Jennifer shook her head, "Buddy, I'm really sorry, but I think you have me very confused with another Jennifer Mason. I've never seen you before in my life."
Duke felt as if he'd been punched in the gut.
Or, more accurately, he felt as if someone had taken a baseball bat and swung it straight into his torso and was now laughing at him.
The Universe could be an asshole like that.
"Wha—?" was all he managed to get out before a familiar, albeit it markedly un-digitized, voice interrupted.
"Oh my God! Duke? Duke Crocker?" Jennifer turned to see Holly walking briskly towards them. She was wearing a gorgeous floor length raspberry red dress that had a lace bodice with crisscrossing bands. Her head wrap was a deep red as well, detailed with gold patterns that accented the thick gold necklace she'd chosen that hung close to her neck. Her jean jacket stopped just below where the bodice ended and the rest of the skirt began, and was a faded light blue that seemed to be getting dangerously close to what could be called "acid washed." In her red heels, she was easily Duke's height, if not a centimeter taller, and she used that to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug.
"Play along and do exactly as I say." Holly whispered fiercely to him. Duke, still reeling from seeing Jennifer and then being told that she didn't remember him, only nodded as she pulled away, beaming at him. Duke couldn't help but be impressed at how natural it looked, given that this was the first time they had ever actually met in person and he was positive that running into him was the last thing Holly expected when she'd made her plans for the evening—whatever they may be.
"You know him?" Jennifer asked, a bit skeptical but clearly relieved that someone here seemed to have answers.
"Why, of course! Surely I've told you about him," Holly replied, voice light as she turned her smile to Jennifer. Jennifer relaxed under her friend's gaze and shifted to stand the slightest bit closer to her, exactly as she'd done with Duke in Haven when she'd felt threatened or nervous. He felt a new part of him break; she wasn't supposed to move away from him like that.
Duke tried to keep his expression neutral as Holly turned back to him, "Jennifer Mason; meet Duke Crocker. He's, uh, he's an old friend from Grad school."
Duke tried to smile at Jennifer who nervously smiled back, nodding to him as she shifted the slightest bit closer to Holly. He wanted to say or do something to put Jennifer back at ease around him, but Holly beat him to the punch—very nearly literally.
Holly lightly batted at his arm, forcing him to look back at Holly, "You son of a bitch, why didn't you tell me you were in Boston? We could've planned something much less…spontaneous than this."
"Uh, just…poor planning, I guess." He said as he focused back on Holly, picking up on her meaning and still trying to smile and act as if he understood what was happening. He kept thinking to himself, don't stare at her, don't stare at her, you'll only freak her out more, Jesus but she's right there. She hasn't changed at all. How hasn't she changed? Damn it, don't stare at her.
"You got that right," Holly laughed as she turned back to Jennifer, placing her hand on Jennifer's shoulder, "Jen, honey, why don't you go on in and get to our table? It should be under my name."
Jennifer nodded and glanced nervously back at Duke, "Alright. What about you?"
Holly just grinned and rubbed her arm reassuringly, "I just need a moment with Mr. Crocker, here. See if we can't figure out another, more appropriate, time to meet up."
Jennifer smiled sheepishly as she turned back to Duke, "It was, uh, it was nice to meet you, Duke. I, uh, hope you find who you were looking for."
I already did, Duke thought, but he could only manage half of a wave as she walked into the bustling restaurant. He watched after her, every part of him telling him to follow her, until Holly snapped her fingers in front of his face, "Eyes front, Sailor."
Duke turned his confusion and, unfortunately, his agitation at Holly, "Holly, what. The fuck is going on."
"Watch your tone." She snapped back. She didn't actually move to touch him but her tone seemed to jab at him as she continued, "Stand up straight. Smile at me. Act like we're having a friendly conversation." She instructed, her face grave, and her own agitation coming through as she straightened her posture to use every inch of her aided height in front of him.
"What?" Duke snapped, straightening as well instinctively.
Holly narrowed her gaze at him, "Jennifer notices things. Wherever the table is in that restaurant she's probably already positioned herself so she can look out the windows at our conversation. So unless you want to freak her out more than you already have, smile, and act like we're having a normal conversation."
Duke rolled his shoulders, relaxed his posture slightly—just enough to stop using his full height to impose himself over her—and tried to give Holly a smile. It apparently wasn't all that convincing because Holly sighed exasperatedly back, "That'll have to do. Look, I can't say much right now since she's waiting for me, but I'm staying at the Fairmont on Battery Wharf."
Duke nodded, committing the name of the hotel to memory, as Holly continued, "I will be at the bar there at ten tonight. Meet me there, and I'll tell you what I know so far."
Duke's jaw clenched in response, and he nodded tensely. This was fucking ridiculous. Jennifer was there—right fucking there—and instead of being able to go to her, instead of being the person she hid behind when she felt threatened, he was being told to stay away.
Fucking. Ridiculous.
Holly studied him for a moment, and her agitation ebbed, apparently seeing something more in him than just his obvious anger at not being able to go to Jennifer. She placed a tentative, though sympathetic, hand on his arm, "It's just for a few more hours, Duke, and then you'll have all the answers you can handle and that I can give you. Until then, maybe go clean yourself up. You look like you haven't slept in months; you look like hell."
"That's big talk coming from an insomniac." Duke commented, joking half-heartedly. He wanted to look through the windows behind Holly into the restaurant and find Jennifer, just to make sure she was still there, but he thought better of it, keeping his attention on Holly. If Jennifer was watching like Holly said, he didn't want to make her anymore nervous around him than he already, and rather stupidly, had.
The hand on his arm went from sympathetic to annoyed as she batted at him lightly, "Hey, I'll remind you that I'm a professional insomniac. I know how to keep up appearances—unlike some people, apparently."
Duke smirked, lightly pushing her hand away, "Easy there, Sunshine. We're supposed to be friends."
