Bellflower 51 (Patreon)

Finally, in this next installment of the Bellflower, Rachel, Deidre, & the others continue to try & convince Holly that things aren’t as they seem in their luxury high rise, with Deidre bearing her soul & Holly realizing she might’ve played a small part in helping our antagonists. All while Marissa insists on talking about her cunning plan & Camille reels, on the verge of rupture.

It’s been an awful long time & I appreciate the patience. I’ve written & rewritten this so many times. I’ve tried taking the story in a few different directions but I realized I would essentially just paint myself into a corner over & over again. And the times I didn’t, things felt too plain. Bland. I might share some of the choice bits & bobs in another ‘excerpt’ post, along with a few images maybe… but we’ll see.

Anyway, I still don’t know if I’m entirely pleased with this final result. I enjoyed writing the part where Deidre kind of snaps a bit & her professional, matronly demeanor slips away. But at the same time, it’s been so long, I feel like there are minute details I’m slipping up on & forgetting. If you noticed anything of the sort, I’d really appreciate you pointing them out so I can amend as needed. I’m sorry, but it’s a lot of characters & a lot of exchanges & a lot of lore for one person to keep up with over the course of a couple years at this point.

Anyway, again, sorry for the delay, I hope you enjoy!

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51

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Holly sat there, stewing in her own thoughts, for a moment.

She was left feeling supremely bewildered. As cogent as all of their points seemed, there was an overarching absurdity to it all. The things they were saying were just too crazy.

“If you’d let me have my phone though, I could call Courtney right now! She’d tell you she’s fine!” She protested.

“And maybe, hopefully, Courtney is doing fine.” Rachel sighed. “Believe me! I really hope that she is.” Her tone lowered. “But the voice on the other end of that line? Exactly how sure are you it was her?” Holly, having known Rachel the longest, didn’t see the pretense of pretending to be as friendly or as open to her than the others.

“Okay now you’re just getting real fucking crazy!” She snapped, solely at her sister. “What?! Penny’s imitating her?”

“How sure?” Rachel defiantly repeated, vaulting her brows.

“100%” Holly said with a scowl. She almost seemed offended by the question.

“Mmm, in this day & age?” Mikayla tried to clear her mouth before speaking. “Voices are so goddamn easy to spoof.”

“But why would Penny need to lie like that?” Holly recoiled. “She’s basically just a virtua-“

“It,” Mikayla corrected with some measure of restraint. “Not she. Personifying something that’s trying to do this…”

“Fine, whatever!” Holly sighed. “It goes with my point that it is basically just a fancy virtual assistant! Not some sort of… I dunno… conniving super geni-”

“Did this Courtney say anything that like… only maybe she & you would both know? Something Penny wouldn’t?” Marissa asked, not caring how full her mouth was. The wrap she seemed so displeased to receive already seemed half gone.

“Not… particularly,” Holly’s anger curbing slightly, realizing she suddenly seemed to recall their conversation a lot better. It jumped out at her that it was sometimes hard for her to even remember Courtney’s name, but now she seemed to be able to think back with crystal clarity.

Was this because of Penny? Not having her phone? Maybe there really was something about all this 5G talk! “It was pretty short. But she wanted to… like… put my mind at ease…” Saying it out loud seemed to make Holly second guess her own argument, feeling like it only just backed up theirs.

“If the real Courtney used her phone to call anyone with the app on her phone, can’t imagine it would be all that hard to work up a halfway believable voice print.” Mikayla shrugged. “Probably has a distinct model for everyone in the building to some extent.”

“But still… I…” Holly protested. She didn’t want to admit they were making sense. But they were making some level of sense. Still the motivation of it all. The time, energy, & resources needed. “The one think that keeps jumping out at me, the one thing I just… I can’t get over the whole… Why though? Why would sh-“ She stopped herself from gendering the AI, modifying it slightly. “Why would anyone, or thing, want to do this to people? It all just seems… a bit much.”

“Ohhhhh-oooh-“ Camille groaned. “Too- much -urp- Much… too much…”

She was so impossibly full, moisture had welled up in the corner of her eyes. Almost as if the sheer amount of food she had engorged had filled her so much, it pushed a few tiny beads of teardrops out to make just the slightest bit more room. She had to take short, sharp breaths through puckered lips. Sucking the air in & out in small bursts, vaguely fearing too much could to catastrophic consequences. She lost track of just how much she had eaten, but right now, she was on the verge of exploding.

