J.R. woke up in an unfamiliar surrounding. He realized he was laying down and he shot up to an upright position. He noticed his suit jacket wasn't on him and his dress shirt was unbuttoned. He must have fucked some nameless woman, he thought. He jumped when a woman with a mug coming into the room. She had long wavy blonde hair with a black knit cap. She wore a long black skirt, a black blouse which had long black sheer silk sleeves, and black boots. She sat next to him and handed him the mug.
"Don't worry, it's tea." the woman broke the silence.
"Thanks." he murmured. "My head is killing me." he rubbed his temples.
"I have aspirin if you want any." she went to the dresser in the room and got a bottle of pills.
J.R. watched her as her sleeves which look more like silk scarves flap behind her. He wondered if she was the woman he had sex with last night…a new low, he thought. Of course she would not be up to Pine Valley's standard of beauty with her all black attire and especially seen with a Chandler at that. He snapped out of his thoughts when she spoke.
"Here ya go! Need anything else?"
"Um…no. By any chance…did we…?
"No! You were drunk and then passed out. Nothing happened I swear." she slightly chuckled.
"I did what?! I don't remember what happened…Excuse me, what is your name?" J.R. said while looking really confused.
"My name is Rena…Rena McGee. And you are J.R. Chandler."
"Huh? How did you know my name?" he grew worried.
"Uh…you kinda told me when you were yelling at me. Let's see, apparently you are the son of Adam Chandler, whoever that may be, and you can do anything you damn well please."
"Jesus I said all that?! I'm really sorry. What else did I do?" he asked groggily.
"You were looking for a children's book for your son but I tried to explain to you that the store was closed. We got into an argument and you vomited and passed out."
"Oh shit I'm so sorry. Why am I here? You could have tossed my ass onto the street but you took me to your house…why? Where is here?" he said looking outside the window.
"You are in my apartment…which is above the bookstore where you tried to find a book."
J.R. noticed Rena had a black velvet chocker with a small ruby in the middle. He looked at her clothes and her hair and realized that though he has not seen her, he has heard of her. She is the newest resident to Pine Valley that has already stirred up controversy. Many citizens of Pine Valley took notice of the young woman when she first opened her bookstore. They came in to find her store was not like any other bookstore but one that is filled with tons of books about the paranormal, magic, and sacrificial rituals. It was not the entire store, she had regular books like self-help books, literature, children's books, cookbooks, etc. But what disturbed the citizens of Pine Valley was that she would mostly dress in black. J.R. overheard some of his employees at Chandler Enterprises describing the woman. They mentioned her pension for wearing black, her chocker, and her long, frizzy, dirty blonde hair. J.R. looked down at the mug in his hand and paused and set the cup down. Rena noticed that he was eyeing what was in the cup suspiciously and sighed out of frustration.
"Ugh! You know what? I'm sick of people making judgments about me! I may be into Wicca but I am not going to eat your children or poison you!"
"What are you talking about?!" trying to act as if he wasn't judging her.
"Oh quit the 'I didn't know that the people of Pine Valley think you are a witch' crap! I may be a witch but who cares! I can live here too!"
"Whoa I was just…"
"You just wanted to make sure I didn't conjure up some potion to kill you. You know, after you were being a dick to me." Rena stood up with her hands on her hips.
"Would you calm down on the rudeness?!"
"As soon as you fuck off!" after she said that J.R. just sighed.
"Look, this is going nowhere. How about I apologize and we start over."
"Okay…but do we have to do that cheesy 'reintroduce ourselves' bullshit?"
"No. We don't have to. If you don't mind me asking…why did you choose Pine Valley?"
"Well…I don't know. I just…left. Of course I hitch-hiked across the country. I settled in Arizona for awhile and it got boring for me…and now I'm here."
"How did you get the money to start up a bookstore if you are a drifter?"
"Hey!" Rena punched J.R. in the shoulder slightly.
"Okay, okay. You're not a drifter. Continue."
"Gee you make it sound like I played a tambourine to earn cash then I opened the shop. I worked odd jobs and a few steady ones until I spoke with an investor who liked my ideas."
"Wow." he said sarcastically.
"Shut up. Alright Mr. Chandler let's see how you came to be 'so powerful' that you could destroy this building."
"I don't wanna talk about it. It would take too long. Do you have relatives here?" trying to change the subject.
"Nope. My family was small and no one in my family lives here. So it's just me to fend for myself against the people of Pine Valley!" she chuckled.
J.R. started to think of his days spent scheming and blackmailing his foes and the sweet outcomes. He suddenly thought of being like Adam and how he was ruthless. He hated that he was becoming him but there was a small part of him to make his father believe in him and see him as more than a failure.
"Are you okay? You spaced out on me for a sec."
"Huh? I'm okay…I just…thought of something. What time is it?"
"Um…8:11 in the morning."
"Shit! I'm late for work! I have to go."
"Wait I have something for you. I'll get it while you get dressed." she left the room.
J.R. buttoned his shirt and put on his jacket. He looked around her apartment and saw that it was small. He saw candles everywhere around her room. He glanced outside her bedroom window and saw the sky was a dark grey color. He turned around when he heard her come in.
"I got you this for your son. Don't worry it's free." she handed him a children's book.
"But I was an asshole to you…why did…"
"I wanted to. You couldn't help that you were drunk but you seem to care about your son. Well I guess you better go of to work."
"Yeah…I should be going. Thank you for the book."
"You're welcome."
