No More Box, Wed the 6th, &Thu the 7th

Previous Chapter
"Tuesday the 5th" 

Wednesday the 6th

Loose Ends almost tied

 
         Wednesday morning came all to quickly for Alana so it didn’t surprise her any when she walked into work twenty minutes late, but unfortunately that also meant that three of her hired workers had already walked out on her. While most days she didn’t really mind as anyone that was ready to leave just because their supervisor was late, usually was really hard to keep motivated and actually working, but today, she would have been up to the challenge. Not to mention that she needed all the help she could get with how behind she was.
 
         As soon as she had walked into the door she had started giving orders to everyone and for the most part everyone had only asked how high when she had said jump. Something that had never really happened before, but it was a welcome gift after the late start. Usually she got at least one or two people who questioned her or had ideas about what they should be doing as opposed to what Alana, the interior designer, thought they should be doing, but apparently they had already gone home for the day, so she was starting to think that it was a good thing that she was late today.
 
         She had been there for almost an hour when someone handed her a cup of coffee and she finally paused to realize that she hadn’t had any coffee that day, which only made her smile. That had been why no one had questioned her when she’d walked in and started barking orders, and why they were all still working really hard. It almost made her put the cup of coffee down just to insure that she would be able to keep them all motivated, but the smell of the coffee coming from the cup in her hand smelled too much like heaven for her to even entertain that thought for more than a second.
 
         An hour later she had noticed that everyone had started to loose their steam, and their fear of her, when her cell phone rang for the hundredth time, but this ring was different. It was Hanna and that was never good when Hanna called her at work, because Hanna knew what stress she was under and so she wouldn’t be calling her while she was at work unless it was important.
 
          “Hey girl,” Alana answered the phone cheerfully, “What’s up?”
 
          “I see you finally got some coffee, didn’t you?” Hanna asked and while Alana could hear that something was wrong she knew that Hanna would get to it in her own time, after she’d talked to Alana for a minute to judge her mood.
 
          “Yeah, someone handed it too me about an hour ago,” Alana replied.
 
          “And you’ve kept a full cup near you ever since haven’t you?” and Alana heard the smile in Hanna’s voice, telling Alana that Hanna had a big bomb to drop on Alana and she was trying to postpone telling her as long as possible.
 
          “Yeah,” Alana replied as someone came up to ask her opinion between two different throw pillows and where to put them, “Hold on a second,” she said to Hanna before she took one and pointed them in the right direction for the other. “Okay,” Alana told Hanna, “What did you need?”
 
          “Sorry, I forgot you were so busy with work and everything,” Hanna said and then Alana heard her sniff into the phone.
 
          “It’s okay sweetie, have you been crying?” she asked.
 
          “Yeah,” she heard Hanna almost sob into the phone.
 
          “Hanna,” Alana said as she turned away from the chaos of her job and moved toward a quiet corner where there wasn’t anyone to disturb her, “What’s wrong?”
 
          “It’s grandma,” Hanna managed to say and then Alana heard her blow her nose over the phone.
 
          “Oh God, what happened to Grandma Hattie?” Alana asked as her stomach dropped into her feet.
 
          “She’s back in the hospital,” Hanna said in one big breath.
 
          “Oh God, is she okay?”
 
          “They say that she’s stable, but they said it would be good for me to come up and see her.”
 
          “Okay, do you need me to go with you?” Alana asked as she turned back to the room and instantly started thinking about how she could and would get out of work.
 
          “No, I’m okay, I’m actually already on my way there,” Hanna said.
 
          “Oh,” Alana said, “Well you drive safely, girl,” Alana said concerned.
 
          “I am,” Hanna said, “I should go and let you get back to work.”
 
          “Yeah,” Alana said with a sigh, “and tell Grandma Hattie that I love her and I’ll be up to see her real soon.”
 
          “I will,” she said, “and have a good rest of the day.”
 
          “I’ll try. Call me later.”
 
          “I will, bye,” Hanna said.
 
          “Bye,” Alana said and then waited for the phone to disconnect before she hung up her phone. She stood for a minute just looking at her phone, worried about her friend, and thinking that maybe she should take the rest of the day off and go after her. Hanna was going to need her as moral support, but the next minute her thoughts were interrupted by three different people calling her name to ask her three different questions and the impulse to worry about Hanna was forgotten.

The Talk

 
         Blaise had been at Natty’s for almost an hour playing pool and waiting for Dom to show up. Blaise had called him at lunch today to challenge him to a game of pool right after work, but Dom had yet to show up. Blaise was just starting to worry and was about to give him a call when he walked into the garage looking like he’d been hit by a truck.
 
          “Hey, man,” Blaise greeted his friend, “Are you okay?”
 
          “What?” he asked as if he’d been off in his own little world, “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I just had a really long day,” Dom said as he collapsed on the couch that faced the pool table.
 
          “So you going to tell me what’s going on?” Blaise asked.
 
          “What are you talking about?” Dom asked his friend.
 
          “You walk in here looking like something the cat dragged in, and then the other night at Luke’s the way you went after Alana just because she could keep up with your mouth?”
 
          “Not you too?” Dom moaned.
 
          “What do you mean, not me too?” Blaise asked.
 
          “Luke already went off on me for the other night,” he said standing up quickly.
 
          “I’m not going to rag on you about that,” Blaise said, “I’m just asking why it happened.”
 
          “Honestly, Blaise, you don’t want to know,” Dom told him.
 
          “If I didn’t want to know I wouldn’t have asked,” Blaise objected as Dom started raking the pool balls.
 
          “Okay, then I don’t want you to know about it,” Dom said.
 
          “What the hell is that suppose to mean?” Blaise asked full of confusion, but without anger.
 
