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Post by Hanna Squalor on Sept 14, 2007 18:37:58 GMT -5
Esme let out a neverous laugh. "It's not the paint. I rather think I wouldn't want my friends to wear rubber covers on their shoes because of the flood. It's all the city's fault really. Of course it is, otherwise they wouldn't be footing the bill."
Olaf laughed. He held her head to his chect for a moment. He tried out his earlier plan. "Darling, You look very nice this morning."
"Oh." she squealed, and hugged him tighter.
"Laaf! Ned yuu, dunsters." Yakita was yelling at them from the door.
"The dumpsters don't go out till thrusday."
"Downstairs, you idiot." Esme scoffed.
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Post by freeeagle on Sept 14, 2007 20:44:27 GMT -5
Beatrice dropped the receiver gently into the cradle. Hopefully tomorrow, she and Esme could rekindle the friendship she knew rested just beneath the awkwardness. She couldn't help but remember the slightest hint of regret and shame beneath the optimistic facade. Esme was a good actress, but not quite good enough to fool Bea. She had sounded so...helpless. Like she was lost without a way back. Beatrice couldn't recall another time where she had heard her like that. Even when she asked for help, it was more like she was demanding it, not begging for it. Hopefully tomorrow, Beatrice would be able to reach her friend. But for now, she needed a distraction.
Her slender fingers still rested on the phone, gingerly she picked it up and held it to her ear tentatively, punching in the numbers she knew by heart slowly. She was calling for someone else now. She twisted her finger in her red-brown hair as it rang twice.
"Hello?" said Lemony's soft but assured voice. It rang in Beatrice's ear and ice pierced her heart. She disguised her voice artfully, making her voice high and breezy.
"Could I speak to Jerome please?" she asked, in the voice that was not her own.
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Post by Hanna Squalor on Sept 15, 2007 8:41:27 GMT -5
Esme and Olaf rushed downstairs. One man met them at the landing of the stairs. "The damage is worse than we though. We'll need you to vacate the house; while we fix the flooding and the water damage."
"Well where the hell are we supposed to go? and for how long?"
"We will put you put in the Franz Hotel downtown." The man informed. "For three days."
"The Franz! Darling I haven't been there since my parents were alive!"
"Alright." Olaf grumbled. "Go pack. for both of us. One suitcase." he ordered to Esme.
"Excuse me? One suitcase at the Franz? Are you nuts? Yaki come help pack HIS suitcase." she rushed upstairs.
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Post by Jenny on Sept 15, 2007 16:48:54 GMT -5
(Am I playing Jerome? It's probable, even without checking...)
'I'm not carrying all of your--'Olaf called after her, interrupted by her derogatory wave of her hand to shut him up. Yaki would carry her things, no doubt. She was always eager to help.
'I'll have to call Beatrice,' she grinned. 'And tell her to come meet me in my hotel room now.' She could just see Beatrice's face when she found out. It was cruel of her to be so obsessed with being the most well of of the two of them, but she couldn't help it and never had been able to.
Yaki stuffed Olaf's things into a case, unfolded all in a clump. He wouldn't mind, and neither did Esmé.
x
'Who is this?' asked Lemony.
'Ah....Miss...Claud. The new secretary,' she said. 'Please may I speak to Jerome? I have some news for him.'
She could just hear Lemony sigh as he found Jerome and passed him the phone.
'Hello?' said Jerome softly in his sweet, caring manner. Beatrice smiled to herself, and changed her voice again.
'It's Bea,' she told him. 'But don't tell Lemony. I've heard from Esmé.'
'Oh?' he asked quickly. It was clear that for how dreadful she'd been to him, the poor boy still cared for her. What a shame...
'I want to see you,' she said quickly.
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Post by freeeagle on Sept 15, 2007 21:22:10 GMT -5
"Do you want to go to the beach?" she asked, even though there was a hint of a chill on the wind today and there was a soft cover of grey clouds in the sky.
"The weather isn't exactly ideal." he pointed out gently.
Beatrice leaned against the wall blissfully, taking in the soft sound of his voice. It wasn't fair to either Lemony or Jerome the way that she was feeling for the latter, but there was no need for either of them to find out just yet. All it looked like was an innocent day at the beach, despite the fact that she had just willingly deceived her boyfriend.
"Its always less crowded when its cloudy. Besides, its not threatening rain." she told him.
"I suppose. In case it does though, we could always go have a coffee instead." he suggested.
"Deal." said Beatrice, "I'll see you later then?"
"Let's meet in a half hour, alright?" he decided, hanging up the phone.
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Post by Hanna Squalor on Sept 16, 2007 19:23:26 GMT -5
As soon as Bea put the phone down it rang.
"Hey, Bea." Esme again. Too cheery for her own good. "Change of plan. Come to the Franz. We're staying there while the repairs are done."
"Really? Wow. That's usually just for special. My parents went there for their honeymoon."
"I know. I'm thrilled. See you soon."
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Post by Jenny on Sept 17, 2007 15:34:47 GMT -5
'What are you doing?' Olaf asked, walking in only to find her grinning from ear to ear smugly.
'I told Bea she ould come to the Franz. She loves the Franz. Everyone loves the Franz. She's going to be incredibly jealous,' Esmé giggled happily, throwing things into her case again.
'You really are quite evil, you know,' he laughed, watching Yaki throwing his clothes into a case in a heap. Suddenly he approved of her.
--
Jerome met Beatrice exactly when specified at the beach, even with clouds hovering suspiciously overhead, the cold weather forcing them to rub their arms and pull their sleeves down against the wind.
Conversation was awkward between them at first, short choppy sentences and little contact.
'How are you?' Jerome started.
