Fallen From Grace

Eighteen

Jamie was kind enough to help unpack the boxes from Danielle's car. She hadn't said anything about the fact the Kristine came alone. She knew how much her friend hated coming to town, unless it was absolutely necessary. Jamie didn't understand the appeal of living in the mountain so far away from everyone else, but to each their own.

"Cool. Thanks for dropping this stuff off." Jamie smiled as they set the last of everything in the back room. She would itemize and organize everything in the store front later.

"Sure, I'm happy to help." Kristine smiled back.

"This is for Danielle." Jamie said handing over a check which Kristine tucked in her purse with a nod.

"I'll make sure she gets it...You wouldn't happen to know anything about smartphones, would you?" Kristine asked and Jamie laughed.

"Everyone of the free world knows about smartphones." She replied causing Kristine to blush.

"Oh well, Danielle told me I should get one. And I don't know much about them." Kristine said meekly.

"You didn't have phones as a nun?" Jamie asked curiously.

"There's a landline in the convent. But no, we didn't have personal phones, they are considered a distraction." Kristine explained.

"A distraction from what? No, nevermind, I don't need to know." Jamie laughed. She didn't want to come off as rude when she considered how weird she thought nun life must have been. She assumed Kristine was deprived of a lot more than cell phones. "So you want help picking out a phone or something?" She asked.

"That would be fantastic. I don't know where to start." Kristine said, ignoring the judgement she felt from the woman.

"Let me close up the store for a few. I'll take you to Verizon, it's a short walk from here and the service is decent." Jamie said leading the woman to the front of the store. Kristine smiled in appreciation and the women walked to pick out a phone. Kristine was certainly out of her element and let Jamie take care of all the details, handing over her debit card when the time came. She trusted that Jamie knew what she was doing and figured the phone specifications made no difference to her.

Back at Jamie's store, Kristine sat on the corner of the desk watching while Jamie set her new phone up.

"Easy peasy. Here ya go. I programmed Danielle's and my number in for you." Jamie said handing over the phone.

"Thanks" Kristine said taking the phone and staring at the lock screen. It would definitely take some time for her to figure the phone out.

"Don't look so scared. It's not as hard as you're thinking." Jamie giggled, leaning over to unlock the phone. "Give it a try." She smiled, pulling up the two contacts.

"A try for what?" Kristine asked confused.

"Call Danielle or something."

"No that's okay." Kristine quickly replied. "I'll play around with it later."

Jamie raised an eyebrow, "Everything okay on the home front?" She sensed the woman's hesitation at the mention of Danielle.

"Yes!" Kristine said quickly, causing the other woman to smirk. Kristine blushed and looked away.

"You don't have to lie to me." Jamie laughed softly. "Danielle can be tough to deal with, believe me I know."

"Tough how?" Kristine asked shyly.

"She is very...guarded when it comes to emotions." Jamie shrugged. "That woman Gia fucked her up."

"Gia?" Kristine pressed.