And for every bit uncomfortable it was, if there was another crumb of anything at arm’s length, she’d throw caution to the wind & scarf it. Almost immediately. Part of her wanted to just keep going! Throw caution to the wind & never stop. Just keep consuming!

Of all the weird things to think about in such a state, it reminded of her of her time back at boarding school, growing up & being forced to read things no one would ever expect her to know. Like Greek mythology. One of the standouts to her? One that always stuck with her, her entire life? Charybdis.

Forming an unofficial tag team with Scylla as hazards to sailors along some strait somewhere in the Greek Isles, Charybdis’s calling card was a massive whirlpool. Because the giant sea monster Charybdis, with its insatiable thirst was voraciously always sucking in huge amounts of water. But what most people don’t know? Was that Charybdis used to be a beautiful maiden. A daughter of Poseidon, punished for her ambition & cursed to drink & never ever stop.

And to a young Camille, something about all that was just so… hot.

So now? Here? At the verge of detonation, agonizingly ready to burst & yet somehow desperate for more, in equal measure? She was immensely turned on.

Way, way too full to do anything about it, mind you. But turned on, nonetheless.

“Mmmm,” Regina muttered. A flustered Camille was suddenly reminded she had company, as her company was getting down to the last bit of one of the cupcakes she had brought over. “Looks a bit like you might’ve overdid it.” She pulsed with a sleepy, childish giggle. And while she might’ve lacked much of the same fervor Cami had, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t binged on her fair share as well. Her already bulbous belly had grown quite taut as she sat back. If anything, she just seemed slightly more used to this amount of food than her mousier friend. Even despite Cami’s secret predilections & Charybdis aspirations.

“Yer… cupcakes,” she mustered, trying to push a compliment out through held in burps. “Have come… along way.”

“Aw thanks! I’d hope so,” Regina cooed with a blush. “I’ve been practicing an awful lot.” She said, giving her engorged gut a delicate tap. A short wistful giggle trailed off of that. “And Penny helped… if I’m being honest.”

“I…” Camille paused, trying to get a better handle on whatever it was trying to push its way out of her in that moment. “Don’t think… I can… even move…”

“Aw,” Regina cooed again. “What’s the term? Lightweight?”

“Def- definitely… not…-ulp-“ Cami muttered, closing her eyes & rolling her head back. “That was… so much…” She winced. “I might just need to… call out tomorrow. Take a day… to recouperate.”

“I can text Miss Deidre for you now if it will be of help,” Penny seemed quick to interject, the sudden reminder of her presence startling the two incredibly full young woman who definitely in no way should be jostled. “But I believe she is away from her phone. In a similar capacity to Miss Rachel.”

“No, no-“ Cami waved feebly. “Only joking… -urp- I think…”

“Oh” Regina cooed. “Well if you do take the day, there’s a new lunch spot I’ve been dying to try. Just across the way.”

“I believe Miss Regina is speaking of Helios.” Penny interjected. “Upscale Mediterranean, with a full buffet. I am quite sure I passed along some of the email notifications to you, Miss Camille.” The wild synchronicity immediately jumped out at Cami. Mediterranean? Greek food? Weird! But she was too stuffed to act as shocked as she was.

“Ooh that’s the one! Healey-Os or something!” Regina perked up, the flaky girl almost astonished. To her, Penny knowing what she meant almost seemed like magic.

“Buff- Buh- B-“ Cami stammered. A gas bubble burbled its way through her uncomfortably. “No! I can’t even think about food at the moment.” She decreed sharply, only to almost immediately get hit by a sharp pang of hunger. That greedy part of her that somehow, some way, still wasn’t done. “We’ll… see…” being the decision she eventually settled on. “Maybe I can… convince Rachel to play… hooky too.” Camille envisioned them sitting there, her wowing Rachel with all the Greek mythology she knew off the dome. Maybe her wicked boarding school teachers did make her read all that bullshit for a reason after all!

“Perhaps,” Penny said, the devilish tinge to its tone completely undetected by the two girls. “A fun girl’s day out, as it were.”

“Oh that sounds fun!” Regina excitedly glowed. It looked as though she was trying, quite futilely to lurch forward in her chair. “I should probably -grunt- call it a night though. I had such a busy day! So many cupcakes-” Her voice trailing to a lower volume towards the end. A set of ceramic coated mechanical arms lowered from the ceiling.

