High and low notes

After Lauren left for work Jodie found herself alone. For a time this was great, she didn't have to put on airs for anyone or pretend to be something she's not. So she put on her makeup and some comfortable short shorts that showed off her derriere and a half top and went about her day. The sudden pain returned in her feet after having taken her medicine, this was remedied easily enough. She just had to stay seated with her feet off the floor. This helped for a time while she read her magazines or caught up on the gossip of the day with Tiffany but soon she felt the urge to roam. Boredom had taken over, in the past she would turn to music or drugs when she was bored but currently had neither. She could easily make a call or two to some old hook ups of hers, maybe...but how would she explain who she is or how she got their numbers? Most of the guys Jordan knew were pretty cautious about who they dealt with, and rightfully so.

Shortly before noon Jodie found herself at the mall trying on several different pairs of heels, setting aside two for purchase later. She originally tried on some flats and normal running shoes but every step brought nothing but pain. "Ugh, guess I'll have to, like, see a foot doctor about that later," resigned to the fact she had to wear something with a heel, she looked to find some more sensibly sized heels but they just looked so...boring. So she searched high and low for something that was both cute and sexy, and not outrageously tall. She was a little shocked to find what she thought to be a regular sneaker was actually a wedge heel giving her the new support she apparently required and also looked cute and casual. She loved them so much she decided to wear them out.

Her lie to Adam turned into a truth, she had decided today would be a perfect time to make sure her hair was perfectly styled. Brit complimented her on her new chest and how long her hair was getting, "You may not even need extension before long if you keep this up!"

Leaving the shoe store, her purchases in tow she found herself once again at the piano, sadly it was not free. Nevertheless she enjoyed listening to the old man play so beautifully. The gentle rendition of Fur Elise echoed through the mall, mostly ignored by the other patrons but not Jodie. She missed playing a real piano. She hadn't gotten to do that since her girl's night out but most of all the music brought her back to a happier time.

It was the first time Jordan ‘ran away from home’, he of course ran to his best friend Eric's house. It was simple enough to get inside, Eric's mother had always invited him to dinner if he was over when it finished and he would always try to find an excuse to stay until it was finished. She made the best baked macaroni and cheese.

Jordan had told them he had gotten in a fight with some kids in the park when he was questioned about the bruise on his face. He wasn’t going to tell them the truth that his dad had been the one to catch him playing with his mom’s makeup this time. They might think he was a freak too.

His mother nodded and served him an extra helping. Eric's dad Samuel was a mountain of a man and had a personality larger than life and every meal he had a story to tell that left everyone in stitches. Jordan always thought he was so cool. One fun game he played with the kids was to let them use his massive biceps as a place to swing from. Eric was always able to hang on much longer than Jordan. Whenever Eric or Jordan mentioned how strong he was he would regal them with the tale of Samson and his magical strengthening hair. Like Samson, Samuel didn't cut his hair.

That night, after dinner she seemed to have forgotten he had to go home. Instead she went into a small study she called her office and played on the piano. It was the first time in his eleven years that he had ever heard a piano in person. So he had no choice but to sneak into the study and listen to her play. Each note vibrated through him with a power all its own but then another came, and another, until it was something miraculous. How could a box of wood and wires make something so beautiful?

"What do you think you're doing, munchkin?"

Jordan stood from his hiding place behind the small leather chair. "I-I'm sorry. I've just never heard anything like that."

Jen smiled, "It's alright, just remember to knock next time alright?" He nodded quickly before staring back at the floor. "Would you like to learn how to play?" Jordan slowly approached the bench and sat beside Jen as she explained what notes which keys made and what scales were. After a few minutes she stopped, "Wait here a moment. Keep practicing though, okay?" Jordan nodded and continued to awkwardly attack each key with his tiny fingers. It took a few minutes but she returned again with a small black tube in her hand. "Look at me?" Jordan liked Eric's mom, when she asked a question you knew it was a question and not an order or a threat. "Close your eyes." Slowly she painted a black line on both eyelids completing the remnants he was unaware of having left behind in his hastened facial scrub. "There you go. Just like Billie Joe Armstrong." She held a small mirror for Jordan to examine her work.

