Running with Secrets

Untitled Part 11

Sally woke to doors slamming and drawers opening in the kitchen. It took her a second to remember Jeanie, or Kristin, as she would now be known, was in her house. She was probably hungry and looking for something to eat, then it hit her. The smell. Bacon. Eggs. Was that popcorn? She hopped out of bed, ran a brush through her hair, grabbed her bathrobe and ran to the kitchen. She didn't bother fastening the sash.

"What's this, Kristin?" She asked through her still drowsy fog, standing at the corner of the wall to the kitchen from the hallway.

Kristin yelped and jumped at the same time. Sally went over to her, surveying the food on the counter. "You got up early to do this, Kristin. You didn't have to."

"Kristin." Jeanie said aloud. "It's going to take a while to get used to." She looked at the detective with a pancake turner in her hand. "I couldn't force myself to try to sleep any longer, and I thought I heard people outside, but when I looked out the peephole, It was just Jerry, and his dog. Did you know he has a dog? It's a cute little Pomeranian. My mom has a labradoodle. It doesn't like me much. I guess he just doesn't care for me, but whatever. Won't come near me unless I feed him cheese. But cheese isn't so good for dogs, so he just side-eyes me and I deal with it. He's not aggressive, just a brat, but I couldn't go back to sleep so I looked for something to fix for breakfast and found this. I'm sorry I woke you. But I hope I wasn't out of line cooking in your kitchen." She finally took a breath when she finished.

"Yeah, it will take time to get used to." Sally looked again at the food, then in the sink. It was empty. "You cooked all this, and washed the dishes." She shook her head. "It's just fine. I'm not going to waste my time being offended, so let's eat and you can ask me anything you want. Can't promise I can answer all the questions, but you can ask."

Kristin visibly relaxed. "I'm glad you're not angry about this." She moved the food to the table. "I was so jumpy from hearing voices..." her voice trailed off as Sally retrieved some plates and forks and knives.

"Don't even think a second longer about it. I have a security system and your uncle is on speed dial." Kristin nodded "I must have woke up when you were putting the pans away. It's no biggie. Really. It smells really good, Thanks, Kristin."

She sighed. "How long, do you think?" She asked. "How long will it take for me to get used to being someone different?"

"I hear it's different for everyone, but the sooner you start hearing it over and over, the better it will turn out."

"Okay." She stuck the eggs with her fork. "How long will the situation take, do you think?" Kristin didn't look up at anything as she asked and just focused on the food in front of her. She was afraid of the answer.

"There's no way of knowing, Kristin." Sally said. "It could take a week or more, to be honest."

Kristin put her fork down and stared into her plate. Sally put her hand over Kristin's and tried to reassure her, but she knew it would take a while for her to be convinced.

"You said some people were going to come and talk to me, or Heath did. I don't know. They didn't come when he said they would. Do you know anything about that?"

"I don't, but they can come to the precinct to meet you if that makes you feel any better. We can call the captain and he can arrange it for you." Kristin looked a little more reassured, but it didn't pass over Sally that this was the first time she heard Kristin call Detective Johnston by his first name. Not that she hadn't done it before, but it was the first time Sally paid attention.

"Can I tell you something, Sally?" Kristin ticked her head to the side and looked up at her hostess.

"Sure. What is it?" Sally stood up and went to the cupboards and took her hot cocoa out. It would only take her two minutes to make some up.

"Last night, you let me cry. You didn't press me for details, or ask how I was feeling. Or tell me to snap out of it or hurry and get over it." Sally nodded. "Thank you for that."

"You're welcome." She was surprised at the candidness of her new friend. She hadn't expected this kind of trust right away, and she certainly hadn't expected breakfast. "These pancakes are so good, Kristin. What's your secret?"

"Secret?" She turned red, obviously flustered, then stuttered, "Um. I."

"No, no," Sally looked up at the ceiling, then at the food. "I mean your secret ingredient in the pancakes. You don't have to tell me anything personal if you don't want to. I'm sorry for the confusion." Sally looked at her friend, trying to figure some things about her out.

Kristin sheepishly laughed it off. "Of course. I should have known." She puffed some air from her lungs, "I should have known the way you didn't press me for details last night."

"Sure. If you want to tell, it's up to you. Not me." Sally got a mischievous grin and asked again, "Now what's the secret ingredient?"

"Melted butter and milk, not water, in the mix." Kristin stated, matter of factly, cutting back into her own breakfast.

"Milk and butter." Sally repeated. "Huh."

They finished their breakfast in silence and as Sally washed the dishes, her phone rang. She wiped her hands on the towel, wishing she had a dishwasher that wasn't human and answered just in time. "What can I do for you, Captain?"

Kristin's head turned and her facial expression turned interested.

"Kristin is fine for now. She made breakfast...Later today?" she asked, looking at her. "Okay...yes Sir...I understand, Sir...I'll make arrangements...I'll be waiting, Sir. Thank you."

Kristin never took her eyes off Sally, furrowing her eyebrows to make it obvious she was concerned about the half conversation she heard.

"I have to go into the office later today. The captain wants to talk to me and Johnston. He wasn't kidding when he said he had a lot of paperwork. He's never been one to do his papers right after.... Anyway. I'll set you up with some entertainment while I'm gone. I don't know how long it will take, but--" Sally stopped.

"I know. Don't answer the door, don't open the windows, don't get on the internet. Only DVD's. No one needs to trace activity while you're gone." Sally stopped. Only kind of wondering how she knew about tracing activity. "You're forgetting, Sally." She lifted her hot chocolate mug to her mouth. "Your boss is my uncle." She took a satisfying sip from her drink, set it down and followed with, "I'm going to take a shower. Do you have any hair color in the bathroom?"

"No--" was the only thing she could think of to reply back with. "What color--"

"I've wanted to go back to brown for a while now." Kristin said, walking toward the bathroom. "Matther never knew I had brown hair. Well, I mean, I'm sure he suspected. You know...roots. But he's never seen me with brown hair." And she was gone. The door shut behind her and soon after the water started. Sally gave a minute to clean up the rest of breakfast and then went to her bedroom to make her bed and straighten up her small mess that she left out last night. Then she went to the living room to clean up the blankets, only to see that beside the bags in the corner, there was no evidence of company.

*****