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xp_logs2012-08-29 06:00 am
x-firestar.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2012-08-29 06:00 am
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Half An Ocean Away: The Phone Call
Angel is in for a not-so-pleasant surprise when she receives an early-morning phone call from an old friend.
It was six. In. The. Morning.
That was the first thought that entered Angel's bleary mind as she raised her head to the sound of her cell-phone ringing happily, and her eyes landed on the alarm clock. Six. Six a.m. What sadist called at six a.m.?
"'Lo?" Angel muttered into the phone. She hadn't even bothered to check the caller ID.
"Angel? Love, is that you?"
Angel bolted up, awake and wide-eyed now. That British drawl was familiar. Too familiar. But... No. No way. No. "B-Blaine?" She stuttered out, barely daring to believe it. Because there was just no possible way Blaine Addison was calling her. Unless she had fallen into another crazy nightmare universe thing. She pinched her arm with her free hand - ow. Nope, she was awake. "Blaine! Hi! Yeah, this is Angel. Hi!"
"I know it is really early for you for there, but it is important..." Now that Blaine had finally gotten hold of his friend, the urgency very clear in his voice. "Do you have a moment?"
Right. Six a.m., this wasn't a social call. Angel reigned her feelings in, curling her legs under herself. Something was wrong. "Of course, anything. What's going on?"
"This is going to sound strange, but have you heard from Chloe recently?" Now his voice was not just urgent, but also worried and even a little harried.
"Chloe?" He was right - that did sound strange. "No, I haven't talked to her since March. Why, what's going on?" Angel hadn't missed the tone of his voice, and it was setting her on edge as well.
"She is missing, love. And has been for three days." Blaine paused a moment, taking a seat on the rickety, old couch in his apartment. "We have spoken to the police, but they have not been able to do anything. We have been calling everyone whom we could think of she might get in contact with... I know you two had a falling out, but if there was a chance..."
Cold flooded through Angel's body. Missing? Day, what day was it? Wednesday. Three days. Chloe had been missing since Sunday. "When was the last time anyone talked to Chloe?" Angel asked as she all but threw herself out of bed, grabbing her laptop and balancing her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she opened the laptop, carrying it back to the bed.
"We went out with some friends Saturday evening for a movie and drinks. Apparently she never arrived home. We got worried when she didn't show up from lunch with a friend and didn't answer her phone. When we went to check on her, nobody was home and her coat and purse were still missing."
A quick detour to check email - nope, nothing, but that was no surprise. "Okay, um...Chloe has family in America, doesn't she?" Angel asked as she clicked into one of those airplane-ticket finding websites. "Has anyone talked to her parents? Maybe she left for a vacation or something and forgot to tell you guys." Not that that was at all like Chloe, to just take off without telling anyone. Angel was grasping at straws and she knew it.
"Her parents were the first people we talked to... They have been going mad with worry. As for a holiday... no clothes, no suitcases... nothing was missing from her apartment. There also haven't been any updates on her blog, Facebook or Twitter... nothing. They also tried to triangulate her phone, but apparently it isn't working." Blaine quickly checked of the other information that he had.
Okay, bad. Chloe was a total social media freak, she updated everything every chance she got. "So you guys went out Saturday night, and that was the last time anyone heard from her," Angel confirmed. "Great. Well, not great, obviously." Jesus, flights to England were hard to find. "I don't know much about triangulating phones except they need to be on for it to work, so either her phone's off or destroyed. Either way, not doing any good." Aha. There was one. Angel clicked for flight details. "She had to have disappeared on the walk home, right? That wouldn't be too hard, I'm assuming no one's bothered to fix the lights on our street yet. Ten bucks says she had her earphones in, she never would have seen an attack coming."
Blaine pulled the phone away from his ear and stared it for a moment. Angel had always been good at remaining calm in a crisis, but this level of calm and analysis in the early morning he had not expected. "Uh... as far as I know the lights still have not been fixed..." He just confirmed that piece of information. "And yes, the police suspects something happened on her way home."
Ugh. Angel didn't like this one bit. But freaking out wasn't going to do her any good now. She'd save that for when she was off the phone. "Okay, Blaine, there isn't much I can do from America," she said regretfully. "And the earliest flight I can get to London on such short notice isn't until 9:30 tonight my time. Mind snagging me from the airport tomorrow morning?"
For the second time in five minutes Blaine stared. "Wait, you are coming here? You don't have to do that."
"What did you think, you were going to tell me Chloe disappeared and then I was going to just hang up and go on with my life?" Angel asked, teasing just a bit. A very small bit. "Jeez, Blaine, I know I hid things from you guys but I thought you knew me better than that. London Heathrow Airport, 9:20 a.m., British Airways. You gonna pick me up or should I hitchhike?"
"Angel..." There were many things he wanted to say, but this was not the time. "I'll be there." He quickly confirmed.
"Brilliant." Angel confirmed her flight and twisted around so she could open her nightstand drawer with her free hand. There was her passport, right where she'd tossed it when she'd moved into the room. "Call me if anything else comes up or Chloe magically reappears. I'll see you soon. Well, kind of soon. I'll see you."