         Dom paused and leaned against the table with his hands flat on the green felt and looked at Blaise, “Listen, I’m working on,” he paused for a moment, “a very sensitive project,” Dom said calmly, “and if word gets out about what I’m working on before I’m ready it could just blow the whole thing before I’m ready.”
 
          “You’re not doing anything illegal, are you?” Blaise asked concerned.
 
         Dom looked at Blaise with a smile, “Blaise, when have I ever done anything that was completely legal.”
 
         Blaise smiled, and recognized that Dom wasn’t going to tell him any more and that he wasn’t doing anything truly harmful, “Alright man, just remember that you have friends that would lay down their lives for you if you need them to.”
 
         Dom smiled, “Yeah, I know. Now set us up so we can knock them all in.”
 
          “Hey,” Blaise said hesitating in doing exactly what Dom had requested. When Dom had looked up Blaise went on, “Also remember, that if it has to do with Hanna, I’m your inside man.”
 
         Dom smiled, “Yeah, I know.”

Dinner

 
         It was almost dinner time and Alana hadn’t even had any lunch because she had been so busy all day long that she hadn’t really had a moment to pause to think about anything but work. She still hadn’t heard from Hanna, but she still didn’t have the time to worry about it too much because there were entirely too many things that still needed to be done and she didn’t know how all of it was going to get done before five o’clock Friday, but she knew she could and would find a way to get it all done. She hadn’t yet had to ask for an extension on any deadlines that she’d been given in now almost five and half years, and she wasn’t about to start now, but it was time to wrap things up for the night so everyone could go home and get some dinner and a decent rests tonight so they could come back ready to work just as hard tomorrow as they had today.
 
         They had defiantly made progress today, not to mention made up some of the lost ground from the mistakes that had been made the previous week. Slowly she started sending people home, or having them help others finish up, instead of giving them more work, but she was still the last to leave. In fact the last person to leave before her had left almost an hour before her so there had been no one to walk her out to her car and keep her safe, not that she was really all that worried about it as they were in a generally safe neighborhood, something that she would need more tonight than any other night, but only because of the one that was waiting for her.
 
          “Alana?” she heard someone call her name just as she had stepped away from the building. When she turned around she almost turned around and ran back inside, but she’d already set the alarm and had nowhere to run and hide from Cary.
 
          “Cary,” she said as she started to move toward her car, “What are you doing here?” she asked as he followed her.
 
          “Waiting for you,” he replied as he intercepted her.
 
          “How long have you been waiting?” she asked as she kept moving toward her car.
 
          “Oh, not long,” he replied as he fell into step next to her, “I had been driving by and recognized your car from last night, so I thought I stop and see if you were coming out anytime soon,” he replied as they reached her car. He went on as she unlocked her car and put her briefcase and two other bags in her back seat, “I’d driven by earlier and there had been more cars in this parking lot so when I noticed that yours was still here in an almost empty lot, I figured you’d be coming out soon, and I was right,” he concluded as she shut her back door.
 
          “So,” she said not sure what she should say or do now, “did you need anything?” she asked casually.
 
         He reached out and used his fingers to brush her hair back out of her face, and it took all of her will power not to retract and pull away from his touch, “I just wanted to see you again,” he replied softly.
 
          “Well you shouldn’t have taken off so quickly yesterday,” she replied, “It seems like every time those guys come around you’re leaving me behind,” she said trying to make it sound like she hadn’t been told about what he’d done to Natty back in high school.
 
          “Well, those guys and I don’t really get along all that much any more,” he replied as he looked back toward the street, “Even though Dom and I work together.”
 
          “Well, I’m sorry to hear about that. I had lots of fun with them last night after they had fixed my car,” she said as her phone rang and since she was expecting it to be Hanna, she said, “I really need to take this,” as she pulled it from her pocket and merely glanced at it before answering it without seeing who it was.
 
         He nodded, but he didn’t move away from her. Instead he crossed his arms and stood over her as she answered, “Hello?”
 
          “Hey, beautiful,” came a smooth masculine voice. It took her a second to realize that it was Blaise. “How’s your car running today?” he asked.
 
          “Fine,” she replied and she couldn’t help smiling as she looked up at Cary.
 
          “Well, I was just calling to let you know that we got the parts that you needed and to see if maybe we could move the furniture after our date on Friday because Brock and Dom both have something going on earlier in the evening.”
 
          “Yeah that’s fine,” she said annoyed that Cary wouldn’t give her more privacy.
 
          “Is everything okay?” he asked.
 
          “Oh, it was just a really long day, and Hanna got some more bad news about her grandma, and I’m actually just leaving work. In fact I’d already be on my way but that guy that I told you about from the party had been driving by and saw my car.”
 
          “Cary’s there?” he asked and Alana heard the alarm in his voice.
 
          “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine,” she replied hoping that he would take some hint and hoping that Cary wouldn’t realize who she was really talking to.
 
          “I’m not getting off this phone with you until you’re in your car safely, Alana. I don’t trust him.”
 
          “I know, Mom. Me too,” she said trying to think of something that she and her mother really needed to talk about together. “So how’s Dad doing?” she asked Blaise.
 
          “Alana is everything okay?” he asked sounding confused.
 
          “Good, I’m glad to hear that he’s doing better, can you hold on for just a second Mom?”
 
          “Sure dear,” Blaise said sounding annoyed but playing along with her little farce just the same.
 
          “Hey Cary, this is going to take a little while,” she told him, “Dad had a bad day yesterday and I need to go see them before I head for home,” she lied. She hated doing it but she had to. The look on his face was really making her uncomfortable.
 
          “Yeah, okay,” he said, “We’re still on for tomorrow night, right?” he asked.
 
