scrubbing to work out my frustration. The predominate thought in my head being, “Is Teresa just playing with me?”
At the end of the day, I was beat and my chest ached from singing that third piece. I think I was working muscles there I didn't know I had. We said our goodbyes and headed home.
I sat for an hour just listening to the barge groaning and feeling the gentle sway of the water moving around us in its march to the sea. The light flicked on as the sounds of the river were drowned out by the generators firing up.
I absently plugged my devices in to charge on autopilot. Then grabbed the music. I don't know why I cared. I still didn't know why she was doing this, or why she was apparently playing with me, but a part of me still wanted to please her. And I practiced.
Chapter 9 – Dr. Jekyll
The rest of the week went that way. I made small improvements on the music. She showed me more tricks to accomplish parts of it. She seemed to ignore the previous night like it had never happened.
On Friday, I was pretty down. It was the last day of our temp job. I wouldn't have the benefit of eavesdropping on Marjorie's classes anymore. I had learned so much from proxy and my own music had benefited from it. The last rave showed that.
When we went to punch out the final time, there was a slip of paper attached to my time card. I slid it out from under the paperclip and in loopy, flowery writing, was a simple message. “The Darby, eight o'clock. Teri” With a cute little heart over the I in her name. She was asking me to karaoke? I looked around to see if it were some sort of joke and stuffed the paper into my pocket for fear it would vanish.
I smiled to myself as I punched out. Paya squinted at me in question and I shrugged, asking, “The Darby tonight?”
She grinned and nodded. “Brill! Harry will hate it!” I chuckled. True, he couldn't sing his way out of a wet paper bag if his life depended on it and he had an auto-tune device in his pocket.
I chuckled. “You Miss Doshi are quite evil. Grab me at seven thirty?”
She grinned like I had given her a supreme compliment. See? My bestie is evil. Then she nodded. “Ok, see you then. I'll let you know if I can snag another temp that needs a crew.”
I nodded my thanks and we kissed cheeks and I headed to the coach, pulling the paper out of my pocket and re-reading it about a thousand times on the way home. The little heart over the I just made me grin. That was Teresa, playful mode. The Dr. Jekyll to that frustrating Ms. Hyde. I just needed to understand it. Oh! I grinned. This did seem like a good intrigue I was living!
Mrs. T was still feeling under the weather so I walked Terminator for her then made her some nice hot tea and some porridge on her hotplate during power-up. She said as I left to get ready in my cabin, “You are the heart of the Persephone, Tabitha. Thanks for bringing joy into our little family here.” I had just blushed and bid her a good night, making sure she had all of her covers tucked around her.
I sat down on my mattress, smiled wistfully, and made a note for a new personal song, Heart of the Persephone. I checked my mobile, I still had a little time, so I started writing lyrics as I hummed a new melody.
At seven, when the generators powered down, I lit my lamp and got dressed for a night of karaoke in the flickering light. Then as an afterthought reached into my almost empty cooler for a banana so that Paya wouldn't kill me. I'd have to hit the grocery tomorrow.
I ate quickly and washed it down with a bottle of water. Then stuffed the waste into my overflowing plastic bag. I grabbed the bag and took it with me when I disembarked, finding a refuse bin at the road.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets to keep the chill away when my mobile buzzed. I didn't look as I answered, “Hiya Paya!”
“Five minutes Brat.”
Then she rang off before I could defend my non-bratty honor. I just grinned and rolled my eyes.
Five minutes later I
At the end of the day, I was beat and my chest ached from singing that third piece. I think I was working muscles there I didn't know I had. We said our goodbyes and headed home.
I sat for an hour just listening to the barge groaning and feeling the gentle sway of the water moving around us in its march to the sea. The light flicked on as the sounds of the river were drowned out by the generators firing up.
I absently plugged my devices in to charge on autopilot. Then grabbed the music. I don't know why I cared. I still didn't know why she was doing this, or why she was apparently playing with me, but a part of me still wanted to please her. And I practiced.
Chapter 9 – Dr. Jekyll
The rest of the week went that way. I made small improvements on the music. She showed me more tricks to accomplish parts of it. She seemed to ignore the previous night like it had never happened.
On Friday, I was pretty down. It was the last day of our temp job. I wouldn't have the benefit of eavesdropping on Marjorie's classes anymore. I had learned so much from proxy and my own music had benefited from it. The last rave showed that.
When we went to punch out the final time, there was a slip of paper attached to my time card. I slid it out from under the paperclip and in loopy, flowery writing, was a simple message. “The Darby, eight o'clock. Teri” With a cute little heart over the I in her name. She was asking me to karaoke? I looked around to see if it were some sort of joke and stuffed the paper into my pocket for fear it would vanish.
I smiled to myself as I punched out. Paya squinted at me in question and I shrugged, asking, “The Darby tonight?”
She grinned and nodded. “Brill! Harry will hate it!” I chuckled. True, he couldn't sing his way out of a wet paper bag if his life depended on it and he had an auto-tune device in his pocket.
I chuckled. “You Miss Doshi are quite evil. Grab me at seven thirty?”
She grinned like I had given her a supreme compliment. See? My bestie is evil. Then she nodded. “Ok, see you then. I'll let you know if I can snag another temp that needs a crew.”
I nodded my thanks and we kissed cheeks and I headed to the coach, pulling the paper out of my pocket and re-reading it about a thousand times on the way home. The little heart over the I just made me grin. That was Teresa, playful mode. The Dr. Jekyll to that frustrating Ms. Hyde. I just needed to understand it. Oh! I grinned. This did seem like a good intrigue I was living!
Mrs. T was still feeling under the weather so I walked Terminator for her then made her some nice hot tea and some porridge on her hotplate during power-up. She said as I left to get ready in my cabin, “You are the heart of the Persephone, Tabitha. Thanks for bringing joy into our little family here.” I had just blushed and bid her a good night, making sure she had all of her covers tucked around her.
I sat down on my mattress, smiled wistfully, and made a note for a new personal song, Heart of the Persephone. I checked my mobile, I still had a little time, so I started writing lyrics as I hummed a new melody.
At seven, when the generators powered down, I lit my lamp and got dressed for a night of karaoke in the flickering light. Then as an afterthought reached into my almost empty cooler for a banana so that Paya wouldn't kill me. I'd have to hit the grocery tomorrow.
I ate quickly and washed it down with a bottle of water. Then stuffed the waste into my overflowing plastic bag. I grabbed the bag and took it with me when I disembarked, finding a refuse bin at the road.
I stuffed my hands into my pockets to keep the chill away when my mobile buzzed. I didn't look as I answered, “Hiya Paya!”
“Five minutes Brat.”
Then she rang off before I could defend my non-bratty honor. I just grinned and rolled my eyes.
Five minutes later I
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