The next morning, Jessica woke up to a very bright sunrise. Today was Saturday, a day that she would typically have caught a movie with her friends or gone to the mall. This one however would be calm and peaceful. A nice change. She looked at her watch; seven A.M. Just in time to hopefully beat the others to the kitchen.
She tiptoed through the dorms and down to the kitchen, where she managed to find eggs, bread, and coffee. She put the coffee on to brew, when she suddenly heard footsteps. She braced herself for an awkward conversation with either Khalid or Gunnar, but thankfully it was only Ivan. Ever the optimist, he strode in with a smile and bright eyes.
"Good morning, Jessica."
"Good morning."
"How did you sleep?"
"Well enough. You?"
"I always sleep soundly thankfully. After breakfast, I would like to have a small meeting with you to get to know you a little better if that's alright."
"Certainly."
They ate their breakfasts in comfortable silence. Then as the others showed up, she excused herself to get dressed for the day.
She hurried back up to her room and changed into her jeans, a green sweater, and her sneakers. She then threw her hair up into a ponytail and headed for Ivan's office. She knocked on the door softly.
"Come in," she heard.
She saw that Ivan was sitting at his desk. She approached quietly and took a seat in front of him.
"First of all, let me say I'm sorry about your parents."
"It's alright. The last update I had on them before being dropped off with you yesterday was that they were pretty much in a coma, and they're chances were about fifty-fifty."
Ivan gave her an empathetic nod.
"It says in your file that you're half Danish and half English, an "A" student in school, part of the school orchestra, and are knowledgeable in a couple languages... That's an impressive résume."
"Thank you. My parents had high ambitions for me, and they did what they could. I believe the only reason that what happened happened was because my mom got overly involved with work friends who were pretty sketchy and she dragged my dad along to one of their parties. They hadn't even thought about doing drugs since before I was born as far as I know."
"Makes sense to me. But, we're here for me to get to know you, not your parents. What are some interests you have aside from the music and linguistics?"
Jessica didn't quite like the feeling of being in the spotlight like this...
"Well, my world centers on music in general; my song collection on my mp3 player has well over three thousand songs on it. You can go from hearing Disney songs to Dean Martin to Aerosmith. I was also involved in performing arts, so broadway musicals are a genre I favor as well. As far as interests outside of music, I enjoy reading, watching movies, travelling, art, crafting, and I was an office assistant in school. Nothing too exciting."
"You seem well-rounded in hobbies anyway. What kind of books do you like?"
"I like to collect classic literature. My bookshelves at home are full of nineteenth and twentieth century authors; Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Brönte novels, Louisa May Alcott, the like. I also love obscure gothic novels. Dragonwyck is a particular favorite of mine."
"Fascinating! Maybe having you around for group activities will help to bring out some of the other's more refined tastes if they have any."
"To be honest, I'll be polite and all, but so far you're the only person here I feel comfortable around so if it's okay with you, I would like to spend most of my time here in your company. I'd feel much safer..."
Ivan didn't say anything for a moment, but had a pensive look on his face.
"I can understand that. The others are a bit abrasive and awkward, but I'm sure they'll grow on you if you're here long enough. In the meantime, I could use help with office things and getting a little more organized if that interests you."
"It does. I'm fairly certain I'm one of very few people who alphabetize books and movies for fun on a regular basis."
Ivan let out a laugh and told her they could start organizing things tomorrow, but now it was time for him to wrangle the others and see if he could get them to participate in helping with caring for the garden. They gathered on the courtyard.
"This is our apple tree; it's the only one in the county that still produces fruit. We're very proud of it and try to keep it in good condition. Would you like to help prune it? All you have to do is snip off any thin branches that are sticking straight up."
Jessica looked intimidated. She had no idea how to prune a tree and never climbed one before either.
"Sure...," she said rather unsurly.
Ivan handed her the pruning shears and gave her a boost up to the lowest branch of the tree. She sat on the thickest section and began to clip any offending pieces, while the other two were picking vegetables and bickering back and forth. Ivan was picking up the pieces she clipped that fell on the ground.
"So, Ivan, how did you end up being a priest?," she asked.
He looked pleased that she was taking an interest in him. None of the others ever bothered to learn of his background.