          “Oh,” she said trying to sound disappointed, “With the way things went today I don’t think I’m going to get out of here any earlier then this tomorrow night,” she said looking down at her watch only to see that it was almost nine now. “Do you think there’s anyway that we can reschedule for another night?” she asked and then really got scared at the look on his face.
 
          “What happened today?” he asked threw his teeth.
 
          “Well,” she said thinking fast, “The fabrics didn’t match, and the paint was all the wrong colors, not to mention the carpet didn’t get done until after lunch time, and we’re still waiting on most of the fixtures to be put in and the tile to get done before we can move in too much more furniture. To be honest with you I’m going to be lucky if I finish by five on Friday.”
 
         For the first time since her phone rang his easy and friendly smile returned, “Hey that’s okay. I understand the whole deadline thing,” he told her. “Well, I’ll let you get going so you can go see your dad and then get home to bed,” he said and she smiled.
 
          “Thanks,” she said.
 
          “Oh, just one thing,” he said, “Since we’re not going out tomorrow, do you think that we could go out Saturday night instead?” she asked.
 
          “Tell him you’ll be busy helping friends move on Saturday,” Blaise said in her ear.
 
          “What’s that Mom?” she asked into her phone, “Oh that’s right, I did say that I would help them move on Saturday didn’t I?” she asked. She smiled at the scowl on Cary’s face, “She say’s that she’s sorry she was listening in, but it was kind of hard not to,” Alana said sweetly, “but she is right, I do have plans for all day Saturday and they’ll probably go into the evening,” she told him.
 
         He took a deep breath and then his smile returned, “Oh, well then, maybe I could talk you out for a movie on Sunday afternoon,” he said.
 
          “Why don’t you give me a call sometime Saturday. I’m sure I’ll need a break whenever you call and we can talk then,” she told him with an overly friendly smile.
 
         He nodded, “Okay,” he said before he turned and started walking away.
 
         She moved quickly to get into her car before he turned back around to say anything more.
 
         Blaise had heard the car door shut once she was inside, “Is he still standing outside your car?” he asked.
 
          “No,” she said glancing over to see that he was truly headed to his car and breathed a sigh of relief.
 
          “Good, then how about you meet me at Buddy’s Dinner for some dinner?” he asked naming a restaurant that was only a few blocks from her apartment, “My treat,” he added quickly.
 
          “I don’t know Blaise,” she said as her stomach growled in protest and she tried to remember what she had at home fore dinner.
 
          “I know you’ve hardly eaten anything all day,” he said trying to protest, “and you need to keep your strength up for tomorrow and then that long final stretch on Friday,” he said trying to convince her.
 
         She sighed as she put her keys in the ignition and started her car, “Yeah, okay,” she said, “but it’ll take me at least twenty minutes to get there.”
 
          “That’s fine,” he said, “It’ll probably take me that long to get over there too,” he said.
 
          “Well then,” she said with a sigh, “I’ll see you there.”
 
          “Yep,” he said, “See you in twenty.”
 
         As he hung up the phone he turned back to Brock and Dom who were playing pool, “Well, I’ve got to go,” he said and he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. It felt so good to almost have a girlfriend again. He’d almost forgotten how good it felt to have someone that he could make last minute plans with.
 
          “Well isn’t that the grin of the cat that ate the canary,” Brock said as Dom took a shot.
 
          “Damn,” Dom said as he too saw the smile that Blaise wore, “I haven’t seen Blaise with a shit eating grin like that in years,” he said.
 
          “Yeah,” Blaise said with a smile, “Well it’s about time one of us found a little luck around here.”
 
          “You mean got a little lucky,” Dom said.
 
          “Whatever,” Blaise said as he headed for the door not wanting to argue with his friend that he really had no interest in taking Alana to bed tonight, but he had thought about it for Friday night. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow night,” he said over his shoulder.
 
          “Later Blaise,” Brock said.
 
          “Good luck man,” Dom said, “and don’t forget to stop at the drug store before you walk into the restaurant, because you know you won’t be able to after you see her,” Dom yelled after him.
 
         Blaise just shook his head but chose not to respond as he headed to meet Alana. He was looking forward to seeing her again so much that he was having trouble keeping his speed down, but somehow he made it there with five minutes to spare and without getting a speeding ticket, but she still wasn’t there. Just when he was starting to think that maybe she had decided to stand him up and his mood was starting to turn rather dark, gloomy and grumpy she came walking in the door like a ray of happy sunshine.
 
          “Hey,” she said looking like she’d had a really long day.
 
          “Hey,” he said as he gave her a friendly hug, “Come on, I think they have a table ready for us,” he said half joking because the place was almost empty. Just then the hostess came up and told them to follow her to the table.
 
          “So,” he said after they had placed their drink orders, “how did today go?” he asked.
 
          “Oh, don’t ask,” she replied, “I wasn’t lying to Cary about any of that.”
 
          “Okay,” he said, “forget I asked. Do you not want to talk about work?” he asked.
 
          “Not particularly,” she said as she pulled a notebook and pen out of her purse and stared writing, “but seeing how much it’s going to be on my mind until I’m done, I’m not going to deny that it’s going to come up,” she said still frantically writing, “and I should probably tell you that I will probably not be the best of company tonight.”
 
          “That all sounds okay with me,” he said leaning back, “I was the one that talked you into coming out tonight.”
 
         She stopped her writing and looked up at him, “What?”
 
         He smiled, “If you want to bounce ideas off me or just talk about anything, I’ll listen. I don’t know if I’ll help you with your ideas any, but I did push you into coming out after a long day, so I don’t mind if you have to unwind and vent on me some,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.
 
         She raised her eyebrows but didn’t respond before she turned back to her list and continued to write. Blaise just smiled to himself as he leaned forward to read what she was writing, but he couldn’t read most of her writing upside down, in fact the only thing that he could make out was scrawled across the top in big letters and said ‘Call Hanna.’
 
