Where Evil Sleeps

Getting on with Life

Chapter 4 

         Back at work, things could not be more hectic for Bree and Kelsey. Apart from the normal day to day, the extra business they were generating since catering to businesses they were booked solid right up until Christmas which was still a month away. It was Friday and the “out of towners” as Bree called them were due back tonight for their monthly gathering. Bree thought back to their first night, where Kelsey had forgotten and Sara, Michelle and Robyn all worked together. Since then, Bree had managed to hire plenty of staff but tonight she was due to work. Bree was busily setting up when Kelsey came downstairs muttering something in a tone Bree had not heard from her before on her cell phone. Obviously not expecting Bree she ended her conversation abruptly and slammed her phone shut. Usually, Kelsey was very bubbly and talkative but Bree could sense she was lost in her own thoughts.

         After a few minutes Kelsey asked Bree who was scheduled to work tonight. Bree gave her the schedule and Kelsey walked to the back office. Minutes later, Kelsey returned saying she had just checked the business phone messages and two employees had called in saying they were sick. Kelsey still quieter than normal now seemed agitated and distracted. Bree suggested that they call Michelle and Sara and see if they could help out again. “Good idea” Kelsey said as she called their numbers on her cell. Thankfully both Sara and Michelle agreed saying that since they hadn’t all seen each other in a few weeks if this was the only way to catch up, they would. Kelsey seemed to relax a little and before Bree knew it Kelsey was back to her bubbly self.

         Bree and Kelsey ran through the food preparations and just as they got finished, Michelle and Sara walked through the door. “Howdy Girls” Michelle yelled and everyone burst out laughing, never a dull moment. The ladies spent a few minutes catching up then Kelsey gave out some last-minute things she wanted ready before the “out of towners” arrived. Michelle and Bree were setting up the tables while Sara and Kelsey organized the food. Bree noticed Michelle watching Kelsey. “What’s up with Kelsey, Bree?”

“What do you mean?” Bree replied, thinking back to the Kelsey’s tone on the phone.

“She seems very distracted…” she trailed on

“Not sure, I guess just busy, we are booked right up until Christmas” Bree smiled not wanting to be a gossip or say anything about what she had heard and seen earlier, but she was curious that Michelle had noticed something about Kelsey. Michelle brushed it off laughing saying that Kelsey needed to find a man or have a one-night stand to relieve her stress. Both women laughed which caught the attention of Sara who came over to see what they were laughing at. When Michelle repeated what she said Sara burst out laughing which caught Kelsey’s attention.

“I heard that and No I do not need a man but I wouldn’t mind…” Just then the first of the “out of towners” walked through door. Kelsey looking worried he had caught their conversation started blushing but recovered quickly welcoming him in and offering a drink. The women all smiled and went to their assigned posts as more patrons filtered in. As the scheduled group arrived Bree could not help but notice that there were more of them than she remembered, but she boiled it down to the fact she had not worked this function in a while and that she paid no attention to how many had showed up the first night.

         As the night progressed, it seemed like more and more people showed up which left little time for friendly bantering amongst the women. Bree noticed that Kelsey had switched with Michelle from serving at the bar to walking around collecting empty glasses and plates which seemed odd as she rarely left the bar in fear of someone being served alcohol to an underage patron, which if caught, could loose her license shut her business down. If Bree were to guess, she would bet that everyone here was well over the age of 21. As Bree watched Michelle, she could sense that Michelle although very capable of mixing drinks was getting all flustered. Bree walked over to check and as Michelle saw her, she begged to switch. Bree laughed and walked behind the bar and resumed filling beer after beer and Michelle winked and breathed a sigh as she picked up another tray of food.

         As the bar slightly showed Bree scanned the room for Kelsey so she could use the lady’s room. She saw Kelsey in the corner of the room talking with a gentleman but she did not look pleased with what he was saying to her. Bree was trying not to stare but got the feeling of uneasiness as she watched as Kelsey was doing a lot of talking with her hands. The gentleman was very composed as Kelsey seemed to be looking increasingly agitated. Bree felt like she needed to intervene and was just as she was about to walk over, someone blocked her view.

         It was him. The man that looked familiar from the first night but yet she had no recollection of where she knew him. Bree was caught off guard and he startled her. Sensing that he startled her he uttered “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you”.

