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[12 Jul 2008|11:54am] |
She had just finished packing one suitcase when the cell phone on the wooden nightstand nearly vibrated down to the carpeted floor. Clemence sighed from her perch on the unmade bed and reached over to grab the flashing phone. She flipped it open and held it to her ear. "Yes?"
"We closed the deal on the house," the voice on the line replied. Clemence smiled wanely. "That's great." Her older brother David and his long-time girlfriend had been shopping for real estate in Wisconsin. He cleared his throat and continued. "I think you should come move in with us." That made Clemence pause her compulsive clothes-folding. "What are you talking about? You know I'm moving to California. I already put a deposit down." The blonde frowned.
"I'll reimburse you the deposit," he said dismissively. She could just imagine him waving his hand as he said it, as if trying to bat away an annoying fly. "Okay, but why do you think I should impose on you and Angela?"
"How could you be imposing if I'm the one asking you?"
"Answer the question, David," Clemence replied impatiently. She gave up on her mountain of freshly laundered clothes and walked over to her tiny bedroom window, staring out at the desert contemplatively. She thought she had an inkling of where her brother was going with his odd and random request.
"It's just that ever since you took off to Nevada, you've seemed...different. Even more so now in recent months." He paused, in an attempt to word things carefully, she assumed. "And we all thought that maybe you're a bit isolated up there?"
She laughed dryly. "I know it's a small town, but there are people around."
David's voice took on a slightly serious note. "We both know that no matter how many people are around, people you don't know, you still tend to isolate yourself." Clemence didn't have any snappy comeback to that.
"Okay," she conceded, "but it's not like I'm withering away or anything. You don't have to worry about me." As she stared out at the sandy expanse beyond her window, she knew that wasn't completely the truth; her family did have justification to worry about her, they just weren't aware of the reasons why.
"You worry about us," he countered. "So we're allowed to worry about you. Besides, you're the youngest." Clemence rolled her eyes. This was the back-up logic that they always used when they were out of arguments.
"I can tell you're not going to give up on this, so...just let me think about it, okay?" For the first time in the conversation, Clemence was being completely truthful. She would carefully think about, weigh all considerations thoroughly. Because honestly, she didn't think California would be far enough away. Not far enough away from the life she had lived in the past year and a half.
"Call me back tomorrow, will you?," her brother requested. "Of course," she replied, her voice softening.
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| The Golden Age of Cinema |
[12 Jul 2008|11:58pm] |
She'd missed the debut; if there was a golden ticket inviting her to the premiere Deanna wouldn't have received it. Between the time spent healing at Grace's abode, and returning to the Wynn to find out her belongings had been placed in storage and the suite given to another couple (the hotel manager hautily announcing it was bad publicity to have a vampire in residence), the redhead had missed more than a few momentous occasions.
Deanna slipped into the theatre just after dusk, popcorn purchased from the concession, and settled into her seat for what was truly a marvel of cinematic delight. While most of the audience debated after the final credits whether the actresses in Carmilla were truly vampires or not, she knew better. And, she also knew, Victoria had finally created her own childe.
She slipped by the departing throng and paused to admire the poster. Development Hell. That brought a smile to her face.
Thread open to Star and Victoria.
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