         He was just about to ask about Hanna when Alana’s phone rang. She picked it up with her left hand but her right hand never stopped moving as she continued to write and see who was calling.
 
          “I’m sorry I have to take this,” she said as she finished what she was writing and hit the connect button, again without waiting for his reply.
 
         He just leaned back and listened to what she said just enjoying being in her company.
 
          “Hey sweetie, did you make it okay?” she asked the person on the other end. “Good and how’s Grandma?” she asked as Blaise realized that it was Hanna on the other end.
 
          “Is it anything serious?” she asked and Blaise wondered if something was wrong with Hanna’s grandmother. “Okay, well you go get some rest. Don’t make me call the hospital and talk to the nurses station to make sure your getting some sleep,” Alana threatened making Blaise realize how much Alana cared for Hanna, and how much they were like sisters instead of the friends and roommates that they were.
 
          “Yes, I’m getting ready to order dinner, and I’m out with Blaise, so don’t worry about me. You need to focus on you and Grandma Hattie,” Alana told her and then paused to listen to Hanna again.
 
          “Okay, sweetie, call me tomorrow and let me know how everything goes,” Alana said, “I know, Hanna, but you’ve got to be strong for Grandma right now. She needs you now more than any other time,” Alana paused to hear what Hanna said. “I know it’s not easy, do you want some help handling everything?” Alana asked and then paused to hear what she said, “I know, but if you want me down there all you have to do is say the word and I’m there.” Hanna obviously said something about how Alana had to work because Alana said, “Yeah, I know but jobs are a dime a dozen but family can’t be replaced and you and Grandma Hattie are family even though you’re not blood.” Blaise smiled at that statement as Alana looked up at him and smiled back at him.
 
          “Yeah, I know Hanna, but I love you more than any job, so if you need me, just say the word and I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Alana said. “I love you too, now you go get some rest and I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Alana said before she hung up her phone.
 
          “Sorry about that,” Alana said as she set her phone aside.
 
          “It’s okay,” he said, “So what happened with Hanna’s Grandma?”
 
          “She collapsed this morning. The doctors say she had a stroke so now they’re trying to find the clot that caused it, or if it’s really gone or what,” she said as she put her notepad and pen away.
 
         Blaise took that as a good sign so he moved forward with the conversation, “Didn’t Hanna just get back from visiting her?” he asked.
 
         Alana looked down at the table, “Yeah, Hanna had gone up there after Grandma had fallen out of bed Friday night.”
 
          “Wow, she’s not having a good time lately is she?” he asked rhetorically, “Was she okay after she’d fallen out of bed?” he asked.
 
          “Yeah, they sent her home, but now they’re thinking that today was somehow associated with her first fall, but they won’t know until they get the test results back,” Alana said as she played with her straw in her drink.
 
          “Is she one of those stubborn people that refuses to admit when there’s something wrong with her?” he asked.
 
         Alana smiled and nodded, “I guess you could say something like that. She’s always been one of those people that take care of everyone else first and then she’ll see to herself if she has the time and energy, and now that she has no one to really take care of she’s kind of started taking offence that others are trying to help her taking her care of her.”
 
         Blaise smiled, “It kind of reminds me of Dom and Natty’s grandparents, but they at least had each other that they could take care of, or rather, that they could badger into going to the doctor when the other was sick.”
 
          “Yeah, well, Grandma Hattie’s husband died years ago, before I even met her, so she’s really learned how to fend for herself.”
 
          “I can only imagine how set in her ways she’s become after all these years of taking care of herself,” Blaise said with a smile as the waitress returned to take their orders and although neither of them had really looked at the menu they both kind of knew what they were in the mood for and were able to place their orders, not to mention the fact that the waitress was board out of her mind because they were still the only ones in the entire restaurant.
 
         As the waitress walked away Alana got out her notepad and pen again, “I am sorry,” she said as she started to write.
 
          “It’s okay,” he replied, “take your time,” he said as he watched a group of people walk into the restaurant and be seated a few tables away.
 
          “I just have all these ideas running thru my head,” Alana explained as she continued to write, “on how I can get around problems that might or might not happen, and if I don’t write them down now, then I’ll forget them and completely crack under pressure.”
 
          “Don’t worry about me, I’m just here to make sure you eat before you go home and crash,” he told her.
 
         She smiled, “Trying to make up for the lack of my roommate are you?” she asked as she went to put her notepad away.
 
          “You might as well just leave it out,” he told her and then added, “Yeah, she and I have this physic connection,” Blaise joked.
 
         Alana laughed, “Yeah, sure,” she said in playful manner.
 
          “Okay, I confess, she called me last week and told me she would be out of town tonight and could I please make sure that you eat dinner tonight.”
 
         She burst out laughing at that which only made him laugh too. It felt so good to laugh and Alana had forgotten how good it felt that she could almost feel the tension release from the back of her neck and shoulders they laughed together.
 
          “Wow,” she said, “I didn’t know how stressed out I was until just now,” she said as she reached up and rubbed her own shoulders gently helping the tension release from his muscles.
 
         He smiled, “Glad to help out a friend,” he told her honestly.
 
          “Everyone needs more friends like you,” she told him.
 
          “I would have to agree,” he said with a satisfied sigh as he leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head which only made her laugh again.
 
          “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that, you already seem too full of yourself,” she teased.
 
         It was his turn to laugh, “It comes with being best friends with a man like Dom,” he explained.
 
          “Ah,” she said still teasing him, “that explains everything,” she added with a slow nod.
 
          “Oh, really,” he asked raising his eye brows at her, “and what is that suppose to mean?”
 
