A Heart's Promise

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Chapter Three: Someone Old

Abby sat on the track as she stretched her legs. She looked up to Gavin bent over touching his toes and smiled inwardly as she admired his ass. "Are you ready?" She called over.

"Yeah." He straightened himself up and rolled his neck. He then walked over to Abby and helped her up. "Let go for three miles today?"

"Let's make it two. I'm a bit tired, its been along day."

"Alright." He agreed and the two began their run.

Abby and Gavin had been going out for about six weeks and neither one could be any happier with each other. Kris teased Abby about it all the time. "You can thank me now." She said when she had learned of the new couple. "Now aren't you glad I pushed you to go talk to him that night? He's so perfect for you."

When their workout was completed Gavin reached for his towel and draped it over his head. He exhaled deeply as Abby pulled off the towel. "I'm kind of glad we didn't go that extra mile. I guess I was tired too." He explained.

Abby started to say something, but Gavin's phone started ringing. "Hold that thought." He reached for his bag and pulled out his cell phone. "Gavin here." There was a small pause. "Of course I didn't forget. . . I said I would be there. . . As a matter of fact, I am." He smiled and winked over at Abby. Then all of sudden he frowned and he turned away from her and said quietly. "He did? When? What did you tell him? What did he say?"

"Gav-"

"Not now." He told her quickly and returned back to his phone conversation. "You've have got to be kidding me. That son of a-" It sounded as if he had been cut off. He then took a deep breathe. "Look, don't tell me to calm down, alright? This needs to be taken care of --as in like yesterday-- you understand me?" He ran his fingers through his sweat drenched hair as he listened. "No. . . Hell no. . . Is there no other way?" He asked. "Alright then, make it happen. Bye." He ended the call. "Shit." He said quietly to himself.

"Gavin, are you alright? What was that about?" Recently Abby had noticed that Gavin had been receiving strange phone calls andthatthey often left him angry or upset. She would ask him about them, but usually he just gave her the same answer.

"I'm fine Abigail, it's nothing I can't handle." He told her as he forced a smile. "Come," he held out his hand, "let me drive you back to your dorm."

"That's okay, I can walk." She said, feeling he needed some time to himself.

"Don't be ridiculous. We got a late start on the track and it's getting dark." He reasoned.

"I've walked in the dark before, Gavin."

"Abigail, please," he asked trying not to sound desperate for her company. Plus, he could have sworn, that last time that she walked back to the dorm, that someone was following her. He hoped thatit was just his paranoid nature, but right now he wasn't willing to take that chance.

"Alright," she finally told him as she took his hand and he led her to his 2004 Ford Thunderbird. "Gavin?"

"Yes?" He responded as he started the car and pulled out the lot.

"I don't know a lot about cars," she began, "but this a Thunderbird, weren't you driving a Mustang, the other week ago?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, "that was my cousin's car, hewas letting me borrow it. Thisone was in the shop. I wanted the engine checked out because it was making a strange sound." He explained.

Abby nodded as if the reason satisfied her curiosity. A minute later, they were in front of Abby's dorm. "Bye, baby. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon." She started to get out of the car.

"Whoa." He reached out and stopped her. "What's tomorrow?" He asked her.

Abby turned to him. "You said you would go with me to the Classic Arcade Games Convention. I know it's kind of a nerd thing, but I've really been looking forward to it."

"Sweetie," he began guiltily, "I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm going to be gone for about two weeks, starting tomorrow."

"What?" She shook her head in disbelief. "What about your classes?"

"Don't worry about them." He said simply. "I have them covered."

"Well, it's that nice? You have your classes covered, yet fail to mention anything to your girlfriend." She stated upset.

"Aw, Abigail, don't be angry." He tried to soothe her. "Believe me, this was a last minute thing. I'm not blowing you off on purpose."

"Humph." She pouted and crossed her arms as she looked straight ahead out of the window. She wasn't really upset, she just loved his attention.

"Baby." He said in a sing-song voice. "Baby." He reached over and ran a finger down her cheek. Abby smiled as she closed her eyes. "There's the smile I idolize." He said as he gently took her chin and turned her turns him. "Come on, you know you want to forgive me."

"Yeah, I do." She gave in easily. "So, where are you going?"

