Overture (Rain Dance, Book 1) (Rain Dance Series) (56 page)

     
I was abruptly
woken when a heavy weight plunged onto the small bed beside me, causing me to
go bouncing up and down.

     
"Rise and
shine, Baby!" Jillian was looking down at me with a mischievous grin. She
knew I hated being woken up.

     
"What time
is it?" I groaned, turning to my side.

     
"After ten
or so." She yanked the blanket off of me and slapped my behind.
"Common, I wanna have enough time to do as much shopping as
possible." Then she quickly ran out of the room before I could tell her
off.

     
I rubbed my
eyes and stretched, deciding I would dress before having breakfast. It was
surprisingly sunny, but there was a chill in the air. After using the bathroom,
I threw on a long peach-colored top, a thin sweater, black denim shorts, and
some comfortable shoes since there would probably be lots of walking going on.
And since I wouldn't be doing any painting, I put on a little bit of jewelry.
Not surprisingly, Ethan's tracking necklace had proven to be waterproof. It
hadn't left my neck since he'd first put it on.

     
When I stepped
into the kitchen, I found Jillian drinking some of the leftover wine. Compared
to me, she looked sophisticated and all grown-up in her matching black jacket
and skinny jeans, fashionable sandals, and thin silk top. "Care for a
sip?"

 
    
"Isn't there a rule about drinking
this early in the morning?" I opened the cupboard and pulled out a
chocolate granola bar.

     
"Doesn't
apply to us. You don't drink. I don't drink…too much." She smiled and
handed me the glass. I took a small sip.

 
    
"I'm gonna call a cab."

     
Jillian
whistled as we neared the entrance of the Luxadigm. "It's a lot bigger
than it looks in the pictures."

     
"Yep." I led her inside.

     
As soon as
Samantha made eye contact with me, her smile went from polite to friendly.

     
I grinned back
at her. "Hey."

     
"Hi,"
she replied, looking a bit embarrassed when she noticed my friend.

     
"Sorry
about the other day. I probably should have called, but I wanted to take them
by surprise," Jillian said.

    
 
Samantha shook her head and blushed.
"It's fine, really. I was just surprised. Dale seems to be quite popular
with females."

     
Jillian nodded.
"Well, it's just us two girls, and the three of us are basically family,
so no worries, yeah? Oh! There's an idea…" She looked at me as she spoke.
"The three of us were planning on doing some karaoke tomorrow night. Would
you like to come along?" Looks like she was playing matchmaker for ruining
their night.

     
"Oh…But if
it's been a while for you guys, I don't really want to get in the way."

     
"You could
bring your roommate," I suggested, sighing inwardly. "I know Dale
would be much happier with you there."

     
"And maybe
you could ask Spook..." Jillian nudged me with a smirk.

     
"I doubt
he's into that kind of stuff," I quickly replied in a hushed voice.
Anyway, I would never be able to sing with him there. It was bad enough that
Samantha and possibly even Ginger Spice were coming along. I liked them, but
being comfortable enough to let loose in front of them was another thing
entirely. I was probably going to have to get drunk - something that made me
feel even more uneasy. "Anyway, what do you think?" I turned to
Samantha.

     
"Connie
was
complaining about wanting to go out again. I'll let her know. She'll probably
want to bring Tyler."

     
Tyler. The
blonde who she had left with that night at the club. The same guy who had come
with Ethan and friends. Yeah, I was definitely going to be getting drunk if
they both came. "Things going good between them?" I asked.

     
"Yeah, she
can't get enough of him, which is surprising since she usually moves on after
the first two dates. Anyway, it sounds like fun. Thanks for asking."

     
"Of
course."

     
"You two
going up? As long as you're both together, you won't need a guest badge."

     
I hooked my arm
around Jillian's. "I'll keep her from running off. Talk to you
later."

     
Samantha waved
as we left.

     
"She's so
sweet," Jillian said fondly.

     
I nodded in
agreement.

     
We also said hi
to Zach and Patricia on the way to my work space.

     
"Is it
just you here?" Jillian asked when she noticed that the further we went,
the emptier it became.

     
"Yeah,
pretty much. In here..." I let her in the room first, following quickly so
I could shut the door.

     
"Oh,
wow." She stood in the center of the room looking around, eventually
glancing up at the ceiling. "This is something else. I knew you were good,
but this is…I mean…" She swallowed, her cheeks turning red.

 
    
I laughed. "It's fine. You think he'll
be impressed?"

     
"I think
it'll blow him away. This is…legit.
Professionally
legit. Like
old-school-artist-geezers-from-years-long-passed
kind of legit. Isn't it uncomfortable to work up there?" She pointed up.

     
"Yeah,
especially after a few hours. I lay down while I do it so I won't strain my
neck."

