Hope woke up the next day with a headache. Some would assume it was from a night of drinking, yet it wasn’t. Spending time with her family always caused her head to throb. She chuckled at the thought of how both her and Judy were affected physically by their family gatherings. Judy broke out in acne while Hope got headaches. Both were a pain, yet Hope would have opted for a case of acne, as she had to go to work.
She rolled out of bed and headed for the medicine cabinet. When she opened the door she noticed the lone bottle of ibuprofen sitting there. Hope wasn’t into taking drugs, except for the occasional painkiller, so her cabinet was pretty bare.
She popped a few pills in her mouth then downed them with a glass of water. The phone rang just as she was putting the bottle back.
“Hello,” Hope croaked.
“Tied one on last night, did we?”
It was Rick.
“No.”
“Well you sound like hell.”
“Gee thanks. I’m going to hang up now.”
“Seriously, are you all right?”
She heard the concern in his voice and forgave him for the insult. She told him about her night, omitting the part about her encounter with Jonathan.
“Sounds like fun. Too bad I missed it,” he commented dryly.
“You wouldn’t have if you had gone with me like we planned, instead of bailing,” she griped.
“You knew I got called into work,” he said apologetically.
Rick had agreed to go to Hope’s family Christmas, but had to cancel. Being a police officer on a unit that worked 24/7 made it hard for him to make plans and keep them. It also meant that sometimes his work kept him from coming home at night.
“You owe me, especially since you weren’t in my bed when I woke up this morning,” Hope said.
“Sorry.” Rick yawned over the phone. “It was a long night. I’m just wrapping things up here and then I want to go see Judy about some police business. After that I’m heading home. Will you be there?”
“Sorry I have to go to work.”
“Damn,” he muttered. “I was hoping to see you, as well as do other things to you.”
Hope’s insides shivered at the thought of what he wanted to do to her.
“You’ll have to hold that thought until I get home.”
“How about if I take you out to dinner tonight to make up for last night,” he offered.
“I’m afraid to accept in case you cancel again.”
Hope said it as a joke, but Rick didn’t take it that way.
“You must think I’m a total asshole,” he said dejectedly.
“Hey, I was just kidding. You know I think you are wonderful and I’d love to go out with you.”
After she hung up, she began to feel guilty. Thoughts of Jonathan filtered through her mind. A part of her wanted to tell Rick about what happened, yet she still wasn’t sure exactly what went on.
Thinking back to the encounter, she remembers being pulled into his arms; then from there it gets fuzzy. She vaguely remembers kissing him and trying to unfasten his pants. She tried to recall exactly how this happened, but her mind went blank. That’s why she got the feeling Jonathan had some kind of control over her making her do things she didn’t want to do. This sounded crazy even to her.
Just then the phone rang.
“Hi Hope.”
“Hey Judy.”
“You don’t sound good. Is everything all right?”
“I’ve got a headache,” Hope groaned.
“Why don’t you come over and I’ll do a Reflexology treatment to take it away.” Judy offered.
Judy’s husband Ren had taken a Reflexology course and Judy decided to join him. She found the treatment fascinating and was starting to build up a small clientele.
“Can’t I’ve got to go to work,” Hope groaned.
“I thought you took the day off after family events?”
“I normally do, but I had a meeting today so I couldn’t.” Hope replied.
“I was going to invite you over for breakfast.”
“Thanks, but I really have to get going.”
They talked for a while until Hope hung up and got ready for work. Hope was the Head Librarian at the local library and her hours were flexible, so she could normally come and go as she pleased, except for today.
As she walked to the bathroom, her eyes strayed to the bed. She wished she could wait for Rick to get home and go in later today, but she couldn’t. She was meeting with the managers from other branches to go over their program schedule and had to be there.
Judy was making breakfast when Ren walked in. He came up from behind, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss.
“Good morning,” he said.
Judy turned around to kiss him back. “Good morning.”
Jay raced into the room and sat down at the table.
“What’s for breakfast?”
“Chop the heads off.”
That was Judy’s nickname for soft-boiled eggs since you had to take the tops off to eat them.
Jay made chopping motions in the air in front of Sam, who got up and began jumping and barking excitedly, ready to play.
“So how did it go last night?” Ren asked.
“I thought only my family was dysfunctional,” Judy replied.
“That bad?”
“Hope’s relatives are just plain mean,” Judy said. “They insult each other, call each other names, and are just plain miserable people. I can never figure out how Hope turned out they way she did.”
“Yeah, it does make you wonder doesn’t it,” Ren agreed.
“Hope and her aunt Millie are the only two nice people out of the bunch.”
“I’m sure Rick was thankful he got out of going last night,” Ren said.
Judy was grateful that Rick didn’t go last night after Hope had that encounter with Jonathan. Her senses were still reeling over that. There was something Hope wasn’t telling her that happened between them.
When Judy first met Jonathan she got the strong feeling that he was a charlatan. She tried to tap into this to find out what that meant, but he didn’t stay long enough for her to examine this. After Hope’s run-in with him, she began to wonder. She wanted to discuss this further with her friend and hoped that she would meet with her today.
Ren noticed the troubled look on his wife’s face.
“Judy, are you all right?” Ren asked.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“Did something happen last night?”
She shook her head. “No.”
Ren gave her a doubtful look. “I think you’re full of it.”
“What is she full of?” Jay asked.
“Nothing,” Ren replied.
Judy was glad for the interruption. She really didn’t want to tell Ren about Jonathan. While Ren and Jay were talking, Judy checked on the eggs.
“Breakfast