So You Used to Be Human - Book 3 (Original Version)

Chapter 31: The Defiant Death of Jimmy (Part Three the Last)

He would have thought that Obi Wan Kenobi had nothing on Beatrice, but instead he was admiring how easily she seemed to make friends and how lucky he was that she had been his friend for so long. It was good to have cool friends like Beatrice and Bob.

Inspired, he pulled up his phone and brought up the Facebook app, looking for that photo of him and Bob he had taken at the diner just last week. He was confused for a second when the only photo was of him and Chef Steve posing in the kitchen before work. Hadn't Bob been there? He had been sure of it. Maybe he had just gotten confused and Bob had posted the photo he was thinking about... that was, easy, he just had to find Bob in his contacts and check out his wall... except... there was no Bob in his contacts and for the life of him he couldn't remember Bob's last name--

Jimmy had thrown the phone aside and stumbled out of the car then his head suddenly pounding as the panic attack took over him and all he could hear was the swooshing of blood in his head and the THUMP-THUMP of his beating heart and why was everything so goddamn bright and so fucking loud?

"You okay there buddy?" someone was saying to him, and he looked up at a young couple standing a few feet back. The man looked really concerned so Jimmy nodded and gave the thumbs up. Of course he was okay. As a matter of fact, he was super.

"Really fucking super, thanks," he said, and stood up tall like the goddamn hero he was. He was on a mission of course and he was going to make Beatrice proud of him.

The man smiled nervously and shrugged. His girlfriend waved at Jimmy as they walked away and Jimmy winked at her, exactly like Beatrice would do.

Jimmy looked away from the couple and surveyed the building, considering crossing over to do a little bit of recon, but Beatrice had warned him about getting too close, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Damn, he didn't even have a disguise!

A thought occurred to Jimmy then and he dived back into the car, rooting around in the back for the hair trimming kit he kept back there for work related hair emergencies.

In five minutes Jimmy had first trimmed and then shaved his goatee so that only the moustache remained. He stroked it, thinking how fucking cool he made it look and was thinking of Instagramming a photo of his #bitchingstache but the phone rang and he had made the mistake of picking it up.

Twenty minutes of fighting with his mother had left him with a pounding headache and on the verge of another panic attack.

Why wasn't she listening to him goddamit? And why did she keep on denying knowing anything about Bob or Beatrice for that matter? It's like someone was changing his life in the background just to fuck with his head. In fact how sure was he that it had even been his mother at all?

Jimmy stroked at his bitching 'stache and glared at the condo trying to get his cool back. He had one job right now goddammit, one job and he wasn't going to blow it by losing focus and letting people like his goddamn mother freak him out.

(blowherbrainsout)

A tan minivan pulled up practically behind his car and he looked back in irritation but before he could form a proper thought, there was Bob, getting out of the goddamn car. A grin split his face as he thought of yelling out to his best buddy in the world, relief and a surge of love for the man surging through him, but Jimmy held back, after all, he was supposed to lay low and not engage. So instead he watched as his best friend opened the door for an extremely attractive young woman who had more leg than Jimmy could figure out what to do with. She was stunning in a way that Beatrice wasn't and Jimmy could tell instantly that Bob was in love with her.

He slunk down in his seat as Bob and the girl crossed the street and popped back up to watch them walk towards the lobby. There was a moment there when Bob paused and looked back and looked Jimmy right in the eye, a moment where Jimmy almost lost it, freezing in panic as he realized Bob had spotted him, ohmygodwhatdoIdo? But Bob's eyes moved on past him. There was no recognition from Bob, not even at the car. It was like Jimmy wasn't even there at all.