The Envoy of Death Ch. 03

Chapter 3 - Laura and Sophie

Trigger Warnings: Death of a relative

***

Have you ever woken up, and not immediately known where you were? That was the sensation I had; I knew I wasn't in my barracks room or my rack on the ship. Plus I felt all weird. In fact, I didn't recognize the bedroom at all.

"Good morning, Tammi," a voice from the doorway called. I looked over to see a blond-haired girl smiling at me. Memories of the previous day flooded back to me.

"So it wasn't all a dream," I groaned.

"Nope. So do you want eggs or pancakes?"

"Eggs. I noticed yesterday when eating, I don't have the same appetite as I did before... before this."

"Understandable. Tammi is much smaller than Thomas was. I would guess you need around five hundred to a thousand fewer calories. Take a shower, get dressed, and come downstairs. I'll lay out an outfit for you. After breakfast, we'll discuss your first assignment."

I went into the attached master bath. There were two sinks, with an assortment of makeup on the counter between them, a tub, and a standup shower. There was also another door. Looking at it, I saw that it led to the toilet. I took off my negligée and placed it on a clothing hook next to the shower. As I started the shower, I adjusted it to the temperature I was used to as Thomas, but when I got under the stream of water, I had to jump right back out. It seems like Tammi is more sensitive to hot temperatures. I adjusted the water again.

The beads of water coming down on me felt really good. As I soaped myself up, I let out a slight moan as my hand cupped my breasts. "Stop playing with yourself," I heard Adrienne's voice from the bedroom, "There'll be time enough for that later."

Adrienne was gone by the time I got out. I looked at the assortment of clothes she laid out for me. There was a tank-top tee with a band logo and a pair of jeans. A pair of jeans was a very loose term for the article of clothing since it seemed like it was missing over half of its denim. Even as a woman I didn't understand women's fashion. There was also a bra and panties. I put the panties on. As with the negligée, the feeling of silk against my skin felt much better than any of the clothes I wore as Thomas. Then the jeans went on. I was struggling with the bra when the fire alarm downstairs went off. I hurried down, and a whiff of burning hit my nostrils. I noticed Adrienne removing what appeared to be solid black sausage links from the stovetop, cursing. "That's not very polite language. What did the sausage ever do to you?"

"Oh, Tammi. I'm sorry, I wanted to make you breakfast, but as you can see, it's not going too well. The extent of my cooking skills seems to be putting an Eggo in the toaster and soup in the microwave."

I laughed. "Looks like we found something I'm better than you at. But do you mean to tell me that the embodiment of Death itself can't cook?"

"Oh. Death could probably cook. Several of her agents can cook. But as I described before, I'm just a partition of Death's mind and this partition can't cook. I could tap into Death's knowledge, but that would focus her attention on me, and away from the important matters she is tending to. It's not that urgent."

"Okay. I'll cook us a meal. But first, how in the world do I put this thing on?" I asked holding up the bra.

"Ah, yes, the bra, a formidable opponent! Try putting it on so the clasp is in front, clasp it, then rotate it to the correct position, and then put your arms through. After a bit of practice, you should be able to clasp it in the correct position, but that's the easy way to do it."

"Alright," I followed her directions and got the bra on. "I'll be right back." I headed upstairs and threw the t-shirt on. I then headed back down to cook breakfast.

***

"This is your assignment," Adrienne handed me a photo of what appeared to be a 20-something-year-old girl, "her name is Sophie Watts." Sophie had long jet black hair and light blue eyes. The two colors contrasted, making each feature more striking. She had well-defined arching eyebrows and red lipstick on plump lips. This all stood on a heart-shaped face.

"She's so young. What does she die of?"

"Oh, she's not the one dying. Not yet anyway." Adrienne handed me another photo, this one of an old woman who bore some resemblance to Sophie. "This is Laura Watts, Sophie's paternal grandmother. She's the one dying, of natural causes. She's lived a long and fulfilling life."

"So why is Sophie my assignment if Laura is the one who is dying?"

"Sophie is Laura's only granddaughter. Laura's daughter died in a drunk driving accident years ago, making family a very important thing for Laura. As a young kid, Sophie would spend a lot of time at her grandmother's house. These interactions meant a lot to Laura, and are some of her most treasured memories. However as time has gone on, Sophie has grown more distant from her grandmother. She would rather spend her free time after work hanging out with her friends at local bars than spend it wither old grandma. Laura has made some attempts to reach out to Sophie, but mostly in vain. Her greatest regret if she were to die right now, would be to never have reconnected with her granddaughter."