Holly chuckled, "There he is. There's the Duke I've seen on Skype. There's the Duke Jennifer loves."
Duke let out a heartbroken bark of a laugh before rubbing at his lips and chin, "Yeah."
"Alright." She rolled her shoulders, and stood up straight again. "Now. Give me a hug." Holly prompted, holding her arms open.
"What?" Duke asked, looking at her like she'd grown a third limb.
"We're old friends from Grad school, remember?" She grinned at him, "You gotta sell it. Hug me." Holly moved her fingers, prompting him to hug her.
He did, carefully. When he pulled away, she repeated, "Remember; ten o'clock at the Fairmount."
Duke nodded as she headed into the restaurant. She paused at the door and turned back to him, "And try to look like a human being."
He gave her a confused look and made to reply to her comment, but she disappeared among the other waiting patrons before he could. He looked around himself for a moment, half expecting the world to have changed in some way. But it was just like it had been when he thought Jennifer was dead, which was just like it was when she'd been with him. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to get his bearings, before he decided to walk back to his truck. He tired to prioritize what he needed to do in the hours before he met back up with Holly to get answers. Even if she was someone he'd only ever encountered through a computer screen prior to this, he had to trust that Holly was going to be upfront with him about whatever the hell was happening around Jennifer—and that if Holly thought she was safe, then she really was. He was walking quickly back towards his truck when he caught his reflection in a storefront window, causing him to stop in his tracks and really look at himself.
Holly was right; he looked like hell.
His hair—what he hadn't chopped off in the days following Jennifer's…was "death" even applicable anymore?—was a mussed and unkempt mess, his clothing was rumbled, and his eyes had dark circles and bags under them.
If he and Jennifer had run into this version of him back in Haven, and he'd done what he'd done tonight, Duke would have sent him to the Drunk tank with one hell of a shiner.
He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to make it look more presentable, and sighed.
A shower was decidedly in order. His stomach growled loudly, as if it were agreeing with his decision.
When was the last time he'd eaten?
Hell, when was the last time he'd wanted to eat?
He finalized his plan of food, shower, most likely nervous pacing until ten o'clock rolled around, and then going to see Holly. He turned and headed back down the street.
Jennifer watched through the window from the table the hostess had led her to as Holly talked to Duke. The restaurant itself was fairly dim, making the brightest source of light the wide window that faced the street, which made the pedestrians walking passed seem like they were in a movie. She watched Holly carefully. Holly's back was to her, but she had known Holly long enough to be able to read her back as easily as if she were seeing her face. Holly seemed comfortable enough while she was talking to this "Grad school friend," but there was an anxiety in the set of her shoulders that made Jennifer all the more suspicious—add in the fact that she was clearly trying to impose her height over him and Jennifer severely doubted that these two had left things on the best of terms prior to this encounter. Holly was controlling the conversation, but Jennifer only needed to know Holly as a person to know that.
She turned her gaze to Duke, the stranger. As she studied him, she felt the faintest of throbs just behind her eyes again. She tried not to push on the why behind it and tried to simply observe his behavior. He was watching Holly intently and had met her back in trying to impose his own height advantage over her, but was now trying to smile at her and nodding along with what she was saying. He looked as if he hadn't slept, or, at the very least, hadn't slept well, in some time. She looked him up and down, taking in the rumpled clothes, the dark circles under his eyes, the slightly hollow cheeks, and recognized the signs.
He looked like a man who'd been in a state of mourning for a very long time.
He cared deeply about whoever it was he'd lost. There was a story or two between Holly and Duke and Jennifer was itching to know it as soon as she could.
He was smirking at Holly now, who had lightly hit him on the arm with the tension gone from her shoulders, and it changed his whole demeanor. His eyes, though tired, were kind, and, even though he'd scared her initially, he seemed to have a gentleness about him that made him more approachable. If she was being honest with herself, however, the fact that he was undeniably attractive probably didn't help with that approachability.
His hair could be longer though.
The thought seemed odd to her. She'd never been really into men with long hair, and it was none of her business how he looked, yet she couldn't help thinking that his hair should be longer.
Should be.
Before Jennifer could follow that thought any further, and before the throb that was already threatening to start back up again could get any stronger than it was, her phone buzzed. She hazarded a look at it to see that it was a message from Adelaide. She opened it, and was greeted by a picture of Adelaide and Brielle with ice cream more or less covering all of their lips, the corners of their mouths, as well as on their noses. Underneath the photo was the caption, "Greetings from the messiest worrywart wardens a girl could ask for!"
Jennifer grinned at her phone as Holly came walking up. She slid into the seat across from her, grinning broadly at Jennifer, and placed her wallet on the table. As she shrugged out of her jacket and turned to place it on the back of her chair, she spoke, "Sorry about that! I had no idea Duke would be in town."
Jennifer turned her smile to Holly, as she put her phone back into her purse, "You said he was a friend from Grad school?"
Holly nodded, taking a drink of water, "Yeah. Well, technically. I met him while I was in Grad school, but he's been working as a transporter for most of his adult life. Truth be told, I'm not sure if he's ever stepped foot on a college campus in his life."
Jennifer gave her a confused look, "Transporter?"
Holly nodded again, grabbing the menu from the table, "Yeah, he's got his own ship and he helps to transport certain items for a select clientele."
Jennifer arched an eyebrow at her, "Sounds reputable. And you met him while you were in Grad school?"
Holly just smirked at her over the menu, looking at her meaningfully, "I find that the less I ask about it, the better."
Jennifer's skepticism still held strong, as did her curiosity about the story behind that encounter, but she refrained from asking anything further; if Holly didn't want to go into detail, that was her choice. In the pause that followed, Jennifer took a drink of her water, attempting to sort out the events that occurred earlier outside of the restaurant before she used it to ask what Duke's story was. She set her glass down and studied it for a moment before asking, "Did Duke, uh, did he tell you what happened?"