          “Oh, just that with a guy like Dom hanging around your ego would either take a beating or become just as over grown as his.”
 
          “Guess I just need someone like you to help me keep my feet on the ground,” he replied gently.
 
          “Well, if there’s one thing people keep telling me I am, it’s grounded,” she replied trying not to sound like that bothered her as much as it does.
 
          “That’s not a bad thing,” he told her as if reading her mind.
 
          “I know,” she said with a heavy sigh, “but some days it just seems like the wrong thing to hear as a compliment,” she said seriously.
 
         He smiled, “Well, I meant it more as a fact, not a compliment,” he told her, “a compliment would be to tell you how beautiful your eyes are, that you have a truly friendly smile, and a glowing personality that just makes people want to get to know you.”
 
         She could feel herself blush, and in an effort to cover her embarrassment she said, “Flattery will get you everywhere.”
 
          “Will it?” he asked playfully, “I hadn’t noticed,” he said smiling innocently.
 
          “Hadn’t you?” she asked.
 
          “So tell me how long have you and Hanna known each other again?” he asked changing the subject.
 
          “Since middle school basically,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders, “but it seems like so much longer.”
 
          “Yeah, that’s kind of how it is with Dom and I,” Blaise replied, “It’s been something like ten years, I think, but with the way his family likes to tell stories, not to mention with the way their memories seem to have no end, someday it seems like I’ve known him since we were in diapers.”
 
          “With the way you two act together I thought you had known each other that long,” she replied as a movement outside caught her eye.
 
          “Nope,” he said and he was about to say something more when he noticed that she was looking at something outside. “What’d you see?” he asked turning to follow her gaze.
 
          “I think that’s Cary car,” she replied still trying to decide if that’s what she was seeing.
 
          “Looks like the slimy little gits car to me too,” Blaise said.
 
          “Yeah,” she said as a swarm of butterflies suddenly took flight in her stomach. “Do you think he followed me?” she asked.
 
          “I don’t know,” he said shaking his head before he looked back at her, “Well, now, don’t you look worried,” Blaise said.
 
         She looked back at him, “Yeah,” she nodded, “I guess I am,” she admitted.
 
         He reached across the table and took her hand in his, “there’s no need to worry when you have a friend like me near,” he said smiling.
 
         She smiled and felt reassured. Seeing how Cary hadn’t been in the car and the fact that he was no where in sight left the doubt that it was his car at all, so she soon forgot all about it as the conversation continued.
 
          “Yeah, and one thing’s for sure, I do need more friends like you and Natty,” she replied.
 
          “Yeah, I heard she went shopping with you the other day,” he replied with a grin.
 
          “She said she had fun,” Alana said almost defensively.
 
          “Yeah, she did. After you and Hanna left after dinner Jarren said that he’d asked for a show but he still has yet to see her in any of her new cloths,” Blaise said shaking his head.
 
          “What did she do after we left?” Alana asked a split second before she figured it out on her own.
 
         Blaise smiled and then answered, “She said she was going to go and change cloths and model some of it for him, but she disappeared up into her room and about thirty minutes later, when he realized that she hadn’t come down, Jarren went up to check on her. It looked like she had been sitting on the edge of the bed, one shoe off, the other one just untied and she had just leaned back to stretch for a moment and fell asleep. Jarren saw it and came down to get us and show us before he carefully removed her other shoe, picked her up, pulled back the blanket and tucked her into bed.”
 
          “He really cares about her doesn’t he?” she asked.
 
         Blaise smiled fondly, and Alana caught a glimpse of what she thought was envy for what his friends shared with each other. “Yeah,” she said with a slight nod, “Jarren would have to in order to put up with all the baggage that Natty brings to the relationship.”
 
         Alana smiled, “So,” she said hesitantly, “do you know what happened the other day to cause a problem between them?”
 
         Blaise just nodded as if lost in thought for a moment.
 
          “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
 
         Blaise smiled, “It was a big misunderstanding from what I understand of it,” he said as if to dismiss her inquiries and then seeing that she wasn’t satisfied with that answer he continued on, “Natty has always kept Jarren at a distance and none of us realized exactly how big of a gap there was between them until last weekend,” he told her. “We also didn’t exactly realize how much she’d been affected by what happened all those years ago,” he told her still vague.
 
         She nodded and tried not to ask any more questions. She tried to respect the fact that she was an outsider, but she couldn’t help thinking that maybe there was something that she could do to help. She had no clue what she could do, but she wanted to help Natty and Jarren. She was concentrating so much on trying not to ask anything more when Blaise burst out laughing.
 
          “If you could only see your face,” he told her, “you look like you’re about ready to spit nails,” he told her.
 
          “What?” she asked confused, “Why?”
 
         Blaise shook his head, “What ever you’re thinking about is my guess,” he told her.
 
         She smiled, “I was thinking that I wish that there was something I could do to help them,” she said still slightly pensive.
 
         He smiled thoughtfully, “Everyone that sees them together and takes the time to get to know one or both of them, wishes the same,” he told her, “but really all we can do is be there for them when they need someone to lean on.”
 
         She returned his smile, “Yeah,” she said with a sigh, “I know you’re right, I just wish I could do more.”
 
          “Maybe there is,” he said as if he had something in mind.
 
          “What did you have in mind?” she probed.
 
         He reach across the table and took her hand in his, “Maybe we can put our heads together and think of something,” he replied sending a chill down her spine.
 
         She smiled, “Maybe,” she managed before she yawned.
 
          “I guess it’s a good thing the food’s here,” Blaise said as he let her hand go so the waitress could set their plates down.
 
          “Yeah,” she said gently before they both fell silent and ate.
 
          “Uh, oh,” he said once they were both done eating and she’d started yawning almost uncontrollably, “It looks like it’s pumpkin time,” he joked.
 