“Yes, you did, what can I get you?” Bree responded and smiled. “I’ll take another” he smiled back as he held up an empty bottle of Miller Lite. Bree took his empty, reached into the bottom fridge and opened another for him. As she handed it to him, she couldn’t shake the feeling more than ever that she had seen him before.

         Her curiosity got the best of her. “Not to be rude but you look really familiar…” Bree casually remarked, hoping that he could shed some light on her curiosity. “My last job had me traveling all over but I was born and raised here, and I think I would remember if I had met you” he said in a very charming tone. Bree blushed and smiled awkwardly “Guess not then, excuse me” All she wanted to do was run and hide. He had given her a compliment, very flattering but Bree felt like crying.  She quickly looked around for Kelsey or anyone she needed to take a break and compose herself. She couldn’t see Kelsey but Sara walked by and Bree quickly caught her attention.

         “I need a moment, Sara; can you take over?” Bree murmured feeling like she could hardly breathe and her heart beating like it was going to come out of her chest and bile churning in her stomach. Sara saw how pale Bree was and sensing her distress “Sure Bree, you OK?” Bree did not answer and raced towards the freezers. She opened the door and took a step inside to feel the instant freezing temperature, hoping the coolness would slow her breathing, heart beat and the bile still threatening to make its way to her throat. Bree had no idea how long she was standing in the freezer but she heard someone come in. It was Sara.

“Bree? Bree you are in here?” Bree breathed out slowly and turned and walked out and shut the door.

“Yeah thanks, just needed a moment…thanks for checking on me” Bree smiled and there was an awkward pause of silence. Sara reached into her pocket and handed Bree a tissue.

“I promise it’s just crushed from being in my pocket but totally clean” Sara motioned for Bree to wipe her eyes. At that point Bree realized she must have been crying while she stood in the freezer. She hadn’t even noticed; it had been so long since that happened to her. Thanking Sara and smiling, Bree walked to the ladies’ room and proceeded to fix herself up.

         When Bree returned, she noticed that they function was starting to wind down. Many patrons had departed, Kelsey was on the phone calling the local taxi company ordering a few taxis for the slightly intoxicated. Sara came up and gave Bree a gentle reassuring squeeze on the arm “Let’s get these guys gone so we can all go home” she said. Bree appreciated her taking the time and smiled but said nothing. Bree went to work shutting everything down and closing out the tab for the evening. Glancing at the bill she was surprised to see that it totalled almost four hundred dollars. How could that be? By her calculations there had been more people here tonight than at their first function? Granted the group had tipped heavy on the first night because they were desperate for a location as they had been kicked out of their last venue but doing a rough calculation the beverage tab alone was around four hundred and that was not including food. Bree handed the bill to Kelsey to see if she had the same reaction but Kelsey’s facial features did not change. Seems odd but Bree did not want to pry and never got involved with the financial side Kelsey’s business.

         After the last guest had left and all the cleaning was done, Bree raced upstairs and collected her girls, who were asleep as usual. They loved when Bree worked nights, because they got to play with Mason and Sofia. Heading down the stairs, carrying Lilly with Haley trailing behind, she heard the voices of the others sitting at the bar. Michelle and Sara were complaining that their feet hurt and they needed Kelsey to provide a pedicure after each time they worked. Bree entered and added her two cents worth “I agree…my feet are killing me”. They all laughed. Bree stopped for a second, rocking Lilly slowly to keep her asleep, and then decided it was time to go, she had a tough night and was ready to be done and home in her own space. After bidding all a good night, she headed towards the door.

         Later, after she had tucked the girls into bed, Bree sat on the couch in a heavy-hearted daze. Nothing bad had happened tonight so why was she feeling so down? She thought she knew that man turns out she didn’t and he gave her a compliment when made her almost physically sick. It was not him it was the fact that and that it made her feel guilty. She did not know why? but she did. She knew that she had not done anything wrong but she wondered if she had come across the wrong way to him, when she was just curious if he recognized her. Oh no maybe he thought she was trying to pick him up? Refusing to let her thoughts make her feel worse that she already did Bree got herself up off the couch and went to bed, too tired to continue to worry about it.