Holly's brow furrowed as she read over the menu, not looking up at Jennifer, "What happened?"
"I was standing there, waiting for you, and he just came up and…and hugged me." Holly paused in her reading, suddenly looking tense, but kept her gaze steady on the menu as she continued, "He…he kept saying, you know, 'you're okay' and then he started asking me how I was…how I was alive." Jennifer recounted, shifting nervously.
Holly shrugged dismissively, still not looking away from the menu, "Oh, I must have told him about your accident last year the last time we talked and about how worried we were about you. I wouldn't worry too much about that."
Jennifer shook her head, "Holly, he…he called me 'Short Stack.' It…it was like he knew me, Holly."
Holly finally looked at her, her face going from surprised to concerned, and she reached her hand across the table to grab Jennifer's, "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry, I guess I talk about you a lot to other people. I didn't mean…"
She felt her brow furrow, and the action caused tears to roll down her cheeks. She was crying.
She shook her head, "He asked me why I didn't come home."
Jennifer pulled her hand back from Holly's and lightly wiped at her cheeks, "Why…?"
Why was she crying? The small voice that had protested her removing Duke's hands from her seemed to be the cause of it. It was heartbroken. But that didn't make sense. What did she have to be heartbroken about?
Holly shook her head, "I'm sorry about that. Duke's been…he's been going through a bit of a rough patch lately, and I guess I've talked about you enough that he thought he…He didn't mean anything by it. I'll talk to him, I'm so sorry."
Jennifer shook her head now, taking a deep breath to try to keep her voice from cracking, "No, he…he didn't upset me. I mean, he freaked me out, sure, but any guy who decided to randomly hug me would do that. But I didn't…I didn't feel threatened by him? At all, actually."
Jennifer took a careful breath as she reached for her glass to take a drink of water, a slight tremor in her hand, "It was…it was what he said. Or, I guess, how he said it. He…he was so…"
The waitress came and asked for their orders. They gave them, only really half listening to her, before another pause settled on them. Holly was trying her best not to stare too much at Jennifer, but she kept her hand on the table towards her in case Jennifer chose to reach for her. Jennifer chewed her lip, staring at the tablecloth but not really seeing it, as she thought about the encounter with Duke.
In love.
That's what she had wanted to say before the waitress came. That's why the small voice was so upset.
He had touched, he had spoken, and he had even looked at her, like he was so in love with her.
Something about that realization caused the throb to come back behind her eyes, stronger than it had ever been before, quieting the small voice before it could say more. She squeezed her eyes closed and touched her forehead, trying to make it stop. How was she even going to begin to explain all that to Holly when she didn't even really understand it herself? What the hell was happening to her?
Holly leaned across the table to look at Jennifer and said carefully, "Hey. It's okay. How about you tell me what you've been up to?"
Jennifer tried to smile reassuringly back at Holly, the throb lessening as she focused her mind and her attention on something else, "Oh, uh, you know, same ol' same ol'. Not much happens in Adelaide's bookstore. And she certainly hasn't really let me do anything outside of work at the bookstore since the accident."
"Well you know how scared she was at the time." Holly pointed out, unrolling her silverware from her napkin and placing it on her lap. There was still a tension in Holly's shoulders as she spoke, but she seemed at ease enough to want to talk about other things. She continued, "The doctors said it was a miracle you didn't die."
Jennifer sighed, "I know that, just like I know that she almost sued my friend from The Globe whose boat I had been on when the boom knocked me out and into the water."
Holly smirked as their waitress placed their food in front of them, "If you recall, I made my fair share of threats about that too. I nearly flew back out here and killed the guy myself."
Jennifer giggled despite herself, "Yeah, you did! That was a fun conversation."
She let out a few more chuckles, taking a bite out of her food, before continuing, "But, uh, ever since the doctors demanded that I—," she raised her hands to mime quotation marks, "—'take it easy,' and ever since my technical retirement from The Globe, I've been spending my days waiting for the doctors to tell me that I'm okay so that Adelaide will finally concede to letting me get my own place again. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Adelaide, and I'm so glad I've gotten to spend the last year with her and Brielle, but I feel like I'm stuck, y'know? Just waiting to join the rest of the world again."
Holly nodded as she took a bite of her food, "I understand that. But how have you been feeling? Any new symptoms?"
Jennifer shrugged, momentarily pushing her food around on her plate, "Well enough."
Holly studied her, clearly knowing that Jennifer wasn't telling her the whole story, and if she had to guess, it had something to do with the way she'd rubbed her forehead a moment ago. But, rather than point out Jennifer's lie just yet, Holly decided to change the subject, "How is Adelaide? I feel like I haven't seen her since your mom's funeral."
Jennifer grinned, enthusiastically digging back into her food, "She's doing good! Brielle is just growing like a weed and looks more like Adelaide everyday—it's in the eyes, I think; they're just so green. She calls me 'Auntie' because trying to explain first and second cousins is enough to give Adelaide and me a headache, but it's the cutest thing ever. Oh! And she was Student of the Month in her kindergarten class last month."
Holly smiled back, "Aren't you just the proudest 'auntie' on the East Coast?"
Jennifer's grin broadened, "Easily."
Holly shook her head as she finished the last bite of her food, "Do they have enough room for you in that store? I don't remember it being particularly large."
Jennifer shrugged, "It isn't. Adelaide has a room that she repurposed for me, but with me and Little John in there, it gets a little cramped."
"Oh that big love bug, how's he doing? I can't imagine all that moving between places has been easy on him." Holly asked, leaning back in her seat, pleasantly filled from her consumed meal.
"He seems alright." Jennifer answered, doing the same, "I think the fact that we're in a space that he's familiar with has helped a lot. You know that he used to stay with Adelaide when I would travel for work."
Holly nodded, "That's right."
Jennifer sighed contentedly, pleasantly full, before turning the conversation to Holly, "So what about you? How's Andre doing?"
