Billie wasn't quite sure how she thought her meeting with Esther would go, but she hadn't expected it to end with her being trapped in an unknown location with Finn, the Diabolical Downer. Although, in hindsight, maybe she should have gone in more prepared.
He hadn't even bothered to tie her up. It was obvious that running would be an endlessly foolish thing to do. The least he could have done, she thought, was provide some entertainment.
She had gone up the stairs, followed closely by Finn. Esther had greeted her with a wary smile, sparse words were spoken. Billie vaguely remembered calling her a "scheming hag" shortly before she was knocked out with powerful herbs for the night.
Which brought her here. Wherever 'here' was. A stone chamber of sorts, Billie guessed. One way in and one way out. Blocked by Betty Buzzkill, who literally spent the whole time staring at her like if he looked away for even a second, she would disappear.
A buzzing echoed around the stone and Billie caught Finn's eyes guiltily, pulling out the phone she had hidden in her cleavage. She saw the little frown on his face. "What? I don't like to carry a purse." She explained, not seeing the look waver and quickly letting it go.
Billie glanced at the name that was ringing her, not letting out the sigh building in her chest. She was about to press the green button when Finn spoke for the first time since she'd awoken.
"If you answer that, I will break your arm."
Billie stalled, eyes widening at how fast he had escalated. "Pump the breaks, Finny, it's my boss. Work calls when work calls, you know." Billie smiled, trying to be slick, but it didn't penetrate his no-bullshit armour.
"If you think I'm letting you keep that so you can tell them where you are, you're dead wrong." He threatened lowly, taking a slow step forward.
Billie scoffed. "Oh please, Ricky couldn't care less if I was living at the bottom of a highway ditch with a family of raccoons, so long as I answer the phone when he calls."
Billie tried a short explanation, knowing that Ricky would be getting impatient on the other line. In all honesty, she was quite surprised when she finally managed to convince him to answer the phone. Finn resumed his creepy staring, crossing his arms and watching her carefully, listening to both her words and Ricky's when she eventually answered the call.
A squeaky female voice floated around the line as the phone was passed to Ricky. "Took you long enough, Willa." He sighed, the impatience having gotten to him a little before recomposing himself. "How are things?"
Billie cast a sideward glance to Finn, unnerved by his watchful eye, so she turned further away from him, lying down to stare at the rocky cave wall for a small sense of privacy. "I thought I told you not to call me that."
Ricky chuckled deeply. "Good luck getting it to stick." Billie rolled her eyes a little. "Anyway, you know the drill by now, you got a pen and paper handy?"
Harper was about to try pat her pockets to look for some, quickly realising she was still in the dress from the ball. She sat up, turning to Finn with quirked eyebrows. The original, kicked off the wall, tiredly flashing away with a roll of his brown eyes. "Mm, just a moment, Ricky."
The brunette glanced out into the tunnel Finn had briefly disappeared down, smart enough to know there wasn't a chance in hell she could make it out before he came back. A few seconds after he left, Billie was hit with a small gust of air as he returned, carelessly dropping a notepad and pen on the floor in front of her.
Billie smiled dryly. "Thanks Finny."
The next half hour or so, Billie was left to make a range of decisions for Ricky, from decorations to cruel punishments. Billie tried to periodically check behind her shoulder to see if Finn was still listening and thankfully, twenty minutes in, he adopted a more dazed, unfocused look to him. This was her chance.
Ricky was about to hang up, never one for goodbyes, before Billie tried her fleeting luck and hoping Finn wasn't familiar with her surname. "Oh, one last thing. Harper said she's just been buried under with work since last night. I know the brothers were trying to get a hold of her."
Absolute silence greeted her back and Billie pressed her lips together, trying her luck a little further. "You know how she is, the girl gets tunnel vision sometimes."
Billie cringed quietly at Ricky's bout of clearly confused silence, hoping she hadn't caught Finn's attention. Just when she thought he'd never get it, she practically felt his head click. "I see..." She could imagine the sly little smirk through his words. "It seems I don't have their numbers with me now, would you happen to have it on you Willa?"
Billie held back the sigh of relief, biting her lip to keep her smile in check. She cleared her throat, trying to pluck Damon's number from her memories. She relayed the number and Ricky made her stay on the line as he sent the message.
"Well... if that's all?" She started to wrap up the call, feeling Finn rousing back to the conversation. Ricky hummed in agreement. "I think so, Willa. Come visit us again sometime, will you?" With that, her boss abruptly ended the call and Billie was forced to surrender her phone to Finn.
The silence felt more tense now than it was before. Billie was left wondering if Damon would ever get the message. She hoped he could figure out what she was hinting at. The tunnels underneath the town were known to them, so Billie tried to have faith in him.
A little doubt in the back of her head told her that something big was happening above. After all, there had to be a reason Esther wanted to keep her out of the equation. Something she was planning to do that she couldn't afford to have Billie ruin.
Even so, it was obvious that the original witch did not want her dead, or she would not have gone through the trouble of having Finn watch over her.
The perks of being useful, she guessed.
All that was left to do, was wait.
Billie blew a bored raspberry through her lips, sighing deeply as she leaned her back to the wall and stared intensely at Finn. After a long moment, he spoke. "What is it?"
Harper shrugged. "I'm hungry." Finn rolled his eyes for the hundredth time. "Good for you."
The clairvoyant threw up her arms a little, letting them fall uselessly to her sides again in frustration. "You've got something up your ass alright, Finny."
She turned away from him, staring blankly at the wall as she mumbled under her breath, knowing full well he could hear.
"Too bad it's not Smirnoff."
i haven't the foggiest why, but writing about ricky gives me hella armie hammer vibes. sincerest apologies for the wait dears, i would give you a good excuse, but... well, i don't have one :)
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