Page 5 of The Shadows We Keep

“Back to California.”

“Ah, I had a feeling you weren’t from around here.” She smirks.

“I’m just visiting. California that is. I moved to New York almost a year ago,” I confirm.

“Still a transplant. You can’t really call yourself a true New Yorker until you’ve been here a few years, at the very least.”

“How about you? You from New York?” There was a deep-seated need to know more about her budding in the back of my mind.

“For the most part, yeah. Not necessarily the city, but I’ve been here long enough.”

“I’m Harkin.” I hold my hand out to her. She stares down at it, inspecting before she takes it into hers.

“Keira.”

I hold on to her small hand, covered in big silver rings. Each one a unique design. One looks like a saying’s inscribed through the metal, but it’s too small to read without bringing it up to my face. I run my thumb over them without a second thought as she stares down at our joined hands. Hers pale and small, engulfed in my tattooed one that seems to swallow hers whole.

“JFK. That’ll be $52.50.” The driver’s declaration that we’d arrived pulls us apart, and I’m not ready for the wave of ice it causes through my body at her loss.

“Have a safe flight.” She parts ways with a few simple words and no look back.

TWO

KEIRA

Don’t Blame Me – Taylor Swift

Islam my bag down on the conveyer belt, not bothering to remove the items that are supposed to go through screening separately. The machine beeps and my bag comes back toward me. The security guard looks me up and down as if I’m an idiot.

“You need to remove any electronics and place them in a separate bin.”

I roll my eyes. John never cared. It’s not like they can’t see exactly what’s in my purse with the machine, anyway. It just makes their jobs easier, while making mine more difficult.

I’m covering Jasmin’s day shift this morning, which I’m already late for. And this middle-aged woman with a stick up her butt, who doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall, is making it worse.

Fucking figures.

I pull my phone and my small tablet from the bag, shoving them into the empty bin next to it. I look up, her judgy eyes watching my every move. I raise an eyebrow, and she nods. Pushing both through the x-ray machine again, I step forward through the metal detector and am finally permitted to enter the employees only entrance.

God, I hope today doesn’t continue down this shitty path. Sprinting through the office and down the hall, I clock in at my airlines booth and step up to the computer. The bag check line is backed up, wrapping around in the lobby. There goes that hope.

“Hey, what’s up with you?” Bonny asks as the last bag hits the belt.

“It’s been a morning. And you know me, my ass is not used to being up this early. I work the night shift for a reason. Remind me never to cover a morning shift again.” Not to mention, my dumb ass decided it was a great idea to share a cab with the guy I’ve been watching every spare moment I’ve had while simultaneously hiding from for the last year. The moment his eyes met mine, I should have apologized and walked away, but instead, I insisted we share a cab to JFK. I tried being rude, hoping it’d rub him the wrong way, and he’d ignore me, that didn’t work.

“Girl, you’re acting like it’s the crack of dawn, its ten am.”

I shrug. “Same difference. I’m usually still sleeping at this hour.” I laugh it off.

“Go get some coffee. We don’t have another boarding for at least an hour. And when you get back, you can tell me what’s really going on.”

I stare her down, unimpressed with her ability to catch my bullshit. That’s what happens when you work with the one person who is a walking lie detector test. “Want your usual?”

“Of course.” She smiles sweetly, then heads for the other side of the floor.

There’s only one coffee stand on this side of the airport before going through security to get to the gates. Thankfully, it’s good and airport staff receive a hefty discount with their employee badge. I order our coffees and take the long way back to the bag check area. Sipping away at my black iced coffee, I see him across the way, standing in line for security, that same stupid bag hanging off his shoulder.

After all these months, I can’t believe we finally ran into each other. I was running so late; I hadn’t noticed it was him hailing the cab. Not that I cared about stealing it from someone who’d obviously been the one to call it to the curb.