Thorns with fragrance

11

Jealously is an inner consciousness of one's own inferiority. - R.C. Forbes

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“What the actual heck? You mad b***h!” Kelsey screeched as she sprang up from her seat after being splashed with coffee by a smug looking Brie 

“I can get your whole f*****g café taken down you bloody witch! How dare you smile at me after-”  

“It’s pretty ironic of you to call someone else a replacement w***e you know” Brie said with clenched teeth  

“Oh is this about of your little crush that I might have f****d?” Kelsey asked, with her looking smug now “Oh honey, I can’t help it if some guy chose me over you, like look at you-” she continued, letting herself let out a little giggle after running her eyes down Brie’s uniform  

“Don’t be such a loser about it, I’ll let this one slide, but you better not be seen in front of me again” Kelsey said and bent to get her handbag when Brie said “You are the biggest w***e I have met in my life and I’ve met quite a lot of them, maybe you should try closing your legs every once in a while, ‘honey’” 

Kelsey felt herself visibly get mad as she charged at Brie and slapped her across her face causing everyone in the café who was eyeing this exchange gasp. 

Brie took a second to register what happened but soon huffed up to Kelsey and grabbed onto her hair and pulled at it as hard as she could making Kelsey screech out in pain. 

“LEAVE ME YOU PSYCHO! I WILL KILL YOU I SWEAR ON GOD-” Kelsey screamed as everyone in the café started moving to try and separate them  

“NOT IF I KILL YOU BEFORE THAT YOU MAN JUMPING w***e” Brie shot back. 

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-Inside the office- 

Brie’s chest felt heavy as she thought to herself ‘...I guess that’s what I get for being a little b***h and being stuck up on a frien-’ Her thoughts were cut off when she heard the principal call her name 

“So, Ms. Jain, I will be calling in the others so we can announce the results of the autopsy” Mrs. Marie said to which Brie nodded as she thought back to the first time she was asked to come here so she could be “Identified” by one of Kelsey’s friends who was the only one who Kelsey told of the incident that took place in the café. Brie had been told that they did not want their students to be asked to meet in the police station which is why Brie and the cops had to come down instead. 

Brie’s head snapped up when she heard the door open and watched as everyone started piling in, the room starting to feel smaller. 

The door finally closed shut behind Jane’s back as she walked in the end after asking giving Ken a small smile. 

“So, good evening everyone” The principal started, her thick and rough voice booming in the office as she sat across the table from everyone of the suspects who all had their heads slightly lowered and the cops who stood at her side, stern looks on their faces as they stared down at everyone of the student. 

“The results from...uhm Ms. Smith’s autopsy has arrived” she said, her voice faltering as she looked to her side at the cops, as if to urge them to continue, which they did 

“We have found traces of brodifacoum, commonly found in rodenticides, in the body” One of the cops announced, his voice stable and clear but commanding 

When everyone just stared blankly back at him , he further clarified “ Rat poison” he pronounced “ Is the cause of death...” 

There was silence in the room as one by one, the suspects heads started lowering , some were thinking of Kelsey and mourning...while someone lowered their head in guilt, it was hard to identify one from the other. 

A moment of silence passed around the room when the principal finally cleared her throat and spoke “ The authorities have investigated and found out that Ms. Kelsey lived away from her parents and the only people she seems to have been in physical danger from are most likely in this room”  

The air in the room was tense as everyone started getting visibly nervous  

“I am glad that everyone has cooperated until now, I hope this continues as you all are investigated by these gentlemen” The principal announced as everyone was dismissed and asked to follow the cops instructions, henceforth. 

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-In an empty classroom- 

The cop was seated on a chair facing the first person he was about to interrogate. They sat in front of the organised pile of chairs in the empty classroom and could hear every little shuffling from outside the class in the field where everyone else was waiting to be called. 

The classroom door was open and the wind was making it sway, the weather was great but the atmosphere in the tense classroom was anything but. 

“Ms. Breonna Jain” The man called out to the nervously, heavily breathing woman seated opposite him making her look up from the ground and collect herself before looking into the eyes of the cop as she ran her manicured, black painted nail across her forehead, pushing the hair from her face behind her ear. 

She nodded in reply as the cop read out some general details about her background out loud to her, like a form of confirmation; 

“Your parents immigrated here 20 years ago and are peaceful citizens” he stated as Brie nodded “You have worked in a café at George’s street named “Ulysses” for about 6 months now and everyone has positively reviewed your work up until now” the cop continued as he looked up 

“Is there a reason you acted out on this particular day Ms.Jain?” He asked, his dark eyes piercing into Brie’s, making her look away and down at the ground as she answered 

“She had s**t talked about … my friend” Brie said. Hesitating before completing her sentence  

“And that was reason enough to disrespect a customer and give them a death threat?” The cop questioned calmly but his voice making Brie want to curl into her chair  

“N-No but she did it first, I-” Brie stopped, she was starting to realise that there was no way she could say anything to make herself sound less suspicious 

The cop waited for her to continue but after a while spoke himself “Did you happen to know about Ms. Smith’s heart condition?”  

Brie looked up at him with wide eyes and bit her lip, she didn’t know how to answer that so she could be out of being a suspect ‘Is this a trick question?’ she thought to herself as her heart and mind raced, almost against each other 

She almost lied and said ‘No’ but then decided against it and said “Yes...I did” she said, defeated. 

The cop’s interest visibly sparked as he nodded to himself and asked further “I see...How did you happen to know about that?”  

Brie was now at the verge of tears as she answered “She had always managed to slip in that detail whenever she could, every one of the employee's who work the morning shift know-” she paused “-I mean, knew about it” she completed  

The cop thought over this for a second, noted something into the paper in his hand and nodded  

“Is there anything else you would want to let us know about, now is your time” he said  

They sat in silence as Brie racked through her mind to find something to say, anything that might show that she was innocent, the more she thought, the more she blanked out. 

Absolutely nothing. She didn’t have anything to defend herself.  

The cop nodded when Brie didn’t say anything and started to stand so he could go out and speak to the others when he heard her voice whisper out in a quivering voice- “I-I didn’t do anything Officer” 

They both were unsatisfied as they left that classroom. 

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