"A Hunt With No Violence Doesn't Feed Anyone" // Heathers Fanfiction

2- The Calls

2009

Heather Duke

Heather was having a pretty good day until a telephone call ruined everything.

The election was nearing, and the past few weeks of her life had been chaotic, with meetings, executive dinners, and photo ops causing mayhem in her schedule. Amid the tumult of running a campaign, she was finally able to get one day away from all of the stress, and God knew how much she deserved that.

In a way, campaigning for state senator made Heather feel like she was in high school all over again, with the fake smiles, the rules on how to act and how to look, and the constant eyes on her, scrutinizing every move she made, anxiously waiting to point out her mistakes; it was draining, but just like high school, this was something she had to go through, she just had to focus on the big picture.

The only meeting she had in her schedule ended faster than she expected, so Heather found herself free for the rest of the day and decided to go home and enjoy her Friday. Back in her teenage years, those days would be spent squeezing herself into a mini skirt and following Heather Chandler to whatever party her college boyfriend could get them into (she hated all of that, but high school was as political as her campaign, and she knew that as long as she sucked up to Chandler she would always be on the top) but at 37 years old, her Friday nights were very different.

The simple pleasure of being home with her wife and their dog was enough to relax Heather, and as she cuddled on the couch to watch a movie with Ava, she could feel all of her problems dissipating, until the strident noise of the telephone ringing burst their happy bubble, startling both Heather and her wife, and waking up the poor dog.

Heather cursed under her breath and got up from the couch, instantly missing the warmth of Ava's arms as she walked to her office.

"Heather Duke," Heather said automatically, so used to answering phone calls at that point that it became something almost robotic.

"Hey, it's Veronica," said the all too familiar voice.

"What happened to the 'let's not stay in touch' rule? You're the one who suggested it," Heather said in lieu of a greeting.

"Trust me, I want to keep it that way... " Veronica replied, her attitude as ornery as Heather's. A long time ago, they would spend hours on the phone gossiping about mundane things, but things changed over the years. "But something came up and I need to talk to you."

Duke massaged her temples, already feeling a headache coming. "Are you in Sherwood?"

"Yes."

"I can't just drop everything now and drive two and a half hours to meet you, Veronica." Heather huffed. "How about tomorrow night at 7, at the diner?"

A second passed before Veronica responded with a "Yeah, whatever. See you there."

"Bye," Heather said, but Veronica had already hung up, leaving Heather alone with the drawn-out noise indicating the end of the call.

Heather exhaled, trying to assimilate what had happened. The last thing Heather wanted was to go back to her hometown, but if Veronica of all people was contacting her, she wanted to know why. As she stared at the telephone in her hand, a thought crossed her mind and before she had enough time think it through, Heather started dialing another familiar number. The phone rang for five seconds before the person on the other line picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's me," Heather said, starting to regret her decision. "Can we talk?"

***