urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:negative_nelly Sara Sidle Sara Sidle 2006-06-29T17:47:28Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:negative_nelly:2010 2006-06-29T17:47:28Z 2006-06-29T17:47:28Z Who: Anyone/No one<br />Where: Diner<br />When: Two weeks after Nick's abduction<br /><br />"...so call me when you need anything." As expected, the answering machine beeped indicating the time was up. Sara shut her cellphone and leaned her head back against the driver's seat. Two weeks of talking to Nick's answering machine has made her master the art of leaving a message so she knew exactly how much time would be left for her to wrap things up, just like how a dj perfectly times an introduction into a song. After having about a million messages ignored she should have learned by now that he would not pick up, nor call her back. She kept calling though, hoping that one of these days he would eventually pick up the phone and she could be the friend she wanted to be for him. Apparently, he neither needs nor wants whatever she was offering.<br /><br /><a name="cutid1"></a>There was a day when she considered not calling him. For all she knew he might be getting irritated by the sound of her voice wafting in his house every morning. That day she went straight home after shift, surpassing the routine phone call she makes inside her car before she drives out of the lab's parking lot. Halfway to her apartment she swerved to the side of the road and stopped, pulled out her cellphone and made the call anyways. She was probably doing it more for her peace of mind than his. So everyday she took the three minutes that the machine offers and leaves either a crappy or a nice message depending on her mood.<br /><br />Getting out of the car she walked the few steps to the entrance of the diner and welcomed the aroma of freshly cooked food. She took her usual booth by the window and ordered her usual breakfast of toast, eggs, and coffee. The waitress brought her food and Sara smiled sincerely to her before setting to eat. Actually, she has been doing more of the smiling and relaxing bit lately. For the past couple of years she has concentrated on herself and no one else, digging a hole for herself where she wallowed in all her miseries. She has had her share of difficulties but looking back, she realized how she had dealt with it wrongly. If anything, the abduction taught her that the past didn't matter because the present is giving her the opportunity to change her future. One day she could be gone, just like that, and she would hate it if the last of her days was spent drunk wasted on some alleyway a few blocks off the Strip. She has too much to live for still so she decided to concentrate on what could be, rather than what could have been.<br /><br />Leisurely sipping her coffee, she turned her attention back to the window and watched people set out to start on their days while hers was about to finish. It's her night off later and for the first time she's actually taking it as it should be--as a break. A week ago she had turned off the scanner in her car and switched to music. She has learned a valuable lesson; her job shouldn't comprise her entire life. Tonight she might even do something fun.