Chapter 660: Open House
So today I learned Irene follows Amanda on Twitter too. She and probably half the global population, apparently. I don’t know why she does, but she does, and that’s how she found out I had an express xmas delivery on the way.
Yeah, the detective herself created an alias to keep tabs on Amanda’s feeds. I’m sure there’s a very good and valid reason why that was, but it was also a very good and valid reason that she outright refused to divulge to me.
Also, surely that can’t be ethical right? Government workers spying on civilians?
Outrageous.
Anyway, leave it to Amanda to broadcast every little single aspect of her life to the world with no hesitation. Seriously, it’s like she wants to be abducted again or something... might as well just stream to everyone at that point.
Oh right, she does.
“Alright, okay, you’re not gonna berate me about it too, are you?” I asked at once.
.....
Amidst the whirring, buzzing, and coughing of office ambiance, Irene made a low noise of her own. “Uh, too?”
“But wait, wait-before you do, consider this, hm? How do you know I wasn’t already gonna call you about it, huh? That I wouldn’t invite you for such a special romantic occasion? What, you’d think I forget? That I wouldn’t consider you? ‘Course I did! In fact, you couldn’t have time this more perfect if you tried. Consider this my formal invitation to some absolutely riveting tree decorations activities. We’ll have good times.”
Y’know, maybe if I wasn’t in such a desperate state to plead my innocence to the court of love here, I’d have heard the distinct sound of a question mark trailing after her reply... but nope, went full-on lawyer mode on her instead.
“Did you say romantic? Are you sure you aren’t mispronouncing ‘awkward’ there?” Irene sounded more amused than the presumed grumpiness I was expecting. “Me, you, the other girls in one room? Yeah, good luck trying to get it on with one of us in that kind of environment. I’m sure that’ll go over smoothly.”
“Fair point,” I said. “Hey, but life ain’t all about love, right? Friendship’s just as important... y’know, forging bonds! Coming closer. Camaraderie and all that stuff.”
“I’ll kindly pass,” She simply said. “I’m just calling because hearing about your tree reminded me that I actually got you a present today.”
Hearing that, I felt a warm fuzzy feeling wriggling around my chest.
“You actually did?”
“Was planning to surprise you with it during your shift, but then you’re closed,” She let out a little dismayed sigh. “Anyway-surprise!”
Mission accomplished. Am indeed greatly surprised right now.
“What is it?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” She said, with a light tone slightly teasing and sly. “Just text me when your little party is done. I’ll come right over after.”
I snorted. “It’s not a party.”
“No?” She snorted back. “Doesn’t seem that way to me from what I’m reading.”
That sounded foreboding.
“And just what are you reading?”
But instead of a direct answer, I heard a scuffle, a door creaking shut and the sound of regular office ambiance turning into roaring and raring of open streets.
“Lunch break’s over,” Irene said in a hurry. “Do try and save some of you for me, okay? Bye.”
Well, that went... better than I expected. I thought once I hear the beep of the dial tone again, I’d be coming out of this battered and beaten, but instead I just feel good and uplifted.
Why can’t all my encounters in life end just as nice? Fate should take a page out from Irene – cut me some slack.
Then again, Irene’s always nice.
Welp, I think I dilly-dallied beneath my doorway long enough. If I listen closely, I think that might just be the dying wails of a pancake-starved Matriarch echoing in the distance.
“Coming now, Adalia!” I said, marching and calling out to her from the hallway. “Set the table for me, would you?”
Lunch was a rather quiet affair with just the two of us sitting across from one another at the dining table.
Unfortunately, it seems not even the delectable scent of maple syrup could coax Ash out of her room. Meanwhile, Sera had exhausted all her tolerance for the outside world and spent the rest of the afternoon recouping inside the guest room. Not to be pestered unless needed, and by needed I of course mean just hanging some stuff up on prickly branches.
Then after everything was done and over with, appetites satiated, plates washed, vampire happy and resting snugly back on her sofa, all that was left for me to do now was settle myself down comfortably on the armchair and play the waiting game.
Have never waited for a delivery before. And now I have more than just a bigass tree to keep a lookout for.
How riveting.
After two seconds of staring at nothing, I quickly sought reprieve from the monotony with my phone as anyone would have... swishing and flicking... even took a glance at Amanda’s tweet myself.
Yeah, there it is... overzealously, enthusiastically looking forward to sprucing a big, big tree on a get-together occasion... with the number of likes racking up to easy thousands.
Yeah, I can see how Irene could misconstrue that as something else.
Besides that, it’s nice to know how many people are out there supporting Amanda in her every venture no matter how trivial it was. I swear, she could probably make a post about eating toast and she’d be the top of trending within hours.
Then as I was thinking that, that’s when it happened.
Like the hardest knock on the front door, the loudest shout within a hundred miles, Tyler chimed into my notification in all-caps.
<>
And I was just... I was like... I didn’t even know what to think, my fingers just moved, and I was like, <>
<<LOL, THE PARTY, DUMMY." Tyler rapid-fired back. <<AMANDA INVITED ME.
<>
<>
<>
Before I could even wrap my head around what the actual fuck was I reading, it happened again. This time significantly more mellow, more composed, sophisticated even... as Leon’s message came and replaced Tyler’s.
<>
Is this seriously happening? Like, really, really happening. No chance I just passed out on the couch, and I’m dreaming this moment?
Leon buzzed again, <>
The nightmare continued on some more-oh no-it didn’t stop there. Nope, after Leon, Hayley was next down the line. And I could practically hear her sultry mischievous voice in my head reading her lines of text, my eyes growing wider and wider by the second.
<>
And it finally sunk in, the realization finally dawned, the reality set in stone. Irene didn’t misconstrue anything. She was right. She has always been right. But I didn’t listen.
The twitter post continued to just stare back at me from beyond the display, its words, its font, its very existence, looming over me... it’s like it was taunting me, jeering, laughing... the red flag of all red flags and I brushed it away as nothing.
I deserve this.
My phone continued to buzz, and the messages just kept on chiming, my senses overflowing.
A Christmas Party? Everyone? Happening now? Happening here? It was just supposed to be nothing, it was nothing! Just a little thing, a little occasion, ‘just cause Sera wanted to try.
How did that suddenly become this?
Was this supposed to be my punishment? Was this the lesson I was supposed to learn? I mean, she did tell me, didn’t she? Outright, as close as close can be, I heard her whisper it to me.
‘You aren’t forgiven’
Oh, Amanda. Oh, my sweet, sweet darling Amanda...
Just what have you done?
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