          “Yeah, I need to be headed for home,” she said between yawns, “and then on to bed,” she said as she started to collect her things as he paid the bill before he walked her to her car.
 
          “Well,” she said, “Thank you for dinner and the company,” she told him after she’d fished her keys out of her purse.
 
          “Anytime,” he said as an awkward silence fell between them.
 
          “I, uh, guess I should be going,” she said looking down to find the key to her car.
 
          “Yeah,” he agreed.
 
         She didn’t know what to say when he took her keys from her unlocked and opened her door for her. She stood dumbfounded for a moment until Blaise moved to give her a hug, “I guess I’ll see you Friday,” he said before he kissed her gently and ever so briefly on the corner of her mouth.
 
          “Yeah,” she said as he backed up to let her get in her car, “I’ll see you Friday,” she said before she climbed into the car and rolled her window down, “Hey, did we ever decide on a time?” she asked.
 
          “No,” he replied as he leaned down to her window, “Can I pick you up at six? Or do you think you’ll be running late that day.”
 
         She smiled, “Honestly there’s really no telling, but let’s plan on six and if I need it to be later I’ll call you as soon as I know anything,”
 
         Blaise smiled, “And I’ll try to be as flexible as possible for you,” he agreed with an easy smile and then added, “so if you get done earlier, you can call and we can meet earlier as well, not that I expect it, but just the same,” he replied.
 
         She smiled, “Thanks for understanding.”
 
         He returned her smile, “Don’t get too used to it,” he joked with her.
 
          “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’ll expect you to be completely unyielding for the next month,” she returned.
 
         He chuckled, “Glad we understand each other,” he replied, “so drive safely the three blocks to your apartment and sleep tight,” he told her before his stood up.
 
          “Do I have to sleep in my car or can I actually go up to my apartment?” she asked taking what he said literally, and joking at the same time.
 
         He smiled, “That depends,” he told her, “what do you sleep in?”
 
         She just started laughing, “I’m starting to wonder if Dom has rubbed off on you or if you’re the one that rubbed off on Dom, you’re just more subtle about it.”
 
          “Only time will tell,” he said as he started to back away from her car.
 
          “No kiss good night?” she asked bluntly bringing a smile.
 
          “Have I spoiled you on that one already?” he asked leaning back down to her window.
 
          “Is there a problem with that?” she asked, “Do you not like PDA?”
 
         He pretended to think for a moment before he answered, “I don’t mind as long as we’re fully clothed, you and I are the only participants,” he said and then smiled and added, “and there are no animal involved,” he said ending with a joke and making her laugh.
 
          “You sure you don’t want puppy kisses?” she asked.
 
          “As long as you and I aren’t trying to kiss ourselves, I’m perfectly fine with puppy kisses,” he said before he gave her the goodnight kiss she had asked for.
 
          “Good night,” she told him as he backed away from the car again.
 
          “Night,” he replied.

Thursday the 7th

Thursday Night Cancel

 
         Alana woke up to her alarm and her hand shot out to hit the snooze button before she’d even opened her eyes, but she did slowly open one of her eyes, and it was a good thing too, because the clock said that it was already a quarter after five. She’d set her alarm for four forty five, so she’d already hit the snooze button on her alarm a couple of times, but she hadn’t fully woke up before now. She moaned and rolled over. It was project like this one that made her not want to go into work in the morning. She was thankful that it didn’t happen often as she climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee to drink while she was in the shower.
 
         An hour later she was walking into work with a smile on her face and, thanks to the radio station she’d been listening to, a good upbeat song running thru her head. This morning she was the first one to arrive, so she got to work setting things up for her workers so she could set them to work as soon as they walked in the door. A pace she kept up until lunch time when she ordered sandwiches from the local deli for everyone.
 
         After lunch there was still lots to do but she was noticing that the moral level was starting to drop off, along with the energy level, so she told everyone to take a break out in the sun just as her cell phone rang. It was Hanna.
 
          “Hey, sweetie,” she answered, “How’s Grandma doing?” she asked.
 
          “Better, but they’re not releasing her yet.”
 
          “Well, I’m glad she’s doing better,” Alana said as she walked over to the window so she could look out at her workers down below. One of them waved so she waved back as she noticed that they were all starting to smile again.
 
          “Me too,” Hanna said and Alana could hear in her voice how true that statement was.
 
          “So when do they think they’ll be letting her out?”
 
          “Tomorrow if all goes well, but I’ll probably be up here thru Saturday, if not Sunday,” she said and then Alana heard Grandma Hattie yell from the background, “She’ll be home Saturday night.”
 
          “I know, Alice is suppose to be coming over, but I don’t mind sleeping on the couch,” Hanna said talking about Hattie’s sister in law.
 
          “Why is Alice coming over?” she asked as she heard Hattie start to protest about Hanna sleeping on the couch.
 
          “Walter’s going out of town,” Hanna said referring to Hattie’s brother and Alice’s husband, as Hattie said, rater loudly, “You’ll need better sleep than what you’ll find on that piece of crap,” which only made Alana smile.
 
          “She’s right, you know,” Alana said quietly to ensure that Hattie didn’t hear.
 
          “Don’t start Alana,” Hanna said annoyed.
 
         Then Alana heard Grandma Hattie say, “Don’t get onto Alana for agreeing with me,” which only made Alana laugh.
 
          “Tell her I love her, and I said to get well soon,” Alana said, “and Hanna, come home Saturday night, if Grandma’s at home. You know you’ll need a day to rest up before you tackle all that work on your desk.”
 
         Hanna sighed, “I know,” she admitted, “but I’m not going to make any promises. Not yet.”
 
