The Redemption of Stingy Jack

Chapter Three

Maud had a knife in her hand, and with premeditated calmness, she slowly carved a scary face in to the pumpkin on the breakfast bar before her.

Not too scary though, one should add, as it was a just an open-mouth pumpkin face. A large hole had already been cut in the bottom, and all the pulp scooped out into a bucket beside her. She was now in a gray polka dot pajama pant, with a pink t-shirt on her bottom hourglass frame. She'd always been the type to prefer baggy clothing, even though fitted ones would look gorgeous on her. Or so Lyn always said.

Speaking of, no sooner had she picked up another pumpkin to carve, than Lyn walked in to the house.

Stress had insidiously coiled about her and Maud could tell, as she was bearing two big bags, which she could guess contained her costume. She left the door open still, trotting towards the kitchen area. She saw the work Maud had done, from buying enough pumpkins to carving up to three, and she felt she had to join her immediately.

"Hi."

"Hi," Lyn sounded much more tired than she did, as she turned to face her room.

Maud took her eyes off her, and continued carving. The sunlight played right before her from the window across, and her eyes batted casually towards the main door. Lyn didn't shut the door. Guess she had to do it herself. And then as if on cue, Cole waltzed in, when Maud was just about to drop the knife in her mind.

Well, I hope he closes the door behind him, she thought, and that was exactly what he did when he stepped foot onto their floorboards.

She resumed, and Cole's gaze travelled towards the kitchen area.

Nice carvings, he thought, eyes carefully appraising. He minced to take a closer look, and then Lyn stumbled out of her room.

She only spared Cole a quick glance, and she dashed straight to the knife block. She pulled out a small pairing knife, and she drew a pumpkin close to her. She climbed onto the breakfast bar stool, and looked set to make some scary pumpkin craft with an unaccountably chilled mood.

She glanced at Maud real quick. "What's that?" She asked, brows snapped together.

"Oh, I wanna make a witch face," Maud grinned with excitement.

"Oh yeah?" Lyn glanced at her pumpkin, thinking of what face to make on it. "Well, I'm gonna make… a quirky pumpkin face." Maud looked up to meet her face. "You know, the ones with the ghostly look." She oohed, for effect, and they both chuckled.

Cole chuckled too.

"So... this is what you want to spend the rest of your afternoon doing?" He asked, partly pained that they could be so oblivious that he stood there all along. His masculine frame wasn't the type to go unnoticed on a normal day, but it just did, that hot afternoon.

"Yeah," Lyn answered him with a blank stare. "You got a problem with that?" She added.

Maud paused, eyes darting between the two. Cole's soft-angled medium arched eyebrows lifted, and Lyn didn't seem to notice. It was no longer news that Maud was not a fan of Cole's, but the little scene that just played before her raised a concern. For the sake of her friend and roommate, of course. What was going on with them? Maybe because it'd only been two months. Who knew?

This little independent thread of inquiry ran through the texture of Cole’s mind and died away.

"’kay," He gave a series of nods instead, with an offended sensibility, playing with the sunshade in his hand while he gave their apartment a quick scan. He'd only been there a few times, and those times, he'd never been to Lyn's room. It sounded funny, but he waived the thought instantly. She came over to his, and that was enough.