     
Walking around,
she looked up and down at the walls until something caught her eye. She stopped
and tilted her head. "This one's kind of hot." She was referring to a
male angel.

     
"Bobo. He
was the first one I worked on."

     
"You named
them?" She turned to me and smiled. "
Bobo
? Really? Of all
things, why?"

     
I shrugged.
"It just happened."

     
"…I had a
tiny pet turtle named Bobo," she said wistfully.

     
"I
know."

     
She laughed.
"Who else is there? Introduce me!"

     
I pointed to
each angel and named them off. "Marina and Juliet. Edwini. Helena. Joseph,
Molly, Asher…Lorelei and Lorenzo - they're twins. And that's Ingrid."

     
"And the
little guys?" Jillian glanced up at the incomplete cherubs.

     
"Nameless.
Maybe I'll just call them Thing One and so on."

     
"Um…How
long have you been working on this?" Gently, she stroked the paint that
made up Lorenzo's hair.

     
"A little
over three weeks, I think?"

     
"Is that
all?"

     
"I've been
working most days like a regular nine-to-five job. Well, more like
eleven-to-five. The hours usually depend on how I'm feeling. It helps that I
like what I'm doing. I hope to be done within two weeks, but I guess I'll just
have to see how that goes."

     
Jillian
surprised me by pulling me into a hug. "I'm really happy that you're doing
something you love. I know life hasn't been easy for you, and I know that
you…Well, I know that you aren't like Dale and I. And I'm really,
really
happy that you've finally found a place to settle." She pulled away and
looked at me carefully. "You
do
plan on staying here, right?"

     
"…I just
might," I responded, my eyes starting to water over her kind words. I
couldn't give a proper answer since I no longer knew what my plans were
anymore. "Thank you." I hugged her back tightly.

     
"So...do I
get to meet
him
?"

     
"I don't
know. He usually has to make room sometime throughout the day to see me, and
even then it's usually only for just a few minutes."

     
She nodded.
"CEO. Master of the Universe. It's a busy job. I dated one not too long
ago - just before The Dipshit Doctor. He was good-looking and fairly adequate
in terms of personality. Unfortunately, he was a major snooze-fest in the
sack."

     
Somehow,
Jillian's openness still managed to amaze me. "Did you tell him
that?"

     
"I didn't
have the heart…So, do you and Spook…?" She looked at me questioningly.

     
Blushing, I bit
my lip in attempt to hide the goofy grin that threatened to take over my face.

     
Jillian's
laughter filled the room again. "I guess I don't need to ask how good with
an expression like
that
."

     
I looked away.
"Let's go. Last time I went shopping with another girl was when you and I
hit Venice."

     
"That was
years ago."

     
"Exactly."

     
We were walking
arm-in-arm, rounding the corner of the hallway when I saw Ethan standing at
Patricia's desk, shuffling some papers around.

     
Jillian gasped
and whispered in my ear, "Holy
shit
, he's real…and
tall
. You
didn't tell me he was tall. Wow. I mean, I saw pictures, but talk about a
walking
bidanshi
."

     
"…A
what
?"

     
"He's
really got that whole…
dark and manly bishounen
thing going on, you know?
Especially with that hair. I bet it feels good. Does it? I bet you pull on it
every time you-"

     
"Shh!" Ignoring her snicker, I tried my best to keep a
straight face. It was a hopeless attempt, and I ended up joining her in a quiet
bout of giggles.

     
Lifting his
head when he heard us approach, Ethan stared at me first, a small but warm
smile gracing his face as he began taking steps towards us. "Daphne,"
he spoke before looking at the lovely woman beside me. He observed her with
polite interest.

     
"Ethan," I greeted him. "This is Jillian Tamblyn. Jilly,
this is Ethan Desmond."

    
 
My friend held out her hand, which Ethan
took. "The infamous Jillybean," he noted.

     
Jilly's smile
was infectious. "Has she been talking smack about me? Well, I can share
plenty of shameful stories about her. Did you know she gulped down a whole
bottle of wine just this very morning? And within a matter of minutes."

     
Ethan raised an
eyebrow and glanced at me.

     
"Lies," I objected. "I gulped down two."

     
"And
that's on top of the three she practically inhaled yesterday," Jilly
continued. "You should've seen the state she was in - running into things,
completely unable to walk. Singing the wrong lyrics. She started bleeding when
she fell off the pole, so we took her home to clean her up. After she ended up
passing out in the tub, we tried to drag her body to bed, but then she started
humping Dale and that's when we knew th-"

     
"Okay,
stop," I laughed, watching Ethan's face turn from confusion to slight
panic.

     
"Too
far?"

     
I nodded.
"Too far."