Holly smiled softly as she looked at her wedding ring, spinning it with her thumb, "He's doing well. He's in Zurich right now for a conference, and then he's got to do some more stuff for the company in Europe for the rest of the month." She grinned at Jennifer, eyes sparkling, "So…I was thinking…if you wouldn't mind spending some time with an old friend…"
Jennifer nearly leapt out of her chair, exclaiming, "Are you kidding me? Of course!"
Jennifer stood and walked around to the other side of the table, hugging Holly tightly as she laughed, "Oh yay!"
She broke the hug but held Holly's hands, looking at her with concern, "But a month's a really long time for you and Andre to be a part. Is everything okay?"
Holly sighed and squeezed Jennifer's hands, "Well, yes and no."
Jennifer sat back in her seat and leaned on the table as Holly continued, "Andre really wants kids and I do too, of course, but…" She paused, biting her lip, "I'm scared that I won't be a good mom or that something bad is going to happen during the pregnancy because we waited so long, and Andre's trying to understand that, he is, but every time I try to explain it to him I can just feel his…I don't know, his disengagement? He just doesn't understand and it's been causing some…some tension in our marriage lately and just, god, Jen, I am so scared."
Jennifer placed her hand on the table, reaching for her friend, "Holly. Holl, look at me."
Holly took her hand and looked at Jennifer, tears threatening to fall from her eyes, "Holly, you would make an amazing mom. Remember how freaked out Adelaide was when she found out she was pregnant?"
Holly let out a strained laugh, "Oh, she was terrified."
Jennifer grinned back, "That's right. But now, she is the best mom that that, or really any other, little girl could ask for."
"But Jennifer, she and Desmond were so much younger than we are now when they started." Holly pointed out, her voice breaking slightly, "And they say that by age thirty—,"
Jennifer just smiled, "Well, not that I'm biased or anything, but there's always adoption."
Holly's eyes lit up and the beginnings of a smile caused the corners of her mouth to twitch upwards, "I could have my own little Jennifer Mason?"
Jennifer giggled, "Sadly, I think there's only one."
Holly took a calming breath, closing her eyes, and squeezed Jennifer's fingers. When she opened her eyes again, she said, "Thank you, Jen."
Jennifer squeezed back, "You're welcome."
They paused in their conversation, letting each other go, and taking drinks from their glasses, when Holly asked, "So. Are you going to tell me what that forehead rub earlier was about?"
Jennifer tried to hide her nervousness with an incredulous look and reached to take another drink from her glass, "What forehead rub?"
Holly rolled her eyes, "Jennifer Mason, don't you even try. I'm the one who finally taught you how to lie, remember?"
"A skill my mom never really forgave you for." Jennifer quipped, trying to distract Holly.
Holly only crossed her arms at her, waiting.
Jennifer rolled her eyes, "Fine! Fine, just…just don't freak out about it, okay?"
"I'll make no such promise." Holly replied indignantly. Her demeanor reminded Jennifer of how she imagined a Queen would respond to an unruly subject.
Jennifer sighed before explaining, "It's just that…lately I've been—I just—I don't think my memory's quite, um, quite right."
Holly gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"
Jennifer shifted in her chair, "It's—it's kind of like—ugh, it's so hard to explain unless it's happening to you. Um. Okay. These last few days, when I'll be talking or doing something, I'll…I'll feel like a memory is about to come up, but instead of just happening, I'll get this…this pain right behind my eyes. Just this—usually dull—throb."
Holly considered this information before asking, "What…when does it happen?"
"It happened the most today. The first time it happened, I was jokingly talking about what I had printed on my business cards, and then after that I was doing my makeup to get ready for dinner, and I started thinking about how long my hair had gotten and I got this…this feeling like I had decided to grow it out because of what someone had said but when I tried to remember who had said it, when I pushed on my memory, it was like the throb behind my eyes pushed back. The only thing I got from it that time was a figure that was near water."
Holly smirked nervously, "Sounds helpful."
Jennifer chuckled, "That's kind of how I felt about it."
"Anything else?" Holly pushed, leaning forward and trying to keep her voice low. Holly's tone had her thinking that they were back to being sixteen and trying to talk about something private in front of their parents—like they were trying to hide something.
"Well when I was playing with Brielle, I had a dizzy spell and the figure came back, only this time not only did I learn that the figure was standing on a pier—,"
"Again, super helpful," Holly interjected.
Jennifer smiled and nodded before continuing, "—and I heard, very faintly, someone say, 'Hey. You okay?'"
"Did you recognize the voice?" Holly asked eagerly.
Jennifer shook her head, "Not…not exactly."
Holly furrowed her brow at her and Jennifer tried to clarify, "It's weird; I didn't recognize the voice, but at the same time I…I knew it. It was…"
Jennifer sighed, "It was weird."
She paused, chewing on her lip for a moment as she considered the next part of her story. Holly watched her patiently, waiting for her to gather her words.
"Earlier…with, uh, with Duke," Jennifer began again, tone cautious, "He, uh, he had touched my neck—even cupped my face for a second—and when I pushed his hands away, a small part of me protested, which only made the throb come back. It went away when you came, though."
Holly tried to smile, though her concern was etched into her features, "I've been known to have that effect on people."
Jennifer rolled her eyes, smirking despite herself, and continued, "Now the forehead rub you witnessed was because the throb was…was particularly strong."
Holly arched an eyebrow at her, "Any reason why?"
"I have a guess." Jennifer mumbled.
At Holly's anticipatory look, Jennifer took a careful breath and tried to explain, "Earlier, when I was trying to tell you about how your friend Duke had talked to me, I was…I was trying to tell you that he looked at me like he was in love with me. And the small part of me that protested when I pushed his hands away? Before it could go beyond that realization, it felt like someone put a clamp on my head and twisted."
