With whom the gods lie (With LadySquee)

[Beatrix]

Tal paced the living room with the phone to her ear. Her face was contorted in frustration as she talked to her mother. Never a straight answer with her... She thought as she prepared to yell into the mouth piece again. Disgruntled, she hung up, thinking it would be wiser for her to do so than to go into an irrational outburst. It's the same answer every time: 'I don't know.' Does she ever know anything? Tal set the phone down on the coffee table and plopped herself down onto the couch with her arms and legs crossed.

She turned to face the window. The clouds looked heavy and dark as if it was about to rain. How she would love to step out into that rain and let the water wash down her, allowing her to forget all her worries. She still had to get ready for work at the hotel across town. The bills were not going to pay themselves. Her sis was going to be home soon, she surmised. The only thing that could come close to standing in the rain was a nice, cold shower.

 

[Jerelin]

Sam hurried up the stairs, already feeling herself run out of breath. "Damn these stupid, heavy bags," she muttered to herself. Thanks to Samatha's impulsive nature, a short shopping trip for milk, bread, and eggs had quickly turned into a trip for sweets, alcohol, and magazines. She was regretting the fact that she didn't take the elevator. Actually, why hadn't she? Oh, that's right. The frisky couple from the fifth floor. That couple. Sam would have taken no pleasure from being in the presence of two heavy people getting 'hot and heavy' around her ice-cream and chocolate. No. Way. The stairs was much safer.

She finally made it to the sixth level and before taking another step down the hall, Sam leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Damn that couple from the fifth floor. Once she felt like she could make it, Sam continued on her way and a few seconds later, she was fiddling with the keycard and trying to balance herself as she came through the door.

Sam's face that was full of smiles suddenly fell at the sight of her sister. "Uh oh," she said, closing the door with her foot and making her way to the kitchen. The bags hit the kitchen counter with a thud. "You've been arguing with her again. I can tell by the way you're slouching. You know you're never going to get a straight answer from her, right?" Sam shook her head and rummaged through the bag, setting various things on the counter before getting to the dairy products. "What did she say this time?"

 

[Beatrix]

Tal watched her sister come in the door winded but full of smiles before her face solemned as she gazed upon Tal. "Uh oh," she had said. She knew her mood was affecting her sister. She stood and made her way to the kitchen as the contents was set on the counter. She tried to smile as she noticed that her sister had gotten carried away with the shopping once again.

"You know, the same dribble she always said. 'I don't know.' 'I got carried away.' 'I do know that he was hot.' Like, really? Thanks mom for boning a guy who was good looking and was not at all able to stay and create an actual family." Tal lifted some of the booze off the counter and smiled. "You shouldn't have," she stated with a smile as she ruffled her sister's hair. "Too bad I have to work tonight, you know?"

Tal made her way to the bathroom to brush her waist length, wavy black hair and adjusting the suit that she wore. "I'm sorry I can't help. The rain is going to come soon and I have to get ready at work. Save some of that for me, will ya?" She left the bathroom next to the door and walked out, giving a quick wave goodbye. She ran down the stairs as quickly as she could. Just as she made it outside, it started to rain as if it was waiting for her to leave.

 

[Jerelin]

Sam laughed at her sister's sarcastic 'thank-you' toward their mother. She did have a point, though. Tal was the oldest, so it made more sense that she worried about it more than Sam. That's not saying that Sam never wondered who her father was, but she figured out long ago that their mother would remain silent about the issue so she just stopped asking. She wanted to think that Tal would be happier if she just stopped asking questions about who her father was, but she knew that that wasn't the case.

Upon Tal's lifting of the bottle, Sam decided to let the whole thing go. She found herself laughing again and shook her head as her sister ruffled her hair. "It's cool. I'll probably still be up anyway. I invited Kevin over tonight to keep me company, if you know what I mean. And don't worry about it. Get to work, have fun. I got ice-cream, too so you can chill when you get him. I promise Kevin will be gone by the time you get back, so you don't have to be paranoid about walking in on anything." Sam called out, laughing and sticking her tongue out at her sister as she walked out of the door.

Sam turned and looked back at the groceries and after putting everything in its home, she grabbed a can of coke and settled on the couch for a movie.

 

[Beatrix]

Tal chuckled at the thought of her sister. She seemed to be in a more jovial mood this evening. Her commute to work was uneventful besides the rain. It was a light rain at the moment, but it was sure to get heavier as the night went on. Upon reaching the hotel, she made her way to the bathroom to apply her makeup after greeting some of her co-workers. Such stupid son's of bitches, she thought while applying her eyeliner. Her hand was suddenly wet, and her hand slipped to create a line of black that extended to her cheek. This added to her frustration as she tried to clean it off. She dried her hands off before attempting the maneuver again.

Heading out of the restroom, she noticed that there was a trail of water leading from the door to the restroom. "Did ya piss yourself, Tal?" David had asked before laughing. Tal became incensed, and went to the back to clock in. She checked herself one final time, but found no hint of moisture on her clothes. She reentered the lobby and waved off David's teasing, whether it be jovial or malicious. It did not matter; the guy annoyed her. With the janitor cleaning up her mess and David at the counter, she knew that this would be a long night.

