A Dark Stranger pt.2
Summary: Rose makes a new friend and tries to comfort Jack with his loss of Lucy and Zoe.
Warnings: a little language
Jackie held the door open for me then followed me into the lobby of the Jonathan Harker Foundation. He brought a small file folder that Zoe had given him and took it to the receptionist at the front desk. Another woman in a white lab coat came out to meet him and motioned for him to follow her into the other room. Jackie turned to me with a pressed on smile and held up a finger to signal that he would only be a minute to which a gave a small nod of agreement. A picture of the late Jonathan Harker on the far wall catches my attention, so I start to make my way toward it when I hear the receptionist call out, “Miss, um.. Seward?” Assuming she was referring to me, I looked in her direction and found I was correct.
“Blayr, actually.” I laugh now stepping in her direction.
“Oh! My apologise. I just knew that Dr. Seward had said you were his cousin.” Her face had turned a light shade of pink from embarrassment, but I waved it off and smile.
“No, no. It is a simple mistake. Our mother are sisters. Half-sisters to be exact. I’m Rose.” I reach my hand over the desk and she takes it in a quick, gentle handshake.
“Kelly Anderson. So, how long are you here in London.”
“Well, I’m actually looking for a place here, but Jac- John doesn’t know that yet. I was planning on telling him the other night, but he’s hard a rather rough week.” My smile fades a little as does hers. “Now I’m thinking I should wait and find a place before I tell him. Maybe the surprise will cheer him up.” Then she gets a bright smile.
“Hey! If your moving here, your going to need some friends outside of just Dr. Seward, especially if your planning on surprising him! I’d be glad to help you look around if you want.”
I’m to not let my nervousness show. I’ve never really been a big people person, and I never know how to behave around strangers, but Kelley seems nice enough. “That would be great. Thank you Kelly.”
“You’re welcome! Here’s my number! Oh, and here comes Dr. Seward.” I take the little piece of paper and put it into my purse. Maybe i just wont call, and if I see her again, I’ll just explain that I lost it. Is that bad? Yeah... probably. I don’t know; I’ll figure it out later. Right now it’s time to take care of Jackie.
“Ready?” Jackie offers his arm to me, and I wave ‘goodbye’ to Kelly. Once we get outside, Jackie asks, “So, you dating women now?” Then he chuckles at my confused expression. “Kelly is a lesbian,” he smirks.
“What? Oh no! I hope I didn’t give her the wrong idea. I don’t want to hurt her feelings! She just said that she thought I may want some friends here.” Jackie faces me and grabs both of my shoulders.
“Relax! I’m only giving you a hard time. I promise that Kelly will not be offended. Even if she is interested in you, she’ll understand. She’s really sweet.” I still feel really bad but decide to let it go. Jack and I continue our walk to a little bakery where we grab our breakfast and some hot coffee before heading to the park. We find a nice bench and watch some ducklings play in the lake, laughing when one puts its head underwater and the others swim around him in concern before he lifts his head dramatically causing water to splash the unsuspecting siblings. Mother duck swims closeby, looking for a small snack floating near the top of the water, but she is constantly checking up on her young ones. I can’t help but smile at the sight, and it’s good to hear Jack laugh quietly. I look at him and see a small, pained smile on his face with a hint of red near the corner of his mouth. I chuckle to myself again, grabbing my napkin and wiping it away.
“Jam.” I say showing him the napkin with the small red stain.
“Oh. Haha.” He rubbed his lips and chin as if he has thought of something and then tries to scrub something off his face... and I don’t think it’s jam. Then I realize.
“Are you thinking about Lucy?”
“Yes. I kissed her. Right before she died. I wanted to. I loved her, but I shouldn’t have.” He bowed his head defeated.
“Shouldn’t have loved her? Or shouldn’t have kissed her?” I question.
“Both.” I’m pretty sure it was more of a sigh then an actual word. “I’m sorry, Rose. I just- I don’t know.”
“No, it’s okay. I get it. I mean, I don’t understand how you feel because I’ve never lost a guy that I was in love with. You’re allowed to be confused and distressed. There would be something terribly wrong with you if you weren’t feeling these things. I just wish that there was something that I could say or do to help, but I know there isn’t. So, I feel pretty useless.”
“You’re not. You’re not useless. There is just so much about this whole situation that I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. There are so many secrets that would destroy so much. And you, oh you’d think I was crazy if I tried to tell you everything.” He put his head in his hands and shook it back and forth. “Ugh, it’s just so hard to keep all of this in. I had no idea what I was signing up for when I agreed to help the Foundation. I thought I knew, but I was clueless. For them, there is no feeling or emotion in any of this. It’s just study. Research. Zoe, she was the one who cared. I don’t know why, but she did. Her approach to it was different and unconventional, but she knew what she wanted out of this. She knew her goal and how much time she had to attain it. But, now, it’s worthless, and she and Lucy are both gone. It’s hard. It’s so fucking hard! I feel like it’s my fault. Like I should have stopped it, somehow.”
I sat quietly for a long time. I don’t really know what to say. I don’t even know what this “It” is. I know nothing about this classified research that Jackie was helping conducted. Nobody outside of JHF does. I wish I did. It might help me know what to say now. “Jack, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” We sat there for another long while in silence before deciding to head back. Jack walked me to the hotel and promised to call if he needed anything.
