THE WOMAN BEFORE

Chapter 30

     “YOU STILL HAVEN’T told your friend I want to thank her,” Jacobs says from the kitchenette in their one-bedroom apartment to Lauren.

     She’s sprawled on the sofa in the small living room and watching a brunette in an impeccable suit give another boring, yet informative news of what’s happening in the world. Evening news is always a bore, but Jacob loves watching the news and her favorite TV series won’t start till nine o’clock. Sometimes she hates the time for the series, but she has to watch it and narrate it to her co-worker tomorrow. She can’t sleep off like she did the other time. Clara was low-key angry that she couldn’t narrate yesterday’s episode when it was her turn.

     Clara works a night shift in a restaurant downtown right after her usual day job. Her Mom has leukaemia and her husband ran off after their first son, Tom was born. Since then, it’s been only Clara, her sick mom, and her son. She takes care of everything, which means she works extra hard and has little to no time to watch TV series, although she sneaks out to watch when it’s her turn to narrate. Most of the time, the restaurant isn’t busy, which gives her some time to herself, she tells Lauren.

     When Lauren doesn’t reply, Jacob says, increasing his voice, “Are you even listening to me?”

     She presses her cheek into her palm, her brown her tumbling down and hitting the pillow. “You were saying?”

     “Geez, Lauren! I hate this attitude of yours!”

     She detects the note of frustration in his voice. “I’m sorry, darling. I’m just tired. Work was tough today.”

     Which is true. As an assistant in a rapidly growing nutritional supplement company with a stern supervisor, she has no time to rest. Her work is very tedious and involving. She usually sleeps early to regain her full strength, so she won’t sleep off at work. If not for the TV series, she’d have been in bed by now.

     Unlike her who has been working so hard for the past months, Jacob recently started work after having an entire month doing nothing except eating and getting the food commodities finished. She never complained about it, not once.

     Someone has to pay the bills, she had told Jacob one time when he demanded why she was late again, and that shut him up and sent him into a revert. Later, she felt bad for saying it. She’s been coming home late nowadays. She’s glad he doesn’t complain anymore.

     “Your supervisor giving you a hard time again?”

     “He’s a pain in the neck.” She sighs. “What were you saying?”

     “Your friend. The one you met at the mall who is getting married to the millionaire.”

     “Rosina?”

     “Yeah. Her. Rosina.” Jacobs appears behind her wearing a tank top and baggy pants, an apron tied around his waist. He leans forward and gives Lauren a glass of red wine.

     She collects it. “Thanks.” She takes a long sip and sets the glass on the center table. “What about her?”

     He says, walking back to the kitchenette, “I want to thank her myself. She got me a job.”

     “Right. I haven’t heard from her lately. I will give her a call tomorrow and tell her about it.”

     There’s a long pause, and then he says, “Some people are so lucky. I can’t believe she got me a job in a matter of seconds when it could’ve taken weeks or months to get one on my own.”

     She can’t agree more. “Yes. Rosina is God-sent. I’m glad I met her. She’s such a lovely friend.”

     “You never told me how you met, you know?”

     Something the newscaster is saying piques her interest. She grabs the remote and increases the volume. The newscaster’s feminine voice fills the room. “International con woman, Elise Montgomery who has conned several men and women across different countries is currently on the list of FBI’s most wanted criminals. Elise, who goes by any name depending on who she is deceiving is suspected of being involved in multiple fraudulent acts that have led to the financial loss of most of her victims.

     “The FBI and Interpol have evidence to suggest she’s currently in the US under a false identity. Citizens are advised to be wary of a beautiful woman who inserts herself into the lives of innocent people and uses ploys to con them. If you have any information or have seen this woman  anywhere, call the following numbers on the screen.”

     Photos of Elise Montgomery are superimposed on the screen. Her hair is dark here and tumbles down her shoulders. Her skin looks tan. In other photos, her hair is auburn and her eyeballs are brown, but she will never forget the tattoo of the magpie on her wrist. That’s Rosina Scott, the woman she’d met in the mall who had befriended her right on the spot.

    All this while, she’d found their friendship to be odd but never paid attention to her instincts. After all, Rosina had been helping her financially. She didn’t have any reason to doubt who she was. But why did she insert herself into her life when she isn’t a very rich person?

     Her mouth is agape and she isn’t sure she will close it. This can’t be. Blinking, she looks at the photos again, hoping it is a different person but she knows it isn’t. That’s Rosina Scott in different hairs and clothes.

     “You’re quiet all of a sudden,” Jacob says, coming out of the kitchenette with a tray.

     “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he blurts when he looks at her face.

     She darts her eyes to Jacob. “Do you have your phone with you?”

     “Yeah. Why?”

     “Take a picture of the numbers on the screen.”

     Jacob stares blankly at her. “What’s up with you?”

     “Just do it!”

     “All right.” He places the tray on the center table and does as she says. He moves closer and thrusts the phone screen forward. “I’ve got it. See.”

     She glances at the screen, her mind completely elsewhere. She needs to speak with the police. It’s urgent.