Chapter 3: The Next Morning

Mary woke up the next morning. As she walked out, she saw Rhoda sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Hope you don't mind. I got up early and made some coffee," Rhoda said as soon as she saw her.

"Mind?" Mary asked as she grabbed herself a cup. "I'm actually glad. You just saved me a few minutes this morning." She went and grabbed a seat across the table from Rhoda. Even though she really didn't want to bring up the topic again, she had to ask. "How are you doing?" It was a simple question that everyone asked each other. This time though, she knew where it was going to lead to.

Rhoda shrugged. Both hands were clasped around the cup as she pulled it away from her mouth. "Better." Setting the cup down, she watched it for a second. "I'm still upset, but I'm more used to the idea." She looked up to Mary. "You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Mary said. She was glad that Rhoda was starting to feel better, but she had no idea what she was going to do to while she was at work. There was just something about the idea of leaving her friend alone that she didn't like. "You mind finishing this over lunch today? I still got to get ready and I don't think I can afford to be late today."

"Sure Mare. But you mind dropping me off at Hemple's. While I'm here I might as well stop by and visit a little," Rhoda said as she stood up and took her cup to the sink.

Mary stood up and followed her. "Actually, why don't you drop me off and keep the car for the day? I don't need it all day and I don't think you need to stay in one place all day."

Rhoda shrugged. "Alright, but only if its okay with you," she said.

"I insist."

"I should probably call Brenda and see what ma's up to. She's probably already suspicious and Brenda's trying to fight the urge to tell the truth."

"Why don't you call while I get ready and then we can leave?" Mary asked.

"Sounds good." Rhoda watched her walk into her room and then she slowly walked to the phone and picked it up. It seemed to ring forever.

"Brenda?" she asked with excitement. She stopped to listen to her. "Yeah Bren, I'm still over in Minneapolis." Pause. "Right, I should only be a few days. It's weird being out here ya know? Last time I was I lived in the same building with Mary and Phyllis. Now Mary's in a new building and Phyllis is gone." Another pause as her smile turned to more an annoyed look. "Yes, the one that forgot to pick me up." There was a short pause. "Hey, ya mind if I ask something real important?" She anxiously awaited the answer. "Good, and make sure that she doesn't find out."

There was something else that she desperately wanted to ask, but she couldn't. A part of her already knew the answer, and it wasn't what she had wanted to hear. What the hell, she thought to herself. The worst that she could hear, was what she had already braced herself for. If she heard anything else, she could only be happily surprised. "One more thing before I have to go. Did um, did ya..." It was hard to spit out, but she had to. "Did ya by any chance hear from Joe at all?"

Mary started to walk out of her room, but froze as soon as she saw that Rhoda was still on the phone. The silence as her back was to her. Badly, she wanted to see her face, to see how the call was truly going. The last thing she had wanted to do though was to interrupt the conversation.

"Thanks. See ya soon Brenda." Rhoda slowly hung up the phone. Her eyes were still glued to it. Brenda's final response on the phone still running through her head, and yet she had no idea on how to react.

"You okay?" Mary asked.

Rhoda quickly wheeled around and saw her. "Eavesdropper," she teased. The smile on her face was far from genuine, but it took everything to force it.

"What did she have to say?" Mary asked in another attempt to get something out of her.

"Well," Rhoda started. "I guess I could tell you that Joe indeed did call to make sure that I had gotten here alright."

"That's a good start."

"I don't know Mare. He asked Brenda how long I was going to be here."

"What's wrong with that?" Mary asked as she went and grabbed her coat and purse.

"I think he was just trying to find out how much time he had before he gave me a decision," Rhoda explained as she grabbed her coat and purse and followed Mary to the door.

"Why do you think like that?" Mary asked as she opened the door.

"From experience mostly," Rhoda said as she closed the door behind them.