Chapter 14 - Fast and Deeply Asleep
Chapter 14 - The Haunting of Watermill Valley
“I’ll be careful,” Amelia said. She still wasn’t sure what it was that she was supposed to be careful of.
Marguerite stared at Amelia in silence for just a moment too long before she blinked and cleared her throat.
"Our print center is just around the corner. Since it’s after hours, I’ve locked the outside door so nobody else comes in. I was going to need to stay late for some time to work on the catalogue anyway. You have one hour to complete whatever business you have here. And, don’t tell anybody I did this for you, okay? It’s a small town, and word travels fast. I don’t want to start working nights as a habit."
“That is so kind of you,” Amelia said. “Thank you so much.”
“Just be ready to leave in an hour. Not a moment later.”
With that, she walked off, leaving Amelia alone in the microfiche room. Marguerite’s book cart squeaked its way back through the aisles as Amelia's quivering hand reached for the files.
Unfortunately, Amelia found herself in a race against not only the five-minute time limit, but also her rising gorge. The nausea had built like a rising tide all evening, and right when she needed to stave it off the most, it threatened to overwhelm her and take precious moments she didn't have to spare.
After rifling through files in a panic for about twenty minutes, she printed three articles that looked the most promising, and then promptly hurled into a nearby garbage bin.
She folded the articles and tucked them into the pocket of her jeans, moving on to the computer lab. She hastily designed a first draft of a punch card design using an online template, and then she printed a stack of them. It looked homemade and fairly unoriginal—a small rectangular card with a big, smiling coffee cup in the middle surrounded by a border of smaller coffee cup shapes to be punched out. She could improve upon the design with the next round of printing, if the punch card program was successful.
Amelia bounced on her heels to the hum of the printer, knowing that she was nearly out of time. Soon, Marguerite stepped in, keys in hand.
“It’s time to go,” she said. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Amelia said, sighing with relief as she snatched the last page from the printer.
Marguerite’s nose scrunched up. "What on earth is that smell?"
“Oh...that would be the microfiche room,” Amelia said, her face turning crimson.
Marguerite covered her mouth and nose, planting her vision on the trash can where Amelia’s vomit had landed.
"Oh my God," she gasped. “Are you kidding me?”
"I'm so sorry," Amelia said as fire filled her cheeks. "I haven't been feeling well. Here, I’ll take it out with me."
“That won’t be necessary. The cleaning crew comes around early in the morning. They’ll take care of it. But you’d better be off to your home now where you can rest.”
Marguerite feigned politeness, but Amelia could tell by her tense jaw that the woman was eager to get her out of there.
Outside, in the thick scent cloud of the petunias, Amelia held her clammy forehead and hissed out a breath. Puking in the microfiche room surely couldn’t have made a good impression. And in a small town, she knew, people talked. She gagged, holding back another wave of nausea as the sidewalk seemed to tilt on its axis.
The sound of a familiar voice set her world right again.
“So that’s how you stretch your fingers far enough for that chord,” Rain was saying to a man next to him as they walked down the sidewalk toward Amelia. His eyes lit up with recognition as he caught sight of Amelia.
“Well, hello neighbor!” He called out.
“Hi,” Amelia said, leaning on a light post for support. Her stomach still churned.
“Ref, this is my new neighbor. Amelia, this is Rafael.”
“Nice to meet you,” Amelia said. Details looked hazy in the corners of her vision. She could feel herself swaying even though she held fast to the light post. Still, her gaze lingered on the guitar cases the two men were holding.
“Are you in a band or something?”
Rain and Rafael looked at each other, and after they engaged in a small bit of self-deprecating laughter, Rain replied.
“Or something,” he said. “It’s a thing we like to do together, but so far we haven’t taken it anywhere other than our own garage.”
“Except for tonight!” Rafael corrected. “We just came from the bar downtown. Our first gig.”
“It...wasn’t a very packed house.”
“That’s great,” Amelia mumbled. Her grip faltered on the post as her nausea surged.
“Are you okay?” Rain said.
In lieu of reply, Amelia threw up bile on top of the pretty pink potted petunias.
“I thought you looked pale,” Rain said, hovering around her. “Ref, do you still have that water bottle on you?”
As Amelia stood up, she was handed the water bottle. She felt Rain’s muscular arm wrap
under her own. She felt a thrill and wasn’t sure if it was the feeling of his skin or just the temporary relief from throwing up.
“I’m fine now,” Amelia said, even though the last thing she wanted was for Rain to remove his arm from her. She wanted to stay like this all night.
“We’ll drive you home,” Rain said. “You don’t look up to driving. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
Amelia’s cheeks flushed. “I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”
“We’re going the same way.” Rain said with a deadpan expression.
Amelia laughed, hard and long. Too long. For some unexplainable reason, she felt tears threatening to fall. So much had happened in such a short time.
Rain misread her reaction as reluctance. “That said, I understand if you’re not comfortable leaving with us,” Rain said, seeming to reconsider. “Do you have a friend you could call? We can just stay nearby until they arrive.”
Amelia sighed. Rain was the type of neighbor who would do anything for you, but he also knew when to stop. What wasn’t there to love?
“It’s okay,” Amelia said, relenting. “You two can drive me home. But how will I get my car back?”
“I can bring you back tomorrow if you’re feeling better.”
“I have work really early in the morning.”
“So do I.”
“As what?”
“A personal trainer.”
Refael sighed. “Are you two going to talk all night or are we going home?”
“Let’s go,” Rain said. “I need to drop Refael off first. It’s not far. Is that okay?”
Amelia nodded, suddenly grateful for the ride. Exhaustion overtook her now that the nausea had subsided. And with how little sleep she’d been getting, she worried that she might have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Sure enough, not long after getting into the passenger’s seat of Rain’s car, she fell fast and deeply asleep.
More to Explore!
Do you like reading, coloring, or having something new to look forward to each week? I’m writing a little something here to remind you what I have on offer.
