Change of Heart (NaNoWriMo 2011)

Chapter 8

            “Uhm…” Jariel hesitated. “No, not really.” He laughed, well, more like coughed.

            “None?” she asked in disbelief. “None at all?”

            “Nope, never had a job in my life.” At least, not a mortal job. He thought.

            Dawn just laughed as she went to the local newspaper and took out the job ads section of it. They spent what felt like hours highlighting jobs that Jariel might be able to actually do. He hoped that he would be back home, though, before he had to actually get a job here.

*      *      *     *

            Dawn didn’t really know what to make of Jariel; of the way he behaved around her, or rather just how he behaved in general, so unworldly. He would watch her and smile at the smallest thing, almost as if he found it to be funny. She didn’t know whether she found it to be a bit stalker-ish, flattering, or just plain annoying. Michelangelo seemed to like him though, which was rare because he didn’t really like anyone but Annette and herself. She had to admit, she found it to be a bit cute, but she would never tell him that in a million years. Not even if ninjas broke in to the house and forced her to tell her secrets. She had to laugh though. The chance of ninjas actually breaking in to her house, taking her hostage, and making her tell her deepest darkest secrets to top it off, was highly unlikely to ever happen. It would be quite entertaining though to see. Well, maybe not for herself but you get the point.

            Annette still wasn’t home, and from the voicemail she left earlier, probably wouldn’t be home for a couple of days. She was spending some time with Derek and working out some issues that had come up, whatever those were. She felt a little bit relieved that she didn’t have to break the news that some random guy who she didn’t even know, that she use to think was a jerk, but Annette thought was cute, was living with them. Yeah, Dawn herself found it to be confusing at times as well. She was a bit afraid on how Annette would take it but, after all, she had said that she thought he was cute. So, maybe, she wouldn’t take it that hard after all.

            Dawn had decided that Jariel really needed to find a job. If he was going to live with her, he might as well learn how to help out so he wouldn’t end up homeless again once he was out on his own again. So, she had grabbed the newspaper from the hallway and put it on the kitchen table, with the job search section on top of the rest of the paper.

Later, after another embarrassing moment catching Jariel staring at her (that stalker?), they had sat down and spent, what she thought were productive, a couple of hours looking over what jobs Jariel may and may not be able to do. Anything requiring a college, or even a high school, degree was out of the question, seeing that he mysteriously didn’t have either one of them. That whole thing puzzled her. Jariel didn’t graduate high school or college; he didn’t even have his G.E.D. at all. Either way, she felt it wasn’t her place to judge.

            All in all, she thought that she had a nice, productive and helpful day. She helped Jariel start looking for jobs, she taught him how to do job interviews correctly, and she managed to clean Annette’s room, even though she probably would have a hissy fit later. She happily crawled in to bed that night, pulled her comforter over her head, and fell asleep, not worried about what tomorrow would bring.

*    *    *   *

Meanwhile….

Elise was happy with herself. She had, once again, gotten what she so desperately had wanted. Now, she joyfully watched as Jariel struggled down on the mortal world. She knew that he wouldn’t survive, and she was quite content with that fact. However, this Dawn girl could pose a problem in the near future. She knew that she would have to keep a close eye on her if she wished to keep her place as the new favorite.

            She was enjoying herself. Being the most favored gave her the respect of all the other angels in Heaven. She felt wanted, needed, as well as loved. She had all she could ever wish for, and yet she wanted more. She wanted to be more than the favorite. She liked the power that she had now, and she wanted to increase that power even further. She wanted more. She needed more. She craved more. She wouldn’t stop until she had what she wanted, and she always got what she wanted. At least, that’s what she thought.

            It never crossed her mind, not even once, that Jariel could come back and take back what was rightfully his. It wasn’t even on her worry radar. She was much more concerned about gaining more power, more people fawning over her, to even consider what would happen if he did, somehow, return. If Jariel returned he would, naturally, take back his place. As to what would happen to Elise, that would be up to Jariel to decide. He could be merciful and ignore what she did to him, or he could be the complete opposite and expose her for what she really was, a fraud.

None of this concerned her, but she would soon learn that she should have paid more attention.