Sunflowers and Ink

Part 2: Chapter 12

Sara was waiting patiently, feet propped up on the desk and reading a magazine, when Josselin came back. Christian and Dante were gone and she'd flipped the 'open' sign to 'closed' and locked the door, so he unlocked it and let himself in.

"You're late," she said. She turned the page without looking up.

"Only ten minutes." Josselin paused to consider what he'd said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't call from the road and I thought traffic would be clearer this late."

Sara laughed. "It's okay," she said. She dropped her feet to the floor and the magazine to her desk. "I just finished counting the drawer, anyway."

"How did we do?"

"Not as good as we could've, since you cancelled so many appointments," Sara said. "I lined them all back up for you. You're booked until 8:00 for the rest of the week, except an hour for lunch. It's different every day. I scheduled you off early so you could go see visit Meara if he's still in the hospital. I wrote it all down for you. It's on your desk."

"Thank you, Sara," Josselin said gently, earnestly. "You really are the best."

She grinned and stood, clapping Josselin on his shoulder as she walked past.

"I need to get home," she said. "My boyfriends and I have a Cards Against Humanity and pizza date."

"Have fun!"

Josselin waved as she went out the door, and as she passed the window, she waved back with a grin. He took the envelope with the cash profits upstairs with him to take to the bank the next day during his lunch. By the time he got inside, he was suddenly too tired to walk all the way to his bedroom, so he collapsed on the couch and kicked his shoes off on the carpeted floor.

"I might be sleeping out here with you tonight, Mom," he chuckled. Familiar jumped up onto his stomach and headbutted his chin.

"Yeah, you too," he laughed, scratching her behind the ears.

The next morning, instead of going on his way after lighting his mom's incense, Josselin sat crosslegged in front of the small shrine, watching the smoke twist and curl toward the ceiling. He held his mom's necklace in his left hand, the silver cool against his palm from the crisp autumn air.

"So, I know you can hear me, wherever you are," Josselin started. "Even if you can't say anything back. But I thought... I was hoping... maybe you could break your silence and help me out with something."

The only sound was the thumping of Familiar's paws as she played with her sparkle ball on the other side of the room.

"I would have preferred to do this where you rest, but I'm not going to be able to get out there until Meara's out of the hospital. I just won't have the time. But that's what I want to ask you about."

"I don't know if you saw what happened last night, but Meara's on really bad terms with his mom, and I think the rest of his family, too. It's awful, but normally I wouldn't worry more than normal, but this time... I don't know, something about this feels bigger than anything I understand. Like something's going to happen. Am I right?"

He dropped the pendant of the necklace over the small board in front of him. Each corner and side read something different: 'yes,' 'no,' 'maybe,' 'don't want to tell,' 'can't tell,' 'ask later,' 'be more specific' 'don't ask again.' The center was blank, and this was where he held the pendant, the tiny amethyst crystal point that hung from the center moon pointing straight down.

"What do you think, Mom?" he asked again.

The pendant was mostly still at first. It swayed just slightly, but Josselin knew it was from the subtle movements of his hand. Then it started to swing back and forth between the 'yes' and 'no,' and his mom gently tugged against his hand toward the 'yes.'