The next day Daisy redoubled her research efforts for the women’s history articles. She was amassing ideas for expanding her outlines, but she needed to make sure she had the research to back them up. She spent most of the day in her office doing online research. Jude only interrupted her once, coming into her office to ask if she had any aspirin.
“Sorry, Jude. I don’t have any with me. Got a headache?”
“No, I’m achy all over. I hope I’m not getting the flu.”
“Probably not- it isn’t flu season. Sounds like you’re coming down with a virus, though. You should probably rest and get lots of fluids.”
“Yeah. I went to the doctor. He told me to rest.”
“So why are you here today? I can handle anything that comes up.”
“I’d rather try to work than lie around and do nothing at home. I would go berserk.”
“Okay, but don’t stay if you start to feel worse. The best thing for you would be to lie down and get better.” And, Daisy didn’t add aloud, you’re less likely to infect people around here if you just go home.
Jude turned around and left, her gait slower than usual. Daisy heard her go into Mark John’s office next; she hoped Mark John would send her home until she felt better. It was only a moment later, though, that Jude returned to her office and shut the door. Daisy heaved a sigh and pulled a canister of disinfectant wipes from the bottom drawer of her desk. She was wiping down her door handle to remove Jude’s germs from it when Mark John came in.
“What are you doing?” he asked as Daisy stepped back from the door in surprise.
“Just a little cleaning.”
He smirked. “Are you wiping down anything Jude has touched? She doesn’t have the plague, you know.”
“I know that,” Daisy replied hotly, embarrassed to be caught in a frenzy of germ-killing. “I just like it to smell fresh in here, that’s all.”
“Sure,” Mark John said, a knowing grin on his face. “I tried to tell her to go home, but she doesn’t want to.”
“So she’d rather stay here and spread disease to the rest of us?”
“Apparently so. But I didn’t come in here to argue about whether Jude should be at work today. I came in to ask you to do me a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Brian is coming in later today. Can you talk to him? Tell him I’ve read the diary but I had to run out for some reason. Um, tell him I had to interview someone for a story.”
“You don’t write stories. I’ll come up with something better. Why don’t you just talk to him? I told you how the diary ends.”
“I don’t even know if that’s why he’s coming in. I just don’t want to talk to him right now.” He looked over his shoulder and crossed to the door, closing it softly. “I’m afraid he’s going to ask questions about me and Jude. I think he knows we’re seeing each other. I’m not ready for that. I don’t know how he feels about me dating after Fiona’s death—we’ve never discussed it. But this isn’t the time or place, so it’s easier if I just avoid him.”
“I can understand that,” Daisy replied. “Why don’t you just call him and tell him you’re not going to be here?”
“Because I don’t want him to ask about rescheduling. Besides, his phone is off and the voicemail is full.” Daisy smiled.
“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry,” Daisy said. Mark John turned to leave.
“Find anything of interest when you researched the diary lady yesterday?”
“Her name is Trudy—was Trudy—and not really. I didn’t find what I went looking for, which was how and when she died.”
“It’s got to be there somewhere,” Mark John said. “Keep looking.”
“I intend to, believe me.”
Later that afternoon the receptionist buzzed to tell Daisy that Brian had arrived. Daisy went to greet him, then showed him to a conference room.
“Mark John isn’t in the office, so he asked me to discuss the diary with you. I’ve had an opportunity to read all of it.”
“He’s not coming?” Brian asked, his face showing his disappointment.
“No, but I’ve read the diary, so--” Daisy began.
Brian held up his hand. “I don’t know why he refuses to see me, but he’s the one I want to talk to. No offense, Daisy. But he’s my brother-in-law. We have family ties.”
“I get that. I just--”
Brian held up his hand again. “Listen. I’ll give him another chance. If I can’t discuss it with him after that, I’ll discuss it with you. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Brian pushed back his chair and stood to leave.
“Does he ever talk about Fiona?” he asked.
Daisy had a strong hunch he didn’t mean talking about her in the context of Mark John dating another woman after her death.
“No,” she said quietly. Brian left without another word.
Daisy spent the rest of the day doing research for her other projects, then went home.
She flipped on the light next to her front door and stood in the hallway for a moment listening to the silence. She kicked off her shoes and threw her keys into the basket on her foyer table. There were times when she walked into her apartment and wished there was someone to talk to, someone waiting for her. But she always tried to shake off those thoughts. This was the life she had chosen for herself. She was happy doing her job and spending time alone. She had friends she could call if she felt like going out, and there was always the option of getting a dog or a cat for company.
But on the nights she felt like staying in, it might be nice to have another human to talk to.
She shook her head as if she could physically dispel thoughts like those from her head, then turned on the television. She idly flipped channels for a while, but there was never anything good on television. She shut it off with a grunt. She got up and rummaged through the refrigerator for something to eat and found cheese and some week-old grapes that didn’t look too bad. She also found some crackers in the cupboard and took the box into the living room.
She flipped through an anthropology journal and didn’t find any articles that particularly interested her. Next she tried reading a mystery she had borrowed from Helena, but it didn’t hold her interest. She eventually laid it aside, blowing a long breath out through puffed cheeks.
She was bored. And if she was honest with herself, she was lonely, too. She wanted to call Grover, but their last couple conversations had been so weird that she didn’t think it would be a good idea. She thought about calling Helena, but Helena wasn’t a talk-on-the-phone person. She preferred to be out doing something, going somewhere, talking face-to-face. Daisy didn’t feel like going anywhere. For just a fleeting moment Daisy thought about calling Jude to see how she was feeling, but she quickly banished that thought from her head with a rueful chuckle. I must be pretty desperate to consider calling Jude.
She ended up remembering she had some bills to pay, so she spent the rest of the evening paying bills online, checking her email, and surfing the internet. She went to bed early, slept fitfully, and woke up grumpy.