Steven had been gone for a while. His shop in SoHo had called, and he had to head back in a hurry. Apparently, the young man who had been working there part time had finished college, and started his new career. In Los Angeles. This was news to the elementalist, since he had no idea the man was even in school.
A return to the Big Apple had seemed like a welcome retreat from the south, but he found himself missing New Orleans more than he expected. The small amount of people he had come in contact with had touched his life, and he couldn't change it. He kept reminding himself to call or text his friends below sea-level, but the frantic pace of his shop kept his mind off of it when he most needed to.
As his plane touched down, and he climbed in his green Beamer, the thought of his friends touched him again, and so as he pulled out of the airport parking garage, he punched a button, and spoke to the bluetooth in-dash phone. "Call Zack Wolf." The ringer would sound for a few times, and he cringed. He hated voicemail. Nonetheless, he heard the inevitable beep, and left what he thought would be fine. "Zack, Steven. Back in town, sorry for the silence. Get in touch, and we'll grab a drink or something."
He hung up, and spoke once more to the device. "Call Lori." The phone rang and rang, and he just sighed. She was probably working. "Hey, babe, sorry for the disappearance. SoHo called, and needed my expertise up at the shop. You know how that life is, never had a moment to call. Well, hit me back, and I'll make it up to you."
He punched the end call button, and drove to his house to get changed, and relax the jet-lag from his system.
Life for the little pixie had taken something of a strange turn as of late. Silent seemed to be hiding from her, and just about everyone else had disappeared too. Not that she wasn't used to it. In fact, she had learned long ago that no matter what happened, people always just poofed unexpectedly, no matter what. She had been surprised when Steven had done it so suddenly, but as with everything else, she just kept on going. More and more she was starting to wonder if her meeting with Jessie and then the following time getting to know Steven wasn't just her own psyche playing tricks on her and leading her farther into dementia.
When her cell phone started ringing she was working, and didn't pay it much attention until she recognized the ring tone. Dark lashes lowered over blue-green eyes several times as she blinked in straight up confusion. Lori hadn't heard from him in a while, and now he was calling her? She couldn't stop the frown that tugged at her lips before giving her head a shake and deciding to outright ignore the phone completely. She was busy, besides, it wasn't like she was going to jump at the chance to answer his call after it had taken him so damn long to call her. If nothing else, she had her pride.
Finally, she caught a break in customers and headed into the back office for a breather. It was there that her curiosity got the better of her and she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and listened to the voicemail. She replayed it twice, just to make sure she'd heard it all correctly before frowning again. The time part hadn't been the happiest of her life, but she'd had plenty of it to think, and now she still didn't know what to do. Giving a sigh, she deleted the voicemail and got up, walking back out to the bar.
“Yeah, yeah. One second, damn it!” With the loud declaration, Zachary promptly forgot the flashing, vibrating little trac-phone on his desk again in favor of his new computer rig. Game of the day? Bad Company 2. His reaction times had gotten to the point that sneaking up on him was nearly impossible...not that it actually helped him aim at all. “...The fuck are ya lookin' at?” He mumbled to the wolf sitting beside him, staring straight at the phone and expecting the young man to pick up. “If it's important, they'll leave a voice mail. This game's almost done anyway.”
Unfortunately, 'almost done' turned into a 15 minute bloodbath, with Zack's team barely losing. Still satisfied that it was a fun match, the pup took off his headphones and reached over for the phone. Oh shit, it was Steven! Where the hell has he been? As Zack returned the call, the wolf's tail wagged excitedly. “Christ, calm down. You've seen him before, ain't ya? Well...not officially, maybe.” The phone was held in place by his shoulder while he fumbled around for his pack of menthols and a lighter, wondering to himself just how crazy he was for talking to an animal that technically wasn't even there. “Come on, Steev-o, pick up the damn phone...”