Once she'd finished, she studied Holly carefully who seemed to be momentarily lost in her thoughts. Jennifer shifted in her seat, an uneasy feeling falling over her. It was rare for Holly to have nothing to say on something that seemed to bother Jennifer so deeply, and her silence, careful or otherwise, was making her nervous.
"What does…? What do you think it means?" Jennifer asked, her stomach knotting.
The door to the bookstore jingled opened. Adelaide, who had her back to the door as she was doing some re-shelving, yelled over her shoulder, "Read the sign, pal, we are very much closed."
"Delivery." Was the only reply.
Adelaide froze momentarily before setting the remaining books in her hands on the shelf that was exposed in front of her. She turned and looked at Brielle who was reading on the couch, paying no mind to the man by the door and unaware of her mother's wariness.
"Sweetness?" She said calmly, pointedly not looking at the man standing by her store entrance and keeping her gaze fixated on her daughter.
Brielle looked up at her mom, keeping her own gaze on her, "Yes, Momma?"
Adelaide smiled weakly, "Why don't you go brush your teeth? And then can you check on the pineapples Momma has upstairs before you go to bed?"
Brielle stood up from the couch, "Should I say good night to Daddy?"
Adelaide smiled at her, "Yeah, Sweetness, make sure to say good night to Daddy."
Brielle walked around the counter and hugged her leg, "Love you, Momma."
For the first time since the door opened, Adelaide shot a glare at the man at the door before leaning down and kissing her daughter's head, "More than you know, Sweetness."
With that, Brielle turned and disappeared into the back of the shop.
"She's cute." The man said, shifting his hold on the box and the bag he had with him. He had pale blond hair with surprisingly bright blue eyes, he looked to be about Adelaide's age, but there was nothing overtly spectacular about him. Aside from his eyes, if someone had asked her to pick him out of a crowd, she doubted she'd be able to. A trait that could turn dangerous if given to a person of a certain…disposition.
Adelaide shot him a glare so full of malice that he could have sworn she'd slapped him across the face.
"Don't you fucking ever come into my shop again when my daughter is here. And don't you fucking dare look at her if she is here, do you understand me." Her tone was so cold and full of hardly contained rage that the questions could've only been heard as statements.
"Do you really think you're in a position to be making threats, Book Keeper?" The man asked, smirking arrogantly at her.
"You're on my turf here, Stretch. As far as I'm concerned, you should be kissing my goddamned boots for not denying you access." She grinned back, though the grin could probably be more accurately described as a baring of teeth.
They stared at each other, both trying to size each other up, before the man broke, looking at the items in his hands before walking to the counter and setting them there. She smiled, reveling in the small victory.
"What's this?" Adelaide asked, peering through the box. It looked to contain mostly junk, though there was a battered copy of Unstake My Heart, a trashy vampire novel that had been at the top of her sales a few years ago. She picked it up and flipped through it absently.
"Your charge's missing possessions." Stretch answered simply.
"I thought they were back in Maine, with what's-his-name, and that your bosses weren't going to—," Adelaide began to ask, setting the book back on the counter.
"The circumstances have changed." Stretch answered curtly, agitation starting to bubble up.
Adelaide raised her eyebrows, smirking despite herself, "So I take it she's not as well hidden as you all thought she was."
"There was a failing in one of the security protocols. Nothing that can't eventually be rectified, and certainly nothing you would know anything about, I'm sure." Stretch answered snidely.
Adelaide just looked at him in feigned bewilderment, "What? But they've always been so careful. I hope they have a plan for fixing it."
Stretch didn't say anything to that, and only narrowed his gaze at her. That was answer enough.
"But to deliver them personally like this…" Adelaide tsked her tongue, "You all must be very nervous about what's-his-name's presence here. Afraid he's going to rock your little boat right on ov—?"
"You will tell your charge that these things were recovered from her storage container and that she should expect a refund from the company, and nothing else." Stretch interrupted, before starting to head for the door.
"I will do no such thing." Adelaide snapped after him. Stretch paused at the door as Adelaide continued, "I don't know what your bosses told you, but I'm done doing their dirty work for them. I will not lie to her anymore."
Stretch turned back to her, a self-satisfied smile stretched across his face, making Adelaide want to sock him in the jaw with her ring hand.
"Oh, I think you will. See, while you were telling my bosses all about the mistakes they made in leaving her in your charge, you made one of your own." Stretch leaned towards her as if he were sharing a secret with her—it would've been vaguely threatening if it weren't for the fact that he was still by the door, apparently more comfortable with administering his threats at a distance—"You care about her. And you don't want to hurt her. Imagine, if you will, what you telling her the truth will do to her now."
He straightened, still smug, as Adelaide lowered her gaze slightly to glare at the counter in front of him, "You'd shatter her beyond any repair. And since you are a—," he raised his hands to mime quotation marks at her, "—'decent human being,' we both know you wouldn't do that to her, no matter how badly you wanted to make my bosses pay for insulting you."
Adelaide leveled her gaze back at him, sizing him up momentarily again, before sighing, "You're right. I wouldn't do that to her now."
Stretch smirked at her, even chuckled a bit, before turning back to the door.
"I suppose," she called after him, "that that just means I have to do everything in my power to help her remember. And remember as soon as possible."
Stretch turned quickly to face her, face reddened with anger, but was stopped before he could say anything by the growling of a dog. He turned his gaze back towards the rest of the shop and saw a large, black Great Dane standing there, teeth bared at him, ears pinned back, and hair standing on end.
"Cute little fella, isn't he?" Adelaide asked, walking around the counter to stand by the behemoth dog. She crossed her arms as she stood by Little John, shifting her weight to her left leg so that her hip jutted out. She tilted her head towards Little John, "Stretch, meet Jennifer's Guardian."
"That's the creature you gave to guard her?" Stretch asked, incredulously, but his fear was clear on his face and in his voice.
