❝ PICKET FENCE! ❞ → GRAY ✓

→ ii.v

Act Two, Scene Five

→ ❝ i need to talk to you! ❞

             For the next two days, Carol didn't step foot out of her room. She only saw Polly a handful of times a day when she brought the girl food and tea (she brought a large pitcher of water every morning for her and a glass of orange juice in the mornings) or when she tried to check in on her. Each time, Carol took the food and then dismissed Polly, unable to hold a conversation with anyone; her head was much too muddled for that. Michael only came into the room after he thought Carol was asleep and left before he thought she was awake again. Each time, he was wrong; her overactive mind had allowed Carol to sleep only lightly, and she found herself being thrust into the world of the living every time the bed dipped.

             Johnny Dogs had brought Charlie home (without Tommy, Carol was disappointed to discover), but Carol couldn't bring herself to play with the young boy yet. Instead, she had played cards with Finn a few times across the two days, losing every time, but it took her mind off things for a short while. It was a welcome release as a weight was lifted off her shoulders as the first card was placed, and she felt normal again.

             Tommy was the problem. Two days was proving to be a much longer time than Carol had anticipated, and the more she stared at the grandfather clock willing time to go faster, the more it seemed to slow down until the second hand seemed to cease moving altogether. It was a gruelling exercise, and Carol hoped that Tommy would be back soon, or she didn't know what she might have ended up doing.

             It was late at night when Carol finally decided to leave her room and sit in the second floor study that overlooked the front of the house. John and Arthur had left earlier that afternoon for Liverpool (Carol didn't care enough to ask why), and the house was eerily quiet without the Shelby brothers to cause havoc for the maids.

             On her way to the study, Carol found herself involuntarily rolling her eyes and sighing as the person she wanted to talk to the least crossed her path. The hallway was much too thin and not crowded enough to pretend not to have seen him, but the tension was thick enough to suffocate a small army.

             "Are you not going to bed?" Michael asked, grabbing her arm lightly to stop her walking.

             Carol shuffled uncomfortably on her feet but didn't pull her arm away immediately. She could feel the heat of his hand through her peach nightgown sleeve, and it made her stomach feel warm and fuzzy, "I'm going to watch out for Tommy," she nodded down the corridor, as if she thought Michael cared about where she was going. "You can go in, though. I don't know how long I'll be, don't wait up for me."

             Michael left with a sad nod, and Carol noticed the confliction in his eyes as he leaned in, as though to kiss her forehead, but backed away when he realised what he was doing.

             The study was a cosy room, with a large desk and chair that faced out of the window that reached almost all the way from the ceiling to the floor. Not bothering to close the heavy door behind her, Carol settled into the chair and pulled her knees up to the chin as she watched for any movement at the end of the driveway that would indicate Tommy's much anticipated arrival. She was going to be so angry with him if he didn't come home that night, not when Polly had promised that he would.

             A small glow that grew as it travelled up the road caught Carol's eye, waking her up as she began to doze off. The chair was rather comfortable, and she couldn't be sure how much time had passed since she first sat down – the sky was much darker now but the house still hummed with life.