'Fine,' she answered uncomfortably. It was almost a lie. Esmé was perfectly happy all out away from her friends and living in the suburbs (and staying in the Franz-- the Franz!), and suddenly othing seemed so rosy anymore.
He nodded, eyes shifting.
'How is she?' he asked quietly.
'Fine,' Beatrice told him again. 'Better, in fact. Too good.' she finished. I she went on, she would get upset after a while.
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Post by Hanna Squalor on Sept 17, 2007 18:57:31 GMT -5
An hour later they entered the green and gold lobby of the Franz. this hotel was so good they had people taking thier bags before they checked in. The couches were a gold fabric and the carpet, a plush green.
Esme spun around the moment she was inside their room. She landed on the bed, sighing happily. This was her place. Olaf kicked his shoes off. He tipped the bellboy a pitiful ten cents.
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Post by Jenny on Sept 18, 2007 15:00:24 GMT -5
'I don't get what's so damn special about the place,' Olaf grumbled, sitting down on one of the chairs provided. Of course, nothing better than what he could usually afford was worth looking at.
'It's lovely,' she said dreamily from where she was spreadeagled across the bed staring at the ceiling. 'And you can order whatever you want, whenever you want. People save up for years to come stay a fortnight.'
He smiled at her obvious excitement. 'I'll have to flood my house more often, then.'
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Post by Hanna Squalor on Sept 18, 2007 16:30:26 GMT -5
Esme picked up the phone. "Hello. Yes this is room 443. I would like to order one Whipp Frontt. the room under the government charge. Yup." she hung up.
"Yip Frunt? What?"
"It's an icecream and whipped cream thing. It's huge but you can help me eat it." Esme smiled at him.
when it was wheeled in on a silver cart, even Olaf stared. It was a large clear blue bowl, filled with a towering ice cream sundae, covered with whipped cream and the entire things stunningly white, except the bowl.
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Post by freeeagle on Sept 18, 2007 20:39:52 GMT -5
Beatrice's dark blue eyes pricked with tears that she blinked away from the corners of her eyes. They mirrored the changeability of the water in front of them.
"I'm just worried. When we talked on the phone she sounded perfectly happy. Which is what is nagging at me I guess. She's too good an actress, because I know that there's always something bugging her, princess she is. There's always something that's bothering her, and she seemed as though there was nothing." she said, her words spilling out like the waves lapping at the shore. The last word was hard and cold as the wind around them. This wasn't why she had invited him out. She had planned on avoiding this. She didn't want to come unglued. Not now.
"Oh, Beatrice I know you're worried but -" he started, his eyes soft and unsure. She cut him off in mid-sentence.
"Can we not do this pity fest right now?" she asked with a note of desperation in her voice, reminding herself a bit of Esme. She began fumbling with the big brown buttons on her navy cardigan. It fell away into the sand, leaving Beatrice in the long tweed pencil skirt and the bikini she wore underneath. She unzipped the skirt, exposing the bottom half of the swimsuit. Goosebumps rose across her skin, but she kicked off her shoes anyway, running into the ice-cold surf, until she was knee deep.
"Come on Jerome!" he called, her teeth chattering.
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Post by Jenny on Sept 19, 2007 15:30:19 GMT -5
'What?' he cried, watching Beatrice practically freeze to feath in the water. He really didn't want to join her--not at all!--but he couldn't leave her on her own in the cold, and so threw off most of what he was wearing and waded up to her.
'It's freezing!' he hissed.
'I know,' she laughed. He nad never thought she would be like his, so spontaneous and daring. It was refreshing.
--
'We are never going to eat that,' Olaf told her as she handed him a spoon.
'Oh quiet. You're the one that could stuff your face with everything for hours. Come on. Eat.' she laughed. It was delicious (everything at the Franz was), but very sweet. After a few large spoonfuls each they were full, but struggled on anyway, determined to finish the dessert regardless.
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Post by freeeagle on Sept 19, 2007 17:57:25 GMT -5
Beatrice looked at Jerome standing beside her. He was so much different than she had expected. Unbidden, she felt a kind of warmth wash through her. She touched her fingers to his, ever so lightly. The sadness of Esme was washed away like a name written in the sand, in light of this feeling overtaking her, causing her heart to beat quickly and her breath to slow.
She turned her head to meet his eyes and flashed a smile. She squeezed his hand lightly, and then lightening fast she had dove straight into the chilling sea.
It felt like ice against her alabaster skin, the chill flowing like blood through her veins and causing her to tingle all over. She felt it flowing around her, tasted its saltiness on her lips. She surfaced, shaking her red brown hair out, her cheeks flushed with cold.
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Post by Hanna Squalor on Sept 20, 2007 14:37:02 GMT -5
The Franz was near the beach, Esme thought of going but didn't want to miss a second of this. She went to examine the bathroom. "Oh my god! A tub with no rust stains!" she proclaimed. She was in it in seconds; filling it up with a luke warm water. She liked hot baths but she wasn't in the mood. she had a refreshing slightly chilly bath. It reminded her of swimming in the ocean's at Bea's country house.
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Post by Jenny on Sept 20, 2007 15:46:09 GMT -5
Olaf was outside looking out of the window when she opened the door and started to dry and fix her hair. She would do it again tomorrow, before she saw Bea. After all, she had to look her best for Bea.
'People are swimming,' he commented, squinting to see who they were. They were quite high up in the Franz and not directly in front of them, but he could make out figures. 'They must be freezing to death.'
Something about it made her think of Baetrice, and when she joined him and looked out, the two figures just could have been her and...Kit? No. Kit was too sensible for all that, and too self conscious mind. Lemony would never have, he would have dragged his girlfriend out of that water immediately for fear she'd get pneumonia, and Jerome...
...Well, that settled it. She smiled. It seemed Jerome had grown a personality from somehwere since she'd left.
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