“Allow me to be of some assistance, Miss Regina.” Penny chirped.

“Oh, heheh,” a somewhat embarrassed Regina giggled sheepishly. “Thanks.” The large girl Camille watched as one grabbed Regina’s hands & another cupped her lower back, effortlessly helping push the large young woman up to her feet. She stood in such a way that her large, turgid gut sprang forward as the arms helped hold her until she found her balance. With a few short waddling steps, she grunted. “Oof.” She huffed, peering over to a sprawled Camille. “Maybe that was a lot.” She admitted, giving her round tummy a soft rub. With a slow, calculated step, she started to heavily plod over to the door. “Text you in the morning?”

“Uh- yeah,” Camille tried to perk, realizing she was staring at every loose bit of Regina jiggle & undulate uncontrollably with each step. The result of all of that baking practice. “We’ll see. Mostly likely -urp- yes.” Camille cupped a soft belch, but made no effort to even sit up. “Let’s see if Rachel can come too! She owes me a… meal. -Oof- If I’ve digested any of this between now & then…”

Rachel was getting frustrated.

It became pretty apparent that every time she personally tried to interject, Holly stubbornly seemed to shut down. She’d suddenly have more & more reticence to hearing them out. Or flail & make dumb excuses as to why what they were saying was crazy. As if they didn’t already know full well how crazy it all sounded.

But, seeing the cracks starting to form, she decided the better course of action was to just sit back & keep her mouth shut. Er… at least when she wasn’t biting into her wrap. It was lousy by the way. Soggy & gross. And the amount of dressing? There was nothing remotely “lean” about it.

In the middle of Mikayla admonishing Holly for calling Penny “she” for like the fourth time, a throat suddenly cleared.

“Holly,” Deidre cut in, kind of putting on her bossy tone. A tactic to gain her full attention. Rachel could tell she had something cooking, & perked up slightly to listen. “You do like living at the Bellflower, right?”

“I mean… I love it.” Holly “Er… I…” She double thought her kneejerk response in the face of the opposition. In light of present company, she second guessed tempering her words a bit. Deidre waved her consternation away. It seemed she had gotten the response she was hoping for. A jumping off point.

“Because everything’s essentially perfect, right? Nothing to clean. No cooking, unless you want to cook. Full amenities. Nothing to worry about. Hell, ordering delivery almost as if through ESP?” She listed persuasively. All of the bulletpoints from the realtor, & then some.

“Ye- yeah…” Holly nodded. “All the amenities… except… the gym…” She trailed under her breath. It slowly dawned on her. It seemed like every time Holly tried to reasonably push back against these girls’ claims, it’d be something else that jumped out at her, only reinforcing their points. Deidre folded her hands & leaned in.

“Yeah, ok.” Deidre adapted sarcastic. “Except for the gym.” She let that hang for a second extra. “But forget the gym for right now, okay?” She locked eyes with Holly, entering full on boss mode. “Holly? I want you to ask yourself something pretty straightforward… If everything at the Bellflower is so utterly perfect, then why, in god’s name, do we have such heavy turnover?” She pushed.

“Huh?” Holly seemed puzzled for a brief moment.

“I’ve already harped on this, I know! But you work HR, with me. All of our employees! They constantly leave. Abruptly! Mostly just from the one building! Our building.” Deidre gesticulated around the table. “If it’s such a perfect life? Why do so many folks just up & bolt?! I mean, I know you’ve seen it for yourself, working in our department. We’ve said as much kind of unintentionally, remember? It was one of those feelings, you know? In the back of your mind. Why do so many people, living in this luxurious ultramodern smart condo suddenly, very abruptly just pick up & move far, far away? Usually after… growing- so much.”

“Housing… market…?” Holly stammered at a guess. “Maybe life’s too good? Spending too much money on food?” Deidre’s frustration seemed to be building to a boil, but she was cut off before she could unleash.

“None of the condos are being foreclosed on.” Mikayla interjected just seconds before biting into her pickle. “Not through any of the banks or records I’ve found.”

