Timing

Always Abby

   Harge followed Carol outside, trying his best to take it all back, saying anything he could to get her in the house and in good graces with him again. She got in the car and locked the door. He hit the window, saying a bunch of nonsense she didn't want to hear and was tuning out.

   It was a blizzard and like I said, she had been trapped in her house for weeks but she was so desperate to leave and to get away from Harge, and the damn house that she was going to risk it and drive in it anyways. She wasn't afraid he was going to hit her. He never did that but she was a little afraid that she would hit him.

   She drove carefully through the snow and on the slick roads. Then it occurred to her. Where was she going? She was driving to Abby. She was the first person she thought of when she thought of safety. Of course it was Abby. It had always been Abby.

   No cell phones back in the day, so she figured she'd drive to the furniture store and see if she was there. If she wasn't, she could use a pay phone and tell her where she was. In the city, the roads were a bit better, so she was confident that if she got there, Abby could meet her.

Carol finally made it. She pulled into the lot of the furniture store and saw it was dark in there. So, she took a look around to see what was nearby. There was a hotel diagonal, across the street. Surely they'd have a pay phone, so she crossed the street and went inside.

Carol walked up to the front desk. It was damn near empty in there. The only sound was Carol's heels clicking over the marble and the faint sound music from the hotel lounge. "Excuse me" Carol said, softly. "I have found myself caught in all of this" she gestured to the snow outside. "I was wondering, do you have a telephone that I could use?" She smiled at the concierge, charming her.

"Why yes, of course!" She said, flustered and clearly nervous. Carol went behind the counter and the girl showed her where the phone was. It was only about five feet away from the woman. Carol didn't like that but who was she to turn it down?

   She dialed Abby's mom's number. Abby still lived with her mother. It rang. "Hello?" Abby answered, not to Carol's surprise. She was a bit of a night owl. If anyone were to answer, at this time of night, it'd probably be her.

   "Hello?" Abby asked again. "It's Carol" she forced out, abruptly. She realized she was silent. A lot happened and she was a bit shaken. "Carol?" Abby asked. "Hi" Carol said softly. She felt weird talking with the concierge so close.

   "Hi?" Abby questioned. Carol was silent. "Where are you?" Abby asked, knowing Carol all too well, and that there was something wrong. She froze up like this sometimes and had trouble finding the words. "What's your address?" Carol asked the concierge. The concierge gave it to her and Carol mimicked it back to Abby.

   She smiled at the concierge to signify her appreciation. "That's across the street from the shop. I thought you were miserable and hauled up at home?" Abby questioned, trying to make light as well. Carol was silent. "I'll be right there. Get a room. Tell her to put it on my bill" Abby said. "No, I couldn't-" Abby cut Carol off.

   "Get the room. It's cold and you aren't waiting outside" she said. "Right, O-okay" Carol said, softly. "I'll be right there, okay?" Abby reassured. "Okay" Carol said softly. "Tell the concierge to expect me. Go up and get some sleep. Run yourself a bath" Abby said. "I may take a while in this" She added.

   "Okay" was all Carol said. "I love you, Carol" Abby said. "I love you" Carol said, softly, gripping the phone. "Go ahead" Abby said. "Okay" Carol said, unable to utter very much. "Hang up the phone" Abby said. "Okay" Carol said, hanging up the phone. She stood there for a second.

   "Everything okay?" The concierge asked. Carol was startled by her voice. "Yes, yes..." Carol said, trying to come back to reality. She cleared her voice and took a deep breath. "Do you have a room available?" Carol asked.

   "Yes, a standard with two beds and at an attractive rate, a Presidential suite with one bed-" Carol interrupted her. "The presidential suite would be just fine, thank you" Carol said. There was a silence. They just stared at each other. "And how will you be paying?" The woman asked. "Oh.." Carol said, snapping out of it.

   "Forgive me, I'm not myself tonight and am quite nervous" Carol said. "That's okay, working here usually makes me nervous. The storm has kept that at bay mostly" the woman said, nicely. "You're too kind" Carol said. "It'll be billed to Abby Gerhard. She's across the street-" Carol started.

   "We know Miss Gerhard, not a problem" The woman said, kindly. Carol just shook her head. "You're very helpful" Carol said. The girl just smiled, dimple's prominently showing. "What's your name?" Carol asked. "Therese. Therese Belivet" she said. "Therese? Not Theresa?" Carol asked.

   The woman smiled. "I bet you get that a lot" Carol laughed. Therese just laughed. "I do" she said simply. "French?" Carol asked. Therese just looked at her wide eyed. "Your name" Carol laughed. "Oh" Therese smiled, a little embarrassed. "It's Czech" she said. "It's Originally-" Carol interrupted. "It's very original" She said.

   Therese just smiled. "Thank you for helping me tonight Therese" Carol smiled at her. "I'll make sure I tell management" she added. "Well, thank you" Therese said. Therese handed Carol her room key. Carol just smiled and they held eye contact for a moment.

   Carol couldn't shake the feeling that she knew this person before somehow. Perhaps in another life or a different dimension. Carol began walking away and turned around smiling at her. As she turned around, she heard Therese call out. "Wait! You forgot your gloves!"