Special Place in Hell

The Sisters

Chapter 2:

After I hung up the phone with Bill, I took Bella for our morning run. We went farther than I had thought because she was panting pretty hard when we got home. I had been lost in my own thoughts of my dream and what Bill had said when I was talking with him. He has really perplexed me and I hate when that happens. I gave Bella some fresh water and went to take a shower before I had to go. As I stood there letting the hot water run down my body, I tried to figure out what I was going to say to Tandy today. Mike was so upset and I have yet to actually talk to Shaila. When she’s on a story she’s like a bloodhound. She refuses to quit until she has what she wants. My guess is she was working late last night and then again early this morning. I left her two voicemails, so hopefully she will call me back when she comes up for air. I also wondered what story she was working on. I’ll have to make sure I ask her when I see her.

Just as I was getting out of the shower my cell phone rang, it was Shaila. Finally she called me back. I swear she blows up my phone but can’t seem to answer her own phone when it rings.

“Hello stranger. You know it’s inappropriate to blow up someones phone and then not answer your phone when that someone finally has the chance to call you back. What are you up to?”

“Hey, sorry I’ve been working a lead that came in last night. I have a huge story brewing! I’ll tell you all about it when I have all the details. What did you want anyhow?”

“Well, for starters my first day went awkward as normal because I’m awkward, but my boss seemed to not really care and he showed me a file that he’s been working for four years. Second, when I got home I received a frantic call from Mike about something Tandy had seen and he wants to meet at one today so I will be picking you up. Third, yes I do drive and not get into accidents, unlike someone else I know, so I’ll be doing the driving today. And finally, what’s your story about? Any spoilers?”

“Wow, I don’t talk to you for two days and all hell breaks loose! Okay, in order you are not awkward, you are just you and I’m sure he’s seen all kinds and it didn’t suprise him. Don’t worry about it. Next, when isn’t Mike frantic especially when it comes to Tandy? I really am busy, but it sounds like I don’t have a choice to go to this meeting. Will she be there?”

“Yes, but it’s in the French Quarter because she doesn’t want to be to far from home because something is about to happen and it’s doom and gloom again.”

“Great, so another vision of death and destruction and we are all going to die. Awesome!”

“Yeah, but he says it’s something different this time.”

“Whatever! Anyhow, just because I get into a little fender bender once, okay twice, doesn’t mean I can’t drive. But you seem pretty proud of yourself for being able to actually drive I’ll let you pick me up. When will you be here?”

“Well, where will you be at that time?”
“I will be at home writing.”

“Okay, I’ll be there about 12:30 since we have to go all the way down to the French Quarter.”

“I’ll be waiting with bells on…..oh wait, no I won’t be wearing your dog. Speaking of her, how is the little fatty?”

“She’s not fat, she’s pudgy, and she’s just fine thank you very much.” Shaila knows how protective I am about Bells and that is why she always calls her fat. She secretly loves her just as much as I do, but her apartment doesn’t allow pets. I’m still trying to convince the Manager that the men she brings home are pets, but he’s not really going for it because he’s in the pet category as well. He drools every time my sister walks by. I gave him a napkin once, he didn’t think it was funny.

“Well give the pudgy pitty a big hug for me and I’ll see you at 12:30 sis. Love you!” And with that she was gone. I turned my attention back to my dripping hair and freezing body. I didn’t have time to dry off and put clothes on before I had to answer the phone. I quickly dressed, towel dried my hair and sat down with my computer. I wanted to know a little bit about what I was dealing with before I asked Tandy about the markings. I had never mentioned to Bill my dream, probably because he would think I was crazy. When I have more concrete evidence of what they are I’ll fill him in.

My alarm went off at noon telling me that it was time to feed Bella and get my butt moving to get Shaila. I never knew how I would do driving, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get to her apartment. Bella ate happily, albeit noisily, and I gave her a quick pat on the back and grabbed my things to leave. I told Bella to be good and to enjoy her afternoon nap. I walked out the door, walked back in the door to grab my cell, walked back out and then back in again to grab my keys. I swear, if it wasn’t for my head being attached I would forget that everywhere I went. Once I made sure I had everything this time, I locked the door behind me and sighed. Time to get into my trusty rusty and make it move.

The drive went rather uneventful, which I was grateful for. I have always had anxiety about driving. I’m not sure why, other than it was my uncle who taught me and not my father. He tried his best, but my sister and I were a handful growing up. We are so close in age that we could have been twins, but that is where the similarities stop. We are so different in every way, we could have been from different parents altogether. Many of our teachers growing up made comments about how different the two of us were. I had long dark brown hair, Shaila had thin short blonde hair. I was tall for a woman at 5’10”, she was short, barely making 5’2”. I was an introvert and awkward around people and she was bubbly and always talking to strangers. I guess this is why we chose the professions we did. The only thing that was the same was our eyes. We both had piercing blue eyes that came from our father. Our differences didn’t stop at looks either. She likes ketchup and I hate all things condiment. She loves vegetables and I pretty much stay away from anything that is green. We both love fruit, but different kinds. There is nothing that we agree on, so going out to eat is almost impossible unless it’s a Chinese buffet with some ‘American’ food thrown in. We even had different taste in clothes, cars, houses and just about everything else a person could think of.

I arrived at Shaila’s apartment at 12:27pm and she was waiting for me, which was a first since she is always late. I am a firm believer that something will happen and she will be late for her own funeral. She hopped in the passenger seat and gave me a huge smile and hug. We pulled away from her apartment and she began to rattle on about some new guy she was interested in and I tuned her out as normal. I really could care less about her constantly revolving love life.