         Alana smiled at how stubborn her friend was, “Alright then, promise me you’ll think about it, and that if the doctors tell you that there’s nothing more to worry about, that you’ll come home, for sure, on Saturday night.”
 
         Hanna thought for a moment, “Alright,” she conceded.
 
          “Good, then I’ll hope for the best and hope to see you on Saturday night,” she said before they hung up.
 
         Alana smiled as she looked out at the bright day, feeling better about life than she had in a while, until she looked down and saw a familiar little red sports car sitting in the parking spot next to hers. She looked down to her workers, who were all still standing around talking and enjoying the break out in the sun. One of them looked up at her and she waved for them to start heading back up, and then stood and watched to see if they told anyone else or if she was going to have to go down and get them herself, but they pointed in her direction and watched as people some lit another cigarette, while a few others turned and headed inside.
 
          “There you are,” said a familiar voice. One that she didn’t like hearing when she was all alone.
 
         She controlled her face quickly before she turned to face Cary, “What are you doing up here?” she asked sounding annoyed rather than surprised, but then she always got annoyed when her friends or family dropped in on her when she was working.
 
          “I just thought I’d stop by and see if you’d had lunch,” he said.
 
          “Yeah, we ordered in,” she said as she heard voices coming from the main entrance.
 
          “Ah,” he said, “well then, how about you call me when you leave here and we can meet for dinner,” he said.
 
          “Cary,” she said trying to keep herself under control, “today is going to be a really long day. I’ll be keeping these guys here as long as they’ll let me and they all know it,” she said honestly. “I’m not planning on leaving here until at least ten tonight, and by that time I’m hoping that we’ve ordered dinner in, at the very least.”
 
         He smiled, “Well, I just thought I’d ask,” he said sounding annoyed, but the look on his face told a different story. “I mean, after all you made time for Blaise last night, I thought it would be only fair that we go out to dinner tonight,” he said angrily, “and I’d take you someplace better than that little hole in the wall.”
 
          “Were you following me?” she asked she asked remembering seeing his car in the parking lot.
 
          “What if I told you I was?” he asked and she could tell that he was trying to scare her, but she wasn’t about to fall for that tactic.
 
          “Then Sunday would be off, and you’d be escorted off property right now,” she said as two of her larger guys stepped up behind Cary, who sensed that they were there and looked to his left without moving his head as if to see them out of the corner of his eye.
 
         He took a deep breath, “Alana,” she said trying to sound sweet, “I just wanted to make sure you got home okay,” he said, “I knew you were tired, so I followed you.”
 
         She didn’t believe a word of it, but how did she get him out of here without causing a scene.
 
          “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ll go,” he said but he didn’t turn to leave, “I just wanted to see if you could use an extra set of hands, or if you were hungry. I just want to help,” he told her before he turned and started to walk away, but she didn’t believe a word of it.
 
         She waited until he was out the door, before she turned to the ones that had returned already, “Did he walk past any of you to get in here?” she asked as the last few walked back into the room.
 
         They all shook their heads no, “I don’t remember seeing him,” one of them said.
 
          “Neither do I,” said another.
 
          “If any of you see him again, you are to tell me as soon as you can,” she said before she turned to look at the window to wait for him.
 
          “Which car is his?” one of the guys asked.
 
          “The red sports car next to mine, right here,” she pointed as he walked out of the building, but he didn’t go to his car. He turned and walked around the side of the building.
 
          “You’re sure?” he asked.
 
          “Almost positive,” she said as Cary repapered, walked to the car she’d pointed out and got in, but not before he looked up at the window where she stood. All of her workers were also there watching him leave, “If any of you see his car in the parking lot, you let me know.”
 
          “We will,” she heard one of them say and saw heads bobbing up and down as she turned away from the window to set everyone back to work.
 
         She’d been right, they’d all needed a break, because they were working just as hard as they had when they’d walked in that morning, and by early evening she was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. When she left the building with the rest of the crew just before ten she was walking on cloud nine and knew that she’d be done by five the next day. They would still have to work hard all day long, but it was feasible.
 
         She had said goodnight to everyone and was on the road before she was able to smile and start to relax. She’d stopped and grabbed some dinner at a drive thru before she’d pulled into her apartment parking lot. Thirty minutes later, she was climbing into bed, and not even minutes later she was fast asleep.

How’s life???

 
         Kristin walked in her front door after school and sighed with relief that she didn’t have to work tonight. She loved her job, but she was really just looking forward to having an evening to herself at home, especially after what had happened Saturday night.
 
         She had played over the events of the night several times and looking back there was very little that she could have done differently that wouldn’t have put her in the same situation, short of not showing up in the first place, and for not leaving when she went to the bathroom, which she still kicked herself for. She also kicked herself for drinking any of the wine, but at least she knew that Cary would get into some sort of trouble for serving her, a minor, wine, not to mention drugged wine.
 
         She took her things upstairs to her room and dropped them on her desk just inside her bedroom door and then fell on her bed. She hadn’t told any of her friends at school what had happened yet. She didn’t think that she would because she had a feeling that they would all look at her like she had asked for it, just like they had when Cindy Marquez had said that she had been raped at some party just a few weeks after school had started. Now Cindy didn’t hang out with any of them all that much and Kristin wondered how she was doing.
 
         She rolled over to pick up the phone and give Cindy a call when the phone rang and Kristin smiled, it was probably John. He’d called her everyday after school and then again after she’d finished with her Karate classes, so she picked up the cordless phone that sat by her bed without checking the caller ID, “Hello?”
 
          “Hey, sweet thing,” said a voice she almost didn’t recognize, but she did recognize the nick name and it sickened her even more now than the first time she’d heard it, not to mention that it made her scared enough that she didn’t respond. In fact she almost hung up the phone, but she was curious what he would have to say to her.
 