Adelaide laughed, "Oh, I didn't do anything. She, like all my other charges, chose her Guardian. This is all her."
Little John growled at Stretch again and took a step towards him, causing him to press himself against the door in fear. Adelaide grinned, "You would do well, Stretch, to remember, if not who it is you're dealing with, then what it is that's waiting for you should you or your bosses or anyone else decide to come back here and start making threats."
Stretch only glared at her as he pulled the door open behind him and backed out into the street, all but taking off in a sprint as Little John barked after him.
"Easy, Little John," Adelaide soothed, stepping in front of him and holding her open palm out to him. He sniffed at it, and immediately began to calm down. He looked up at Adelaide and started wagging his tail.
She smiled at him and scratched his head, "That's a good boy."
He panted at her, tail still wagging happily.
"Go lay down, Little Thing, she'll be home soon." Adelaide said, pointing to the couch that he loved. He didn't have to be told twice, and made short work of getting comfortable on it with his head pointed towards the door to wait for Jennifer. Adelaide locked the store door, and turned all the lights off except for a lamp in the corner of the shop that was near Jennifer's door. As she began to climb the stairs up to the loft, she gave the store a final glance before going through the beaded curtain to her home.
Brielle's door was cracked slightly, to let the light from the living room into it, and Adelaide carefully pushed it open. She was only momentarily panicked to see the empty bed, before she remembered what she had told Brielle before sending her up.
"Salsa," She said loudly in the small room, using the code word for her favorite pineapple-related recipe, and flipping the light switch. The small ballerina lamp on her bedside table gently illuminated the room as Adelaide waited for a response.
"Upside-down cake," came the muffled reply from the toy chest at the foot of the bed.
Adelaide smiled in relief at the sound of Brielle's voice, and walked to the toy chest. She opened it, revealing Brielle, curled up with her purple teddy bear on top of various other stuffed animals. Brielle looked up at her and Adelaide whispered gently, "Hi Sweetness."
Brielle smiled tiredly up at her, "Hi Momma."
Adelaide picked her up out of the chest, cradling her as she carried her back to her bed, and Brielle yawned, "Did I help?
Once she was tucked in, Adelaide kissed her forehead, "You did so good tonight, baby girl. Little John helped exactly how I wanted him to."
"Is Auntie Jen gonna be okay?" she asked, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Of course she's going to be okay, she's got a little helper like you to watch out for her." Adelaide grinned at her. There was a pause as Brielle seemed to struggle with wanting to say something more to her. Adelaide watched her patiently, knowing that when she was ready, she'd say something.
"Is Auntie Jen real?" Brielle asked finally and nervously. She hugged her teddy bear closer to her, as if she was afraid of what the answer to her question would be or even afraid of the question itself.
Adelaide sighed as she smoothed Brielle's long black hair on the pillow, "Auntie Jen is…"
Adelaide paused, considering her next words carefully, then continued, "She's as real as anyone else who comes here, Sweetness."
Brielle nodded, chewing the inside of her lip as Adelaide continued, "But more importantly, what you feel about her is real."
Adelaide poked the spot where Brielle's heart was in her chest, earning another brief, though tired, smile out of her before it was replaced with sadness and worry, "Is Auntie Jen going to leave us?"
Adelaide looked at her, confused, "Why do you ask, Sweetness?"
"I heard you talking to Mr. Stretch. He sounded like he wanted to take Auntie Jen away." She answered nervously, thinking Adelaide would be angry with her for eaves dropping.
Adelaide sighed, before smoothing Brielle's hair again, "I don't know, Brielle. Auntie Jen is having trouble remembering things—very important things—and when she does, I don't know what she's going to want to do."
Brielle nodded gravely.
"But," Adelaide said, cupping her daughter's chin in her hand, "what I do know, is that she loves you very much, and that she would never forget about you, or want to be away from you for very long."
She released Brielle's chin and leaned down so that she was closer to being on Brielle's eye level, "Remember, Brielle, even if the mind forgets, the heart remembers."
Brielle smiled at her mother, "I love Auntie Jen a lot."
Adelaide kissed her forehead, "I know you do, Sweetness. I do too. But not nearly as much as I love you."
Brielle wrapped her arms around her neck, kissing her cheek, "I love you too, Momma."
Adelaide hugged her back, holding her as tightly as she could without hurting her.
"Momma, will you sing my song for me?" Brielle asked tiredly as she let go of her mother to lie back against her pillow.
"Of course, baby girl, scoot on over for me," Adelaide answered, as she turned slightly in her spot on the bed and kicked off her shoes. She climbed into the twin-sized bed, Brielle resting her head over Adelaide's heart and Adelaide's hand resting on her head, her fingers gently running through her hair. Once they were settled, she began to sing, "There's a hand written note pressed in the door of her screened in porch…"
Duke was sitting at the bar in the Fairmont by nine o'clock. He'd taken Holly's advice and, after a burger dinner—Holly didn't say a healthy human being, she just said a human being—stood under his shower with the hottest water possible and scrubbed himself pink trying to get himself to look more like a normal, functioning person. He'd changed into one of the last clean button-downs he owned, the solid gray one, and a pair of matching jeans. He'd shaved, removing the excess stubble that had cropped up outside of his moustache and goatee, and started to look closer to his usual self. As he'd reassembled himself, rubbing gel into his hands and then running them through his hair, he realized how much he'd let his living space go.
Jennifer's gonna be so pissed when she gets home, he'd thought as he stuffed his laundry into a bag to eventually be taken to a Laundromat.
A dangerous thing to think, in retrospect, as it only prompted him to remember how she'd reacted to him outside of the restaurant; "I've never seen you before in my life."
That had made him pause in his work. He didn't know much about the situation yet, but he knew, before anything else, that the only reason she wouldn't remember him would be because of something to do with that "Child of Ruin" bullshit from just before Jennifer opened that damn door.