It was six. In. The. Morning.
That was the first thought that entered Angel's bleary mind as she raised her head to the sound of her cell-phone ringing happily, and her eyes landed on the alarm clock. Six. Six a.m. What sadist called at six a.m.?
"'Lo?" Angel muttered into the phone. She hadn't even bothered to check the caller ID.
"Angel? Love, is that you?"
Angel bolted up, awake and wide-eyed now. That British drawl was familiar. Too familiar. But... No. No way. No. "B-Blaine?" She stuttered out, barely daring to believe it. Because there was just no possible way Blaine Addison was calling her. Unless she had fallen into another crazy nightmare universe thing. She pinched her arm with her free hand - ow. Nope, she was awake. "Blaine! Hi! Yeah, this is Angel. Hi!"
"I know it is really early for you for there, but it is important..." Now that Blaine had finally gotten hold of his friend, the urgency very clear in his voice. "Do you have a moment?"
Right. Six a.m., this wasn't a social call. Angel reigned her feelings in, curling her legs under herself. Something was wrong. "Of course, anything. What's going on?"
"This is going to sound strange, but have you heard from Chloe recently?" Now his voice was not just urgent, but also worried and even a little harried.
"Chloe?" He was right - that did sound strange. "No, I haven't talked to her since March. Why, what's going on?" Angel hadn't missed the tone of his voice, and it was setting her on edge as well.
"She is missing, love. And has been for three days." Blaine paused a moment, taking a seat on the rickety, old couch in his apartment. "We have spoken to the police, but they have not been able to do anything. We have been calling everyone whom we could think of she might get in contact with... I know you two had a falling out, but if there was a chance..."
Cold flooded through Angel's body. Missing? Day, what day was it? Wednesday. Three days. Chloe had been missing since Sunday. "When was the last time anyone talked to Chloe?" Angel asked as she all but threw herself out of bed, grabbing her laptop and balancing her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she opened the laptop, carrying it back to the bed.
"We went out with some friends Saturday evening for a movie and drinks. Apparently she never arrived home. We got worried when she didn't show up from lunch with a friend and didn't answer her phone. When we went to check on her, nobody was home and her coat and purse were still missing."
A quick detour to check email - nope, nothing, but that was no surprise. "Okay, um...Chloe has family in America, doesn't she?" Angel asked as she clicked into one of those airplane-ticket finding websites. "Has anyone talked to her parents? Maybe she left for a vacation or something and forgot to tell you guys." Not that that was at all like Chloe, to just take off without telling anyone. Angel was grasping at straws and she knew it.
"Her parents were the first people we talked to... They have been going mad with worry. As for a holiday... no clothes, no suitcases... nothing was missing from her apartment. There also haven't been any updates on her blog, Facebook or Twitter... nothing. They also tried to triangulate her phone, but apparently it isn't working." Blaine quickly checked of the other information that he had.
Okay, bad. Chloe was a total social media freak, she updated everything every chance she got. "So you guys went out Saturday night, and that was the last time anyone heard from her," Angel confirmed. "Great. Well, not great, obviously." Jesus, flights to England were hard to find. "I don't know much about triangulating phones except they need to be on for it to work, so either her phone's off or destroyed. Either way, not doing any good." Aha. There was one. Angel clicked for flight details. "She had to have disappeared on the walk home, right? That wouldn't be too hard, I'm assuming no one's bothered to fix the lights on our street yet. Ten bucks says she had her earphones in, she never would have seen an attack coming."
Blaine pulled the phone away from his ear and stared it for a moment. Angel had always been good at remaining calm in a crisis, but this level of calm and analysis in the early morning he had not expected. "Uh... as far as I know the lights still have not been fixed..." He just confirmed that piece of information. "And yes, the police suspects something happened on her way home."
Ugh. Angel didn't like this one bit. But freaking out wasn't going to do her any good now. She'd save that for when she was off the phone. "Okay, Blaine, there isn't much I can do from America," she said regretfully. "And the earliest flight I can get to London on such short notice isn't until 9:30 tonight my time. Mind snagging me from the airport tomorrow morning?"
For the second time in five minutes Blaine stared. "Wait, you are coming here? You don't have to do that."
"What did you think, you were going to tell me Chloe disappeared and then I was going to just hang up and go on with my life?" Angel asked, teasing just a bit. A very small bit. "Jeez, Blaine, I know I hid things from you guys but I thought you knew me better than that. London Heathrow Airport, 9:20 a.m., British Airways. You gonna pick me up or should I hitchhike?"
"Angel..." There were many things he wanted to say, but this was not the time. "I'll be there." He quickly confirmed.
"Brilliant." Angel confirmed her flight and twisted around so she could open her nightstand drawer with her free hand. There was her passport, right where she'd tossed it when she'd moved into the room. "Call me if anything else comes up or Chloe magically reappears. I'll see you soon. Well, kind of soon. I'll see you."