Spencer Hastings makes shockingly bad choices. (ctrl_a) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-08-19 20:42:00
Who: Spencer and Jessica When: Late June Where: Out and About What: Jessica is working, Spencer is nosey Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete when posted
Jessica had never been particularly fond of staking out cheating couples, but since it was where most of her income came from, she did it anyway. It was one thing when the cheaters were getting busy on the ground floor. She still usually had to find a place to hide where she could snap photos. But today, the couple she was following had ended up on the second floor of a house. Jessica had done a loop around the house, and was pleased to see that there was a tree in the yard, just outside of the bedroom window.
The perks of these new powers, she guessed, was that it was much easier to get into a good position. It had taken some practice to stop herself from overshooting it, but now, at least, she could just jump to the branch she wanted to perch in instead of doing the whole messy business of climbing the tree from the bottom up. And so she’d jumped to her branch, grabbed hold, and pulled herself up, camera at the ready to get the money shot.
Spencer’s parents had lived in the same house for a really, really long time. It was a nice neighborhood, they said, and they’d sell when the time was right. Now that both Spencer and Melissa were out of the house, one would think it would be the right time. But not with upcoming elections and whatnot… apparently, the right time was never going to happen. It didn’t really bother Spencer, though. She appreciated the familiarity.
But that was until she noticed a strange woman in the neighborhood, circling a house just across the way. Spencer moved to the window to peek out, and saw--wait, she couldn’t have just seen a woman jump up into a tree. Could she?
Spencer grabbed her shoes and her cell phone and moved out into the yard of her parents house. She ducked down low and crouched behind the hedge… watching the woman in the tree. Did she have a camera??
Jessica took a moment to get at least relatively comfortable - there was no way she could get fully comfortable sitting in a tree for the next few hours - and then pulled out her flask from her jacket pocket. She was just unstoppering it when she thought she saw movement at a nearby hedge. For a moment, she froze in what she was doing, and peered at the hedge suspiciously. The seconds ticked by like hours, but after a moment she convinced herself she was just being paranoid. She took a swig from her flask, and then went back to watching the window.
Spencer’s heart thundered in her chest as the woman in the tree turned and stared at her hedge. The young woman froze, staying as still as she possibly could, praying that the woman in the tree wouldn’t see her and freak out, and… pull a gun? Or a knife? What did peeping Toms carry around as weapons? Then the dark haired woman went back to watching the window, and Spencer could breathe a little easier again.
...but what was that woman doing? And why? And now she was drinking from a flask?? Spencer wanted to get closer. She climbed slowly up from her spot behind the hedge to sneak into her neighbor’s yard. Maybe she could get a better angle from there.
Now Jessica was sure she had seen something, a movement from the corner of her eye as someone snuck into the back yard. She took one more glance at the window she should have been watching, and then sighed. She was probably going to regret this, but she couldn't let someone just go skulking about this person’s yard. The irony wasn't lost in her either.
She leapt from her perch in the tree, landing with a slight ruffle of the grass behind the girl who was in the yard and… looking at the tree Jessica had just been sitting at? Could someone have been spying on her? “Can I help you?” she asked.
With a yelp and a twist, Spencer turned to face the woman who’d just jumped… from a tree into the yard? And she fell down, landing hard on her wrist and backside in the damp, muddy grass. Damnit. Her expensive pants were probably now grass stained and likely ruined. Not to mention her wrist was smarting like crazy. Hopefully it wasn’t sprained or broken or anything.
“Wh-What?” Spencer asked, unable to mask the surprise and pain on her face.
Jessica winced slightly in sympathy when the girl fell, but that didn’t stop her from staring down at the girl. “I know this isn’t your yard. Were you just watching me?” she demanded, crossing her arms.
Yeah, there was probably something wrong with her wrist. But that didn’t stop her from scrambling up off of the soggy ground. The neighbors must have just watered the grass. Damnit.
The pain in her wrist helped to fuel her indignance. When Spencer went on, she had a little more strength in her voice. “You were climbing in a freaking tree across the street from my house. I know you don’t live around here. What were you doing?”
“My job,” Jessica said blandly, her expression or posture not changing as the girl climbed to her feet. “Do your neighbours know that skulk around in their backyard?”
“They won’t mind when I tell them someone else was climbing up into their tree to stare in like some deranged Peeping Tom.” Spencer muttered, wiping her hands off on each other. They were gross and covered in muddy grass. “Your job is to take pictures of people in their homes?”
Jessica rolled her eyes. Being a private detective wasn’t easy, especially not with the way most people thought of the profession. But it paid the bills, and Jessica was good at it, even if snide college students wanted to insult her. She didn’t mention that they, or at least one of them, knew she was here. She kept her clientele private. “Yeah, it’s my job to take photos of people when they’re screwing the housekeeper,” she said.
Spencer folded her arms across her chest then winced and unfolded them quickly. Her wrist hurt pretty bad, and that only aggravated it. “You’re the one sneaking around and taking pictures of people, not me. I’m the one wondering what some strange woman is doing climbing random trees in my neighborhood. I don’t think I’m in the wrong here.”
Jessica sighed. The girl did have a point. If she had caught people sneaking around in trees taking photos in her neighbourhood, she’d probably wan’t to figure out what they were doing too. “I’m a private detective,” she said. “Trust me, this is my job. And if you don’t mind, I’d really like to get a paycheque today.”
Spencer frowned a little. A private detective? Why would someone hire a private detective on her street? Was something weird going on with her neighbors? She wasn’t convinced, really, but then again… who was to say? She glanced back at the window of the house, and to the strange woman in front of her once more, then gave a slow nod. “Okay.”
Spencer turned to head back into her house. She wanted to get some ice for her wrist. But she wasn’t planning on stopping watching this other woman.
Jessica watched the girl head back toward her apartment, and looked back up at the window. It didn’t seem like anyone had noticed the two of them out there in the yard, which was a relief. Maybe she’d still be able to get the money shot. She jumped back into the tree.