"So you want me to help convince Sophie to reconnect with her grandmother?"

"Yes."

"It seems like you are just throwing me in the deep end here, without teaching me how to swim first."

"Death chose this as your first mission for a few reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, if you fail it is not that big of a deal. Death would prefer Laura dies with no regrets, but it isn't that big of a regret as far as regrets go. Secondly, it is local, here in Seattle. While you will be based here, some of your missions will take you all over the country, and indeed all over the world. However, we wanted something local for your first few missions so you wouldn't have to worry about finding a place to stay and where you would have me to help you if you need help with girl things, like makeup or your period. I'm not sure when that will happen."

"Probably at the most inconvenient time possible."

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"How long do I have?"

"Laura has a little over a week left. We want to give her and Sophie some time to reconnect, so I would say probably only a few days."

"And what's my in? If I only have a few days I have to be able to make fast friends with Sophie."

Adrienne pointed to the band logo on my shirt. "What do you know about the band Witchduck?"

Apparently, Witchduck was an all-female indie rock band based in Seattle. Adrienne played a few of their songs for me. They had definite feminist liberal overtones in their music. They kind of reminded me of a female Green Day.

"Not bad," I said, "So Sophie likes this band?"

"Sophie loves this band. They have a concert tonight at a local venue. However, Sophie couldn't afford to get tickets. Her job isn't the best-paying job in the world, and most of her money beyond her living expenses goes to repaying her college loans. And you seem to have an extra ticket," Adrienne handed me two tickets. "Lucky you."

"And how do I run into Sophie?"

"Sophie gets off work at 5:30 and is usually out of the building by 5:35. The concert venue is just a few blocks away from her office. The concert is at 7, but I would suggest showing up early and getting some food from a nearby restaurant. And you might need some help finding the place, perhaps from a nearby office worker who just happens to be getting off work around that time."

"I see."

***

I was ostensibly looking at the maps app on my phone outside of Sophie's workplace. In reality, I was keeping watch out of the peripherals of my eye for Sophie. Sure enough at 5:33 she came walking out of her office. I called out to her as she was walking past, "Excuse me."

"I don't have any spare change," she said without so much as glancing in my direction.

"It's not that, I was wondering if I could get some directions. The GPS on my phone doesn't seem to be working."

Sophie stopped. "Sure, where are you headed?"

"I'm going to a concert on Pike Street."

Sophie glanced at my shirt, "Oh, the Witchduck concert? Are you a fan?"

"Honestly? I like their music, but my friend is a huge fan. Unfortunately, she got sick and had to back out at the last moment."

"Oh, that sucks. I really enjoy their music, but wasn't able to get a ticket, unfortunately. Anyways, Pike is this way." The young black-haired beauty led me through the crowded streets of Seattle. She was definitely cute. While she wouldn't have been the "it" girl back in high school, she would have been one of their posse members.

"You know, I have an extra ticket with my friend having to bail and all. You should join me."

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly intrude."

"It wouldn't be an intrusion at all. I'd enjoy the company, plus I wouldn't want the ticket to go to waste. It sounds like you're a fan."

"Okay, yeah, sure. I'd love to!" Sophie agreed. "I'm Sophie, by the way. And you are?"

"Tammi. It's good to meet you, Sophie."

"Good to meet you as well. Here's Pike. Where's the venue?" She looked at the maps on my phone, "Looks like it's a couple blocks that way."

"Thank you so much. The concert isn't for a bit still. You want to get a bite to eat while we wait?"

"Sure, I know the best sushi place just down the street. You like sushi, right?"

"Sushi is fine."

The sushi place was alright. It wasn't fancy, as to be expected from someone who was paying off student loans and barely scraping by. But it had a nice atmosphere. It was a bit busy, but the noise was at a quiet enough level to facilitate conversation.

"So what do you do for a living?" Sophie asked me.

"I used to do software engineering, but I just recently moved to consulting. I'm between contracts right now." Adrienne and I had come up with that cover story earlier to be able to explain my frequent travel and odd schedule. "What about you?"

