The One Who Ran Away

Chapter Nine

Jo smiled into the mirror. It was an old smile, one she hadn't tried on since her father died. She used to use that particular smile all the time. To Jo, those days felt like a life-time ago.

Her smile fell, replaced by a frown. Jo scrubbed at her face with her hands, trying to get the old feeling back. She wanted this, she needed this. She was doing it for Ricky. She was going to do this.

***

Jo placed a timid smile on her face as she scurried into the bank. She had brushed her long, black hair over her face to shield it. She clutched a well used notebook to her chest, had a pencil stuck in her ear, and wore a pair of brown contacts in her eyes.

The petite Asian woman at the counter looked up at her through tiny spectacles.

"May I help you?" she asked curtly. Her voice was cold and hard. Jo let out a squeak and glanced up. She quickly noticed a tall blonde woman looking at her with sympathy.

Jo mumbled something incoherent, portraying a terrified persona.

"What was that?" The Asian woman demanded. She glared at Jo, her lips pursed into a thin line. Jo let out another squeak and blushed, covering her face with her hair.

"Oh, Sonya! Stop it! You're terrifying that poor girl! Hi, sweetie. What's your name?" The blonde woman beckoned Jo over to her and Jo shot her a grateful smile.

"Madeline," Jo managed to squeak out. The blonde woman smiled gently at her and motioned to her to step closer. Jo obliged.

"Nice to meet you, Madeline. My name is Susan. How can I help you today?"

Jo stepped closer and looked up through her bangs.

"I'm doing a report on bank tellers, ma'am, and I was wondering if I could interview you?" Jo spoke softly. Susan beamed at Jo and lifted up a counter top, motioning for Jo to step through.

"Come on, into the back. You can interview me in private," Susan explained. She cast a warm smile that Jo hesitantly returned.

Susan led her into a back office room. Jo's eyes caught every detail of the hallway, memorizing the layout. She silently followed Susan.

"Here, this is one of the offices. You can take a look around if you like," Susan swept her arm about. "Take a seat when you're ready and ask anything you'd like."

Jo took her suggestion and walked slowly around the room. She scanned every corner, noting the smallest of details.

"Can I..." Jo trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Madeline, what was that? I didn't catch it."

"Can I... I mean, may I have some water?" Jo asked timidly. Susan practically cooed and walked over to the water cooler in the corner of the room. She grabbed two plastic cups, filling each one with care, before handing one to Jo.

"There you are, sweetie. Now, what questions do you have?"

Jo thanked the woman for the cup and took a sip. She took a seat in the stiff arm chair across from Susan's swivel chair. She set her worn down notebook on the desk separating the two woman and slipped her pencil from her ear. After ruffling through her pages, she found a page with a bullet list of questions. Jo proceeded to shyly ask each question, making sure to write down each answer carefully.

With each question, she took a sip and set the cup in her lap where she could discreetly dump the contents into a potted fern hidden from Susan's view. After a few questions, Jo would ask for more water, saying how thirsty she was lately, how dry the weather seemed to be, how hot the room was. Susan would eventually drain her own cup and gather up Jo's to refill both cups.