Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone (praxidike) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-04-15 18:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | hecate, persephone |
we take moments to pause
Who: Isobel & Kate.
What: Isobel pays Kate back for their earlier tea, and the two catch up about current events.
Where: The Coffee Bean & Tea.
When: April 8, midday.
One hand curled around her cup of iced Orchard Peach tea, Isobel carefully slid into one of the coffee shop's many booths, unconsciously sighing. Dark bags hung under her eyes, and she sipped the tea, hoping the caffeine would help keep her awake. Still, she smiled over at her friend as Kate joined her. They'd still had regular walks with their dogs, and occasionally saw each other in their shared hallway on the Deluxe floor, but between trying to keep Spring Growth afloat, the strange tension between herself and Obed, and now Bryan's reappearance, she had so much on her mind she felt like she was going to tip over. It felt good to get out and away from the complex, and pretend none of it existed for a moment.
"Thanks," she offered, her voice small. She coughed, massaging her throat, trying to keep herself together. "Thanks, I mean, for coming out with me. I really needed a break. How've you been?"
Kate took the seat across from Isobel, placing on the table the Japanese cherry latte she’d decided to indulge in. The color reminded her of the strange gift that had been placed in front of her door on April Fool’s Day, though she had no idea who had left it or what it signified, and judging by the community message board, no one else had either.
Of immediate concern was Isobel. She did indeed look like she’d needed a break, and Kate was going to provide her one from whatever problems her neighbor was facing (despite their walks, Isobel hadn’t offered any further information about the potential pregnancy or Obed’s reaction). But then she heard the scratch in Isobel’s voice, and Kate’s concern deepened too much to ignore.
“I’ve been fine,” she said, frowning. “But it doesn’t...well, I’ve not wanted to pry, but you look worse each time I see you. Is there anything I can do to help? Please?” She took Isobel’s free hand, resting on the table, into her own, trying to provide any comfort she could for whatever the other woman was going through.
Isobel covered the tremor in her throat with a quick sip of her drink. She shook her head. "I'm fine, really, I..." She returned Kate's grip with a gentler one of her own; the physical contact was welcome all the same. "There's just been so much going on. I didn't want to bother you with any of it. And I've been going to see Simone; she's been a huge help, just...just talking about things." She tried on a smile, which only seemed to underline her exhaustion.
"So I guess you got a box, too? Along with everyone else in the complex?" Her 'gift' had remained boxed up and put away in her closet. Everyone else receiving one had done little to calm her nerves that its sender was not Bryan, especially after the text messages she'd received only days later.
Kate tamped down on her disappointment that Isobel didn’t want to confide in her and wondered if it was because she truly had it under control or (Kate thought with some chagrin) because she didn’t want a repeat of Kate’s uncharacteristic anger during their last heart to heart. Nevertheless, Kate gave Isobel’s hand one last squeeze before pulling back to warm her fingers around her latte.
“Yes, I did. Did you hear anything about what that was about?” she said, taking Isobel’s cue and moving the conversation along. “It was weird to begin with, but the silence from the sender is even weirder.”
She nodded mutely, part of her wishing she hadn't picked this topic, the other part forcing her to continue on. "What did you get?" She thought back to the strange handguard she'd received, and the painting that had been intended for Obed, the one that was now snugly framed in a gorgeous black box and hanging on a wall in D3.
“A little red glass disc with the image of a dragon,” Kate replied after taking a sip of her latte, reliving that strange moment of blank curiosity upon opening the box. “I mean, dragons are interesting, but I don’t know how it’s relevant to me. What did you get? Was it just one item per apartment, or one for both you and Obed?”
"We each got a gift. I think we opened the ones meant for each other; he got a paper scroll with a drawing of a man and a woman. I got... I think it's a handguard. It was on a pile of dead leaves. Strangest set of gifts ever." Isobel fell quiet for a moment, sipping her tea. She seemed to be arguing with herself in her mind, and then something broke.
"I almost thought they were from Bryan." It was a ridiculous assumption, the losing voice in her mind said, the one that got quieter and smaller day by day. "Which makes no sense, I don't know why he'd give everyone in the building something, but..." Her eyes fell to the table, growing unfocused as another thought made her withdraw into herself.
“Bry-?” Kate started to ask, then stopped herself. Slowly her brain made the connection between the name and what Isobel had told her about the boundary-breaking boyfriend when she had come over for tea last month. Who else could she be referring to but him? Instead, the words coming out slowly, she asked, “Why would he be sending you stuff now, years later?”
"It's not years later," she mumbled in reply. She sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself as she met Kate's eyes. "I was on and off with him for years, even after...all of what I told you. And he...he texted me again, earlier this week. He knows where we live." Her eyes rolled toward the ceiling as she felt hot tears well in her eyes. She grabbed napkins and dabbed, feeling stupid for getting emotional. "And things are so weird with Obed, and I just..." Isobel shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's not your problem. I feel ridiculous, this shouldn't be this hard..."
Kate shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She wished she could banish this Bryan from Isobel’s life forever and summon Obed to get down to the bottom of why things were weird. But nothing was ever that easy.
“I told you I’ll help in any way I can,” she said, waving aside Isobel’s apology. “Do you think he’s a threat to you? I mean, if you’re this upset over an old boyfriend texting you...have you contacted the police?” Her firm didn’t usually deal with family law like stalking or--and she desperately hoped this wasn’t the case--abuse, but her mind was running through every case and resource she could think of that might provide assistance.
