Steel Hull's And A Tugboats Pace

Participants:

abby_icon.gif delilah_icon.gif

Scene Title Steel Hull's And A Tugboats Pace
Synopsis Delilah is called in by Brenda to find out what's wrong with Abby.
Date November 4, 2010

Oh So Sweet - Back Room


"Yeah, 'Lilah, this is the second morning I found the boss lady sleeping in the back on the couch. I know that your like, about ready to blow and all that, avast ye matey's little baby whale and all that but… Maybe you need to come down and kick her ass and find out what's wrong because she's… she's saying there isn't anything but we just heard her crying in the bathroom. I dunno, maybe she's pregnant or something. Who knows with the nun. Anyways, if you can't come down, let me know on my phone, don't call the store, and we'll see if we can find someone else."

That was what awaited Delilah on her phone this morning, left by Brenda who was opening up the shop for the morning commuters. You can almost hear the woman smoking over the phone, huddled in the alley behind the place.

Delilah isn't sure what to make, exactly, of the message she gets when she does wake up; still groggy, she listened to it once and had to go about her morning routine before listening again and this time, actually listening. What was 'Abby's been weird' turns the second time into 'Abby probably needs you' in Brenda's familiar little rasp. Delilah can't move very quickly, but perhaps that is fortunate. When she does get down to the shop, it is rather far into the morning. But, she did make it down, and that's what matters.

In a couple layers of jackets and a long, warm skirt, Delilah is hard to miss when she waddles in the work entrance and begins to snoop around looking for any one of her co-workers. Notably, she doesn't use her voice for it; if Abby is all strung out, giving her forewarning might make any efforts worse.

THe shop is closed right now, morning service ended, preparation for noon service that will be coming up soon. Brenda's wiping down tables after filling up powdered sugar and chocolate flake shakers that populate the tables. When Delilah waddles in, she gestures to the back with a sympathetic look and a little guilt for having drug up the pregnant woman from the depths of her nesting just days before she's been prophesied to pop.

A solitary laptop user has been allowed to stay in the back, headphones on and bobbing his head to some pandora on the piece of machinery, working on a research paper. It's not uncommon for one or two to beg to be allowed to stay so that they can work the day away. SHe's given a glance and then he's back to his work when the door to the staff area is opened and Delilah goes on through. It's back there that Abby is, curled up on the couch with eye;s closed. Fresh clothes, damp hair, socked feet tucked up, the TV is on and tuned to a news channel. "Brenda, just go away. I don't need anything, I'm just resting" Dark circles under her eyes state that that just might be a good thing. Her iphone is clutched between her hands, and something that Delilah hasn't seen a while is strapped to her chest, a new monitor.

"Looks more like hiding to me." Delilah doesn't bother preempting anything, shutting the door behind her and wandering over to the end of the couch. "Brenda was worried." That's why she waddled all the way down here, and she's not going to make up a reason. Too bothersome to think of one right now. Delilah has one arm wrapped under her stomach, and the other perching on the back of the couch.

"Now don't tell me that there ain't anything wrong, or else I'll have come out for no reason other than the trip down."

"Oh lord she called you." Good thing Brenda's in another room. "She called you, bout ready to pop. She couldn't have called someone else?" Blue seen when she cracks an eye open at the sound of Delilah's voice. "I didn't sleep well, but that's not new. I don't sleep right normally. You really didn't need to come down her Delilah, it's nothing that you can fix anyways. I don't even rightly know if it can be fixed" She draws her feet in to give Delilah room to sit on the couch, even as someones poking their head in at the news that Delilah's here, so they can squeal with delight at seeing her and ask if the englishwoman wants anything to eat or drink.

Delilah listens while she sits down on the couch, taking a moment longer so that she sits down comfortably. She watches Abby out of the corner of her eye when there's suddenly questions pinging at her. "Oh, no, I'm okay, thanks." Not to blow the offer off, but she is quick to realign her attention on Abby. "Well, judging by my voicemail, I'm not sure what I should be thinking…"

"So if you want to tell me what's going on, alright, but I'm not going to sit my ass on you til you squeal, either." Brenda and the girls may like to hear the latest gossip, while Delilah knows what shouldn't be gossiped about. That's why there's no real utlimatum, but the redhead is very serious with her manner and tone in searching for an answer.

"He's not answering his phone. He wasn't home last night, dee, he hasn't been home. I fucked up" She's swore. "I fucked up and I shouldn't have, I shoulda left well enough alone and now I don't know where he is. At all" Her lower lip starts to waver, ducking her head down. "Worst fucking wife in the world. I told him about finding his wife, about what I found out and asking if he might have an explanation and he's up and gone Dee"

Uh oh. Delilah all but actually braces herself for the series of replies. Her eyebrows knit, and her mouth tightens a little as Abby speaks. And Swears. Wow. "So you went to see her? Did you find out what happened to his family?" She can't help but remember what she said before- on if Abby should be doing it. It looks like she did, and in hindsight- Delilah doesn't want to repeat it now that it's already passed. Her hand goes to find Abby's forearm, but if the other girl doesn't want any of that- she don't press.

"You're not the worst wife in the world, Abby. You were just doing what you thought was right."

"She says there weren't any kids Dee." She doesn't move away from Delilah's hand on her sleeve. Abigail's warm but not alarmingly so. "She swore there weren't any children, they were married eight months, and he cheated on her, and they divorced. No car accident, no France, no anything. She didn't seem like she was lying. Not in the least." Her other arm lifts, rubbing her face with her palm then across her nose.

