The Tribuo - 62. Part V, chapter 15

- XV -

RAYNE

Jess looked even worse than I expected. I watched her for a couple of days two weeks ago, just to get an idea of what was going on. She didn’t look great back then, but right now she looked worse. It seemed she lost at least ten more pounds, her eyes had that dull, feverish glare someone gets while they are trying to fight off some nasty infection, and dark circles underneath them were so bad that it looked like she drew them with a permanent marker. She was talking nonstop, while cleaning the place like her life depended on it.

Finally, around three in the morning, she glanced at me and stopped talking for a minute or two.

“I’ll let you sleep,” she said finally. “You look exhausted. I’ll finish this tomorrow.”

“I am okay,” I yawned and she laughed.

“Sit in the chair, will you? I’m gonna get the couch ready for you.”

“No need,” I shook my head, but it seemed like she didn’t even hear me.

She brought a couple of pillows, blanket, and a sheet. Soon enough, she was running around the couch, putting everything on it. Finally, she straightened up and looked at me somewhat smugly.

“Here you go,” she announced. “Sleep tight! How long did you plan on visiting Coleen?”

“I am leaving for England on the thirty first,” I said and she blinked.

“I thought you said you flew in from New York…”

“I did,” I nodded. “But I am not going back there. My family is in England.”

That seemed to be good enough for her, because her forehead smoothed out and she smiled.

“Well, tell you what…” she brushed her hair off her face. “Stay here until the thirty first.”

“No way!” I said, hoping that she would insist anyway. “I can’t possibly…”

“Nonsense,” she interrupted me. “Plus, I’d prefer your company to my roommate’s anyway.”

“Really?” I yawned again. “What’s wrong with your roommate?”

“He is a dick,” she said darkly. “He is totally taking advantage of my friend… Long story,” she added after I yawned yet again. “I’ll tell you tomorrow if you still wanna hear it. Good night! And merry Christmas,” she smiled and walked away, turning off the lights.

“Night,” I called after her. “Thank you!”

I dropped on the couch, thinking that there was no way in hell I’d be able to sleep right now. I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

December 26th

I woke up because someone was fiddling with the door lock. The minute I peeled my eyes open, there was a wave of cold air washing all over me. I shivered and wrapped the blanket around myself. The door closed and I sat up.

“Hey, Jess,” Russell said indifferently. “Didn’t make it to bed last night…?”

He looked at me and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Oh, God!” he blinked.

I could tell that he was really tempted to say, “Who the hell are you?” but he just stood there, staring at me.

“Hi,” I muttered. “You must be the roommate.”

“Uh huh,” he nodded carefully.

He looked different from the time I saw him at that cemetery. Right now he looked… I don’t know… Alive?

I got off the couch, still clutching onto my blanket. Man, I was cold! I stretched out my arm.

“I am Rayne,” I said.

“Russell,” he carefully shook my hand.

“I am a friend of Coleen’s,” I sighed. “Showed up here last night. Thought I was going to surprise her…”

“Coleen?” he frowned. “Jess’ old roommate? She moved out at the end of October.”

“Yeah,” I said bitterly. “I found that out… Jess was really nice, and she told me to stay here for a couple of days…”

He blinked in confusion.

“But I can go,” I said quickly, and he shook his head.

“No, no… Stay, by all means… It’s just…” he smiled and shook his head again. “Never mind.”

“What?” I looked at him with suspicion, and he laughed.

“Well, two things, actually… Jess was nice? That’s…” he coughed. “...new…” he finished.

“And the second thing?” I asked, finally pulling the blanket off me.

“The second thing,” he repeated thoughtfully. “I know you.”

I blinked.

“I don’t think so,” I said carefully.

“I can’t figure out why I know you,” he shrugged. “But I know you, all right.”

I shrugged lightly.

“If you say so. Hey, is there any coffee around?”

“Yeah,” he said seriously. “We have excellent French Roast. Except, it won’t do you any good.”

“Why?” I frowned.

“Jess killed the coffeemaker a while ago,” he sighed.

“Oh,” I said with disappointment.

“Starbucks is open,” he shrugged. “Wanna go?”

“I don’t have a car,” I said bitterly. “Took a cab here last night.”

“I’ll drive,” he grinned.

“Hmm,” I pondered for a few seconds. “Can I brush my teeth real quickly?”

“Sure,” he laughed. “I’m gonna go get some stuff out of my room.”

He walked away, and I folded the blanket and pulled the sheet off the couch. I hoped to God that Jess was not going to change her mind about me staying here by the time I came back. This was the only decent plan I could come up with, and I seriously didn’t want to try figuring out something else right now. I didn’t have time.

I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and even put a little bit of makeup on, when I heard Jess’ bedroom door open. A few seconds later, there was a knock on the bathroom door. I opened it right away. Jess looked like she hadn’t slept at all, which was probably the case.

“What did he want?” she asked with a frown.

“Who?” I blinked.

“Russell.”

“Oh,” I put my hairbrush next to the sink. “Nothing. I asked him about coffee and he said that Starbucks would be the best option.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jess grimaced. “I broke the coffeemaker…”

I laughed.

“It pissed you off or something?”

She smiled.

“Or something. I dropped it, to be honest. Was a total accident!”

“Well, I need my coffee like no other,” I said sincerely. “So Russell said he’d drive us to Starbucks. Wanna go with us?”

“No,” she grimaced again. “Not really. I’ll just finish my cleaning, it’s okay.”

“Want me to get you something from Starbucks?”

“Maybe a cup of coffee,” she shrugged. “Oh, hey! Can you do me a huge favor?” She looked like she just remembered something very important.

“Sure,” I nodded.

“Can you get me some smokes? I am almost out!”

“Okay. What kind?”

“Something slim,” she said. “And light.”

“Menthol?”

“Don’t care. Do you smoke?”

“Guilty,” I smirked and pulled a pack of Parliaments out of my pocket.

“What is it with people and that brand?” Jess made a face. “I hate Parliaments! But it seems like everyone around is smoking them… That’s just wrong.”

“Who else smokes these?” I was genuinely curious.

“My roommate, for example,” she snorted. “And my brother. That’s the only brand he smokes. Well… Smoked,” she shrugged. “I haven’t talked to him forever, so I don’t know if he is still smoking them or not. I mean, maybe he quit for all I know…”

She kept babbling nonstop, and I kept my facial expression the same, but the minute she mentioned her brother, all I wanted to do was to grab her by her collar and yell at her to call him. “Knock it off,” I thought. “Just knock it off… The only reason you agreed to this, was because Seth told you that Matt would be leaving for Florida on the twenty-eighth, and that he wouldn't be back until January fifth. So knock it off!”

“Morning, Jess,” Russell said coolly behind her back, and she immediately stopped talking.

“Hey,” she muttered without looking at him.

He looked at me.

“Ready?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “So a cup of coffee and something slim and light, right?” I looked at Jess.

“Right,” she gave me a small smile. “Thanks! Oh, hey, do you need money?”

“Nah,” I laughed. “I owe you the entire smoke shop for letting me stay here!”

“Okay,” she smiled again. “Take your time, by the way. I need to finish cleaning.”

She didn’t even look at Russell when she was saying this; she only looked at me.

“Sure,” I nodded and followed Russell outside.