Chapter 17
The Gilbert house was suspiciously empty and quiet when Jenna woke up the next day. Her head was pounding, her limbs were hurting and her throat felt drier than the Sahara Desert. On top of it, her cell phone was ringing. She had never hated the sound of singing birds than she did in that moment.
"Hello?"
She growled in the receiver. When she received no reply, she looked through her mostly stuck together lashes to realize she held the device upside down. She groaned, turned it right side up, and repeated the greeting, sounding a little clearer than a drowsy elephant.
"Yes?... What?... Yes, yes of course... When?... I see... I can, of course. What time?... Right, right. I'll be there... Alright. Yeah, you too."
She yawned and threw the phone on the covers. Rubbing her eyes she looked around, squinted at the clock on the bedside table by her feet and then glared at the sun shining outside her tan curtains.
"Where is everyone?"
It took her a moment to untangle her feet from the covers and felt her way to the adjoining bathroom. The woman in the mirror looked more like the illegitimate child of Joker and Anna Nicole Smith after a crazy night at Gotham City, than herself. She turned 180 degrees, let her dress fall to the floor and entered the shower stall. When she emerged she was clean, her makeup gone down the drain and felt far more human.
The pounding behind her eyes however kept going strong. Reaching for her hairbrush, she noticed a single small white pill and a post-it underneath it.
"Take me."
She laughed, thanking Bella's mothering tendencies. She popped the pill with tap water, brushed her hair and her teeth, it really did smell like something had died in her mouth and, after wrapping herself in her fluffy bright yellow bathrobe, headed downstairs for a much needed cup of java. Another post-it, this time baby blue, was stuck to the carafe
"No way, Jose. Try the fridge."
In the fridge was a tall glass of OJ with a hot pink post-it on it.
"Drink me."
With a roll of her red rimmed eyes, Jenna obeyed and then had a cup of coffee to wash the juice down, grimacing at the tangy taste of the fruit. Another post it was on a wrapped plate with an egg and bacon sandwich, which she ate, per 'Eat me' order on the yellow posit. The final post-it, a faded green one, was on the fridge 'Kids at school, Barky with me, Me at work. Love you, B'.
"How many post-it blocks does this girl own?"
- - - Memories of a Past and a Future - - -
Once fed and hydrated, Jenna added her plate, juice glass and topped her coffee, ran the dish washing machine and went back upstairs. It took her about 20 minutes to put her flight hostess uniform on, blow dry her hair and pull it in a severe signon. Snapping her work overnight case closed, she checked the time, opted against leaving her own post-it note and left the house.
During last morning's dog walk, Bella had seen a wanted ad, told the barking dog to put a lid on it, applied and gotten hired on the spot. She had joked that working at a hardware store throughout her high school senior year was experience enough to get a job at a retail gig.
Jenna frowned when she reached the address Bella gave her and pushed the door open. Her friend was sitting behind a mahogany desk, tapping away on computer keys, an old lady sitting across from her, crying her eyes out while Barkley was being used like a furry handkerchief. Jenna waited until Bella gave the old lady a print-out, got the dog back, and then held the door open for the lady to pass, before rounding on her friend.
"You told me it was furniture retail."
"It is, in a way."
"It's the funeral parlor, Belle"
"A coffin is someone's last lodgings Jen. I wasn't quite sure how to tell you. Sorry."
She shrugged one shoulder, as Jenna snorted.
"You look professional. Went back to work?"
"My vacation's over. I got a flight in... four hours. Need to be there in one."
"D'you want my car?"
"Nah, I've got a taxi waiting outside. Want I do want, is you keeping an eye on the kids. I'll only be gone till tomorrow but... I've got a weird feeling."
Jenna admitted twisting her silver opalite pendant around her fingers, something she always did when she was nervous. The pendant was in the shape of a teardrop, touching her collarbone from a thin silver chain. The two were vacationing in New Orleans when Jenna saw a street booth that sold pendants identical to the one Bella wore. Bella didn't remember where she had gotten hers from, 'I've always had it' she'd shrug questions about it off. Jenna didn't like the dark blue of Bella's lapis lazuli one, so she chose a different one. Actually the seller, an older woman who claimed to know which stone was meant for each customer, chose it for her. It just so happened to be the same color as her eyes, Jenna joked.
"Where are you going?"
"Seattle"
"Tell my dad I said 'hi' and my mom to come back to get her dog already!"
Jenna laughed. She always stopped to see Charlie Swan whenever she flew to his whereabouts.
"Will do"
"Text me when you land"
"Alrighty, love you"
The two friends hugged, Jenna ruffled Barkley's fur and then she was gone.
After work was done Bella gathered the dog, descended the stairs to the mortuary, poor Barkley was snot covered and more than a little disgusting, to give him a quick wash. IT wasn't as creepy as she thought it'd be as long as it was lacking a 'special guest'.
"You need a bath buddy"
She told the dog and put him in one of the sinks. Thankfully Barkley seemed to agree because he stood still, for once, while he was being cleaned and then left a wet trail behind him as he perused the room. Bella found him sniffing the short and long fridge by one of the walls.
"What is this?"
She asked aloud, but all further investigation was cut short as the mortician walked in with an amicable smile on his face and a large pizza in his arms. Bella declined the invitation to stay, eating where corpses use to hang out sounds really wrong, and leashed Barkley, who did want to stay thanks to the smell of the pizza. She was still musing the contents of the fridge when she got in her car and shot off in the direction of the supermarket.
The Gilbert house was full of people and action. The girl trio Bella had come to associate with Elena was camped out in the den, Stefan and Matt with them, watching a movie while Jeremy was in the kitchen going through cupboards.
"Hey"
Bella's greeting was largely ignored, save a raised hand from the blond girl, Caroline, and Matt shushing her when he passed her on the way to the movie. Bella barely refrained from rolling her eyes. It was Magic Mike, for crying out loud, not a complex murder mystery.
Dumping both her shopping bags and purse on the kitchen table she unleashed Barkley who let an excited bark and rushed to the den to be adored by the crowd.
Bella took a long look around the messy kitchen, grabbed another bag of Doritos and a small bottled coke and followed along. She preferred 'Full Frontal' but 'Magic Mike' wasn't bad either.