Isabelle was quickly talking to me again. She had herself a theory, and a plan to go with it. She made sure that I always had plans in my free time. Why? Because if I was visiting her, or out with Max, or hanging with Jace, then I wasn't with Magnus.
It was Thursday, now, and I was sorry to say this plan had been working. I'd only really managed to text Magnus all week. Every time he messaged me it seemed reproachful. I think he thought I was avoiding him on purpose.
My room didn't have a window in it, so gone were the days when I could more-or-less guess the time - and check the weather - at a glance in the mornings. I always checked my phone for the time. No, I didn't have a clock either. It was one of those things I knew I should buy but never really bothered to get. Anyway, the point is that if I had messages waiting for me in the morning, I couldn't really miss them.
Izzy came up first on the screen:
JJs 2nite. SVM live. C u thn. Xoxo
My sister's texts always took me a few moments to decipher. Not least of all because SVM referred to Simon's band whose name changed on a regular basis. So until I remembered they were going by 'Sexy Vampire Mojo' now, I was at a loss.
Well, it looked like I would be busy again. This was something I would have gone to regardless, in friendly support, so I tried not to mind.
The next text had come from Magnus:
Morning beautiful. Happy first of the month. X
I tried really hard not to mind.
There was something about getting messages like that from Magnus which I both hated and loved. My face broke into a dumb grin because it was nice to wake up to, but I also had the presence of mind to be embarrassed. Even though I knew I was by myself I felt the need to look around and check before I could let myself enjoy it.
After a few seconds of that I sobered myself up and sent something to say good morning back. Then on with the day.
My room was a little on the bare side. I had what I needed; my bed to sleep in and drawers for my clothes and some of my stuff. Nothing to give it personality beyond a couple family photos on the side. Things like CDs or books which might have told you something about me if you walked in were all still packed in a cardboard box next to the drawers. I kept meaning to get a bookcase or some shelves or a rack to put them in.
It occurred to me that there were more and more things I'd been meaning to do. Then I passed Kyle on the way to the bathroom and thought: 'Oh well, at least I'm not growing suspicious plants.' The real matter at hand was to have the self-restraint not to watch him all the way back to his room.
I almost made it without even looking. I would have if he didn't call back at me.
"Flowers came for you." He said. I looked back at him dumbfounded. Kyle seemed about as confused as I was. "I set them on the counter."
I changed course to go inspect the evidence. The arrangement on the counter was purple and white, along with the green from the leaves. It was very obviously a florist piece, not something from the supermarket, and there was a note attached which read: 'Third cliché's the charm?' In Magnus' spindly handwriting.
On the back of the card he'd jotted the words 'Purple Hyacinth'. I thought about asking Kyle if he knew anything about that, him being the gardening connoisseur that he was, but thought better of it and looked the plant up myself. They were apology flowers.
Well, I couldn't not see him after that. I called him right after I showered - an act during which I was not singing to myself, no matter what my roommate might tell you - to say I'd come by after Simon's performance that night. That it would be fairly late when I got there and that it would only happen if Isabelle didn't kidnap me first.
Magnus agreed that should I fail to arrive, he'd alert the proper authorities that I was likely to be locked in my Mother's basement. It was on that note that I went to work.
The first of October marked an official end to the stupidly long event which had taken Dr Zachariah and me out of the office the month before. He promised me that next time anything like that happened he would ensure we didn't have to be there throughout the whole thing. Which had its pros and cons.
On the one hand, I enjoyed my actual job a whole lot better than walking around repeating the same facts to people who didn't really care. On the other, my actual job paid less, and involved long periods of time sat in a room with the Doctor I'd been learning to avoid.
Right off the bat, he had me busy with the new material he'd procured to study. He already had a bunch of his notes for me to go over, too. It was so much to digest that there was hardly time to feel awkward. I didn't know or care if he'd done this intentionally. Whatever worked - and more importantly kept me in-work - was fine by me.
However, I was starting to think I didn't have to worry about Dr Zachariah anymore. I could easily have gotten the wrong idea. I had been known for my paranoia, after all, and I could have been looking for reactions where there were none.
Even if it did make me seem like a bit of a mess, I liked that idea better than my theory that the Doctor – well, Zach, I guess, if I was going to drop it – was secretly intolerant. He was acting normal enough now.
After some time spent reading over papers and the like Zach seemed to get fed up and stray into social talk. He asked me was how my sister was doing; he'd met Isabelle a couple times now. I told him about how she'd taken up an out-of-school drama class, to help her when it came to college application. I left out - obviously - how we'd been arguing a few nights before.
"You seem happier." Zach pointed out. He walked around when he read – I think it helped him to concentrate. If I had tried it I would have just gotten distracted trying not to trip over. And then tripped over anyway.
"I like October." I said. This much was true; although really it was that October in particular I liked. It was just off to such a good start. I felt like if I could just keep my sister contented that what the media had dubbed 'The Banecourt Split' didn't equal instant forgiveness for Magnus, I could keep the month relatively drama-free aside from her performances.
"I like October, too." Zach said with an agreeable nod. "Halloween comes second only to Christmas."
I thought about it and spared a brief thought to Thanksgiving. But I was pretty sure Zach wasn't from the US, and I wasn't so sure that it was really a thing elsewhere, so I didn't mention it.
"I think I liked it better when I was young enough to beg for sweets." I joked. Izzy, Jace and I had always gone trick-or-treating together. Sometimes we even got to spend the night in the tree house Jace's Dad had built in their garden. That was on the occasions we weren't caught tricking by angry parents. I got a few extra years walking Max about; but he had decided he was all grown up now. "I'll probably spend this year watching a bad movie and waiting for the kids in my building to knock."
"Well, maybe we should do something." Zach suggested. He shut the book he was reading carefully and set it down on the desk. I was still skim-reading the paper; I really did have a lot to go over. I wished that Zach had given me some work to do at home through September, though I didn't know how I would have fit it in. "I know where there'll be a party."
It was actually the word party which put me off, funnily enough. With me that sort of thing was a bit of a hit-or-miss. I'd either enjoy myself immensely or be eyeing up the exits the whole night.
I knew I usually had a nice enough time when I had friends nearby, though. Plus I liked the idea of showing my co-workers I didn't spend every night out trying to get it on with guys on the dance floor. So I said yes; which made Zach look surprised. I'd surprised myself, too. Usually Izzy had to spend a long time trying to coax me into these things.
We didn't plan anything there and then, what with the end of the month being so far away, and I knew Imasu would want his input too. Zach seemed to have been distracted a sufficient amount of time and hit the books again with vigour. Work was a breeze - admittedly a rushed, hurricane-like breeze - until it was time to go. It was such a load off my shoulders to know I didn't have to dread returning to work anymore.
Thank you for reading! It would have been earlier but I had exam results to pick up and family parties to attend. Here's hoping you guys liked the chapter, I'll try to get the next one up in a few days time: 'Not Enough Hours'.