"Well, when my wife died and I became a single parent, I chose to not become completely weighed down with depression and guilt. I've always had a longing to be close to God, so I decided to throw myself into his service. It's also helped my son as well."
'A widower? He seems so young to have that problem... And a single parent? This place must have worked miracles for him to be as positive as he is,' she thought.
"I'm sorry to hear about your wife. At least you have your son."
His eyes grew distant for a split second, hardly even noticeable to most people; but Jessica was observant.
"Yes. He has been my support through all of this. And God of course. If it weren't for the fact that he's functional I have no idea where I would be. When he was in the womb we had doctors left and right telling us he would be born disabled, but he beat the odds."
"That's fantastic! I'm glad he turned out to be healthy."
"We were grateful too! I just wish my wife could have been here to see how wonderful he turned out to be. She died not long after he was born. Something to do with a postpartum infection that wasn't diagnosed in time."
"That's awful. I'm so sorry that happened to you."
"Well, I'm confident she watches over us from heaven."
"I hope she does." And they left it at that, continuing to work in the garden.
Once everyone was done with their chores they went their separate ways until dinner would be served. Jessica decided to explore the building, opening room after room only to be disappointed by their emptiness. She came to a set of massive gothic wooden doors and opened them slowly. Inside was a library devoid of any books.
'What a shame. This could be an absolute reader's sanctuary if the shelves were teeming with books.'
"Ah, I see you've found the old library. A waste of a perfectly good room, isn't it?," she heard Ivan ask from behind her. "Maybe someday it will be full again."
"One can only hope."
Ivan smiled at her. She was so different from the other people he was caring for... Charming personality, not crude or vulgar by any means, and she still had innocence and purity left in her. She was a breath of fresh air.
"Anyway, I came to tell you that food's ready," he said.
"Great, what are we having?"
"Spaghetti."
"Didn't we have that last night?"
"Yes. With only us three here we're pretty limited with what we can cook."
"Well... I can cook. How about tomorrow I make something?" Ivan gave her a grateful look. "What are some things everyone likes?"
"At this point I'm sure they'd be happy with anything besides my cooking," Ivan lightly laughed.
They made their way to the dining room, indulging each other in small talk. As they sat down at the table, they noticed the others had yet to show up.
"Should we start without them?"
"We'll give them a few more minutes."
They waited. And waited. Finally Gunnar came in and sat down, loading himself a plate. He looked up at Ivan, expecting him to begin the prayer.
"Where's Khalid?"
"He went on a walk with one of the ladies from town," Gunnar said.
"Oh. Well in that case, let's dig in," Ivan said beginning to bow his head.
The other two followed suit. The prayer was said and they all hurried through their meal. Gunnar went to bed early, leaving Ivan and Jessica alone in the kitchen doing dishes.
They stood in relative silence, save for the running water; until Ivan got a mischievous look on his face, cupping his hands and blowing a bubble in her direction. She got a small splash on the face when it popped. Ivan noticed she got a competitive gleam in her eyes.
"Is it supposed to rain tonight?," she asked.
He got a very confused look on his face. Realization dawned on him as she grabbed the spray nozel, but he wasn't fast enough. She aimed for his face and gave him a quick spray. He let out a laugh and splashed her with some of the water in the sink.
Spray! Splash! Spray! Splash!
Their war went on for a few minutes until they were thoroughly soaked and laughing themselves red.
"I'm sure I look absolutely atrocious," Jessica shakily got out, her laughter becoming more controlled, "I'm heading for a shower and going to bed. Goodnight, Ivan. I'll see you in the morning".
"Goodnight, Jessica. Sleep tight," he said back.
She scurried upstairs to retreat under the hot water. Ten minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, ran to her room, and swapped her bathrobe for a warm pair of pajamas and settled into bed. She drifted off to sleep for a few hours until she was awakened by light footsteps.
She peeked into the hallway to see Khalid tiptoeing down the hallway to his room. She checked the clock on her nightstand; one-thirty. She turned back to the hallway to find that Khalid was giving her a deer-in-the-headlights look, like she caught him doing something naughty. His worried look abated when she put her finger to her lips and gave him a wink. He gave her a thankful grin and continued to tread lightly to his room.
'Maybe it won't be so bad being here for awhile after all', was her last thought as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