___________________________________
I ran upstairs to my room and when I pulled out my keys to unlock the door, a piece of paper fell out: Kelly’s number. I picked it up and walked inside; I sat my purse down and paced around the room. “Why not? Step outside of your comfort zone and make some friends. Maybe Jack was wrong, and Kelly wasn’t hitting on you. Maybe she really does just want to be your friend. Why are you talking to yourself? You know what? If you had friends you wouldn’t have to talk to yourself. God, what am I, schizophrenic? That’s it. I’m doing it!” I Picked up my phone and put her number into my contacts. I know she’s at work, but I’m sure she’ll answer when she can.
*Hey, Kelly! This is Rose, Jack’s cousin.* Okay, now i just have to wait for her to- nope there it is. That was fast.
*Rose! Hi! I wasn’t sure if you would actually contact me. I’, glad you did.*
*Haha, yeah. I wasn’t sure either, honestly. I guess I’m rather timid when it comes to people I don’t know. I don’t make friends very easy.*
*Girl, that’s okay. I understand. I’ll just make it my job to get you comfortable with people! Take you to a few parties. Introduce you to some nice boys. Really get you into the London scene.*
*Boys?*
*Well, yeah.... let me guess. Jack informed you that I’m a lesbian? Don’t worry. It was pretty obvious that you aren’t. But if you ever want to try anything, I’ll be glad to help you with your experiments. After all, I do work at a place that’s pretty devoted to science. ;)*
*Haha, oh wow. I’ll remember that for the future. Thank you.*
*Oh, god. I haven’t made you uncomfortable, have I?”
*No, Kelly. You’re fine. I think I’m going to like being your friend.*
*GOOD! In that case, you should meet me for drinks tonight at the club. I may know of a place for you to live too, if you’re interested.*
*That sounds good. Yes!*
*Great! I’ll send you the address to the club later. And, Love, wear something stunning. XO*
*I’ll do my best. :)*
Oh no... I just agreed to meet her at a club. What does a girl wear to a club? Because “stunning” isn’t very detailed. I open my phone and google “What do women wear to the club in London.” YIKES! I definitely don’t own anything quite like that. I wouldn’t say that I’m an overtly modest dresser, but I’m very self conscious. I know I’m not ugly, but I’m not a jaw dropper/showstopper kind of girl either. I’ve still got a few hours but decide to go ahead and find a dress in my closet. I finally choose a little green dress with a black, lacy back. It’s not really a club kind of dress, but it’s probably the most stunning thing I brought with me. When I came to London, I wasn’t exactly expecting to go to a club. I’ll just wear my black heals and maybe that will bring it up to par.
Several hours pass and the sun is going down. I’ve donned my “club wear” though I feel kelly will disagree, and decided to leave my natural, curly, blonde hair alone. It actually looks decent for right now, and I’ve learned the hard way that on the rare occasion that your curly hair is nice to you, you should be nice to it in return or it will enact its revenge by frizzing so bad that I look like one of those red-seeded dandelions before the wind blows. That’s always a disaster. I jump into the cab waiting for me outside and give him the address of the club. When we arrive, Kelly is outside waiting for me, and I can tell she is amused when I step out.
“Honey, we are going shopping tomorrow to get you some more clothes.” She states rather matter-of-factly.
“Hey! I have better clothes back in the States, I just didn’t bring them because I didn’t know I’d be coming to a club.”
“Well, they aren’t doing you any good there. Besides you’re moving here, and it’ll will be a while before you get all of your stuff.” She laughs linking our arms as we enter the club.
“Wow! It’s really loud in here!” I feel like I’m screaming.
“Yeah! Welcome to a club! There’s some cute boys! Let’s get you some free drinks!”
And I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember much else about last night. The next thing I remember is waking up, here in a bed that is certainly not mine from the hotel. Oh shit! I didn’t! No, I’ve still got my dress and everything else on from last night. Whew. Suddenly, the overhead light turns on, and I cower under the blankets as my head starts to throb. I’m going to be sick, I can feel it.
“Good morning, lightweight.” I hear Kelly’s voice say with a bit of laughter laced through it. “I’ve brought you to medication for your head. I can imagine you need it. The door off to your right is a bathroom. You’ll probably feel better if you take a nice shower.” I nod in agreement and an hour later emerge from the bedroom with my damp hair and eyes still squinting against the sun. “Ah! She survived! How’s your head?”
“Well, it was doing better before you announced my survival to all of England.” I rub my temples and close my eyes.
“Oh, sorry about that, love.” She says in hushed tones now. “I’m just very excited to talk to you about where you should live.”
“Yeah, I’m excited to her what you’ve got for me.”
“Well, I was thinking that maybe you could live here with me. The room you stayed in last night was my old roommate lived, but since she moved out it’s been a guest room, and rent is kind of high by myself. If you want it, it’s yours.”
“Really?” I ask with a smile and Kelly nods, her smile matching mine. “Then, yes! Thank you!” We hugged each other and she looked down at me.
“We are definitely buying you some new clothes though!” We spent the next thirty minutes laughing like teenagers; I even forgot that my headache when Kelly got a text message. Her eyes went wide. “I’ve got to change and got into work. Something has come up. Feel free to do what you want in the house; it’s yours now too. I’ve already pulled the spare key for you, so you won’t be stuck her all day. It’s just there on the table. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but it’s an emergency.” She said while running around like a mad woman gathering her things.
“That’s alright. Thank you!” I just decided I would text Jackie to see if he could help me move out of the hotel room, but I quickly responded that he couldn’t because of an emergency at JHF. Probably the same emergency Kelly was running in for. What could possibly have them in such a frenzy? That’s when I noticed Kelly had left her phone open. It was a message from the Foundation. How could three simple words spark so much panic in both her and Jackie. All the message said was.
*He’s here. Alive.*
