Taste of Honey

Soft Boy Smiles

"Good morning Mona, sun is up, time to get up." Honey calls into Mona's room. The smell of bacon, pancakes, and freshly pressed juices wafts into Mona's room just beckoning her to wake up. She sits up and looks around, momentarily confused about where she is. Then everything from the previous night comes, back. The ever present sadness begins to burden her again, as if a weight is put onto her chest, five pounds heavier than ever before. Shaking the feeling off, Mona stands up, her dark blue overall dress wrinkled from restless sleep. She opens her luggage and slips off her dress. She puts her hair back into a small, messy bun and puts on a robe and some slippers. She shuffles into her sisters kitchen and sits on the stool at the countertop. Honey stands, already dressed and have already eaten. She fixes Mona a plate and hands it to her.

"So I messaged one of Heidi's ex's last night, asking if he knew anything about where in LA she is, and he said to meet him at the Cafe on Main at noon." Honey explains, sipping on most likely her third cup of coffee. Mona nods, eating her pancake. She observes her sister as she pets Cricket. Honey is wearing a faded tee shirt with an illegible band name on it, a pair of ripped jeans, and some sandals. After finishing her breakfast Mona heads back into her room.

She wanted to dress casual, but not exactly 'Honey' casual. She laid out a variety of pants, skirts, dresses, sweaters and shirts and finally decided on a pair of mom jeans, a striped sweater, some pastel yellow socks and some white shoes. Mona tied her hair up into two buns, and combed her bangs. She grabbed her old leather handbag, which had her money, sketchbook and chapstick. She heads back into the kitchen where her Honey sits, waiting. "Okay, I'm ready" Mona says to Honey.

They arrive at the Cafe at 12:14, and they see Jake sitting at a table outside. They sit down next to him and he looks up and gasps. "Oh My Goodness Gracious! If it isn't two of the four Bailey girls! See, Honey right before you messaged me, my boyfriend and I we JUST got done talking about y'all... all good things don't worry. We just were sayin how if it weren't for Heidi we never would've met!" Jake says, his wide glasses and light purple hair reflecting the sun. He sips his coffee and blinks, waiting for either Mona or Honey to speak.

"We were wondering if you knew where Heidi was? We haven't seen her... since... a while." Mona says quietly. Honey spares a quick glance over to her sister, to check on her. She didn't want her sister to have an emotional breakdown in public. Honey reaches out a hand and places it on top of Mona's, comforting her. When they were little, Mona's emotional sanity relied a lot on Honey's ability to be there, to hold her and to tell her everything would be okay.

"Now I don't want y'all to be upset, and I don't know if this is true or not, but some rumors that Brad and I heard is that she's actually got a girlfriend now, and they opened their own business, but she ain't in LA anymore, I heard she's in my hometown of Savannah, Georgia!" Jake says, drawling out each word. Mona sighs, glad that there might be hope.

"Thank you, Jake, we needed this." Honey says, standing up. Jake stands up and gives Mona a hug. Jake was 6'4, and Mona being only a little taller than 5'2 he literally towered over her. To a stranger Jake might give a threatening vibe, but in reality he is just a gentle giant. He offered the best advice in town about being yourself and loving yourself, and he taught at the local elementary school. All the kids loved 'Mr. Baker'.

"Mona, darling you need to smile more often sweetie!" Jake says, giving a big smile. Mona chuckles, and hugs him back. Jake had been close to Mona when they were in middle school. But in high school, Mona focused more on art, while Jake focused more on sports. They still kept in touch though, hanging out on rare off days. Those were the best days for Mona, she never felt the weight on her chest whenever her and Jake were together. He made her feel the safety only a best friend could and Jake was one of the only people that could make Mona give one of her iconic soft smiles.

"So are we headed to Savannah?" Mona asked Honey on the way home. Honey sighed and bit her lip, but never responded. A few droplets of rain began to drip down, landing on the windshield. Mona asked again, this time a bit louder. Exasperated with her feeble attempt to get an answer, Mona pulled out her sketchbook and begin to draw a figure. When they got home Mona went directly into the guest bedroom and finished her sketch. The figure had turned into Heidi. She knew if she was ever going to attempt to find Sadie, they would have to talk to Heidi first.