บท 12: An Oddity

Tony didn't stay in Marcella's house for long. When she came out of the kitchen, he excused himself. He did remind her to take her medications properly and left.

Marcella looked at the time. It was almost six in the morning. She figured that he will have to go to work. She went back to bed.

But she couldn't fall back asleep again. She was worried about her sister. But if her sister went out with her husband, she would be resting by now and she didn't want to disturb them by calling so early in the morning.

She went out for a walk and bought a newspaper. She didn't have a television. She couldn't afford one. She had to resort to the newspapers to learn the news.

She read every bit of the papers. There were no reports of anything she feared to. Her brother-in-law Andrew Romano is a big shot in the city and there will be news about it if he had reported any incident.

That's good!

Marcella sighed in relief. She checked the time and it was already eight in the morning. She was not hungry. Thanks to the medications, she was feeling fine. She decided to go to work. She didn't want to lose a day's pay. She can sit at work if she was just going to sit around at home.

She wore a navy-blue top and a pencil skirt to work that day. She decided to call her brother-in-law at his office when she reaches her office. He would be there around that time. She just wanted to confirm that her sister was fine.

It was just to rest her heart. She will meet her sister at her home tonight anyway. She was going to meet her nephew for the first time tonight. Her in-laws forbade her to visit her sister when she was in the hospital after birth.

They however cannot stop her from visiting her sister's home.

"That's a rare handsome smile I see on your face so early on a Wednesday morning, Mars!" The deep blue eyes of the lovely Gloria had stars in them. "Tell me, tell me, naughty… Were you kissed by a boy?"

"Oh, Glo… Getting kissed?" Marcella kept her purse on the table and sighed. "I was stabbed last night!"

Gloria Butler hooked her arms around Marcella's and pulled her to the chair. Her button nose flared out of excitement.

Of course, she wouldn't think that her friend was actually stabbed. She didn't know who Marcella was. She thought "stabbed" was a euphemism.

"Oh, I want details. How big was the sword that stabbed you? How long did the stabbing last and how loud were you~"

"Oh, Glo!" Marcella stopped her over-enthusiastic friend. "Hold your horses. I'm just excited to meet my nephew tonight."

"Oh," Gloria screwed up her face as her excitement got smothered with a wet blanket. "I thought you were going on a date last night. You left early."

Marcella shrugged. "I didn't lie when I said I was buying a gift for my nephew."

"You're so boring," Gloria rolled the ring on her ring finger. "Guess who finally got something-something…" she smirked cheekily.

Marcella raised her brows. "So, Mr. Butler finally figured out why you were mad at him, huh?" she asked.

Gloria is pretty much an open book and she tells her everything. Marcella considered her a friend although she was uncomfortable enough to talk much about herself. It's not easy to retain any friendship. She felt bad for lying to Gloria. But she truly needed a friend. She didn't want to lose her.

"As if!" Gloria rolled her eyes. Her almond eyes were glimmering with happiness. "He bought me flowers."

"Ah…" Marcella chuckled. "Tale as old as time…"

The work hour started and everyone went to their station. Marcella wore the headphone. Her job was pretty simple. She had to give connections to the calls that were made to the building. Her job mostly involved listening to the speaker and then connecting wire jacks appropriately.

It was not handsome pay, but it helped her pay her bills. What more would one want, right?

When the lines were free, she made a call to her brother-in-law. She was not allowed to make personal calls at work, but she came from a line of lawbreakers.

A little rule at the office was not going to stop her.

She called her brother-in-law's office. His secretary answered the call. It was usual.

"Madison, is Andrew there yet?" Marcella asked after the usual pleasantries.

Madison is a sweet girl. She knows about her situation. Andrew has specifically instructed Madison to be polite to Marcella.

"Umm, no, Marcella. He's taking the day off today. Just a minute ago I received a call from Mr. Romano and he told me that he decided to stay at his cabin in the woods for the week with his wife."

"With Mellissa?" Marcella rubbed her forehead.

Andrew was the sort of guy who would leave suddenly. But it was odd that Mellissa decided to stay in the cabin with their one-month-old baby. She didn't like staying there.

Marcella thanked Madison and ended the connection. She did not find it right.