If I could fly
Chapter 1 – If I could fly
I've got scars even though they can't always be seen
And pain gets hard, but now you're here and I don't feel a thing
Pay attention, I hope that you listen 'cause I let my guard down
Right now I'm completely defenseless
That was it, the moment of truth. The moment she has been waiting for days. Deep breath in and a slow breath out, Waverly exited the car and walked inside Ghost River University. Her steps sounded loud while she made her way following the signs toward the rector’s office. She used the reflection from the glass door to take a final look at herself and she was happy to be carrying a briefcase because her hand was shaking at the moment she ran it through her brunette hair.
“Good morning. I have a meeting with Ms. Lucado,” Waverly said to the secretary once she was inside the room.
“Good morning. Who should I announce?”
“Waverly Earp. I’m here for the History department position.”
“Would you mind waiting a few minutes, Ms. Earp?” The secretary asked. “Ms. Lucado is in a call right now, but I’ll let her know you are here as soon as possible. You can sit if you want.”
“Ok, thank you,” Waverly moved to the chair and noticed her breath was shaking. She needed to calm down. Lucado was known for being tough and Waverly needed to meet her expectations.
“Ms. Earp,” the secretary said a few minutes later, “if you follow me I’ll take you to meet Ms. Lucado.”
“Ms. Earp, please take a seat,” the woman who Waverly judge to be Lucado spoke. She had strong features, blonde hair tightened behind her head. She didn’t look up from the papers she was so eagerly analyzing. When their eyes finally met, it almost scared the brunette. “I’m going straight to the point here because we don’t have time to lose, Earp. The budget that I have is all I can give you. If you accept the offer, we’ll sign a contract for at least a year and you’ll have to fulfill it. Do you understand these conditions?”
“Yes, it’s all very clear.”
“And are you sure you want to work at Ghost River University?”
“Ah... yes,” Waverly wasn’t quite understanding what was happening. “I’m sorry, you don’t want me to take this position or…”
“Don’t get me wrong, Earp, I want someone, anyone, to take this position,” Lucado said. “The thing is that it feels like nobody wants to do it. I had so many candidates, but all of them gave up right on the start or not even began. So I ask again, are you sure?”
“Definitely. I’m from Purgatory and I’ll move in with my sister and her family,” Waverly smiled at the thought. “I’ve been wanting to come back home for a while and this is a great opportunity.”
“All settle then,” Lucado looked relieved, but not enough to smile. “You can start tomorrow. I’ll have all the papers ready for you to sign in the morning and I can show you around.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lucado,” Waverly could almost giggle. “You won’t regret having me here, I promise.”
Waverly felt like she could dance around the campus, but decided against the idea. She still wanted to be taken seriously at her job. She hopped in her red Jeep and drove to the homestead. Ever since she went to college in BC she had only come back to Purgatory for the day Alice was born. One thing was for sure: Wynonna was going to flip.
Almost half an hour later, Waverly parked at her childhood home. She instantly saw Alice Michelle playing with some tools at the porch. The seven-year-old girl looked up and a smile spread all over her face.
“Mama, come outside. Auntie Waverly is here,” she screamed.
“Hey, Alice. It’s so good to see you,” the brunette said. “Oh, you are so grown up, I can believe it.”
“I missed you so much, Auntie Waves.”
“Baby girl, what are you doing here?” Wynonna came out of the house and hugged her sister.
“I just wanted to surprise my family,” she answered. “Besides, I have some news to tell.”
“Let’s get inside,” Wynonna led the way to the homestead. Waverly looked around and she was flooded by memories. “So tell us everything, baby girl.”
“Well, I just got a new job. I’m going to work as a researcher and translator for the History Department…” Waverly smiled trying to keep the mystery for a few more seconds. “… at the Ghost River University.”
“What?” Wynonna gasped. “GRU? Like here? Like close to Purgatory?”
“That’s right, Nonna,” Waverly felt her sister hugging her even harder than a few minutes before. “And because of that, I need to ask you a big favor.”
“Anything. The answer is yes,” Wynonna replied.
“You should talk to Dolls first,” Waverly said. “I was wondering if I could crash in here with you guys for a while.”
“Of course you can, Waves. This land is as much mine as it is yours, you know that. This is the family home.”
“I promise I won’t bother you too much.”
“You could never. What do you think Alice? Would you like if Aunt Waverly moved in with us?”
“That would be so cool, Mama. Please, Auntie. You have to come,” the little girl jumped. “We can ride on bikes and have ice creams and have sleepovers.”
“We can, sweetie.”
“Come on, baby girl. Let’s unpack your car,” Wynonna hugged her on the shoulder and guided them outside the house.