“Yeah, doesn’t seem like it.” Deidre tried to let some of her frustration diffuse by responding to Mikayla before turning back to Holly. “Cut the bullshit.” She said firmly. “By all appearances, people just up & leave without much of a trace. Same way Courtney did.” She paused to take a deep swig of her diet soda. It seemed a new thought came to her in the middle of it. “And you know? I’m sorry, but that’s the other thing that really gets me about the whole Courtney thing. Like really gets me.” Deidre’s composure started to waver. While her tone was still firm, this was no longer her Boss mode, but something else. Resolute, but much more vulnerable. Given her usual, unshakeable demeanor, this felt as offputting as the first time a kid catches a parent crying. “I know you two were like extra close & all, but she was my friend too. Like you, she was one of my favorite people in our whole department! The sweetest girl! Remember how hurt you felt when she suddenly just up & left, without so much as a goodbye?” Holly nodded softly. “Hell, apparently I didn’t rank highly enough to even get some kind of phone call. Just a text. Oh, & the same sort of generic, boilerplate resignation email, purely in a professional capacity. Maybe that’s just a little bit of jealousy speaking, but like… I knew Courtney. Courtney wouldn’t ghost friends like that. You know it too!” Emotions were running through her as she took another deep breath & sat back again. Holly wanted to help console her, but Deidre continued, looking off in the distance. “Y’know, we sat there, week in, week out, having our fun, little get-togethers? We’d just… pig out! Like crazy! And we would sit there… & just watch her continually overdo it! All while we did the same ourselves, don’t get me wrong! But we sat back & watched her get bigger & bigger! Saw as it got harder for her, a former track star, to get around! Oh sure! We all had our concerns but y’know, societal niceties & all. It’d be too impolite to point it out.”

“We… tried…” Holly attempted to interject.

“No. We didn’t.” Deidre snapped. “If anyone did? It was your sister!” She said nodding in Rachel’s direction. Rachel blushed & shrank in her seat a little. While she appreciated the acknowledgment, knowing her sister? She worried telling Holly “Rachel was right” might have the opposite intended effect. “The problem was we weren’t ready to listen. Until it was too late. And now? It’s almost as if that poor girl never even existed! I mean what do we have to show for our whole friendship with her? She’s just... gone. And despite everything, all the time we all spent together? What? Some texts? An archived resignation letter in my mail folders? You get just one, spurious half minute phone call?! You can’t, on your life, sit there & tell me Courtney would just ghost us like that! You can’t!” She gathered herself briefly. “And whatever is going on, your sister’s been trying her best to sound the alarm! Since the moment she got here. And hell, credit where credit’s due, these girls have been at it for even longer! In the trenches!” Deidre said, motioning to the booth. Marissa gave a wave, wiggling her chubby little fingers. “But I would still be in the dark, wondering why turn Hailington’s got such crazy turnover, if Rachel hadn’t introduced me to them, brought us altogether.” Now Rachel’s eyes were watering. Not only did she feel terrible for all the judgy bullshit she foisted onto Deidre as this sort of basic PMC, here she was, going to bat for her. Sure, Holly might’ve given her a place to crash, but here, Deidre was actually believing in her.

“So you’re… completely onboard… The robots? Phones? The whole “fattening people up?” All of this?” Holly asked slowly. She didn’t mean it as dismissively as she meant it, but seeing Deidre’s genuine emotion seemed to shake her.

“Yes.” Deidre answered with her whole heart. “And the other day, whatever went on with your phone? It seems like you got momentarily glimpse behind the curtain. Saw that things at the Bellflower aren’t as rosy a picture as they appear.” Deidre leaned in close. “So now that you’ve started to recognize it too? I implore you! Hell, I beg of you! Not as your boss, but as your friend. And on behalf of, this poor girl,” She said hands gesturing to Rachel, “Who you have no idea, agonizes over what’s happening to you every single goddamn day. Please!”

“Okay!” Holly caved. “Okay. What? What?!” She repeated, angrily the second time. “What is it that you expect my fat ass to do?!”

“The first step? Stay mindful.” Rachel finally chimed in.

“What?” Holly growled. “What the fuck does that even mean?” She shook her head.

“Like… pay attention.” Marissa squeaked, half-heartedly.

“Be vigilant as to what’s going on.” Mikayla added.

“Are you… kidding me…?” Holly scoffed. She looked at Deidre. “If we’re all in the sort of danger you say we are… what? I’m just supposed to keep my wits about me?!”

“I just said it’s the first step!” Rachel insisted.

“Well, the first-first step is to delete that fucking app from your phone.” Mikayla jumped in. “Or even better, get a new new phone. Blank slate.”