 

[Jerelin]

Sam managed to sit on the couch for the entire movie, something that was very uncommon for her. Usually, she would get up, walk around, and constantly change which piece of furniture demanded her bottom's attention. This time, she only squirmed in the cushions, and paid attention to the screen. Yeah, the movie was that good. Unfortunately, the movie was not good enough to distract her from the fact that Kevin was suppose to be there already. He was late, very late, and he hadn't even sent her a text in apology.

During the rolling of the credits, Sam picked up her phone and decided to text him herself. "Where r u?" She didn't even bother with an emoticon. She tossed the phone across the couch and got up to go to the bathroom. It wasn't like Kevin to just blow off a date, if you could even call a night in with the mattress and booze a date. She walked into the bathoom, took care of her business and finally straightened herself out in the mirror. Her short, honey blonde hair was still stuck in every direction thanks to her sister's ruffling. Her brown eyes could use some eyeliner and her lips could use a moisturizer, and aside from her hair needing a brush, she wasn't in that bad of shape. She took care of these each with care, and finally went back into the living-room.

Finding the remote, Sam clicked for the guide and had just begun to scroll through the channels when her phone vibrated. She grabbed it, opened it, and immediately rolled her eyes.

"had 2 work wont b there"
"Srsly? Couldn't think about letting me kno?"

And again, Sam waited. And waited. And waited.

"srry luv u"
"=/ Love you too."

Sam groaned and threw the phone back across the couch. That was the third time this week that Kevin had cancelled. "This is starting to get old," Sam muttered to herself.

 

[Beatrix]

The hours went by slowly with Tal presenting a false pleasant expression to the patrons of the hotel. In between helping the drunken customers get to their room and David pestering her, she felt she had enough. The stress from today after inquiring her mother about her father from a different angle and David being an all around pest, she discerned that she was about to explode.

"So, why are you dripping still, Miss Piss-Pants?" David asked. Tal turned to face him, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

"I don't fucking know, you jack ass," Tal replied loud enough for it to echo across the nearly empty lobby. "Why don't you take your snide comments and snarky remarks and shove them up your ass!"

David's grin disappeared and was replaced with shock and worry. Tal turned and looked across the lobby. The few people who were present were gaping at Tal, that she dared use such language in a professional setting. Shit. I'm sure to get reported. She stood there, stall and stern. David remained silent, off doing some of the necessary paperwork. Tal pulled out her phone and texted Sam.

'I will likely come home early. Will explain at home.'

 

[Jerelin]

"You know what's going on, don't you?"

Sam jumped at the sudden voice that filled the room and turned to look in the kitchen. A portly little woman was sitting at the kitchen table, reading one of the magazines that Sam had bought earlier that day. Her skin was a light ashen color, and her white hair shone brightly from its bun. What would have frightened her years ago had now only become a minor annoyance. Her mind was once again up to it's old tricks.

"No, Mable. I don't know what's going on. Please enlighten me," Sam pleaded sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. She heard the chair scoot as Mable stood up and the scoot again to put it back under the table. Now that was odd. And speaking of which, the reading of the magazine was odd, too. Why were her hallucinations against doing things now? Sam pulled herself up so she could get a good look at the little old woman who walked into the living room like a young lady. For someone her age, she certainly moved gracefully.

"He's showing the same signs old Alfred did, back in the day." Her old gray eyes looked over Sam and nodded as if she had answered some question. "You were already thinking it, weren't you?"

"Look, he's not cheating on me. How could he? I'm the best he's ever had." This statement made Mable laugh. With an old, wrinkled hand, she reached out the pat Sam's knee.

"There, there, Sweetie. It's okay to be in denial. Oh, and your sister is about to lose her job." At that moment, Sam's phone vibrated and Mable disappeared. Shaken from the conversation and the fact that her hallucination had actually touched her, she picked up the phone and read the message.

"Shit," was all that she could say.

 

[Beatrix]

Tal stood nervously at the lobby counter, wondering when the axe was going to fall. David stepped up to deal with the customers as she worked on the necessary information input. David remained unusually quiet for the next few hours. He seemed withdrawn, which was very unlike him, as times like this was when he would come out with his best jokes. She looked at the computer screen forlorn, unable to continue typing in the information. She looked down to see a puddle of water forming around her feet.

Tal tried not to move, tried not to raise suspicions. She looked up to see another couple come stumbling in, and David was out helping another. Tal was polite to them as she directed the pair to the love seat against the wall. Glancing down, she noticed that the puddle was growing, yet she remained dry. It would be several minutes later when David would arrive before taking the other couple to their room. Quickly, she entered the broom closet to retrieve the mop to clean up the water that had collected where she stood.

"What are you doing?" David asked quietly as to not draw suspicion. He was being overly polite this evening, and she became wary. She refused to answer him as she finished mopping the water. As she carted the mopping supplies back to their place, she turned around to find David following her.

"Listen, I have things that are going on right now, please do not patronize..." She was halted by David shaking his head, saying no under his breath.

"I will not do that now. The manager wants to speak with you. Now." He said kindly and urgently. Tal gave him a quick wave goodbye. Looks like I'm going home now.