Paper Heart Goodbyes

Ch. 25

Jennifer was an assistant to a hot shot studio exec in Hollywood before her untimely death. Henry Jenkins was behind all the big budget Hollywood blockbusters in recent years. He had a knack for knowing what movie pitches were going to be hits, even when other studios had passed on the ideas, and helped fund the artists so magic could be made. According to Jennifer's family, she loved her job. Jenkins could have been an asshole and whatever the male equivalent of a diva is, but he wasn't. He works hard and treats everyone with kindness and fairness. Most importantly, he saw potential in Jennifer and was somewhat of a mentor to her. Her death was devastating to him and he felt almost like he had lost a daughter.

Tess was feeling lucky that some of her friends from work had agreed to meet with her for lunch. Apparently Jennifer's work friends were her only friends in LA as she was originally from Austin, Texas and so all of her social friends also happened to be people she met at work. Tess was grateful they were willing to speak to her about Jennifer, but what had her really hyped was receiving a phone call from Henry Jenkins current assistant that morning to say he would also like to meet with her. He had heard through the grapevine that she was meeting with some of his employees for lunch and he wanted to help as much as he could. He invited her to his office later that afternoon.

Tess got ready for her lunch with Jennifer's friends. She put on a floral sundress and grabbed her sunglasses in case they decided to eat outside. She met up with Becky in the living area of the suite. Becky was wearing a black crop top and black acid wash jeans looking edgy to Tess' sweet floral dress.

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Tess and Becky parked a few blocks away from the restaurant. Tess' white dress with orange and yellow floral print swished back and forth as she walked. Her notebook and pen safely kept in her tote bag.

The group of coworkers - 3 women and 2 men - who were close with Jennifer were already at the restaurant when the girls arrived. They were seated in the ivy covered stone patio in the back of the restaurant at a large round table.

The hostess sat Tess and Becky down at the table and introductions were made. The coworkers included Helen, Sam, Kelly, Kayla, and Adam.

As with all of the interviews, Tess treaded lightly, aware that it was a sensitive subject and mindful that she was asking these people to recall memories and events involving their dead friends. But, she made a mental note to be extra mindful when asking about Jennifer since her death only occured 6 months ago. Compared to the other killings, this one felt especially fresh.

"Thank you so much for all coming out to meet us. I know this was probably not how you wanted to spend your lunch hour." Tess laid her notebook on the table next to her plate.

"We all decided we wanted to do whatever we could to help," Kayla said. She looked around at her friends, her black curls bouncing as she turned her head. The others all nodded along in agreement. "None of us can believe that the killer hasn't been brought to justice yet. It just seems so...insane," she grasped for the words that could capture how she felt, feeling like all words would fail.

"I can understand that. I mean, it must be so difficult to have to go through losing a friend, especially in such a horrible way, but then to not have that closure of seeing the killer behind bars."

"Yeah, it's almost like...we can't properly grieve. I know that sounds strange because obviously Jennifer is not coming back. But, it's like we can't really say goodbye until we know that the person responsible has been arrested and found guilty," Sam added.

The others all shared similar sentiments - the feeling of not having closure. And throughout the emotional conversation the waiter brought waters and ice teas, bread, and appetizers. Finally, it got to the point when appetizers were cleared and they were all waiting for their entrees, a.k.a. the perfect time to ask her more prying questions. It's already uncomfortable enough to ask these questions, but it'd be even worse if you're asking in between bites of pasta.