Blossom knocked cautiously on the Mayor's office doors. The 'Do Not Disturb' sign was still hanging on the door, but Blossom assumed that it had been up ever since she had put it there. Thankfully, that was the case, and Blossom wasn't interrupting anything.
"Come in," Mrs. Bellum called from the other side of the door.
Blossom entered, and lost no time in cracking open her briefcase and slapping the paperwork onto Mrs. Bellum's desk. When Blossom finally looked at Mrs. Bellum herself, she found her to be in pleasant surprise.
"Well, Blossom, you've really outdone yourself. I didn't expect you to be back for another half hour, at least."
Blossom shrugged while she clicked her briefcase shut – getting a glimpse of the knife in it before it fully closed. "I try." Then she continued after a little pause, "Mrs. Bellum, did you know that Mitch Mitchelson is chief of police?"
Mrs. Bellum was confused. "Yes, Blossom, I did… what about it?"
"Oh, nothing. I just went to school with him a long time ago, that's all."
"Oh, really? Isn't that neat?" Then, after a brief pause, "Well, I was about to shoot you an email listing all of the things I need to do this week. I was hoping you could plan me out a schedule."
"Of course, Mrs. Bellum."
"Great. I'll get that to you right away, then." Mrs. Bellum gestured towards Blossom's office, and Blossom picked up her briefcase and went there. Blossom's office was actually like a smaller version of the Mayor's office, except that the door was to the side instead of directly ahead of Blossom's desk. She dropped her briefcase off beside her desk and turned the computer on.
It was the first time she turned that computer on, wasn't it? Blossom couldn't help but feel a little thrill. Sure, it was a generic desk job with a generic five-year-old computer, but it was her first day, and that was enough to make it exciting.
Actually, it wasn't just a generic desk job. She was, or at least Mrs. Bellum had made it seem like she was, second in command to the Mayor. She had to help guide an entire city, and one with frequent monster attacks and the scars of Chemical X. Nothing generic about that.
If anything, the most generic part of the job was the computer, and that was a minor detail. It took a while to boot up, but the Internet was fast enough – faster Internet in government buildings is something Mrs. Bellum had established in her last term. Blossom opened up her email address. She only had one, her professional one, because she never really did anything on the Internet that was unacceptable to conflate with her working life.
There were three new messages. One, of course, was from Mrs. Bellum, with the list of things to do that week. There was another from the law firm that dealt with all the legal stuff surrounding the Professor's death. Blossom needed to go sort out the Professor's will. A depressing prospect to be sure, but it had to be done, and Buttercup and Bubbles certainly weren't in any position to do it.
This last point was validated by the third email. It was from the Psychiatric Hospital of Townsville. Blossom tensed instantly upon noticing it, because the hospital rarely emailed her, and when they did, it was usually something bad.
Blossom,
Due to recent especially irrational behaviors exhibited by your sister Buttercup, I, Dr. Freud Yanslip, was called to perform a psychological analysis on her. Her reduced social interaction is a sign of paranoia, which is also displayed in her irrational belief that she sold her soul to the Devil. As this recent relapse into mental instability concerns me as much as it does you, I would like to set up a meeting between you and me, and possibly Buttercup herself. Please reply to this message with a specific day and time that works best for you, preferably a weekday.
To Buttercup's health,
Dr. Freud Yanslip
Psychiatric Hospital of Townsville Psychiatrist
Buttercup thinks the Devil has her soul? Blossom considered the notion for a while. Was she just hallucinating? Maybe Buttercup had some nightmare that felt real. Maybe she had memories of… Him. In any case, Blossom would need to talk to Buttercup as soon as possible.
Before asking Mrs. Bellum for a day off, embarrassingly the second day that Blossom was supposed to be working, Blossom checked the other email, about the Professor's will, to see if she could plan both visits on the same day. She could, and so she did.
"Mrs. Bellum?" Blossom said after peaking her head through her office door.
Mrs. Bellum looked up from some pressing document in front of her. There was no one else in the room. "Yes, Blossom?"
Blossom blushed a little. "Can I have the day off tomorrow?" Not the best thing to say on your first day by a long shot.
"Whatever for?"
"Some… family matters came up. About the Professor… and Buttercup." God, Blossom really had to force those lumps out of her throat. She could always think about these serious things rationally in her head, but when it came time to directly address them in speech… not so much.
Mrs. Bellum smiled understandingly, as far as Blossom could tell, underneath her characteristic shock of hair. "Of course, Blossom, of course. Taking care of your sister is far more important. Don't worry; I won't dock your pay or anything. Emergencies happen." It was uncanny, sometimes, how Mrs. Bellum always knew the truth without having heard a word of it.
"I get a paid day off? On my second day?"
Mrs. Bellum shrugged. "Consider it a gift, between long time friends."
Blossom had to smile. She could always count on Mrs. Bellum to understand anything and everything that could possibly happen to her. "Thank you, Mrs. Bellum."
"You're welcome, Blossom. Now, Blossom," she wagged her pen sarcastically, "for today, get to work on that schedule, okay?"
"I'm on it," Blossom said before returning to her desk.
She emailed the two people back, setting up a morning appointment at ten o' clock with the lawyer and an afternoon meeting at one o' clock with the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist's meeting was later for a reason; if Blossom needed to stay with Buttercup, for some long period of time, she could. Proud of her ability to plan ahead enough to forget about the sad topics of the actual appointments she had made, Blossom began work on Mrs. Bellum's schedule.