“I’m not… ech” Holly seemed deflated. “If people are getting disappeared? We should be going to the fucking police.”

“Don’t you think we’ve already tried that?” Fran said with heavy brows. “Hell, I don’t want to get too into… my own personal family drama & all, but for me to reach out? To the police?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Deidre mouthed to Rachel under her breath. Rachel shrugged in confusion.

“They’re incompetent.” Fran added. “The one time, I put them on to a missing neighbor & all they did was pull up a “recent” halfassed social media post! Told me I was crazy! Trying to waste their oh so precious resources!”

“So like… what are we supposed to do, suspecting all of this?” Holly wondered, her concern palpable. “Just go home?!”

“At this point, if you deviate too much from your normal routine, Penny will definitely pick up on it & most certainly do something to retaliate.” Mikayla said flatly.

“So what? Just go back & pretend everything’s hunky dory?” Holly pressed.

“I thought you had a hard time with the Why though.” Marissa giggled.

“I… mean… I still can’t wrap my head around how some kind of app on our phones is making everyone so goddamn hungry all the time,” Holly muttered softly, “But there’s way too many other things going on that I can’t really refute.” She sighed. “But marching right back into the Bellflower seems like… really, really fucking stupid, if what you’re all saying is true.”

“There’s been more than the five of us.” Fran noted. “If you have the resources, get the fuck out of Dodge!”

“I have an appointment for a viewing.” Deidre dropped. “Next week.”

“You’re… moving…?” Holly asked, seeming hurt.

“I’m not leaving Hailington, Hol.” She laughed. “It’s not like we won’t still see each other every single weekday.”

“I mean Penny will undoubtedly try & throw up every single road block it can.” Mikayla added. “We’ve seen it before.”

“Yeah, other girls we brought into the fold like this? Smartest thing to do was bail.” Marissa sighed. “Moving away’s the best option.” She swirled a fry through her ketchup, muttering under her breath. “Really wish I had…”

“Oh god!” Holly recoiled. With the color drained from her face, she tried futilely to shift in her creaking seat & face Rachel. “Your whole apartment search! I’m…” She froze, but realized all eyes were on her. She looked back to Rachel “I’m… so, so sorry.”

“About… what?” Rachel’s eyes narrowed.

“You know what?” Holly backed down a bit. “We can save it. I can tell you about it later.”

“What is it, Hol?” Deidre pressed. Holly didn’t see much of a way out of this. She kicked herself for opening her damn mouth in the first place.

“I- I…” She looked up at Rachel with an expression of deep regret. “I was going to tell you. Eventually…”

“Spit it out already!” Marissa flapped a chubby hand. “The suspense is killin’ us!”

“Penny & I…?” Holly sighed. “When you first started to look at places…”

“The fake ass misdemeanor charges that came up? The even shittier bogus credit score? I figured she was trying to fuck with me,” Rachel expression tightened as she started to become enraged. “But… you’re telling me… you were… in on it?”

“She- I mean… It asked me- if… it… should,” Holly stumbled “I- I- I didn’t know about… all this!! I just thought… it’d be more time for us to like… bond! As sisters!”

“Jesus…” Mikayla grit between her teeth. “You’re saying you sabotaged your own sister’s from finding a way out of all this?”

“After all she did was constantly worry about leaving you?” Deidre looked dumbfounded. Almost apoplectic.

“I didn’t know!” Holly reiterated. “I’m sorry! I’m like… so sorry!” Rachel took a deep breath.

“I kept telling you something was up…” She muttered without looking in Holly’s direction.

“I- I see that all, now!” Holly scrambled. “I know! You tried! And you were… fuck! You were right, okay? It’s just… how could I’ve… known…?”

“By listening to her.” Deidre said sternly. She seemed disgusted.

“No. Deidre,” Rachel calmly. “She couldn’t have known.”

“But…” The boss bickered. But finding herself more upset than the person with the most reason to be upset? After all the emotions of the evening already? She bit her tongue.

“As long as she gets it now,” Rachel said looking directly at her sister.

“I mean, I would never have… if I realized…” a frazzled Holly stammered.

“You get it now though, right?” If Rachel dwelled on the idea of her sister taking part in stranding her at the Bellflower, she’d go berserk. Not only did she see the futility in that, she went into this little meetup with one clear objective in mind. And that was to make Holly fully aware of what was going on.

