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CHAPTER NINE: RULES FOR VANISHING ( aka 03x11: birthright )
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DALLIS STARTED THE DAY with a Mariah Carey song crooning through the downstairs speaker interrupted by the clatter of pots and pans. Groaning, she rolled over in a twist of pale blue sheets, gazing up at the ceiling of the spare room in her parent's house. It took her a second to remember how she got there.
The night before was family dinner night as well as a celebration for Anthony and Hope's twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. Anthony made lamb cutlets, Dallis brought a strawberry cheesecake from her mum's favourite bakery. They got drunk on champagne and Hope convinced Dallis to stay the night instead of driving home late. Austin's apartment was in the next street over so he stumbled his way back there a little after 2am.
Despite the thumping in her head, Dallis still smiled when she heard Anthony singing along as the song changed to one by Kate Bush. Hope's laughter was warm and admiring as she admonished him for overcooking the bacon. For a moment, it was like Dallis never grew up.
Someone knocked on her door. Hope waited for Dallis to call out before poking her head inside.
"Morning, sleepyhead," she beamed, coming to stand at the end of the bed. "Still feeling that champagne?"
Dallis groaned. "How are you not?"
"Fifty-eight years of life, my dear. You better get up. Your phone's been ringing nonstop."
"Shit." She'd left it in the kitchen to charge overnight, convinced that someone would've already called her if they had a case. Guess not.
"Language," Hope briefly narrowed her eyes. Just as quickly, her smile returned and she clapped her manicured hands together. "How should I tell Anthony you want your eggs?"
Dallis forced herself to sit up and swing her legs over the side of the bed. Her mum had graciously let her borrow a set of her tracksuit pants and one of Austin's old football jerseys to sleep in. Folded on top of the dresser was her crushed work uniform. She'd make sure to grab it on the way out. "Let me get back to you on that. I might need something quick to go."
"Yes, well, you make sure you're back from wherever your work takes you before the weekend," Hope said as the two red-haired women walked down the stairs side-by-side. "We're throwing Mei and Austin a going-away party before their trip to London."
"Yes, I know," Dallis glanced at the side of Hope's sharp jawline.
Their family and friends often said that Dallis looked just like her mum when she was younger. It wasn't until she turned forty that Hope adopted a short bob that was simply 'easier to maintain.' Dallis figured she had five good years left before the middle-aged mum brain set in and she chopped off her beautiful curls.
