Chapter One, Episode Three - Reunion - Situationally Theirs

Friday, March 27, 2020:  I’ve set myself another challenge. Take two very different stories with two very different characters and craft them together to create today’s blog post. They ~ the two characters  ~ came together on my all too brief walk last night at 08:30 pm. I had just planned to walk but it seems my feet are connected to my writer’s brain! I’ve read over the two stories again, muddled around a lot to find where and how they connect with each other. 

Monday, May 04, 2020:  Update ~ This morning, I've reviewed and edited my post from March 27th. I was pleased to note not as many typos in this one. I did note, however, the names of the cars in the Estate garage were identified - Ferrari, Jaguar, Honda CRV. There is a slight different in a future post. This will be rectified as I go through these posts in my very extended writing exercise.
Please enjoy:

Reunion

Desperanza had spent the night in jail. The fiasco at the GGB branch with those two rent-a-cops had, of course, not gone well. Not only was she in jail, but she didn’t get any of the money that had just been out there for anyone to take. And………she still smelled of Lysol, her shins were bruised, her glasses were bent out of shape and one lens was cracked. In this closed up town, she’d never get them fixed. She got absolutely no sleep, but at least she had a little eye candy in the precinct. Oh no, not any cell mate. She had had visions of being crammed in a tiny cell with men and women all sweaty and obnoxious. Although, this pandemic thing did have its advantages. She got a cell to herself, just as the other few prisoners. The cops had to get her out of there before morning and before the next ‘criminal’ came to use the one bench and one bucket in the corner cell. But the eye candy. One of the cops on the night shift! Now there was a fine looking young man. Very serious though and he was assigned only to her ~ to getting her out of there and on her way. Very good looking and very patient, he asked her who her family was and would she be able to stay with one of them. Well, there was only one of them and she hadn’t seen her sister Emelina for at least ten years. Didn’t even know where she lived or if she even lived around here anymore. But Luigi was persistent. He looked up every 'Emelina B…something' on the internet. ‘Here’s one…Emelina Beuregaurd  - No? O.K. then Emelina Begley. No?……..and he kept on until Desperanza nodded off in the corner of the cold cell. Finally, from his desk outside the cell, he stood up and shouted….’I’ve got it! This has to be it.’ Desperanza bounced her head off the cold tile walls, slipped off the bench and landed on her knees. ‘What? Did I go to sleep? Is it time for me to go? Can I just have a blanket, it’s so cold in here.’  

‘No, ma’am. I found your sister. She lives on the Beaufort Estate just about five miles outside of town.’

'The Beaufort Estate? They’re rich. That can’t be her.’ 

Luigi held up his finger. ‘Shhhh.  I’m calling her.’ 

‘But it’s three thirty in the morning and we hardly even like each other. I can’t ask her to come and get me!’

Before long, Desperanza found herself out on the street. Hungry and really needing a cup of good coffee. The coffee they had in jail was like dishwater. She had had little choice. Go to her sister’s home or get shipped up island to an empty motel that was to be her jail. Neither choice sounded very welcoming, but at least her sister might have good coffee and a warm bed. Her sister was coming to pick her up but didn’t know how long it would take. So she stood in the dark on a corner under a street light feeling like a hooker, shivering in the damp cold morning.

~~~~~~

The ringing of the phone wouldn’t stop. It was probably just a dream and it would go away when she woke up. Emelina rolled over in bed, missing her satin sheets. Staff quarters were only supplied with cotton sheets. 600 count so they were nice cotton sheets, but satin felt so much better. She opened her eyes. The phone kept ringing. She had forgotten to set it on ‘send to messages after three rings.’ Digby always did that for her. Emelina had supplied the downstairs staff with what looked like and old-fashioned black telephone. It really had all the features of a cellphone in the handset. When it was picked up you could just talk in it as in the old days. So much more comforting and easier. Emelina sat on the edge of the bed, smoothed her hair out of her eyes and picked up the receiver. Her sleep filled voice answered “Yes” …..“Yes this is Emelina Beaufort.” ……“My sister?”……. “Desperanza?!” ……. “Of course she can come and stay here!” …….“How soon?” ………..“As soon as I can get to the corner of Frank and Smith?” “Of course, it will be at least an hour. Will that be alright?”

Emelina was wide awake. How was she going to get to her sister? Her sister, Desperanza. They had such fun together when they were kids. And now they would had the whole house to themselves. Thoughts tumbled over each other in Emelina’s mind. What car should I take? Where is my driver’s license? The keys……where does Giles leave them?….oh, right, there’s a peg board inside that one cupboard door. I remember Digby’s note telling me where all the house keys are. I better get dressed….Emelina kept talking to herself all the way out to the garage where her three cars were housed. The Ferrari? No too flashy for this job. The Jaguar? Still a bit too much. The Honda CRV. Just right. I don’t know how much luggage  Desperanza will have. Emelina hadn’t really driven for quite some time and the Honda had usually been beneath her station, even when she just toured the estate. She had been thrown, quite unceremoniously, into another world where she would have to fend for herself. And now Desperanza would be with her! What an adventure! She found that she remembered more about driving this Honda than she knew. When it had been purchased, only for the house staff to use of course, Digby and Giles had shown her all the bells and whistles. She had taken it for more than one drive around the estate to check on progress in the fields.Trying to calm her excitement, she eased the Honda out of the well appointed garage, clicked the button to close the automatic door, and set out to town to pick up Desperanza.

“We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, 

we take a little of each other everywhere.”

~ Tim McGraw