"Nothing so grand. I majored in journalism and I'm currently working at a news conglomerate as a research assistant. I'm trying to become a reporter, but I had to start somewhere and in this economy? I'm just lucky to have a job."

"I hear you. What does a research assistant do?"

"Fact check stories mostly. Sometimes file and follow up on FOIA requests. It's actually quite boring and tedious. Which is why I'm so pumped for this concert! Thank you a million times for the ticket."

The waitress came over asking if we'd be separate checks. I saw Sophie open her mouth to say something, but I quickly cut her off, "I'll be covering both of us."

"Alright, I'll get you your bill," the waitress said, leaving the table.

"You don't have to," Sophie said to me.

"No, but I want to. I have enough money where I won't miss the price of a single meal."

We got to the concert venue with no problem. The bouncer barely glanced at our IDs, though he did take a long glance at our chests. As a male, I was used to having my ID scrutinized, but it felt that as a female it wouldn't have mattered if my ID said I was 16 and was made of cheap cardboard.

The warmup act wasn't that good. Their guitars weren't tuned to each other and their songs lacked any originality. I would have almost thought them to be a parody band if it hadn't been obvious they were trying. Sophie and I were dying from laughter by the time they left the stage.

"I wonder if a band member is related to the venue owner," I mused to Sophie.

"Maybe. Though if Witchduck chose their own act, I'd put my money on Jessie as the decider. After all, she is known for her... unusual choices in what other artists she likes." I recalled from my quick cram session that Jessie was the drummer. She was also the known troublemaker of the band, having been arrested multiple times for misdemeanors.

"And now," the venue announcer said in the microphone, "the band you've all been waiting for, the magical fowl, Witchduuuuuuck!"

I joined Sophie and the other fans, screaming my head off as the band emerged. As the band emerged and began to play, Sophie turned to me. "Come on," she said, as she dragged me to the dance floor. What followed was a few hours of dancing and grinding to the beat. I barely even noticed the music, as my attention was focused on the beauty I was with.

I was almost disappointed when the band left the stage, but Sophie and I remained standing for the encore. When the band reemerged, they played one of their few slower songs. "Shall we?" I asked Sophie as I held out my hand.

She giggled as she took it and we started swaying. I looked up at her, and she smiled down at my shorter stature. I stood up on my tip toes and kissed her. She opened her eyes in shock, but a grin slowly overtook her face.

"I wanted you to do that all night," she said into my ear.

"I've wanted to do that all night," I replied.

"I just wasn't sure..."

"Shhh," I shushed her putting my finger on her lips, "Now you know."

The band's final song ended, and we stepped out into the brisk Seattle evening.

"I'll walk you to your car," Sophie said, "It's near where I met you, right?"

I nodded, "What about you? How will you get home?"

"There's a bus stop on that block. I'll just take that home."

"I can't let you freeze waiting for a bus. Look at you, you're already shivering a bit. Let me drive you home."

"I really don't want to impose any further, but if you insist-"

"I do."

"Then thank you," she smiled at me as we reached Adrienne's car.

As we drove to her apartment, we chatted about the concert. Sophie told me all about the band, with mild interruptions to give me directions. "Take the next left," she said, "Sorry if I'm boring you. I know my roommates get tired of me talking about the band all the time."

"No, it's fine," I replied truthfully, "In fact, I enjoy your enthusiasm. I don't think I've ever been as invested in something as you are."

"Here we are," she said as I pulled up to an apartment complex, "Thank you again for a wonderful night."

"Thank you for the wonderful company. I know this is short notice, but do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"Let me check my busy social calendar," she said turning on her phone screen. "Oh, look like I'm free," she said showing me her calendar app. I noticed almost every day was blank. Sophie winked at me.

"Great, 'cause I would love to take you on a proper date."

"And this wasn't a proper date?"

"Of course not. I didn't get to pick you up, bring you flowers, any of the sappy romantic stuff."

Sophie laughed and agreed to the date. We exchanged phone numbers. "So if this isn't a proper date," Sophie asked, "does that mean I don't get a goodnight kiss?"

"You can have as many kisses as you want," I replied, leaning over the center console. This was more than the brief peck I gave her during the concert, but our tongues did stay in our own mouths. "Strawberry lip gloss?" I asked as we broke it off.

"I like the flavor," she said as she opened the car door. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?" she asked.

