Scene 6
August 15, 2008…
Heather buttered her toast and sighed with mild discontent. Gil couldn't join her for breakfast. He was still at the office. It was just as well; she'd driven all over town yesterday afternoon looking for what she felt would be a suitable birthday gift for him, and hadn't found a thing. He loved books, but for her first gift to him she thought a book sounded rather impersonal. He loved classical music and opera, but she hadn't studied his music collection well enough to commit to memory what he had or didn't have. She thought about Catherine's suggestion that she buy him a bug and discarded that notion too.
Heather wasn't afraid of bugs, or even squeamish about them, it was just that she simply didn't know much about them. She didn't really think about them that much; hadn't since she was a child, and although she had been a tomboy the only bugs that really got her attention back then were ladybugs and fireflies except for the occasional worm or cricket if she were going fishing with her dad.
Yesterday while at the mall looking for a gift for him, she'd actually stopped at the exotic pet store just to browse but one look at the teen behind the counter; with his acne covered face and the lack luster expression in his eyes, told her that the little she knew about bugs was more than he ever would. Therefore, there was no way she could rely on him to assist her in making an informed purchase.
She sat down at the breakfast bar with her tea and toast, and flipped open her newest World Travel magazine with a disgusted sigh. A few seconds later she reached for her toast while half-heartedly scanning an article about the wine country in California. She'd been to various cities in California; even lived in a few of them briefly as a child. On her eleventh birthday her dad and grandmother had given her one of the most memorable gifts she had ever received.
Heather smiled broadly at the direction her thoughts had taken and dropped her toast back onto its plate without ever having taken a bite. She left the bar to go and place a few calls. One of those calls was to Information. She hoped Catherine Willows' number was listed. It was; as luck would have it. Next she hoped she'd catch the woman Gil worked with before she got to bed for the day. After speaking to Catherine, who was only on her way to bed but not quite there yet, Heather made a few more calls. By the time she hung up the phone and returned to the kitchen, Gil's gift had been purchased, reservations had been made, and her breakfast had gone completely cold. She poured herself a fresh cup of tea and ate her cold toast quickly. She had a lot to do today if she was going to pull off her plans.