CONGRATULATIONS Guest! Yep, it was Kinesiology.
"It's good to see you again." Cassandra said as Tara and Sue walked in.
"You too." Tara smiled.
"This is Gracie. She's part-time, on the weekends, but she will be here this week to show you the ropes." Cassandra explained. Tara waved her hello.
"Gracie, this is Tara and Sue Markum."
"Hi."
Cassandra turned to Sue. "Sue, I will-" just then, another massage therapist interrupted her comment. Cassandra turned to the therapist.
"So, are you two sisters? You don't really look like each other" Gracie asked as her boss was talking to the therapist.
Tara looked at Sue, unsure what to say.
"We were adopted." Sue blurted out before Tara could try to explain herself out of the question, and they would have different stories. "Our parents couldn't have children, so, here we are." Sue nervously smiled, hoping Gracie would take the lie.
Gracie smiled. "Oh! OK."
By this time, Cassandra was ready to continue her conversation. "Sue,"
Tara pointed at Cassandra so that she knew someone was talking to her. Sue turned around.
"Come with me. I will show you where you will be working."
Sue nodded and smiled, following Cassandra into the back.
"This is your room." Cassandra said with her back turned to Sue, opening one of the rooms.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. If you could say that to my face, that'd be great." Sue said, craning her neck to see Cassandra's face.
Cassandra rolled her eyes. "This is your room."
Sue smiled, saying and signing thank you before she walked in and inspected the room. "Looks good." She replied.
Just then, Sue's phone buzzed. She took it out to look at the text. It was Tara. It said;
"Looks like your first client is this afternoon at 1!"
Sue smiled, reading the text. By the time she looked up, Cassandra was gone. Sue shrugged. "Oh well. Better get ready for the client." She said to herself as she bent down to grab some fresh sheets for the massage table.
?-?
Maddy quietly slipped in to her first class and sat in the back. The girl in front of her turned around.
"HI!" she said excitedly.
"HI." Maddy returned, recognizing the girl as the one from the day before.
"US-TWO IN SAME CLASS." Gaby signed, still excited.
Maddy nodded.
"YOU WANT STUDY FOR TOMORROW CLASS AFTER THIS CLASS YOU?" Gaby asked.
Just then, the teacher got their attention, so the question was left unanswered.
?-?
"Hi!" Cathi exclaimed as Myles walked in to her department. "What are you doing here?"
Myles shrugged. "I just wanted to see where you were working, and how you were doing."
Cathi laughed. "I'm good. And here it is." She said, waving her hand around the office.
Myles nodded. "Pretty much the same as I remember it."
"Hey!" Cathi laughed, swatting his arm "It sounded like you hadn't been here before.
Myles frowned at her, holding his arm with his other hand. "I haven't been here in a while, if it makes you feel better."
Cathi smiled. "It does, sort-of. Now shouldn't you be working on a case or something?"
Myles nodded. "Or something. Paperwork. I have a whole bunch of forms to submit to Randy from the Warkent case we just finished up. It was a very quick case of 2 days, but somehow I accrued a lot of case-related products, a SOS flashlight, a helmet, various cave gear, plus some other things."
Cathi chuckled. "Good luck with Randy."
Myles quickly grabbed her so they were so close, they were almost touching. "Please," he asked softly. "Come back and take Randy's position."
Cathi smiled. "You know that can't happen." She returned softly.
"Alright guys, break it up." Taniya, one of the people who worked in the office said, seeing the two.
They quickly separated, and Myles smiled, then disappeared into the hallway, back to his own office.
?-?
Gaby quickly tried to get Maddy's attention after class, but Maddy was ignoring her. Until Gaby stood right in front of her. Then she couldn't avoid her.
"YOU WANT STUDY TOGETHER YOU?" she asked hopefully.
Maddy didn't respond right away, trying to think of a way to get out of it.
Gaby saw this, and just pulled on Maddy's arm. "COME. MEET MY FRIEND" she signed with her other hand.
Maddy sighed, there was no use talking this girl out of it.
?-?
"Hi, I'm Sue, your massage therapist for the day."
"Hi, I'm Tim." The client said, shaking Sue's hand.
"I just have to tell you one thing." Sue started. "I'm Deaf, so if you'd like to say something to me, I need to see your face."
Tim frowned. "If I'm lying on the table, how would-"
"I'll show you." Sue said, leading him to the room.
Once he was changed and ready for his massage, Sue came back into the room.
"If you go like this, with one of your hands," Sue said, showing him an bent B handshake, going down. "This will mean you want less pressure. If you go like this," she said, showing him a baby O handshape, going in towards the center of her body. "That means you want more pressure. If you go like this," she said, showing him a thumbs up. "That means it's perfect. If you point up, down, left or right," she showed him what she meant. "That means you want me to go in that direction. If you want something else, just wave, and we can get you in a position where I can see your face."
Tim nodded, trying to process the information. "Alright. We'll see." He replied, unsure how well a Deaf massage therapist would be.
?-?
Maddy laughed along with Gaby's friend, Jackie. It wasn't as bad as she thought. She actually was having fun. Then she looked at her watch.
"ME MUST GO. ME NEED GO-TO CLASS." Maddy said.
Gaby looked sad. "MAYBE SEE YOU LATER?"
Maddy thought about it, then smiled. "YES.
Gaby and Jackie excitedly waved as Maddy walked to her next class.
Maddy smiled as she was walking. It was so nice to actually make new friends.
?-?
"What's that?" Tim said, then remembered that his therapist couldn't hear. He waved for her attention, but she had already stopped, feeling vibration in the floor.
"What's that?" Tim repeated, getting up partially so she could see him.
"Shhh!" she whispered. "Tell me quietly what you hear. I felt something vibrate through the floor."
Tim nodded. "I heard something big slam." He said quietly.
Sue nodded.
"It almost sounded like," he started chuckling. "Almost like one of those big bank vaults you see in old movies, and they make that click-locking noise."
Sue nodded, looking away for a second to process the information.
Just then, some noise distracted Tim from Sue, and looking at the wall that the sound was coming behind.
"What is it?" Sue asked.
"It sounded like someone saying something, but I couldn't really catch what was said. I just heard a door slam. I think whoever was behind this wall is gone."
Sue nodded. "Thank you. Now, let's get back to your massage. I'm sorry about the disruption."
Tim eagerly nodded. "Please do. You're one of the best massage therapists I've ever had. And don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault."
Sue smiled at him, but as soon as he looked away to lay back down again, she frowned, deep in thought. She had to call Jack. While she was transferring to another part in the massage, she quickly took out her phone and texted Jack.
"Need to talk."
She sent it by the time she had moved, ready to continue the massage.