Kennedy had a restraining order and new locks on her doors before lunch the next day. Still, she wasn't ready to go home, not yet, and not alone. Godwin insisted that she could stay with him, but she didn't want to take advantage of his generosity. For the time being she was staying in her old room at Kennedy's house.
Her arm was on the mend, the bones no longer broken. It ached something fierce when she moved it, though, and her blood lust was a low lying simmer as she healed. It was beyond irritating.
She also had no way of contacting Godwin, he didn't have a cell phone, and if he had a home phone she didn't know the number. Would he take a phone from her if she bought him one? It was frustrating, not being able to reach him.
Kennedy was at work, and she quickly grew bored with daytime television, though the greyhounds were a nice distraction. Maybe Josh would want to come over? She reached over and picked up her phone.
Her poor, abused phone. It was shattered, and looked unusable, but the display lit up when she pushed the button on the side. She sent off a quick text to Josh.
He texted back quickly. 'Omg, S! Godwin told me what happened! Can I see you tonight? Are you okay?'
She was both jealous that he'd talked to Godwin, and grateful for his concern. 'I'm fine. Not looking forward to going home by myself. Sorry, I know it's annoying, but would you wanna come over for a while? At Kennedy's house atm, going home tonite.' She was embarrassed as soon as she hit the send button, but it was too late to take back.
Two incredibly long minutes passed before he replied. 'Sure, working now. Off at 5. Can you get to the library?'
She was in mid typing as another message came from him. 'Not alone! Can someone bring you? What if that weirdo is waiting for you?'
Another text followed that one immediately. 'I'll just come get you. Where are you?'
'Calm down', it's okay,' she replied. 'I have a ride. I need to get a new phone first anyway. I'll meet you at 5 at library, okay?'
'You wouldn't lie to me, right? You actually have a ride?'
She snorted. 'Olivia is taking me to get a new phone. Do you know where Godwin is?'
'Okay and no. Be careful, please.'
She bit her lip, disappointed that he didn't know where Godwin was, either. She would feel a lot better if she knew where he was.
Olivia spent the night, too, on Kennedy's couch, as Seneca's bed was a twin. She stayed despite her fear of all dogs, that was how deeply her friend loved her. It made her feel safer, though Olivia slept late. Case in point, she was still asleep when Seneca gave up waiting for her to wake up around noon.
Despite her initial grumpiness at being woken 'early', it was easy enough to motivate Olivia with free food, and the two of them went out for lunch, then stopped by the phone store to get hers replaced. They talked about stuff in general, and whenever they came close to the topic of Chip, Olivia expertly steered it in a different direction.
Her best friend gave her a long look as she activated a second phone on her account. "Really, Seneca?"
"What?" she replied, trying to feign innocence with a shoulder shrug.
"This for the dark horse?" Olivia nodded towards the bag with the second cell phone inside.
"So what if it is?" she dismissed. "He's too old fashioned."
"This isn't him taking advantage of you, is it?" Olivia asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Of course not! He... This is my idea. I didn't ask him. I mean, I just want a way to contact him. I'd feel better knowing, like, I mean, what if he comes back? I just..." Even thinking about the other night had her belly tighten with fear strong enough that she felt sick.
Olivia looked a little guilty. "Alright, sure, I mean, I'm just picking on ya. Just get your phone, I promise I won't say anything else." Olivia was quiet for a moment, but she couldn't help herself. "So..."
Seneca was happy to bite on a new topic. "So?" she prompted.
"So," Olivia drawled again. "I mighta met a new girl..."
"Oh? Did you, now?" Seneca replied, one eyebrow raised as she smiled sideways. "Who is this mystery woman? And here you were, giving me a hard time about the dark horse. Now who's the dog?" She leaned into Olivia as they walked.
Olivia's genuine smile made it so she couldn't help but smile, too. "Her name's Annabel. Met her at the coffee shop. She's become something of a regular, though I don't think it's because of me. She's, um, kinda different."
"Annabel, huh? What do you mean by different?"
Olivia shrugged. "I dunno. She's quirky."
"Quirky how? What's she do when she comes in?" she asked, squinting as they stepped out of the store. She quickened her pace as they walked back to Olivia's car, not because of the cold, but because the sun was too bright, worried she might get a sunburn despite it being winter.
Godwin had been kind enough to bring more of his hand-selected clothes to Kennedy's house for her. He had a much better fashion sense than she did. Today, under the smart black peacoat Godwin had given her to replace her bloody, torn coat after Chip's attack, she wore a floral peasant blouse and jeans that fit like they were tailored for her. It made her feel loved, and it scared her more than she wanted to admit, how much she wanted her feelings to be true.
"She reads, when she comes in. I started talking to her last week, I was gonna tell you this weekend, but shit's been crazy. I wanted to close the coffee shop early and come find you after I got the call from..." she trailed off, then shook her head before continuing.
"Anyway, she comes in maybe two or three days a week. I sometimes go out and spy on her, she reads some way weird books. Botanical stuff, and stuff like recipes, but they're all weird. Anyway, I finally talked to her. She seems nice, I really want to ask her on a date but I can't tell if she's into girls." Olivia frowned, biting her thumbnail.
"Well, the worst she could say is no, right?" They turned a corner, then she practically ran to Olivia's car. Feeling slightly sun-crisped, she was in the car and buckled before Olivia even opened her door.
"Wow, someone's in a rush today," Olivia said as she pulled the car into traffic. Folksy music came on, picked up by the bluetooth in her car from her phone.
"It's cold out!" she defended. "And, the sun is bright. You know how easily I burn."
Olivia chuckled. "I don't know how you survived this long in the world, girl."
"I've had you to keep me alive," she replied. "So, this Annabel? What's she like?"
"Oh, she's super serious. Like, I can't wait to crack her shell."