"There is nothing that could ever make me go through that door and leave you. Nothing."
"Probably should've added an amnesia stipulation to that promise, Sweetheart," he'd said to himself, rubbing his face.
His phone had rung shortly after that. It had been Dwight, asking what, if anything, Duke had found out.
"Here I thought you were trying to have plausible deniability about the whole thing, 'Squatch," Duke had commented, "Or did I misinterpret what you leaving the file on my boat and then promptly leaving before you could see me open it meant?"
"Like I said," Dwight had responded, "She was too kind for the things that happened to her."
Duke had sighed at that, "Right."
"So. What have you found out?"
"How…" Duke had started to ask, before lowering his voice, "How involved are Nathan and Audrey in this?"
"They aren't." Dwight had said, "Didn't seem worth telling them until or unless I had something to tell them."
"Let's keep it that way. At least for a little while longer."
"Duke, what did you find?" Dwight had asked again, his patience clearly wearing thin.
Duke had sighed before saying, "Yeah, 'Squatch. It's her."
There had been a pause before Dwight started to ask, "How—?"
Duke shook his head, "No idea. Not yet anyway. I'm meeting up with someone who claims to have answers later tonight."
"Holy shit." Was the only reply out of Dwight.
Duke had chuckled, "That about sums it up, yeah."
"Wh—," Dwight had started to say, before there was the faint sound of his office door opening, "I have to go," Dwight had said quickly, "Keep me posted."
"Mm." Duke had replied, hanging up.
He'd left for the hotel shortly after that, and spent the better part of an hour dodging overly flirtatious women and a few men, and debating on ordering a drink. He finally settled on just ordering a glass of water and waiting it out; something told him he was going to need a clear head for whatever it was that Holly had to tell him. Whether or not he'd need a drink after he learned everything remained to be seen, but he was almost positive that it was a very real possibility.
He checked his watch for easily the sixtieth time since he sat down, when someone said to him, "What'cha drinkin', Sailor?"
He glanced to his right to see Holly sliding onto the stool next to him, smiling broadly. He smiled back at her, "If you're buying, then something much more expensive and much more alcoholic than this."
Holly laughed as she hugged him—genuinely this time, with warmth and a gladness to see him that the first hug had lacked. She was still wearing the dress from the restaurant, making Duke assume that she'd come straight here from there. As he hugged her back, he looked towards the walkthrough to the lobby behind her, half hoping to see Jennifer standing nervously at the entrance to the bar, fidgeting with her skirt like she often did.
Holly broke the embrace, sitting back and looking him over. She smiled at him, "Look at you. You clean up well."
Duke just smirked, shrugging in response as she shifted on the stool next to him.
Holly looked at his hair, her brow furrowing even as she continued to smile and reached up to run her fingers through his hair before second-guessing herself, "You cut your hair. Jen's gonna be pissed."
"Yeah, that thought's been occurring to me a lot lately." Duke answered, his smile now edged with sadness. The bartender came over then, stopping any further conversation for the moment.
Holly ordered a glass of red wine before he started to carefully ask, "Is…is she…?"
Holly patted his arm sympathetically, understanding his question before he could even get it out, "She's not here, Duke. I took her home."
Her home is on the Rouge. "Where's—?"
"She's living with her cousin right now." Holly answered, seeming to know exactly what he was going to ask, "Doctors' orders until they give her a clean bill of health,"
"What? Is she okay?" Duke asked, turning his whole body towards Holly. His confusion was evident, but so was the fact that he wanted to take off running in whatever direction he thought Jennifer was just to be with her. Doctors were one thing, but a cousin? Jennifer had told him that her little family was it—if there were cousins, why hadn't they come looking for her? Why hadn't anyone come looking for her?
"Easy, Duke." Holly said, holding up a placating hand as the bartender returned and poured her glass for her, "She's fine, everything's fine."
"Nothing is fine, Holly, she doesn't remember me." Duke snapped back.
Holly narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't you snap at me, Crocker, I'm the one trying to help you here."
Duke sighed, turning back to the bar and placing his elbows on it. He rubbed his face with his hands, before apologizing, "I'm sorry Holly. I just don't understand a single fucking thing that's happening."
"Join the club." Holly sighed, turning to the bar and taking a large drink of her wine. She gulped the drink down, exhaling as she did before lightly tapping the bar with the palms of both her hands, "So, should I go first or do you want to?"
He gave her a confused look, "Me?"
"Jennifer said that one of the things you said to her when you were…beyond yourself, was that you asked her how she was alive. Care to elaborate on that since we both know the opposite to be true?" Holly asked.
Duke sighed, "It's gonna sound crazy."
Holly chuckled, "Son, 'crazy' seems to be the name of the game. Hit me."
Duke sighed and began to explain what Troubled Haven had been like, what role Audrey had played for a long time, what the Barn was, how Jennifer's presumed schizophrenia had really been her Trouble. He watched Holly's reactions carefully as he tried to cover as much as he could—keeping the more grisly details to himself—before finally reaching the last showdown at the lighthouse.
"She closed the door, and then she…she collapsed. She wasn't breathing and I…" Duke paused, gathering himself, and pushed on, "The lighthouse collapsed, I couldn't find her and when I finally did she was…she was gone."
A silence fell on them as Holly processed this information. She stared blankly at the wine glass in front of her for a long time. Then, very quietly, and very angrily, she said, "She died. Jen died. When were you going to tell me?"
Duke bowed his head, "Holly, I meant to, honest to God. But—,"
"The Troubles, right?" Holly cut him off, no longer whispering, but trying her hardest not to be yelling, "And that Audrey-Mara-whatever-the-fuck-her-name-is person? All of those things kept you from picking up a goddamn telephone to call me and tell me that she was gone?"
"I'm sorry." He offered weakly.
"'Sorry'?" She scoffed, no longer trying not to yell, causing a few of the other patrons to look their way, "You're fucking sorry? I'm the only family she has!"