"There was a big order for some corporate thingy in the morning yesterday and I didn't know what to make of any of what she said, I mean, who's lying? I believe them both. That he says there were two children and her, that there were none. So I left him a letter, explained what I did, apologized, said I'd spend the night here because there was stuff to do, that I'm worried for you and want to stay close and I live way out there now and this place is way down here and it takes twice as long to get here now and he never… the dog had been taken care of and the cat, but the bed was untouched when I came home after the morning and I went home like I said I'd be, for dinner and nothing. Still nothing and no answer on the phone."

Her head turns, looking at the other woman with saline rimming her eyes. "What I think is right, I always think I'm doing right and then I end up just doing thing wrong. I did this and now he's left me Delilah. This will be the shortest marriage ever, I keep expecting… expecting…" Someone to come through the door and serve divorce papers? "I fucked up Dee and I don't know how to fix it if I can't find him. My Dah'd be ashamed of me"

Delilah's eyebrows are on her forehead from the start. She's not certain what to say, about the fact that Robert and his Ex have different, such radical things to tell Abby. Would he lie about something like that? Would she? Has he been married more than once? No, that doesn't account for his not coming home. Dee's own hand rubs light on her chin, brown eyes a little watery in return. "This isn't your fault, Abby."

"If anything, it's him. If what she said was true, then he lied to you on an immense scale. If it is wrong, then there is obviously something going on here that he doesn't know how to handle. In either case, he wants to keep you away from it. Either to keep you safe, or to give him some time to salvage himself- but if the latter's the case, I'm not sure what he's doing." Delilah leaves her rested hand on Abby's arm, for now. "You did nothing wrong. Don't convince yourself otherwise, cause it's not true. You have nothing but good intentions."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions Delilah" Abigail's miserable. One can surmise why her hair was damp and is likely to be damp for the rest of the day. "He told a magazine that he had a kid Dee. You didn't see him beside me in the hospital the night I asked him to marry me. He told me about his son. You couldn't make up what was on his face"

She leans, towards and against Delilah, resting her temple on the other woman's shoulder and jacket. "What could he possibly be protecting me from if that's why he's walked away" She could always go to the Linderman Group building and demand to see him. But in all likelihood, the odds of that being done are low. She's not going to throw some public fit. You don't let others see your house in disorder. It invites unwanted gossip and many other things, her mother had told her growing up. Some things were just kept private.

Delilah would do that- go right up to his place of work and rattle bars on the cages. Maybe that is because Dee never had a quaint Southern Baptist mother. She had a fiery, pseudo-hippie mother. Big difference. Huge. As Abby leans closer, Delilah lifts her arm up to wrap it over Abby's shoulders. Her fingers, still chilly from outside, are momentarily cold when they brush at the damp blonde hair.

"If you have reasons to believe him, then I probably should believe you believing in him. You know who he works for, what kind of people we know, even just between us. Is it a far cry to think that maybe there's something going on that he needs to protect people from." His ex-wife, Abby, his maybe-son? "Or maybe there's something he hasn't told you because he thinks it better to protect you from knowing."

He lost it, after his son died. Abigail lays there against the younger woman, listening to her speak, staring down at her fingers even as a tear drops to leave a splotch on her own arm and darken the fabric there. Caliban stated in the magazine that he lost it after his kid died. Did his wife loose it? Did she loose it to the point that… Maybe someone who could futz with memories had futzed with her memories?

"I don't know what to do now Dee. This is two days now. The eighth is coming and he's… worried about it" Everyone is worried about it.

"We all are." Delilah reminds, gently. "Walter seems to know that too, he's been moving more. Something's going down in there, and It may be the water level." Her hand rests on Abby's wet hair, her manner maternal. It fits. Honest. "I can't tell you what to do, Abby. All I can suggest is that you wait for him to contact you, first. It's only been a couple days, and if it's as complex as this, it may take a bit longer. If he doesn't find you again, that's a bridge to cross when you come to it. But you're not doing any good watching the screen of your phone and curling up on a wet sofa."

Which seems to go against everything Abby's nature tells her to do. She's been leaving messages. Going home, if you end up there. Off to work, I love you, I'm sorry. Picking up groceries for home, is there anything special you want. Letting him know where she is, sprinkled with apologies. "If he never comes back?" Her heart has skipped it's fair share of beats at the thought that he just might up and leave.

"…If he doesn't come back, he doesn't come back." It is obvious that Delilah has a hard time saying this part. But, it's the only truth that she knows, and she doesn't want to start lying now. "This is a waiting game now, Abby, that's all I feel is right to say."

"It's gonna kill me Dee. he's gone, Francois still hasn't returned from whatever time traveling he's gone to do, the Teodoro's say he hasn't showed up" More tears splotch down, no shuddering or wailing to go with them, just quiet tears. She has patience in spades normally, some things she doesn't. The blonde quiets down at her last words though, finally wrapping her arm around to other woman, looking up to watch the news, paranoid she'll see something on the news about her husband. "Lord I hope he's safe"

When it gets a little more hitting to home, Delilah just hugs Abby close and doesn't say another word. Not unless she needs to. Perhaps her 'amen' in embrace is enough for Abby to know that she's going to stick around, even after she physically leaves, whenever that may be. Nesting or no nesting, Dee isn't one to up and leave when shit gets rocky. She was raised with steel hulls and a tugboat's pace, both a blessing and a curse.


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