She is not bad

Chapter 71 : Posters

The temperatures were getting closer to zero and the snow was beginning to fall. Jane had been declared disappeared for two weeks now. Hopper and Joyce focused on the search, putting aside their lives. They stayed in the big city, but the clues were rare, even absent. While they were looking for Jane here, Cassandra was trying to keep her mind busy to not sink into depression. She called the numbers that Joyce gave her and met some professionals who told her she was completely sane. She was hoping that thanks to this recent conclusion, she could convince a hospital to hire her. But, for now, she was still looking for Jane too, or just a clue which could tell her she was okay. She printed many posters with Jane's picture on them, telling to call her if they had seen her. When she went out of her apartment, she met her neighbor, Mary, who warmly smiled to her.

- "Hey, how are you?"

- "I could be worse," Cassandra answered. "And you?"

- "I'm okay. I'll be better when Jane is back."

- "Thank you."

- "Um, I was wondering...Are you still looking for a job? Because at my workplace, they are looking for nurses. I can put a word in for you with my boss, if you want. He is a nice man. I'm sure he will see that you're not dangerous or insane."

- "I...I would love to. Thank you, a lot!"

- "It's the least I can do. Have a good day," Mary smiled.

- "You too."

The two women smiled to each other before separating to continue their day. Cassandra didn't take her car. She walked in the streets to visit each store around. She asked them if they had seen Jane lately and if they could put a poster in their store fronts. Sadly, some had a bad experience with Jane and refused to help her. She had to beg them and to do the sad mother to convince them. The vicinity was apparently not a good idea, so she tried to go farther in the town. After three hours in the cold, she decided to buy a hot coffee to warm her. She entered a coffee shop and recognized Beverly at the counter talking to another redhead. She took a deep breath and tried to look as okay as possible before approaching them.

- "Oh, hey Cassandra," Bev said. "How are you?"

- "I'm fine. And you?"

- "I'm okay. Do you have news about Jane?"

- "No. Not since Joyce and Hopper decided to stay in the city. What about you? She didn't try to contact any of you?"

- "No...I'm sorry..."

- "This is not your fault, sweety," the woman reassured. "She will come back. She always does."

Cassandra gently caressed Bev's cheek which made weakly smile the redhead. The woman turned to Max and held out a poster before asking:

- "Do you mind putting it in the store front? I know she is not around. But, maybe someone saw her somewhere, or she will come back here without daring to come back to me, I don't know..."

- "Sure, no problem," Max answered, taking the paper. "Can I have another one? I'll put it on the door of my building."

- "Thank you."

- "Um, do you wanna drink something? You must be freezing."

- "Sure."

While Max was preparing a coffee, Cassandra was catching up on Bev's news. The redhead was feeling ridiculous to complain about school stuff whereas the woman had been living worse things for months now. Cassandra sat next to her to drink her coffee. It was doing her good to talk about normal problems, she wished she could have these kinds of conversations with Jane instead of always wondering where she was. Max let them talk and listened to them with a light smile on her face. Sometimes she was forgetting that Bev had lived with Cassandra and Jane for days. She was knowing them better than anyone. And Cassandra seemed to be a very nice person. But Max was cut in her thoughts by someone entering the shop. Someone she didn't wanna see right now.

- "What do you want!?" Max snapped, stopping Cassandra and Bev in their conversation.

- "I wanted to apologize," Gary said.

- "I don't give a fuck, I don't wanna see you ever again!"

- "I know."

- "Don't try to take me back!"

- "I won't! I'm not here for that!" he said. "I just...I get it, you don't love me, you prefer...this girl, but I don't want to let you with a bad image of me."

- "Why would she have a bad image of you?" Bev provoked. "Maybe don't put your dick on someone's face when they're asleep, and they won't have a bad image of you, dummy Gary!"

Cassandra tried to not intervene, it wasn't her story, but her blood began to boil, remembering what happened to Jane.

- "I know I fucked up, okay!? It was...I was just trying to get her attention! She kept ignoring me or rejecting me for weeks! I was running out of ideas!"

- "It doesn't excuse you. There are millions of ways to get someone's attention!"

- "Throw pop-corns at my face next time!" Max added. "It's less stupid!"

- "I know! That's why I'm here to apologize! Look, Max, I lost myself. I was so desperate that I thought it was the only way for you to look at me. I mean, how could I know that the only way for me to get your attention was to become her!? If you were communicating a little bit more with me, I would have understood!"

- "No, don't try to blame her for your creepy act!" Cassandra intervened, not supporting it anymore. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you don't seem to realize the seriousness of your act! What in the earth made you think it would work!? Your ex-girlfriend was sad, and you just thought about yourself!? What kind of man are you!? Would you do this to your mother if she were sad too!?"

- "N-no—"

- "You should be ashamed of you! When innocent people like Jane or Constance are sent in prison for something they didn't do whereas boys like you strut in the streets after abusing someone, it's making me sick! You need to change this behavior before you go too far!"

- "I, I will...I'm sorry..."

The woman brutally stood, startling the young boy who hid behind his arms to protect himself, took the posters, and left the coffee shop, letting the three teens together.

- "I'm an idiot," he said.

- "Yes, you are," Max sharply answered.

- "I never wanted to harm you. I'm sorry..."

- "I know. But I can't forgive you for this. Not now."

- "I understand. I just...I wish you the best with..."

The boy made many movements with his head in direction of the outside, trying to make her understand who he was talking about. Max understood quickly, but Bev frowned at them before looking at the outside and understanding something too. She turned to Max with wide opened eyes while the other redhead was becoming red.

- "You and Cassandra!?"

- "What!? What the hell!? No! It's Jane, not Cassandra!"

- "Oh, I prefer this. But, wait, you love Jane?" Bev smirked.

- "I...like her more than a friend."

- "Yeah, that's the definition of love. When did it happen?"

- "When this idiot was in vacation."

- "Oh...I have so many questions right now!"

- "Yeah, I can see it on your face!" Max stated. "But don't tell the boys. I don't want them to know."

- "Why?"

- "Because, it's complicated. They're nosy, and they haven't been correct toward Jane either. I want it to stay between us, okay?"

- "Sure, no problem. I'm still mad at Mike and Will anyway, even if they realized they were wrong."

Max nodded to thank her. Gary left the shop, enabling Beverly to ask all the questions she had about Max's relationship with Jane. Max was relieved someone knew about it. She could ask advice to her best friend without feeling judge. She would have preferred being in a serious relationship with Jane instead of in this mess they were, but when Jane came back, she would do everything to change that. She would make up for lost time with her. They had waited enough.