---------------

Downtown Parrodpolis.
The local branch of the Federal Meta-Human Resource Center.
One of the upper Administrative Floors. These floors are off limits to all except for FMRC employees.
Thursday, shortly after 1 p.m.

Like she most often is, Jane Tarzania is sitting at her desk in the lobby area outside her boss, Ruben Holcomb's office. She is dressed in a pale pink blouse, a dark chocolate brown cotton skirt that went to her mid calf. Under that are a pair of skin colored nylons & a pair of sensible leather pumps on. Her mousy brown hair was styled in a partly messy fashion. Jane was doing what spends most of her time doing: filing. Nothing all that interesting: just interoffice memos', meeting notes & other pieces of papers that are used to cover any government office's rear end. It's all pretty boring stuff, nothing all that important anyways. Jane knows all the really important/possibly illegal stuff is all handled by more important people then secretaries.

Just then, an instant messenger window pops up on her screen. She was only alerted to this fact by the accompanying pinging noise. Jane looked over at her computer screen & the window. It was from CatLady1980 otherwise known to jane in the real world as Catherine Gillespie. She asked wanted to know if it was ok to talk. Jane, or Jung1e_G!r1, replied that it was ok. Then Catherine asked if it was ok if she came to the office.

Jane typed back it was then in through frosted glass doors came a young woman who was wearing navy blue Chuck Taylor All-Star high tops, argyle socks on her feet. Her pants are a well worn & ripped in a few places pair of blue jeans. She wore a greying black Hoodie. Slung over her right shoulder is a olive drag colored messenger bag. On her wrists were a few too many bracelets & a couple of wrist bands. A few of her fingers had some rings on them. Her black nail polish was cracked & chipped in places. She had short sandy blond which was pulled back & into two small ponytails, one on each side of the back of her head. She had somewhat pale skin & was also wearing a pair of black plastic glasses. In her left hand was a cell phone.

"Are you sure?" she said with a smile.

"Catherine!" Jane said a bit shocked.

"Jane!" she said back but not as shocked.

"What are you doing here?" Jane asked.

"Well, I've got something to show you & given what I know about you I knew you'd want to see it right away. But I wasn't sure if it was ok given what happened last time I was here."

Jane remember it & her bosses edict that any & all people from her personal life to banned from the company's property.

"Yes. But you came anyway?"

"Yeah. Your boss can't be here all the time & given what's been in the news lately regarding this hallowed hall of Meta-Humanity I thought it was worth a try. Plus, every so often one needs a good body cavity search done!" Catherine with a smile & a laugh.

Jane wasn't sure if she was kidding but she too had since those reports & the accompanying office memos but he been trying to block that from her mind.

There was a few moment of silence until Jane noticed that catherine looked like she wanted to be asked something.

"So, you wanted to show me something?"

"Yes." Catherine said & then started search from that thing in her bag.

"I know I have it & I thought I put it in here." She mumbles to herself. Not finding it, she starts to check her pockets: first pants, then jacket & back to the pants.

Catherine opens her wallet, it was cover in what looked to Jane to be duct tape. After a brief search, she said "Ah yes! Here it is."

Catherine then handed Jane a business card.

"This is it?" Jane asked, not sure why this one card was so special.

"Just read it." Catherine said with a sly smile.

Jane did & as she did she read the word aloud "Clive Hudgens." She paused, looked up at Catherine & asked "Who's Clive Hudgens?"

"Keep reading." Catherine said with a bigger smile then before.

Jane read the second line. "personal assistant to Beeslyhuxtoy family." Jane paused for a moment, what she had just read was slowly soaking in, then she looked up at Catherine once again. "Beeslyhuxtoy family?"

Catherine shook her head excitedly.

"As in..." Jane said but was interrupted by Catherine.

"Yes. Ronnie's relations!"

"Where did you meet..." Jane said & then pause to read the name again. ".. Clive Hudgens?"

"In the hallway outside Chad & Ronnie's apartment. He seem to know who Ronnie was but not Chad, which I thought was a bit odd."

"Did he say why he was there?"

"No. He just said that he had spent the last decade or so looking for Ronnie."

"Wait a minute.. Decade."

"Yeah. Decade."

"hmmm..." Jane said.

"What?"

"About 10 years ago, I met Chad & Ronnie."

"whoa." Catherine said a bit stunned at the comment.

"Did Clive say where he was from?"

"Yeah. England of all places."

"hmmm..." Jane said said again.

"What is it this?"

"When I'm bored here at work, I go online & do random searches."

"Yeah, I know. I've been on your computer here."

Jane thought for a moment, gave a brief nod & then continued on. "One of my frequent search topics is Ronnie & a european Beeslyhuxtoy family was a frequent result. But I never clicked on it since I just thought they maybe were distant relatives & not Ronnie's actual family since he doesn't seem or sound european."

"He's not. Ronnie is American but his family lives aboard, according to Clive."

"So, Ronnie's family has been looking for him for a decade?" Jane said.

"Yup."

"Why?" Jane asked.

"I don't know." Catherine said with a shrug of the shoulders. "But what worries me was after meeting up with Clive I got home & there in my living room was Little Cat."

"what?"

"Yeah. He was in his cage, just running on on wheel having a grand ol' time. On his cage was a note from Chad saying that he & Ronnie would be away from awhile. He wanted me to take care of the little fuzz ball while they were away."

"Where is he now?"

"Chad I don't know. But Little Cat is at home."

"So, Chad & Ronnie decide to take a trip to parts unknown just as someone from Ronnie's past comes looking for him."

"Yeah. Spooky but not in a Mr. Spooky kind of way. But come to think of it, this does seem like a thing he might do." Catherine said then started to check the room for the well dressed man of mystery. She found no one.

"He might be involved but we have no way of knowing that until he tells us so & then maybe not even then." Jane said with a laugh.

"Yeah." Catherine said also with a laugh.

After the laughter has subsided, Catherine asked "Where do we go from here?"

Jane didn't know.

---------------

TO BE CONTINUED...

---------------

Footnotes

This story draws info from a few past Chad & Ronnie stories:
- This follows up on events from the Prologue to Chad & Ronnie: Fugitives for which this part 1.
- Catherine last visited the Parrodipolis offices of the FMRC in a story called Conversations.
- It was first mentioned that Jane works as a secretary for the FMRC & that she searched for info on Ronnie online in a story called Thursday Morning Meeting.
- How Jane met Chad & Ronnie was chronicled in a story called How Chad & Ronnie met Jane which took place on New Years Eve 2000.

If they left Little Cat with Catherine, that's bad news indeed. They know they're in trouble.

Why do you think that? The last time the duo took a trip they left Little Cat with a friend.

This could all be a coincidence or maybe it's not?

The mystery deepens! Or rather spreads to the lovely ladies in the duo's lives. It's always fun to see Jane and Catherine together... they're an odd couple, linked by an even odder one. I'm glad to know they're on the case together... although I still don't know if they wouldn't be better off not finding Chad and Ronnie.

Looking forward to more!

They usually take Little Cat with them. They might leave him if they thought it was dangerous, though.





Could be.

The last time Little Cat was left with a friend both Chad & Ronnie had left the country but this might be something different this time.







We'll just have to wait until the next installment.

Yes, it does.




I'll be using most of the regular cast members in this story & also reviving a few things from a story long since past!




You know what they say: opposites attract.




Jane might not want Ronnie back but she would like to know about his family. Catherine would miss Chad & might miss Ronnie.




Thanks.