         The next morning Bree awoke to a crack of sunlight escaping through her curtains. She checked the clock and saw it was not even eight so she rolled over and snuggled up hoping to sleep a little longer till the girls woke up. Just as she drifted back into a comfortable slumber, the girls came bounding in her room and climbed into her bed, messing up her nest of blankets. The girls curled up to Bree, one on each side. All three drifted back to sleep, Bree feeling so comfortable and relaxed her last thought being it doesn’t get better than this.

         Suddenly all three were awoken to the ringing of the doorbell. At first Bree thought she was dreaming but with the movement of the girls Bree quickly sprang out of bed throwing on her house shoes and robe. She walked down stairs, looked through the peep hole and saw the UPS man. She cracked the door, smoothing out her hair, trying to play off that she had just rolled out of bed. Before she could say anything, he shoved an electronic pad at her saying “Ms Anderson, please sign at the X”. Without saying a word Bree signed and he handed her the box. He smiled “Have a good afternoon, ma’am”. Bree thanked him and quickly shut the door, embarrassed that he was totally aware that she had rolled out of bed. She laid the box on the dinning room table and checked who the package was from. It read Camp Pendleton, CA. She froze.  A world wind of senders crossed her mind, if had it been one of their neighbours, they would have signed their name. Same went for Jack or anyone that worked with Christopher for that matter and plus it would have the Platoon and Company numbers on it, not just Camp Pendleton CA. It was sealed with layers of tape she would need scissors to cut through. She walked into the kitchen and found the girls helping themselves to cereal, she glanced at the clock it was almost 1:30 in the afternoon. She grabbed the scissors and headed back to start opening the box.

         Bree’s nerves were getting to her, she was starting to sweat and her hands were shaking while trying to cut what seemed to be endless tape around the box. She wondered how long she would be picking up the pieces of her former life. How could she possibly move on if there were people wanting to deliver belongings and boxes arriving via UPS still plaguing her? Christopher had once told her that once they got married, they would always be part of the Marine Corps family, even if he left the military. He said “they” not her, alone, widowed without him. Sadness suddenly consumed her, he had left her alone not on purpose, but he was gone and not coming back. Tears, here they come again. Refusing to fall back into her pity party , she wiped her eyes and focused on opening this box in front of her.

         Finally, after six layers of tape Bree lifted the lid and looked inside. She saw files. She lifted the first few out and read the front “Medical Records –NHCP” Relief took over the mixed feelings Bree was experiencing. NHCP – Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, these must be their medical records that she had requested before she left, but they were unable to get to her in time before they left. Putting them back in the box, Bree made a mental note to double check their immunization records to what they had faxed her for the girls to start school. Lilly was due for boosters and Haley a new shot they brought out to help prevent cervical cancer in females. Making another mental note to herself, Bree needed to make time to go see Nurse Juliana for more information for local paediatricians for the girls. Leaving the box, Bree walked into the kitchen to make some coffee and to plan out what was left of the day and the rest of the weekend.

         Before Bree knew it, it was Sunday night and she was busily doing some last-minute washing and getting organized for the upcoming week. The weather was starting to show signs of winter so she wanted to make sure they were ready with jackets for the mornings. Tomorrow she had to be at work at 10am so she had time to drop by Nurse Juliana and double check that the girls were up to date and get an idea for paediatricians. After she put the girls to bed Bree went down to the box that was still on the dining room table and opened it up grabbing all the files out to look for the information to take in the morning.

    Bree found herself looking through all the details of their births. She smiled remembering back to both those days, happiest for her and Christopher. She gathered up their information and then grabbed the next file, hers. Nothing interesting in that one so she closed it up and laid it on the girl’s files on the table. There was one more file, she knew instantly it was Christopher’s but if she didn’t the large red stamp spelling DECEASED would have given it away. Bree took the file and sat on the couch. She hesitated opening it in fear of reliving the details of his death only this time not by someone telling her but by reading with her own eyes. She held the file and had a mental argument with herself on whether to open it or to wait till another day. Part of her wanted to read it and part of her was scared to read and relive it again. Her palms were sweaty and the lump in her throat was developing as she stared at the words in red. Tears filled her eyes and a sob escaped her mouth. Not tonight, Bree got up and put the file back in the box and placed the other files on top and moved the box to the hall closet and shut the door. She stood against the door, feeling like a coward but she just couldn’t fall apart again, not after everything she had done to keep going. She made a promise with herself that she would read the file before Christmas. She gathered the papers for the Nurse and placed them in her purse ready for tomorrow and called it a night.