          “Aw, you don’t what to talk to me anymore?” he asked, “But you had so much to say the other night, sweet thing.”
 
         Again she didn’t say anything, she figured that she’d just let him say whatever he had to say and then she’d call the police to let them know that he was harassing her and that she wanted to put a restraining order against him. She wasn’t one of those little weak women that would let a man make her scared of her own shadow, but she also wasn’t any fool. Well, maybe a little bit of a fool, because only a fool would have gone into that dinner the other night when she realized that they had that private dinning room.
 
          “So how was Emerson last night?” Cary asked, but she refused to answer. “Did you ever figure out why a little boy like that would suddenly be afraid that someone might break into his house?” he asked and then went on without waiting for her to reply, “I mean he’s what eight or nine years old and paranoid about someone breaking in and hurting him and his mother. I wonder why that is, don’t you?” he said and then paused briefly before he went on, “Maybe it has something to do with the boys father,” he said, “Did you know that Unity got pregnant with him after she was raped?” he asked and then asked her, “Do you think you would have given me a son, too?”
 
         She hung up then, not wanting to hear anything more, and wanting to call Unity and ask her if it was true, but no sooner had she hung up then phone then it started to ring again, and she instantly brought her hand back from the phone as if it had burned her. It rang twice before she gathered enough courage to look at the caller ID and see who it was. She sighed with relief and picked up the phone when she saw it was John on his cell phone.
 
          “John?” she asked.
 
          “Yeah,” he said and catching the fear in her voice he asked, “what’s wrong?”
 
          “He just called me,” she said almost in tears.
 
          “Well, then I guess it’s a good thing I’m in your driveway and can tell you that he’s not out here,” he said and she heard the sound of a car door as he got out, “I was coming to get you for class today so you could show me some of that technique that Brock keeps on telling me about,” he said as she heard him shut his door and then add, “and I think you could use the workout with as much as that ass is bothering you. Maybe you and I could work on maneuvers in that little room off the main room,” he suggested, “we could both use some work on self defense in confined areas,” he said and she smiled.
 
          “Do you think Brock would let us?” she asked bounding off the bed and headed for the front door.
 
          “He is the one that suggested it on Tuesday, now get down here and answer the door for me,” he replied but she was already half way down the stairs to do just that.
 
          “I’ll be there in a second,” she told him.
 
          “What did you stop off to do your hair?” he joked with her.
 
          “Nope,” she said as she opened the door and threw herself in his arms.
 
          “Well, hello to you too,” he said as he hugged her back and turned off his phone.
 
          “Hi,” she said gently before she tried to pull back but he held her close still, “Sorry,” she said as he slowly let go of her, “That phone call just really shook me up,” she told him.
 
          “Don’t worry about it,” he said she took a step back, “I don’t mind it,” he assured her.
 
         She smiled, “I’m sure,” she agreed and then joked, “Just don’t let it go to your head.”
 
          “Oh, don’t worry, I will,” he returned joking and then said, “Now do you want to call the officer on the case first and let him know what just happened, or do you want run and get your things and use my cell as I drive?”
 
         She thought about it for a moment and as Cary had found a way to invade her mind in her most coveted and prized sanctuary, her room, she didn’t want to spend anymore time at home, so she said, “Let me get my things and we can go,” she said as she stepped back inside.
 
          “I’ll wait down here,” he said as the cordless phone in her hand started to ring again.
 
         She looked down at the phone and saw that the number was blocked on it, so she handed it to him, “You can answer it if you want, it’s probably him, though. I’m not for sure, it could be one of those annoying phone salesmen. I didn’t check the caller ID before I answered earlier, because I just thought it was you,” she confessed.
 
         He pulled her to him with one hand while he took the phone out of her hand with the other, but he didn’t answer it, “I’m sorry,” he told her sincerely.
 
          “It’s not your fault,” she said, “I should have checked the caller ID,” she disputed.
 
          “I know that, but I’m still sorry that it happened and that you expected it to be me and then have it be that ass.”
 
         She smiled then, and the phone stopped ringing.
 
          “Do you guys have an answering machine?” he asked her as she backed up and her let her go.
 
          “Caller notes,” she replied as she turned to go up the stairs, “You can come up with me,” she offered and sensing how reluctant she was to leave him behind, he followed her on up the stairs and to her room as he went thru the cordless phones memory that was still in his hand only to discover that the number that Cary had called from was, indeed a blocked number.
 
         When they reached her room he stood at the door leaning on the doorframe as she moved a bag from the floor by the foot of her bed to her bed by her dresser before she started opening drawers and throwing things into the bag. “The phone goes over there,” she told him, as she pointed across her bed to the phone cradle on her nightstand.
 
         Casually he walked over to the opposite corner of her room from the door, and hung up the phone before he tried to return to the doorway where he could safely lean against the door and not be in her way, but he had moved too slow and found himself stuck while she had the closet door open and she dug something out of the bottom of the closet. He didn’t see what because she already had it in the bag that was now at her feet before she closed the closet door.
 
          “Okay,” she said zipping up the bag and closing the closet door, “I’m ready to go,” she told him and then he followed her back down the stairs and out the front door.
 
         Ten minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of the building where their classes were held and Kristine had talked with the officer that had been at the restaurant. He’d asked lots of questions and she had given answers to every question as best as she could. Including where Unity and Emerson live, their phone number and if she knew whether what Cary had said about Emerson’s father was true. She also requested to put a restraining order against him and John had agreed to stop by the Police Station on their way home so she could sign the paperwork that would be waiting.
 
         She had then called her mother at work to let her know that she would be home for a while and not to worry, so by the time that she got out of the car and headed in to train with John and Brock, she was feeling more in control of her life and much happier in spite of what had happened.



Read On
"Invalid Item"