Jordan smiled with abandon, "Who?"

She raised an eyebrow while capping the eyeliner. "We're gonna have to get you into some better music, kid." She smirked playfully. "Okay, now try this." She continued to teach him piano for several hours until he could bear no more and his tiny body just fell asleep on her. Jordan would later wake up on the couch wrapped in a dark red blanket.

Jodie's trip down memory lane ended early when her phone chirped at her. Checking the text she saw a familiar sight, it had been shoved in her face enough she should definitely recognize Adam’s dick. {Missing you ;)}. She rolled her eyes with disgust, realizing why girls didn’t like random dick pics. Looking back to close the message her stomach growled and she realized just how long she had been shopping. It was nearly noon and she was starving, starving for Adam. Smirking she struck a pose using a finger to gently pull at her lip. With a click she sent her selfie off to her boyfriend. She at least didn’t have to fake the hunger in her eyes. She thought briefly about going into work just to get some afternoon delight when she remembered ‘Lauren!’.

Waiting in the lobby where she worked was strange,it felt a bit like skipping school just to hang out in the halls anyway. Of course the reason she didn’t just wait out front was to gossip with Tiffany and show off her new purchases. “Girl, I love those shoes but I can’t believe you went shopping without me!” She said with a hint of jealousy she didn’t find them first.

“Hey, I’m a big girl.”

“Oh, I know,” She gave a knowing look to Jodie’s chest, “Momma’s little bird is flying all on her own.”

The girls laughed and Jodie shook her head, “But, like, fer real, it was totally not as much fun without you.”

“Well duh. Everyone knows I’m, like, the life of the party.”

Lauren stepped off of the elevator a few minutes later and found the girls giggling and talking about shoes. Her mind flashed with anger seeing Jodie smiling and having a good time, how dare she be happy and cheat on her brother! She forced herself to calm down, she didn’t have the full story, she had seen rumors destroy good relationships and indeed entire lives. She needed to get the story straight from Jodie at lunch. Somewhere the two of them could talk without the influences of others. She wanted to believe what she saw between Jodie and her brother was genuine, "Hey, Jodie. You ready to go?"

"Where are you going?"

"We're going to lunch. You wanna, like, come with us?"

"Fer sure!"

Lauren's plan was immediately shot to hell by Jodie's overly friendly nature. So instead of a pointed conversation about Jodie's relationship with her boss it became a nice lunch with her friends and updating them on her personal life. "Mom finally got someone to buy her old clunker so she's gonna lend me the money for a down payment on something."

"That's great!" Jodie cheered, "We can do, like, a carpool thingy now no more gross bus rides!"

Despite herself Lauren smiled, Jodie acted like she could be friends with everyone, a personality like that is one that could be easily taken advantage. "Absolutely. You want in on this Tiff?"

"Fer sure!" She giggled, "Oh you guys we could totally have slumber parties now!"

The girls laughed and Jodie smiled, she had always dreamed about going to a girls slumber party though for different reasons than she was invited now. The lunch continued with Tiffany and Lauren discussing the various juicy drama at each level of their positions, Lauren declaring she had finally chosen a school nearby so she could take advantage of megacorps incentives while she had the opportunity.

Tiffany explained how her relationship with Ben was progressing with them going out on more official dates rather than just one going over to the others place and spending the night.

Jodie couldn't help but wonder if Adam would soon ask her to move in with him. Even she could tell he didn't think much of her apartment. Would she say yes? If she's giving in to this relationship with Adam it would make sense, especially after she and Eric broke up it would be tremendously painful to see him with another girl. Her mind drifted finally to why he would ask her to take the day off, and wait until tonight at some unknown place just to break up with her. Eric was a good guy….maybe he wanted to do things right and let her down gently. If that were the case then she could make things easier for him. She hated the thought of hurting him but if she broke up with him first, and told him the truth, that he was a good man who deserved a good woman, a real woman, not someone like her.