The next morning, Waverly woke up early because she wanted to be at GRU as soon as she could and the drive from the homestead to there would take her almost 30 minutes. She was surprised to see the house at full speed. Dolls was making breakfast and Wynonna was helping Alice organize her backpack for school.
“Morning, Waverly,” Dolls said. “Pancakes? They are vegan.”
“Morning Dolls and thank you, that’s very sweet of you,” she approach him with her plate in hands. “I could have cooked, you know?”
“I’m cooking for everybody, don’t worry about that,” he said.
“Morning, baby girl. You’re up early.”
“Too much to do today,” Waverly moved and kissed her niece on the head. “Are you ready for school, sweetie?”
“Yes! I just need Dad’s pancakes,” the girl smiled brightly.
“Let’s all make it quickly, Alice,” Wynonna poured some coffee in her mug. “I have a meeting at PeaceMaker.”
“I still can’t believe she’s the boss she goes to meetings,” Waverly whispered to Dolls and he smiled behind his food.
“What are you laughing at?” Wynonna asked him.
“Nothing,” Dolls tried to hide. “I’m out. See you all later,” he pecked Wynonna on the lips and kissed Alice goodbye.
“You always take his side,” Wynonna complained with Waverly.
“He made me vegan pancakes,” Waverly frowned her brows.
“Yeah, alright. Come on Alice, ten more minutes and we go. We’ll have to meet your Daddy before school,” Wynonna said and laughed at her daughter taking big bites of her food.
Once they were all done, they went to their respective appointments. Waverly arrived at Ghost River University and smiled to herself. She felt good and confident to start at her new job. She walked and smiled at everyone who crossed her path but she froze at the vision in front of her. That was… no, it couldn’t be. But it was. Even from afar, Waverly would always recognize her. Tall, red hair and still making her heart skip a beat after all these years. She couldn’t act like that. She was a grown woman now, she had to keep it together. Waverly tried to convince herself that she was just surprised to see Nicole after all these years.
As she was getting closer, she realized that Nicole hadn’t seen her yet. The redhead had headphones on and she was carrying a box, maybe a tools box? When they were only a few feet away, Nicole finally noticed Waverly.
“Hi, Nicole.”
“Waverly Earp. Wow, you haven’t changed a bit,” Nicole showed her dimples.
“It’s good to see you,” Waverly hugged the other woman. “I haven’t talked to you in so long. I haven’t seen you even longer. I guess ever since… well, since…”
“Ever since I got hurt,” Nicole cut her.
“I’m sorry I haven’t got in touch with you more times after that, I really should but…”
“Waves, I get it, you had just got in college and you had too much to worry about,” Nicole eased her. “I didn’t want to add any more drama to your plate.”
“Nicole…”
“No, Waves, please. It’s all good, I promise. It’s nice to see you now.”
“I didn’t know you were back in town,” Waverly said.
“I came back a few years ago,” the redhead admitted.
“Years? I had no idea,” Waverly was genuinely surprised. “Wynonna never said anything.”
“Yeah… So tell me, what are you doing here at GRU?” Nicole quickly changed the subject. “You’re definitely not a student or I’d have seen you before.”
“I’m working here now, at the History Department,” Waverly said proudly. “First day today.”
“That’s amazing, Waves. Congratulations. I always knew you’d be great at everything you tried.”
“Thank you. What about you? What are you doing here?”
“Well,” Nicole looked down at her feet. “I work here, too. I’m a handyman. Handywoman if you prefer.”
“Oh, so we’re colleagues then.”
“Yeah, right. I don’t think it works like that,” Nicole said and seeing the confusion on Waverly's face she continued. “Professors and scholars don’t usually hang out with the other employees.”
“It won’t happen with us, I promise. You were always kind to me, you always treated me like, well… me. Not Wynonna’s baby sister.”
“You are your own person, Waverly,” Nicole showed her dimples again.
“Maybe we can have lunch together?” Waverly said anxiously.
“Maybe tomorrow,” the redhead replied. “I think today you’ll have so many other things to worry about.”
“Tomorrow then. I’ll have to go now. I don’t want to be late on my first day,” Waverly hugged the other woman one more time. “It was good to see you again, Nicole. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“See you, Waves.”
As the brunette walked away, Nicole couldn’t help but notice some kind of tightness inside herself. She didn’t know if it was seen Waverly after so many years or realizing she had thrown her own life away. Everything could have been so different for her, but she had given up on herself so long ago. On the other hand, it could have been the fact that she hasn’t been a subject of the Earp’s sister conversation for a while. Perhaps it was all of those things combined and it was worse than a punch in the stomach.
For your eyes only, I'll show you my heart
For when you're lonely and forget who you are
I'm missing half of me when we're apart
Now you know me, for your eyes only