Isobel's hands toyed with her cup, guilt laying itself heavily across her shoulders. Her head started to shake, less negating Kate's comment and more admonishing herself.
"Yes, I did. I have," she corrected. She pulled her gaze up from the table to Kate's again, rolling her eyes inwardly at her own childishness. "I didn't tell you everything, Kate, I should've... I should've been honest. Not just tell you one thing, it should've been it all or nothing. I'm-" She cut herself off, nearly biting her tongue. "I have a restraining order against him, for all the good it's doing me now. He put me in the hospital last year. It's not... I was hoping this was all behind us, behind me, but he clearly doesn't know how or when to leave well enough alone."
Kate felt a slow rage building toward this sorry excuse for a man. She wanted to turn him into a lowly creature, a sneaky rat to match how he behaved--no, a bug, an insect to be crushed underfoot and forgotten.
“I’m so sorry you have to deal with scum like him,” she said, reaching out again to take Isobel’s hand gently. “Does the restraining order include contacting you in any capacity? What are the police doing about it now?”
"I don't know," Isobel replied, her free hand rising to rub at her temple; the other welcomed Kate's grasp. "He's not supposed to be contacting me at all. The last couple of times, I moved, because he found out where I lived. Obed moved because of me, it's why we're even at Pax at all. I feel so guilty that I dragged him into this," she swallowed, trying to control herself and steady her words.
"I was too upset. He might've contacted the police, I don't know. I've just... been ignoring everything." Her age old method of, 'maybe if I ignore it, it'll ignore me, and everything will go back to being fine.' How well it had served her so far. "I blocked his number, or at least the number he contacted me on. I can't change this one, I have too many business calls coming through to my cell. I don't even know how he got it in the first place."
Kate shook her head, wondering at the ineptitude of the law to actually protect people like the woman sitting in front of her, but not entirely surprised. She had followed so many mystery novels and TV shows with stalker plotlines, the terror imminent but always ultimately contrived because it was fictional, easily escaped by shutting a book or turning off the screen.
She watched her friend’s contorted expressions, listened to her tight voice. Isobel was real, and her fright was real, as was the threat. Kate felt the need to help, to do something, like if she just searched through the right database, made the right call, a feasible solution would be found. And Isobel could smile again.
“Find out if Obed contacted the police. I’ll see what I can do. Restraining orders and the consequences for breaking them are clear. I have connections through the firm who might be able to advise accordingly. It’s good that you blocked his number. If he does contact you again, make sure to document everything. Keep those records, because he’s just digging himself his own grave.”
Isobel nodded; it sounded like something Obed would advise, and she wished for the umpteenth time that the fear she felt around him did not exist. Abruptly, she changed the subject.
"Kate, have you felt... Odd, or strange, at all, in our building? Like...sleeping problems, or....?" She didn't know how to ask, or even begin this conversation without sounding like she was losing her mind. It seemed perfectly obvious that her mental stability was cracking from the pressure Bryan applied, but she couldn't quite negate the feeling that something more was going on.
Kate didn’t respond immediately, thrown off by the sudden change in topic. She hadn’t felt strange about the building, but she gave the question due consideration, reflecting on the last few months since she’d moved in.
“Well, there was the cat invasion, and the gifts we all got,” she said after taking another sip of tea. She’d had some dreams she could never quite remember that left her feeling a strange mixture of confused, powerful, and wary, but didn’t everyone dream? “Is that what you mean?”
Isobel shook her head. "I mean, yes, that is strange, but... I've been having the strangest dreams. I've seen people - a blind man, someone tied to a rock, and..." She paused, weighing if she should continue, and deciding that she was in it for good. "And you. I mean, it wasn't you you, but we were together, and I was asking you for help... You... We both looked very different." A hand encircled her cup again, swirling the remnants of the cold tea, wondering if she'd gone too far. "Maybe I just haven't been sleeping well. It would explain the stress."
As Isobel described her dreams, Kate’s memories of her own started to solidify, like some horrible déjà vu. She sensed dark rooms far underground, cold air, torchlight that did little to brighten the way, and--
She didn’t want to go down that path anymore.
“It was probably related to our conversation the last time you were over,” she said, forcing a smile over her discomfort. “Have you told Simone about the dreams?” Not that you need to be a therapist to see the obvious connection, Kate thought, feeling slightly better.
Isobel sighed, shaking her head. "No. Do you think I should? I thought there was enough going on in my personal life, but... I had another one the other night, and I thought Obed was in it. Now I'm scared to be around him, and I hate it..." She wet her lips. "Sorry, we can talk about something else. I didn't think my life would get this exhausting this quickly."
Kate frowned deeply. “Wait, you’re afraid--” She stopped herself, looked away, took a deep breath to control the alarm bells ringing in her head, and met Isobel’s eyes. “Yes, we can talk about something else. But I do think you should tell Simone. That’s what she’s there for, right?
“Anyway. Did I tell you that I managed to get food poisoning earlier this week?” Kate proceeded to relay the story to Isobel as they finished their tea.
"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Isobel happily and eagerly grabbed onto the tether of conversation that Kate offered. She sipped her tea, happy to be, for a time, away from all the other problems in her life.