The Autumn Prince

15. Into the Fire

For the next fifteen minutes, Becca apologized without taking a breath, first for being the catalyst of my car's demise, and then for being unable to give me a ride back home because she took the bus to work. I assured her I would figure something out, but I had two more important things on my mind.

Becca helped with the first, getting the chest back into my storage locker, and it was easier to maneuver with two, but once we'd settled it into its corner I had to endure another minute of apology before I could convince her to wait for me back in the office so I could retrieve the mortar in private.

When I returned, Becca sat on the counter, hunched over with her elbows on her knees. She whispered "sorry" into the air for the millionth time, and sighed again. I ignored her so I could address the next priority, which was to check in on Katherine, since I'd be returning late. She answered on the first ring.

"Hey stranger, fancy hearing from you,"

"You're awake?"

"I've been up since nine-thirty," she said, impressed with herself.

"What?"

"That's what I thought at first, but I'm not going to complain about getting some of my time back. It also means I've been here alone for over an hour." She accused.

"Hey, I'm being responsible and calling you so I deserve a couple points. Are you okay?"

"Okay is relative. I'm not a mess but I'm not awesome without you here." She took a deep breath and amended, "I'm a long way from having a mental breakdown if that's what you wanted to know."

"That's good because I'm going to be a bit longer," I said, looking back at Becca who was now lying on the counter and staring at the ceiling.

"You need to explain that." She said flatly, so I did.

I gave her a sanitized version, taking my audience into account. I had to wait for Katherine to stop laughing when I tried to gloss over the incident with Penny. When I reached the part about my car, Becca started humming what sounded like a dirge, so I knew she'd been listening.

"I need to call an Uber or something, and I won't be bringing the trunk home today. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay. Not cool, but okay. I'm sorry for your car, but it was a piece of crap," she observed, then quickly added, "honey."

"It was the only piece of crap I had."

"It's insured, isn't it?"

"Considering the shape it was in they'll just send me a letter and tell me to keep the stamp."

"Good point." She conceded, "but you're a smart guy, you'll think of something."

I promised I'd be back within the hour and hung up while she made deliberately obnoxious kissy noises on the other end of the line, then I turned my attention back to Becca.

It was strange that I didn't start seeing sparks until several minutes after she came in contact with my skin. Now she appeared to be mildly buzzed, though If not for her relaxed attitude toward me I might not have been able to tell.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" I asked her, concerned.

"Fine." She said, "Mornings are always slow. When Brenda gets here, I can go." She turned her head toward me. "That rhymes." She announced.

"It does," I agreed, "but I'm not sure I should leave you on your own."

"You don't—it's okay. I'm not—I know I'm being silly, I'm not stupid. I think I'm in shock. I just feel mellow but I guess that's kind of good because I usually can't even look at someone without..." she trailed off and looked away. "You were really nice to me even though I killed your car."