"Definitely," I replied, "I'll text you the time after I finalize plans," I said.

***

Adrienne ambushed me as soon as I entered the house. "How did it go? Did you become her friend? Did you have a chance to talk about her grandma?"

"Adrienne, let me sit down first. I've been on my feet all night."

We retired to the living room. "So?" she asked.

"We met up and went to the concert. We danced, we kissed, I drove her home-"

"Wait, back up. You kissed?"

"Yes. Was that wrong? Did I read our relationship wrong? Are we exclusive?" I was panicking.

"Breathe, Tammi. You didn't do anything wrong, and we are not exclusive. It would make your job much harder if we were. I'm just surprised. You've only been Tammi for a couple of days, and you're already making out with pretty girls," Adrienne teased me.

"We didn't make out, at least not on the dance floor."

"So you did make out later?"

"Not exactly. But we did share a more intimate kiss when I dropped her off at her apartment. Oh and we made date plans for tomorrow. I didn't bring up her grandma, there really wasn't an opening to."

"That's fine. Let me check in with Death for a second," Tammi relaxed back into the loveseat's cushion for a moment and seemed to be lost in thought. Then she was back, "Alright, this will work out well for us. Laura will go into cardiac arrest tomorrow. She will be resuscitated, but it will be a near-death experience, so it falls under my purview. So here is what we're going to do..."

***

I pulled up to Sophie's at 5 P.M. with a small bouquet of flowers. I wanted to go with a larger bouquet, but Adrienne assured me that a smaller bouquet would be better for an apartment where space was at a premium. I knocked on the apartment door, and it was opened by a Polynesian girl around the same age as Sophie.

"Hi, I'm Tammi. I'm here for Sophie," I said.

"So you're Tammi?" she asked, "Sophie couldn't shut up about you last night. I can see why. Come in, Sophie should be ready any minute now. SHE WOULD'VE BEEN READY ALREADY, IF SHE COULDV'E DECIDED ON AN OUTFIT EARLIER," the girl spoke the last part loudly, obviously for the benefit of someone in another room.

"STOP IT, JULES!" came Sophie's voice from down the hallway, "YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME!"

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TO IF YOU HAD BEEN READY FOR YOUR DATE ON TIME. Sorry about this, Tammi. I'm Julia, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Julia. I'm guessing you're Sophie's roommate."

"You'd be right. Also, don't get any funny ideas, I'm as straight as they come."

"Okay. I wasn't even wondering about that before you said anything."

"Just trying to stop any misunderstandings before they happen, you understand. I've had boyfriends hit on Sophie before hoping for a threesome, and it's always awkward. I'm trying to avoid a similar situation."

"I promise not to hit on you. Have you had that problem with any of Sophie's previous girlfriends?"

Julia glanced at Sophie's door before lowering her voice, "Don't let her know I told you this, but you're the first girl Sophie's invited over. I mean, she's gone on dates before, but they usually meet elsewhere and, as far as I know, she's never gone on a second date."

"How do I look?" Sophie asked, exiting her room.

"Beautiful," I said standing up. "These are for you," I said handing her the flowers.

"Oh! You weren't kidding about the flowers. Jules, do we have a vase?"

"I think I have one somewhere. You can just put them in a water glass for now. I'll try to find it while you two are out and about."

"It was nice meeting you, Julia," I said as I escorted Sophie out.

"So what's the plan?" Sophie asked.

"Dinner first," I said turning on the car. "Do you mind classic rock? I can put on some Witchduck if you'd like, but this is what I already have playing."

Sophie laughed. "Witchduck is my favorite band, but they're not the only music I listen to. I don't mind some AC/DC or Led Zeppelin."

I drove us to a local Italian restaurant. I wanted to take Sophie somewhere nice, but not too lavish. "Hi," I told the maître d', "I should already be on the waitlist. Tammi, party of two."

"It will be just a moment," she said, after looking down at the waitlist. We got seated fairly quickly after that. I ordered the chicken giardino with the house wine while Sophie got fettuccine alfredo, also with the house wine.

"So you told me a lot about yourself yesterday, any family you're close to?"

"My parents, of course. They're sweet, but they just don't get it."

"It?" I asked.

"My interest in girls. My mom is confident I just haven't found the 'right guy' yet. My dad is a little more understanding, but it's not like he'll show up at the next pride parade."