"Um," he clicked his tongue, "it's kind a family thing, kind of private." He told her and she gave him a concerned look. "But it's nothing you should worry about." He smiled and tried to reassure her. "Come here." He took her arm and leaned towards her as she followed suit and they shared a kiss. "I'll bring you back something nice, okay?" She nodded as his phone rung again. He cringed. "Sorry." He whispered to her.

"Gavin here." He said and then kissed Abby again. "Uh-huh." Another kiss. "That's good news." Gavin then leaned back in his driver seat where he rose up his pelvis and reached for something in his pocket. "Look, I've already confirmed this with the others." Gavin pulled out his wallet and triedhanding Abby a couple of hundred dollar bills. She looked at him confused. "Take it." He whispered.

"I don't want your money, Gavin." She whispered back. "I don't need it, my dad's a doctor and my mom's a lawyer."

He gently took her hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed her palm. "I know. I just want to take care of you." He then placed the money in her hands and closed her fingers around it.

"That's sweet, but no." She tried giving it back.

"You can expect me tomorrow afternoon when my plane touches down. Just have what I need." He said to the person on the other end of his phone. He shook his head as Abby tried to hand back the money. "Take it." Abby sighed and then stuck the money in her gym bag. "That'smy girl-- No, not you. I'm talking to my girlfriend. . . No, you don't need to know her name." That seem to extremely piss him off. "Now, just make sure you have everything ready tomorrow, okay? Good. Later."

Abby just stared at him before cocking an eyebrow. "Jealous much?"

Gavin smiled at her accusation. "Can't blame me for wanting to keep you all to myself. I know what I have."

"Really now?" She took a hold of his shirt and pulled him closer. Her lips barely touch his as she spoke seductively. "And what do you have?"

"A girl who adores me." He said pompously.

Abby pushed him away. "You jerk."

"You didn't let me finish." He defended. "I was going to say -before you rudely push me away- 'whom I adore in return'."

"Yeah, sure. Nice save, buddy." She said as put her hand on the handle of the car door.

She was stopped when Gavin took her other hand. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Of course." She told him before giving him one last kiss and getting out of the car to walk towards her dorm.

OoOoO

It was eleven o'clock when Abby decided to head towards the Classic Arcade Games Convention. When she got there, she was surprised to see people dressed up as their favorite video game character. Thought that only happened at Star Wars and Star Trek Conventions. She smiled at the thought as she looked around.

She settled at a place where they were playing and discussing a new video game called, "War Lords of the Sinnarkar Dimension." It was nothing more than a no-plot, shot-them-up, blood and gore video game. . . that Abby couldn't wait to get her hands on.

When it was her turn, the game was set in survival mode and she was up against several other players. She typed in her screen name, BlueStealth, and the battle began. About twenty minutes into it, it was down to her and one other player, who's screen name read, R.M. Killer.

Abby was on high ground and as she spotted her last victim. She aimed her weapon, a bow and arrow. Then when she was locked on the player she release her final shot and awaited her victory, but much to her surprise, the other player disappeared and all of sudden her player fell to the ground. She saw a pair of feet walk towards her before her screen went black and flashed, 'Game Over'. What the hell? She thought as she looked at her screen in disbelief.

"Ownage!" She heard a male voice yell out. She turned her head in the direction of the sound to see a screen in the distance that flashed, 'Victorious'.

"So," Abby spoke to herself, "he's the one that cheated me out of my victory." She walked over to him, wanting to know how she was defeated. "Good game. You played well." She said when she reached him.

He turned around to the voice. He was her height, maybe even an inch shorter, with green eyes, and long blonde hair in a surprisingly high ponytail. He looked her over carefully. "Let me guess, MsKarebear?"

"No." She shook her head. "BlueStealth."

"You're BlueStealth?" He asked in disbelief, but gave her an impressed looked. "You were good."

"Thanks." She smiled.

"Too bad you only came up second best." He smirked.

Her smile fell. "Yeah, sure." He then began to walk away. "Hey, wait a second." She followed him.

"What?" He seemed annoyed at the girl who seem to be stalking him.

"I just got to know, how did you do it?"

"You mean the disappearing act?" He asked and she nodded her head. He smiled as he said. "A true magician never reveals his secrets."

