Mike & Karen Ch. 21

"Also, I will say that Miss Prospero performed her assigned duties most admirably while away with us," Mike said, gesturing to Valentina, who blushed. "I wish for that to be noted in her employee files, and I now return her to the fold."

"Thank you, sir," Tatyana said pleasantly, smiling. "And I return your domicile to you in working order. With your permission, I will go over what has been seen to in your absence this past week."

"After dinner, please, Miss Orlova," Mike replied, nodding. "Although I'm certain you kept everything in good order."

"As you wish, sir," Tatyana said easily. "Morgenmuffel proved charming and easy to look after. Master Alex's crabs... less so."

Trilby's eyebrow twitched slightly at the mention of Blurgle and Grundle.

"That's to be expected, giving who Alex's mother is," Mike laughed, earning him a look from Karen. "Let us know what time dinner is, we will be ready."

Mike strode off, pulling out his cellphone and calling the university to let them know he and Karen would be back in due course, not to mention bringing complimentary bottles of Bellerophon Estates wine for the faculty. Karen walked with him, her arm through his and sighing happily.

"Well then, dismissed," Tatyana said, turning around to address the staff. They all broke up to go about their various duties, all but one. "Miss Prospero?"

Valentina stopped and looked at her superior. "Ma'am?"

Tatyana glanced at the top of the younger woman's head. "Kitty ears."

Val squeaked and removed the little headband with the lacy kitty ears on them, blushing.

***

Loretto College, the third floor, a window overlooking the campus, 1987...

She sat in the sizable windowsill, not bothered by the chill of the cold air just on the other side of the glass she was gazing out of. While her one leg dangled, she had the one resting in the sill drawn up to her chest and her arms hugged it. She gazed outside, completely silent, and very lost to the world. If people walked by, they just kept going, knowing not to bother her.

Most of the snow had melted by now, and March was proving dull and sloppy, with a lingering chill. There were small, white patches on the muddy earth, mostly gathered around the bases of trees. The great sward of grass that was the center of the campus was decidedly a bog of muck, and few people were choosing to traverse it.

She'd often enjoyed sitting in this window, watching campus life play out below. She loved watching the people go by, laughing and talking on their way to classes or some other activity. The place felt so alive and hopeful, a sign of a bright future.

And yet now, it meant so very little to her. It all seemed cold and bland. The girl she loved was gone, and it coloured everything around her. She felt no joy at the sights that greeted her, only emptiness, a sense of heartache, and...

Dread.

What if Jenny was right?

In any other circumstances, under any other conditions, Karen would have trusted her best friend completely and intuitively. Jenny was frighteningly smart, and almost never wrong about her hunches. And that really bothered Karen now, because what if Jenny had seen something that was true? What if she'd seen something Karen herself wasn't ready to admit to or face?

The thought was almost unhinging. Had she really fallen in love with someone else?

Was she really more in love with them than she was with Jenny?

It was terrifying to her.

She'd cried for hours after Jenny had run out the door, and even her mother couldn't console her when she got home and found out from Mona, Janet, and Lisa. Jonathon and Miranda did what they could for their distraught and heartbroken daughter, but ultimately respected her wishes to let her be.

She'd allowed her three friends to come to her that night, and they cried with her, not only because they all missed Jenny, but they were devastated for her, even if she never explained to them fully why her beloved had fled so very suddenly, as if out of the blue. They'd left to go back to the guest room they shared, and she'd wept well into the dead of night before passing out from exhaustion.

They'd all headed back to the university campus the next day, even though Karen had dolefully offered to let them stay and enjoy Blackwell Manor's amenities for the remainder of the break. They dutifully declined, knowing they wanted to be nearby her, even if they gave her space once they were back in the dorms.

If they suspected that Karen would throw herself back into her sciences and music to occupy herself and dull the pain, they'd been wrong. While she would return to her studies soon enough, nothing held her mind or interest in the meantime. She was simply... there. Nothing more than that appealed to her.

Jenny... she thought now, the voice almost echoing in her mind. What if you're right? Dear God, what if you're right?

Then there was a presence next to her, and a gentle hand on her shoulder. Lisa was standing beside her and smiling at her.

"Just checking on you," the redhead said softly. "You've eaten, you've showered, you've gone pee..."