“I do,” Holly winced. “I see it now! And I’m sorry.” She repeated once more. “I should’ve listened.” Rachel knew her sister well enough to tell there was genuine, deep regret in her expression. And Holly would only be regretful if she saw the dangers of prolonging someone’s stay at the Bellflower. Sure, it took everything not to tear her fucking head off, but somewhere in there, was an acknowledgment. Of shit being fucked. And focusing on that acknowledgment was enough for Rachel. She could be livid later.

Rachel leaned to the edge of her seat & slowly lurched towards Holly. Holly recoiled until realizing her sister was going in for a hug. A hug the others didn’t seem to anticipate either.

“Thank you.” Rachel said softly. “For finally listening.”

“Eh-heh,” Holly snickered a little, erupting in tears. “I mean- I still don’t understand how my phone’s making me fat or whatever…”

“Infrasound,” Mikayla said plainly, with both Fran & Deidre hushing her to not ruin the moment.

“And I still have issues with like… the motivation,” Holly admitted. “The why.” She sniffed. “But there’s definitely something going on. With the building… with… me… You were right.” Rachel released her embrace & pulled back.

“It’s not about being right,” Rachel said, her own face a bit emotionless as she actively tried to focus on the dub of Holly’s realization & not her sister’s betrayal. “It’s about not losing my big sister to crazy fucking robot building before it’s too fucking late!”

“I’m sorry!” Holly cried once again. The sisters embraced again shortly as a silence descended on the table for a moment.

“Hey so um… As for that big ol’ Why though,” Marissa slowly interjected, cutting the silence. “There was something I wanted to talk about this evening as well…”

“NO!” Fran answered sharply.

“But you don’t even…”

“I’ve heard rumblings,” Fran sounded off, cutting her off again. “And still no! We just brought Holly in on all this. We’ve been through a lot already. We’re not switching gears to talk about this insane idea of yours. Not tonight.”

“Ech! Don’t call it insane!” Marissa defiantly sprung back. “We could finally figure out some of the bigger pieces of this whole thing! Blow the whole lid off it…”

“What do you mean…” Holly seemed curious. Rachel planted a hand on her shoulder & shook her head.

“How?” Mikayla joined. “How are you going to be able to relay any of that sort of information, dumbass? It seems as though it’s a one way trip.”

I mean… that’s the part I was hoping we might be able to work out here,” Marissa smirked. “But I know the sort of shit I’m looking out for at least!”

“No.” Mikayla soured further. “You just want an excuse to get off your diet!”

“Well, yeah!” Marissa didn’t seem ashamed to admit. “That’s certainly a part of it, I won’t lie. But I’m working my fat fucking ass off! Like it’s my goddamn job! And I barely ever lose an ounce.” She angrily squeaked. “I’m sick of working so hard to just… maintain… this. It’s like… soul-crushing.”

“We’re not-“ an emotionally drained Deidre tried to wave away. No one wanted to hear it.

“Well what’s to stop me?” She huffed angrily. “Huh? I’ll just like… take one for the team.”

“You’re talking about like… just… giving up?” Holly used the context clues.

“Well… more like giving in.” Marissa felt the need to clarify. “Penny’s already brought me this far along on the process.” She said, giving her own heft a bouncy jiggle. “Won’t take all that much to push me over the edge at this point, & maybe then we might be able to glean something from it? I don’t know.”

“But if you have a clear idea that something is going to happen? Really, what’s the difference.”

“Look,” Marissa finally said plainly, “All I know is two things.” She held up thick sausage fingers to count. “One? I’m not loving life all that much trying to cut the crazy amount of weight I’ve put on.”

“Well whose fault was it for caving?” Mikayla sneered under her breath before receiving an elbow from Deidre.

“And two? I do come from a science-y background too y’know! And I’m like morbidly curious, okay?” Rachel saw the easy opportunity, morbid? Marissa being goth? But she let it lie.

“Again?” Fran said. “No! We’re not discussing this tonight.” She paused briefly. “And I’ll be honest, probably not next time either. Because it’s insane!”

“Um… I think they’re looking to close up anyhow,” Deidre noticed as the staff seemed to be setting chairs on top of tables on the far end of the dining room.

“Jesus, have we been here that long?” Mikayla asked.

“I don’t know, I don’t have a phone,” Holly attempted to quip.

And slowly, one by one, each of the larger women shuffled out into the brisk night air.