Thread: Back Then (attn: Corin) 3/4/10

Corin pulls out her phone and looks at it a moment. She hesitates a moment knowing that AJ probably has questions that he wants answered. She had been avoiding him for the reason that he kept asking her about that night when she got away from him. She sends a quick text back to him.

"Working on something for Lazarus. I'm not sure if I will be able to make it there tonight...but I'll do my best."

A.J. sighs sensing that she is probably trying to avoid him. He knew it would probably be tough to get her to come meet him, but he was determined to follow through with what Kendov wanted out of them. He wanted to be able to trust Corin and be able to count on her, but until they got things resolved, he knew neither of them would be able to do that. He sends a reply saying, "It's important Corin. It's something that only you can help with."

"AJ, I am doing something for Lazarus. I will be there when I can."

She waits before sending the text.

Only something she can help with? What the fuck? Is he still going to try to talk to me about our past? Or is this something else?

She looks back down at her phone.

"Give me a couple of hours."

She hits the send button and waits to see if he sends another text.

It would be nice to put the past behind us, but I don't think he's willing to do that. Fuck. What now? If he wants me to apologize for anything I've done in the past I won't do it, it's the past...he needs to move on.

A.J. looks at his phone and ponders making her an offer to help her. It would probably go a long way to extend that kind of Olive Branch to her, maybe it would. The truth was, he didn't know if she'd see it that way. He sends one last text message to her, "I'll be here waiting. I look forward to seeing you."

He then pulls out a netbook and turns it on and begins typing on it.

When she finishes her business with JTM she heads to Prairie State Park and to the old cabin AJ talked about, then stops about 50 feet from it.

Well this is it. Time to find out if he's going to let the past be the past.

She walks up to the door and hesitates.

What if he doesn't believe me? What if he tries something. I wouldn't put it past him...Well I escaped once, I can do it again.

She knocks on the door, then opens it and looks inside. She see's AJ in the hammock, so she steps in standing at the door and leaving it open just in case.

A.J. makes no effort to stand up from the hammock, he just sits up, a sign that he trusts her to not attack him. He looks at her for a long moment but doesn't say anything for a bit. His thoughts going back to that night so long ago. When he finally is ready to talk, he draws his feet from the hammock to the floor, putting the netbook away. He motions for her to take a seat, "I'm very pleased that you came. Would you like to sit down?"

She watches him, not letting a single move escape her sight. She studies his movements, and knows that this is hard for him. When he finally does speak she only looks at him.

"I'll stand right here, thanks."

A.J.'s face easily shows his understanding of her being cautious. Their history is long and storied in his mind and he assumed hers too. He nods and says, "I can understand you'd want to stay standing and ready given our history, but I didn't ask you to come here to talk about that. I asked you to come to talk about the future."

He shakes his head, clearly this isn't easy for him, but continues on, "We have to put the past behind us, and if you can't give me the answers to the questions I have, then I'll have to learn to live with it, because us being at odds with each other is counterproductive to what our clan's goals are. So, I'm going to put the ball in your court. I'm moving past our past and putting it behind me. I would appreciate it if you would answer my questions, but you do not have to for me to do this, because our clan's goals are more important to me now."

"Look AJ, I know you don't trust me, and I know you probably never will. Our history is long and sordid. You've seen me do what I am doing now before, but I swear to you this time it is legit."

She moves away from the door, showing that she's trying to put a little trust in him.

"As far as your questions, it's nothing against you. I just don't want to talk about the past, my life with the Sabbat was not one that I am proud of, but it happened. I'm trying to make a new life for myself with the Camarilla, and you asking about the past doesn't help. I hope you can understand that."