Tim did not even consider going back to his apartment. Now, there was an issue with where they would both stay.
How to discover what was going on?
They walked slowly, and eventually he noticed that he felt like they were being watched.
They continued down Castro St., and the feeling persisted.
If they were being followed, why?
The would quickly reach El Camino, and he would have to decide in which direction to go. If they were really being followed, dare he even go in the direction of his apartment? To go in the other direction meant quite a bit of walking, or public transit.
Before making a decision, he decided to ask Mary if she was getting the same feeling. When she merely nodded at his question, it was decided. They would head away from Sunnyvale.
They made the right turn at El Camino. This must be the beginning of the walk he had been compelled to take.
They continued to walk in silence. What did one talk about in a situation like this?
They continued to walk until the sun started to fade. Suddenly there was a young girl standing directly in their path. She couldn't have been more than 14. Tim pulled Mary to the left, to walk around her, and the girl blocked them.
"You should go back." Her quiet spoken statement was almost drowned out in the noise from the passing traffic.
"What did you say?" Tim eyed the girl warily.
"You should go back." She repeated, with slightly more force.
"Go back where?" Mary asked. Tim shook his head. He didn't think they should be speaking to this strange girl.
"Just go back."
The girl turned and walked into the parking lot of the apartment complex they had been passing. They walked quickly after her, but she was gone.
"What was that?" asked Mary.
"I don't know, " replied Tim, "But let's get out of here."
"She said we should go back."
"Mary, we don't know who that was, and back to where? The coffee shop? The bookstore? Where?"
Mary gazed at his face, noticing for the first time, just how handsome he was. Why had she gone with him? She hadn't even really looked at him before now. But something in his clear, focused gaze gave her confidence in his intentions.
"Tim, we are wrapped up in something together. I don't know what it is, I don't know really know who I am, and don't think I know who you are. Yet here we are together. Something about you makes me trust you. So I think we need to stay together, and figure this out. This girl shows up out of nowhere, telling us to go back. I think she means that we need to go to that place we were supposedly at last night."
Tim's look of astonishment was almost comical. "Damn, Mary, that was the most I have ever heard you speak!"
And she couldn't help but laugh.
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