"We're home," Amanda called out as she and Alma walked into the house. As she entered the living room, looking for Andrew, she noticed a bouquet of flowers sitting on the desk. They hadn't been there in the morning when she left. "Oh, they're so pretty," she gasped as she crossed the room to smell them. "That's so sweet of you, Andrew."
"They aren't from me," her husband replied. Noticing Amanda's confused look, he explained. "They were sent for Alma, from Dr. Wilton."
Alma who had walked past without paying much attention to the flowers, turned and took a step back. She was surprised, but refused to show it.
"Oh," Amanda said, disappointed about the mix up and, for once, a little bit jealous of her older sister.
"I don't know why he bothered," Alma grumbled.
"Well, obviously he likes you!" Amanda said sharply, annoyed at Alma's reaction. "I would be thrilled if someone made the effort to send me a bouquet of flowers," she remarked with a sideways glance at her husband.
"It's ridiculous. I barely know the man," Alma insisted.
"So? Maybe you should get to know him," Amanda hinted. "He seems like a nice man. Handsome. A doctor . . ." When Alma seemed unconvinced she suggested, "Well, you could at least give him a call and thank him for the gesture."
"I don't need you to tell me what to do," Alma replied.
"Then you'll give him a call?"
Alma rolled her eyes and left the room without answering.
Amanda sighed and walked over to the couch. That was Alma . . . stubborn. She gave up on trying to encourage Alma's romantic life and took a seat next to her husband. "How was your day?" The look that Andrew gave her made her sorry she asked. "This situation is only temporary," she said, trying to encourage him. "I'm sure you'll find another job soon."
"Are you? Because I'm not. Everyone knows why I got fired and they won't hire someone who steals from their workplace."
The next few moments passed in silence before Andrew asked, "How was work today?"
"Fine. Mr. Townsend hired a new junior executive today."
"To fill my place?" Andrew asked bitterly. Before Amanda could object, he stood up from the couch and said, "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in time for dinner."
The rest of the evening passed quietly at the house. Andrew was feeling sorry for himself and Amanda was afraid of saying anything that might upset someone else at the table. She was tired of getting involved and not being appreciated for trying to help.
After dinner, Alma started upstairs to finish grading some homework. When she passed by the vase of flowers that Dr. Wilton had sent, she paused to make sure that no one was looking and then took them with her to her room.
As she worked on her papers that night, every so often she would look up at the pretty flowers sitting next to her on the desk and smile to herself.
Meanwhile at the Townsend residence, Eileen was getting ready for her night class. As she stopped by her parents' room on her way out to tell them she was leaving, she overheard her father and stepmother talking.
"We're all out of sleeping pills," Arthur complained.
"Already?" Veronica replied. "How many have you been taking?"
"No more than the recommended dosage," he assured her. "There's nothing to worry about."
"Oh yes there is," Veronica insisted. "I know you haven't been feeling well lately. You really should make an appointment with the doctor and have a check-up."
"It's nothing."
"You can't be sure until you see a doctor."
"You should listen to her, Dad," Eileen said as she walked into the room.
Arthur sighed. "You two aren't going to gang up on me, now are you?" He looked from his wife to his daughter and saw that he was outnumbered. "Alright. I'll call tomorrow morning to make an appointment."
"Good," Veronica smiled. "Make sure you don't forget."
"How could I? I'm sure neither of you will let me."
"We just worry about you, Daddy," Eileen said.
"I know, dear," he said, his tone softening a bit. "And I appreciate it . . .So what are you up to?"
"Oh, I was just coming to tell you that I'm leaving to meet with my study group."
"Ok. We'll see you later."
Eileen sat through class, listening as Madame Frederika taught, but she quickly realized she was bored with the lesson. The class was moving so slowly. It didn't look like they were even going to mention the type of things she had come here to learn before the course was completed.
At the end of the class time for the evening, Eileen took a moment to talk with the instructor. "Madame Frederika, I was wondering. Are we going to be learning about seances or anything like that in this class at all?"
Frederika shook her head. "No. We aren't going to do anything like that. It's far too advanced for this level. In fact," she said sternly. "It can be very dangerous even for the most experienced."
Disappointed, Eileen gathered her books and started home. She was barely out the door before she heard someone call out her name. She turned around and saw Cassandra following after her.
"Eileen, I overheard what you and Madame Frederika were talking about. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," Eileen said. "It wasn't exactly a private conversation."
"I think she's just being over cautious. I have some books at home of my mother's that talk about contacting spirits and stuff and it isn't such a big deal."
"You've tried it before?" Eileen asked.
"No, but I've read a lot about it."
"Do you think I could borrow those books?"
"Sure. Why don't you come over to my house sometime. If this class isn't going to get into the interesting stuff, we can study it on our own."
At the same time, the business class across the hall was concluding for the evening. Lawrence hurried out into the hall as quickly as he could to avoid an encounter with Lauren, but he didn't need to hurry. Instead of leaving with the rest of the class, Lauren was still seated in her chair, fuming about the decision the instructor had made.
When the other students had left, Lauren went to the front of the class to have a word with Walt.
"Is there any way that I could be partnered with Lawrence for our class project, instead of with Molly? I don't have any problem with Molly, but I would rather work with Lawrence, since we already know each other so well. He and I even worked at the same company."
Walt shook his head. He had expected this, since Lawrence had already talked with him outside of class and asked specifically to not be paired with Lauren. "I'm afraid it's not possible to switch. It will be good for you to work with someone you don't know as well. In your career, you'll need to be able to work with lots of different people. And you usually won't have a choice on who your co-workers are."
Lauren frowned. How dare he? Instead of showing her anger, she sighed dejectedly and pouted. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't make a big deal of this," she said, adding a sniffle at the end for effect. "It's just that I've had a tough time lately and it's just so hard for me to find someone that I can trust enough to really connect with. But I shouldn't let my personal issues interfere with class."
"I'm sorry things have been hard for you," Walt said sympathetically as Lauren looked at him with tear filled eyes. He touched her shoulder, comfortingly. "If you ever need someone to talk to . . ."
At that moment the door opened as one of the students come back to the class room for a forgotten book. Lauren suddenly jumped back, away from Walt, and ran out into the hallway. As she stood next to the lockers waiting for the other student to come out, she already had a plan in mind. She knew just how to get back at Walt for getting in her way.
After talking to the other student for a moment and convincing him to be her witness, Lauren happily walked towards the exit and headed home. When she got to the door, what she saw outside stopped her in her tracks. Her man, Lawrence, was outside chatting with some brunette.
Lauren carefully opened the door a crack, just enough so she could hear what they were saying.
Lawrence had decided to take a huge chance and asked Eileen, "Would you like to go get a cup of coffee?"
"Sure," Eileen smiled. "I don't have to be home for awhile."
Lauren watched, jealously, as the pair walked off together. She wanted to get a good look at that girl Lawrence was with. They would be seeing each other again soon.
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