Waters of Oblivion

Chapter 13.1: The Dilemma

On Monday, Reine reluctantly dragged herself back to work. It was probably the first time she wasn't excited to be on campus. The guilt trip Dr. Iverson laid on her for missing all of the previous week dampened her mood even further. A certain Detective Johnson had left a voicemail, but he didn't have good news for her, either. Apparently, the department had closed the recent burglary case because of a lack of leads.

She should have been trying to figure out why her memories had returned even though they shouldn't have, or why it was taking her longer to heal than what was normal for an immortal. Instead, there was only one thing she could think about.

No matter how hard she tried, Reine's focus inadvertently always returned to the thoughts she wished she could ignore.

Gabe's words still haunted her, especially because they were all true. She had feelings for two men, and she had to make some sort of choice. Even if that decision ultimately led to being with neither of them.

Although logic indicated that perhaps wouldn't be the worst solution – after all, they'd both deceived her numerous times – Reine's heart now ached at the thought of ending up alone.

It made things even harder that Noor – who was usually around at the most inopportune times – was now nowhere to be found. Although she initially waited for her to make contact, Reine ended up calling, instead. However, the voicemails and eventual emails all went unanswered.

Because she had access to all of the department's attendance sheets, she saw Noor hadn't missed any classes that week. At least her friend wasn't in any type of peril.

The rest of the week proceeded in the same manner, and Reine actively tried to occupy her time. It was with little success.

Apart from work, she mostly ended up on her couch watching just about anything on the TV and eating copious amounts of junk food while pondering her dilemma. Not only was she remembering recent things, but there were also memories – or rather feelings – from the time before she first became immortal, which began to resurface.

She couldn't ignore her history with Max or that her excitement at their reunion was as strong as half a millennium before. She couldn't even totally fault him for not foreseeing that his plan to meet her in Venice would bring harm to her, just as she couldn't blame Gabe for willingly taking part in it as a loyal member of the brotherhood in the first place.

The rationalizations and justifications ping-ponged back and forth in Reine's head for days. Eventually, she concluded she was at an impasse. Removing this pressure to make any type of final decision put her in a welcome state of tranquility. Thanks to Noor, however, this feeling was also temporary.

As Reine ate dinner in the faculty dining room, the girl who'd been deliberately avoiding her arrived at the table. Her red eyes and distraught look signaled something was definitely amiss. Reine didn't even get a chance to pose any questions because Noor filled her in on the situation willingly, taking a seat at one of the empty chairs.

"Oh my God, Rennie, I've been looking all over for you. I wanted to call, but my phone's been disconnected, and the place at the mall says I haven't paid my bill in four months. They won't give me a new account until I pay it off, which is ridiculous because I know I paid them. But even if I wanted to pay it, I can't because my credit cards aren't working and the ATM says I have no money in my checking account." Her rambling ended only when she couldn't talk from the sobbing.

Reine stroked her shoulder, trying to calm the girl down, while attempting to make sense of what was going on. "Take a nice deep breath. There you go. I'm sure this is all some sort of misunderstanding or a case of mistaken identity. We'll take care of it, don't worry. Now, why don't you go home and I'll come by first thing—"  

"I can't go home. Someone's changed the locks and this was on the door," she said, handing Reine a piece of paper.

Her eyes fixated on the large bold letters centered at the top of the page: Notice of Foreclosure. Scanning the rest of the letter from Noor's mortgage company, Reine began to worry.

She folded up the paper into thirds and pulled out her purse from under the table. Handing Noor a set of keys, she tried to sound calm.

"This has to all be connected. Now, listen to me. Take these. You'll stay at my house tonight. The guest room is made up, and there's food in the fridge. I'll be home right after my class, and we'll get this mess straightened out, okay?"

The girl gave her a big hug. "I knew you wouldn't let me down. Can I get a twenty, though? My gas tank's almost empty," she said.

"Sure, sweetie. I'll see you in a few hours." Handing her the money, she watched Noor walk away in a much better frame of mind.

Reine's class started quickly thereafter, so she didn't even have much time to ponder the curious events until she got home. By then, Noor had already fallen asleep, so they revisited the issue the next morning.

First, they needed to find out exactly what parts of Noor's life had been affected. It turned out, it was pretty much everything.

After piecing together the information about her accounts from what the girl could remember and subsequently contacting each company, Reine realized the situation was indeed dire. Not only were all of Noor's utilities and creditors in default, but the university's Registrar was adamant she'd withdrawn from all of her spring courses.

Ultimately, Reine was able to pull some strings with staff in the enrollment office to convince them that a technical glitch was more likely to have been responsible for Noor's cancelled classes than a student leaving everything just months before graduation. She focused on getting this cleared up first. It was not only something she could accomplish herself, but she also wanted Noor back in school before missing any more classes.

With that taken care of, Reine called for professional assistance. The business card Mal had given her was still in her jacket pocket, and she dialed the number with trepidation.

There was no name to indicate who exactly she was calling, so she was relieved to hear a familiar southern drawl on the other end of the line. "Good morning. Mr. Baldovini's office. How may I help you?"

"Hi, Anna. It's Reine."

"Well, hi there, Reine. So nice to hear from you. How are you doing?" she asked cheerily.

"I'm good, thank you. But I have a friend who needs some help."

She proceeded to describe the details of Noor's administrative troubles. After giving Anna all of the available information, Reine was confident she'd done the right thing. She was also happy Anna didn't refer her immediately to Max. She certainly had no desire to speak with him. Anna did, however, promise to get back in touch with her as soon as there were any developments.

While Reine trusted Pennsylvania eXpress Logistics' expertise, she didn't expect any movement on the case within twenty-four hours. Once again, she had underestimated the power of Max Baldovini.