Duke flinched at Holly's tone and her words. She was right, of course. He should have done something to let her know, "I know. I'm sorry, Holly."
She looked away from him, shaking her head, "Yeah? Well, you fucking should be."
She seethed for a few minutes, refusing to even look at him, not that he blamed her—he wasn't really his favorite person either right now. Just when he was starting to worry that she was going to tell him to leave, she finally looked to the ceiling and sighed, "But I forgive you."
Duke glanced at her, his surprise evident, and she turned to look at him head on, "I forgive you. Mostly because that explains a whole lot on my end, and because that's what Jennifer would want."
Duke nodded, mumbling, "Thank you."
She waved him away, "Besides, I don't suppose it matters now, since we both know she's alive. And that does explain your reaction to seeing her."
Duke shifted on the stool nervously, "I scared her."
Holly nodded, "Yes, but I think you did more good than you realize."
Duke gave her a confused look as she took another drink of her wine. As she finished it, she smiled at him, "I guess it's my turn, huh?"
Duke turned so he could look at her head on as she started, "It's kind of hard to explain but here it goes: I seem to have two sets of memories."
Duke laughed in shock, as Holly kept looking at him. Finally, realizing that Holly was serious, he said, "What?"
She laughed half-heartedly, "Oh no wait, it gets more complicated. See, I remember Jennifer not having any family after her parents died, and I remember her being diagnosed with schizophrenia, and I remember her going to Haven, Maine under the pretense of looking for her birth parents. I even remember the Skype conversations we had while she was out there; all of that is incredibly clear."
She shifted on the stool, uncrossing and then re-crossing her legs, "But then I have this whole other set of memories. I remember Jennifer having a cousin named Adelaide whose family owned a bookstore. I remember them being very close, I remember meeting her after we got back from Europe, I remember meeting the man who would be her husband and the father of her daughter, I remember their wedding, hell, I even remember being there when her daughter was born."
Holly paused, thinking, and took another drink of her wine, "I remember Desmond's, Adelaide's husband's, illness and funeral, I remember her at my own wedding, and I remember her being there through Jen's mom's illness and when she died. What's really weird for me, though, is that I don't…I don't feel those memories."
"What do you mean?" Duke asked, the first thing he'd said since Holly started speaking.
"All these memories, they're…they're like pictures in a child's storybook. I see them, I recognize them as something I should know, but I just…I don't feel them like I feel my memories of Adelaide not being there." She paused, looking into her wine glass but not seeming to be really looking at the contents, "It's like someone sat me down and showed me image after image, going, 'See? This happened, and then this. Remember this. Don't worry about anything else, there is only this.'"
There was a pause as Duke processed this information. Someone had not only altered Jennifer's memories, but also the memories of the people who had been in her life prior to anything Haven related had happened to her. But why? Why do that? Why was Jennifer the only one who didn't yet remember Adelaide not being there? And where had they been keeping her for so long?
Holly finished her glass, "You should know that around the same time last year when my memory says that Jen was diagnosed with schizophrenia, I also remember her being in a sailing accident."
Duke furrowed his brow at that, "Sailing accident?"
Holly nodded, "Yeah. She and a—a friend from The Globe went sailing one day, and she was distracted when the boom swung around and hit her square in the forehead. Knocked her out cold and straight into the water. It took the guy a couple of minutes to realize what happened, but he got her out of the water and to the hospital as fast as he could."
Duke had to keep reminding himself that this didn't actually happen, and yet he still couldn't help but want to ask for the guy's name so he could pay him a…personal visit.
Holly eyed him, smirking as she seemed to be able to understand exactly what he was thinking, "If it makes you feel any better, Adelaide made such a fuss over potentially suing him and maybe even The Globe that they fired him, and offered Jennifer an early retirement with a promise of a job once the doctors clear her for going back to work."
Duke could only manage half a smile at that, causing Holly to sigh as she continued, "Since then, she's been living with this 'Cousin Adelaide' at her bookstore in order to—," she raised her hands to mime quotation marks as she continued, "—'take it easy.' At least, that's what one of my memory sets says about the past year or more."
"Where's the bookstore?" Duke asked, seeming to only take the fact that Jennifer was staying in a bookstore away.
Holly reached into her wallet and pulled out a small business card with "Bouquin Bros. Used Bookstore," as well as an address and telephone number written on it in typewriter font and placed it on the bar, sliding it over to him, "Everything you need to eventually see Jennifer."
Duke chuckled, "So I take it that taking this card and running to the address right this second is not a good idea in your book?"
Holly grinned at him, "See, your voice is joking, but your eyes say that that is exactly what you want to do."
Duke chuckled again, studying the card for a moment and tapping its corner on the bar, before sighing, "Yeah."
There was a brief pause before Duke felt confident enough to ask, "When…when do you think I can see her again?"
Holly tilted her head to her right, considering it, before saying, "Give her some time. You spooked her pretty bad today."
Duke nodded, suddenly feeling crestfallen but knowing that Holly was right. It was going to have to be enough, for now, that he knew she was alive and, for the moment, safe. Even if it wasn't alive and safe with him.
Holly put her hand on his forearm, getting him to look at her, "But I think you knocked something loose in her today."
"What do you mean?"
Holly grinned, "I think—now don't hold me to this—but I think she's starting to remember you."
Duke stared at Holly, a smile slowly spreading across his face and hope bubbling up in his chest, "Really?"
Holly's grin broadened as she hopped off her stool, trying to shrug dismissively at him, "Like I said, though, don't hold me to it."
Duke grabbed her hand before she walked away. When she turned and looked at him, he said, "Thank you."
She just smiled at him, giving his hand a squeeze, "Get some rest, Sailor, you've got a long stay in Boston ahead of you."
Duke smiled and felt like, for the first time in a long time, that he'd be able to sleep a little easier tonight.