so we aren’t
sure.”  I hadn’t even noticed Dad missing after I saw the bags.  He
must have gone to check on the men.

“How long as he been?” I said as I sat down.

“Nearly two hours, so he should be back soon,” Emin answered.

“Your leaving,” I said, it wasn’t a question, I could
see the bags.  But I guess I had hoped things might have changed.

“Yes, we need to go home and get things back to
normal.  Emin even has a date tonight,” she said smiling.

“Tasma I take it, you certainly didn’t waste any
time.”

“Yes Tasma.  I had to do a bit of sweet talking
after your poor attempt of a cover up, but she agreed to see me, so who am I to
disappoint her.”

I rolled my eyes at him and suddenly became worried
that my life going back to the way it used to be.  Only seeing Emin every
second weekend and Mum once a month.  She must have read the expression on
my face.

“Just because we’re going home Hayln doesn’t mean I
have forgotten my promise to you.  I don’t want things to be the way they
were between us.  I want to spend more time with you, I have a lot to make
up for.”

“I’d like that,” I said smiling at her.  She
seemed genuinely happy so I thought I would try my luck on something else I had
been hoping for.  “Do you think we would be able to spend more time
together, as a family I mean?”

“Yes, I would like that to, and so would your father.”

I made myself some breakfast, or lunch I wasn’t really
sure, and I saw Dad’s car pull into the driveway.  He came inside with
Tyler following behind, both of them looked relived and extremely happy.

“It worked didn’t it?” I asked expectantly.

“Yes Hayln, it worked perfectly,” Dad said throwing
his arms around me.  “We’re safe.”

We all enjoyed the moment, embracing each other with
relief that it was finally over.  We sat back down then and listened to
Tyler and Dad’s stories on all three men, and how well the implants had
worked.  I was swollen with pride for what we had achieved, it was truly
unbelievable.  Time seemed to fly by with all of us around the table,
enjoying each other’s company, and our newly found freedom.  Before long
though Mum started to tire, and it was time for her and Emin to leave.  I
thought I might have been more upset to see them go, especially Mum.  But
I knew things had changed between us and I was looking forward to spending more
time with her.

Tyler stayed a little longer and we spent the
afternoon laughing at some bad movies and eating junk food.  It felt just
like it used to until he asked about Zeke.

“I thought Ezekiel would be here today sweeping you
off your feet,” he said sarcastically.

“We’re spending the day together tomorrow actually,
not that it’s any of your business.”  I wasn’t exactly angry with him, but
I was kind of hoping he might have accepted this.  Neither of us said
anything for a few moments before he broke the silence.

“I was wrong about him Hayl’s, he really likes you,
anyone can see that,” he said a little sheepishly.  I looked at his deep
brown eyes and could tell this was still hard for him, but he was trying for my
sake.

“Yeah he does,” I said as I threw him his favorite
chocolate bar that I had been hiding.  “Thanks for understanding.”

Everything went back to normal between us, and he left
after the movie.  I went to find Dad and was surprised to find him the
lab.

“Haven’t you had enough of this place?” I asked.

“I was just thinking about everything you did last
night – you were phenomenal.  What you achieved was miraculous.”

“I was actually trying not to think about that,” I
said looking at all the equipment still there from last night.

“Well, what would you like to do?” He asked a little
curious.

“Let’s go and get some takeaway.”  He laughed out
loud which made me smile.  I realized it had been a while since I had
heard that.

We went to his favorite restaurant and got the works
and took it home.  We stuffed ourselves stupid, but told each other since
we had missed so many meals over the past twenty four hours that it was
okay.  I started packing up our plates when I noticed how quiet it was.

“Feels strange without everyone here, don’t you
think?” I said.

“It does,” he agreed.  “But things will be
different now Hayl’s I promise.”

“I know Dad, I can already feel it’s different.” 
He smiled broadly at me, and I suddenly felt a little shiver.  “Dad can I
ask you a question about the men today?”

“Of course,” he said as he sat up a little straighter.

“Obviously their implants worked, which is great of
course.  But I was wondering how permanent you thought they might
be.  I mean I know there is no real way to tell.  But do you think it
could wear off?”