"Oh, come on, I just want to know how." She told him. "It'not like I'm asking you to giveup the top-secert codes to the Pentagon."

The boy looked at his watch. "Are you hungry?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" She was caught off guard.

And so he repeated his question rather slowly. "Are. . . you. . . hungry?" He rubbed his stomach to emphasize his point.

"Alright, now you're just playing with me." She began. "I get it, bye."

"Nah, wait, that's not it." He said quickly before she turned away. "It's just the explanation is going to take awhile and I haven't eaten since yesterday." He explained. "So if you really want to know," he pointed behind him with his thumb, "there's a great little diner down the street."

Abby thought it over, did she really want to know that bad that she would have lunch with a complete stranger? "Okay, you're on." She told him and the boy smiled.

So Abby and the guy from the arcade had lunch together and talked over strategy. "Then you have to go to the Korkin Universe and that's where you picked up The Sword of Cafagor, but before you do that . . ." He continued.

"Uh-huh. . . Yeah." Abby listened contently as she wrote a few things down on a paper towel. They had been there long after eating their lunch. Abby had actually found his presence, after you got pass the cockiness, quite pleasant and familiar somehow. "Oh man, I know what you're talking about; Level thirteen on Doom Riders Part Four, gets me every time. I can't get pass-"

"--the headless zombies." He finished her sentence laughing. "Me neither. We should team up one day and play together. Two minds with our obvious skills are bound to get by them."

She smiled. "Yeah, that or die twice as fast."

"True that." The boy then looked at his watch. "Damn." He then looked up at her. "We've been here for hours."

Abby looked at her watch, it was approaching five-thirty. "I guess we got a little caught up, huh?"

"Yeah." He agreed as he rolled his neck. Abby cocked a questioning eyebrow at the gesture. Where had she seen that before? "Look, we're already here, you want to have some dinner?"

Abby shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"You know what? You're pretty cool."

"Yeah, I get that all the time." She bragged.

It was close to seven when the two finished their second meal together. "You know what I just realized?"

"What?" Abby looked up from her root beer.

"I don't even know your name."

"It's Abby." She simply told him. "What's yours?"

"You," he looked her over, "you can call me, Wally."

"It's nice to meet you, Wally."

"It's nice to meet you too, Abby." He smiled at her as his cell phone began to ring. He then reached for his phone to answer it. "W.B. here."

Abby shook her head as she noticed Wally was the second person she knew, who answered their phone my stating who they were. She wondered when did people stopped saying 'hello'.

". . .okay, bye." He ended the call, but left his phone in his hand. "So can I get your number, so I can call you?"

"Oh, I'm not sure if that's a good idea." She looked kind of nervous. "I have a boyfriend."

"Doesn't bother me none." He told her and she just gave him a look. He then felt the need to explain. "What I mean is, I like you, you're cool, you're just not my type. Plus honestly," he began entering her name on his phone, "I'm just looking for a fellow gamer who can keep up with me." He shrugged. "You know, at least until my little brother visits me from boarding school."

OoOoO

It was late as Abby returned to her dorm room. She stripped off her clothes and dropped them anywhere as she made it to the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the tub and ran her water as she added the bubble bath.

She let down her hair which she had done in a ponytail wrapped into a bun. She slowly sunk down into the tub letting the steaming water engulf her body. She let her body relax as she tilted her head back to rest on the edge of the tub as she closed her eyes.

She had become so relaxed that she was very near to falling asleep in the tub and as she did so, she slowly began slipping into the water. Very soon the bottom of her lip began to graze the surface of the water, but before she completely slipped into it, her cell phone rung loudly and her eyes snapped open at the sound. She groaned sleepily as she sat up, accidentally splashing water out of the tub. She then reached for her discarded pants, which were now wet, near the side of the tub and grabbed her cell. "Hello?" She sounded annoyed.

"So tell me," came a soft and warm voice, "what's your favorite video game?"

Abby couldn't help the smile that stretched across her lips. "The Sims."

"The Sims!" Wally's voice roared. "No way, you're a Rainbow Six kind of girl. I can feel it." Abby smiled, Rainbow Six was her second most favorite game.

Transmission Interrupted. . .

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