Dear Tressi [✓]

9

Tressi stood on Mrs. Lepoci's porch staring at her house opposite the road. It'd begun to rain, which would make finding a cab that much more difficult.

"I have it here."

Tressi followed Mrs. Lepoci's voice to the living room.

"Andrew's notes," she explained, flipping open a small notebook, "I'd asked Dax to put it all up in the loft last year when he was here. Took me a while to get the right one."

"How is Dax?"

"Daxton's great. He's a photographer for the Lapec Daily," she said, with unmistakable pride.

"That's great! Where does he live?"

"He's got an apartment at Lakay Gardens near the old library. It's pretty close to the office."

"Is he married?"

At that, Mrs. Lepoci's smile turned melancholy. "He was. She died about a year ago. Car accident. She was such a beautiful lovely girl, and she was pregnant too, at the time. Dax was so cut up about it. I couldn't stand to see him so depressed, so I asked him to take a sabbatical and come live with me. I was pretty lonely here myself so it was good for the both of us." Mrs. Lepoci stared unseeing, lost in her son's pain.

"That's horrible. I can't imagine how terrible it must've been. Is he okay now?" Tressi asked, horrified.

"Yes, things are better now. He went back to work two months ago," she smiled. "He helped clear out a bunch of things when he lived here. But I couldn't throw away some of Andrew's stuff. Which is a good thing, maybe it'll help you."

Mrs. Lepoci held out the leather bound notebook which Tressi accepted. As she was about to open it, her phone rang. It was Des. She sucked in a sharp breath. Excusing herself, she stepped out to the porch.

"Hey."

His voice. She hadn't noticed how much she missed it until she heard it. She wanted to see him right that moment.

"Hi," she breathed back.

"Why haven't you called me back?" There was a slight note of anxiety in his voice.

"I'm so sorry. I haven't been checking my phone"—which was true—"and I've had the most terrible headache." Also true.

"How are you feeling now? Did you take some aspirin? That always helps. You don't eat regularly. Did you skip breakfast? You know that gives you a migraine around the afternoon. Maybe you should have some tea. Chamomile. It'll calm you down. Have you been sleeping properly?" He fired off, not giving her a chance to answer.

When he paused for breath, she grabbed the opportunity. "I've had quite a lot of tea," she smiled wryly, "I did take some aspirin. I could do with some sleep, maybe a little bit more food. But most importantly, I miss you. I wish you were here."

"Oh I'll be there soon. I'm catching the five forty-five. The ten o' clock flight'd be too late, and the conference is over. So I'll see you soon."

Tressi glanced at her watch. It was already past noon. She was supposed to be at the airport in an hour. And she still had to check out. She said her goodbye as hurriedly as possible, without raising suspicion and disconnected the call.

"Mrs. Lepoci, I totally lost track of time. I've to get going. I've to get to the airport in an hour." She looked down at the notebook in Mrs. Lepoci's hand with a torn expression. She desperately needed to know what was inside.

"You can keep that with you, dear. It'll be of more use to you than simply collecting dust here. Just get it back to me when you're done with it."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" She hugged Mrs. Lepoci goodbye, and rushed out into the rain.