“I have been thinking about that all day, and I am not
sure I have an answer.  In my opinion I don’t think they could wear off,
although if prompted with the right information I think there would be a chance
they could restore their memories.”

I didn’t say anything and just thought about that for
a while before Dad spoke again.  “We destroyed all the evidence about us
Hayln, and even if there was a chance we missed something it would take more
than that for their memories to be reversed.  But just so you know, I’m
not going to sit here and do nothing.  I will find a way to make sure
nothing like that happens again – I promise.”  He smiled at me in a way
that always made me feel safe, and I believed him.

“Now, shouldn’t you be going to bed, I hear you have a
big date tomorrow.”

I laughed and threw the tea towel at him, suddenly
forgetting all my worries.  Tomorrow would be all about Zeke, and I
couldn’t wait.

Holy crap why was I so nervous?

I had been waking up every hour since four in the
morning worried I might sleep in and not have enough time to get ready – how
crazy is that.  After six thirty I couldn’t stand it any longer, and l
went downstairs and made some breakfast.  Dad was still asleep so I had
the place to myself which I was thankful for.  I didn’t want anyone else
to see how nervous I was.  I tried to take my time having breakfast, but
that didn’t quite work, so when I was finished I went upstairs to have a nice
long shower.  The hot water worked some of the tension away and when I got
out I had started to feel a little better.  I mean it was silly to be
nervous anyway.  We already know how we feel about each other, and we've
had a couple of make out sessions – all be it short ones.  So really there
was nothing I couldn’t handle.

I brushed my teeth twice and went back to my room to
find an outfit.  This is when it would have been ideal to have a best
friend that was a girl.  I mean I could hardly ring Tyler to ask him what
he thought I should wear.  After a while I decided on a pretty white skirt
and a peach tank top with a lace trim.  Not to casual, but it didn’t look
over the top either.  I was just about to decide what to do with my hair
when I heard my mobile beep with a text message.

My mind suddenly raced with a million scenarios - Zeke
had changed his mind, Mum has taken a turn for the worse or dare I say it
Spencer has remembered.  But of course it was none of those things,
although it was from Zeke, and I did suddenly feel nervous again when I read
it.

wear
ur swimmers

c
u @ 10

luv
Z

Once again I felt warm inside knowing we would have
the day together, and then the nerves returned when I thought about being in my
bikini with him and daydreaming about seeing him with his shirt off.  I
tried to block that out of my mind for a moment as I looked through my cupboard
to find my bikini. 

I rarely went swimming.  Unfortunately, I'm not
one of those girls who can just walk around barely dressed without feeling
self-conscious.  So instead I try to avoid these sorts of situations, but
I certainly wasn’t going to argue today.  I eventually found my black
bikini in the back of my cupboard.  It looked practically brand new because
of the lack of wear it had had.  I didn’t spend too long looking at myself
in it in case I freaked out again, so I just made sure it covered all the
essentials.  Then I ditched my skirt and put on a pair of khaki shorts
with my tank instead. 

My hair had nearly dried by this time and had settled
into its natural waves, so I pulled a section off my face with a pin and put a
hair band on my wrist in case I needed to pull it back later for
swimming.  I decided there really wasn’t any point to make-up if we were
getting wet so I just threw some gloss in my bag and grabbed my towel and
thongs and went downstairs to wait. 

Dad was up now reading the paper, and looked up when I
came in.

“Swimming?” He said sounding surprised.

“Yeah, it was Zeke’s idea,” I said seeing the stupid
grin on his face.  “Have you heard from Mum this morning?”

“Yes, I called Emin earlier to see how she was, and
she is doing well.  She actually asked me over for a coffee today.”

“Wow, we both have dates, who would have thought,” I
joked with him.

“Mine, is not technically a date Hayln.  I don’t
want you to get the wrong idea,” he said starting to sound serious.

“Don’t worry about it Dad, I am just happy you two are
talking again, really.”

I grabbed the paper and sat down with him to read
while I waited.  It was a terrific idea as I was completely distracted
when the doorbell rang.  I jumped up quickly grabbing my stuff and giving
Dad a quick kiss goodbye.  I could hear him ch
uckling
.