"I have, Li, thank you," Karen said, nodding but not smiling. Everyone knew she would not fake a smile to make them all feel better. "I just need time. I don't know how much, but I need time."

"Take all the time you need, Kar," Lisa said softly, taking Karen's hand in hers and clasping it to herself, which she knew it was all right for her to do. "None of us can understand the depth of the hurt you feel, but... we're all sad, and we all love you. And we'll all be here when you come out the other side."

She kissed her best friend's hand lovingly and reverently before returning it to her lap, smiling and giving Karen a little wave before walking off. Lisa had been staying with Janet the past two nights, giving her roomie some space. If that's what she could do to help Karen, the girl she loved so very much, to heal, so be it.

Karen went back to staring out the window, taking little notice of anything down below. What spread before her was a vista, and while it seemed dull, it was a broad perception, countering how small and painful her own being felt. Vast, empty, and... pointless.

She didn't like it, but at least it wasn't what was inside. Nothing really mattered at the moment.

She had no concept of how long she'd been sitting in that windowsill when a movement caught her eye. She glanced over and saw a familiar figure striding across campus.

Towering over everyone else nearby, he was carrying his ludicrously huge camping backpack over one massive shoulder. His cheerful smile seemed to light up the people around him, and the area in general.

His blond lion's mane of hair blew behind him in the March wind, but he seemed otherwise unfazed by it. A T-shirt advertising some 1970's metal band was stretched across his powerful chest, and a worn-out jean jacket on top of it. His faded jeans bulged around his titan thighs.

Back from the Great White North already, are you? she mused. Is it really that time again?

And are you him?

God, Jenny... what if you're right?

She almost jumped as he turned his head and looked straight up at her with those piercing laser-blue eyes. She didn't know how he'd sighted her; she was a good hundred meters away and up in the third-floor window of her dorm room. How had he known?

He smiled and held up his hand, not waving at her so much as just acknowledging her before striding onward, toward his own dorm building, dominating everything around him.

A hint of a smile crept across her face as she kept watching from her little perch while life went on below her. The grass was turning green, the wind was mild, spring was nigh, and there would soon be an awakening.

And maybe, just maybe, she wasn't quite so terrified any more.

***

Author's Notes: Don't forget to read the epilogue after these notes!

So yes, Karen had a romantic life and was in love before Mike. Not unheard of, right? And since you've now read that Jenny is visiting, I hope you liked her in this chapter, because she'll be around once in a while.

What the heck is going on in California? Go read Freja & Jeanie chapter 4 to find out. These chapters are very intertwined. You won't be disappointed.

As for the running jam gag... if you've read the works of Lewis Carroll, you will remember that during the Mad Tea Party, they had to smear jam on the nose of the dormouse to get them to calm down when a cat (hah, Kat!) was mentioned. It struck me as a fun thing to do here.

There was a lot of ground to cover in this chapter, and it ended up being somewhere over 57,000 words. Who the heck do I think I am, Chloe? I remember when Time Rider chapter 4 clocked in at just under 19,000 words and I thought that was big. Guess I was wrong, eh?

Hopefully Valentina proved of some use to the narrative for you, and I have plans, especially once the 714 Bridle Path story arc comes out. Keep your eyes peeled.

That's just about everything, so make sure you wash your hands and stay safe.

Keep your stick on the ice!

- Management

Epilogue

Karen's boudoir, the present, soon after soon home...

Karen sat in front of her mirror, staring at the information she'd called up on her laptop. She tapped her fingernail against the surface, feeling and almost hearing her heart pounding. She thought about what she was about to do, and how things had worked themselves out to this point.

Thirty years ago, Jenny had run out of her life, begging Karen to trust her.

Twenty years ago, her mother Miranda had disappeared, with her baby sister, begging Karen to trust her.

Less than a year ago, Alli had fled, begging forgiveness.

They'd all left notes.

Jenny had said she was moving aside for the person who held Karen's heart, closer than she ever had. And Jenny had been right.

Now, the person who held Karen's heart had told her to contact Jenny and see if this wound could be healed. And Michael had never been wrong. One of the endless reasons Karen couldn't help but love him.

It brought a smile to her face, and she felt warm.

She picked up her phone and began dialing a number...

***

~fin~