Part 52

Part 52
Juniper felt very nervous about seeing Adara again. She had made it clear at their last meeting that she wanted nothing to do with her. She couldn’t really blame her, could she? “I don’t know if she’ll show up.”

On Friday morning, Juniper woke up early and took a shower. The water was nice and hot. She took her time washing her hair. She turned the shower off when she felt the heat dissipate. She dried her hair and took care with her make up. She got dressed and was about to open the door when Adrian hammered on it.

“What’s taking you so long?” he shouted through the door.

She opened the door with an apology and sat down in front of the paper bag Adrian had brought in. She took a donut and ate it with relish while sipping the terrible coffee.

“At least you look much better.” Adrian walked past her into the bathroom and Juniper smiled as she heard Adrian curse at the cold water while focusing her gaze on the terrible coffee and sipped it. The man really had terrible taste in coffee. He didn’t spend much time in the bathroom and by the time her cup was empty, Adrian was done.

At half past eleven, Adrian parked the car in a parking lot across the street from the restaurant. Juniper went inside and got a table in the back. Adrian phoned her almost immediately as she sat down.

“I can’t see you from here. Get another table,” Adrian ordered her.

“This is the only table not reserved,” Juniper replied. There was nothing else she could do. Adrian decided that he would just have to wait. Juniper would give him a missed call as soon as she paid the bill. He would be waiting for her and the arnica in Adara’s drink will make her woozy. Easy pickings.

Juniper ordered coffee and sighed with pleasure as she took the first sip. Now this was coffee! She looked at the clock on the wall, it was five past twelve. She had a sinking feeling that Adara wouldn’t show up. The door opened and she looked up. Adara stood at the door and looked at the tables. She saw Juniper and made her way to the table.

“Hi.” Juniper smiled. She had gotten up but Adara went to the chair and sat down.

“I don’t have a lot of time. Kiran gets home at 2 pm from daycare.” Juniper looked at Adara’s hand, the light making the diamond sparkle, the same diamond her sister had worn.

“Thanks for coming. I didn’t think you were going to show up.” Juniper handed her the menu, and Adara ordered coffee from the waitress and put the menu down.

“I won’t be eating. This isn’t exactly a social outing for me.” Juniper nodded, and took out a little box from her handbag and handed it to Adara.

“I was going to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday. Before your resurrection …”

Adara slowly opened the box and looked at the contents inside. “What is it?” The round silver disk was plain looking and there was a strange symbol etched in the middle.

“It means wolf. Elizabeth loved it. Your father gave it to her as an engagement present.” Juniper felt bad for lying to Adara, especially when she took the necklace from the box and placed it around her neck.

She’d bought the necklace from the thrift store and asked the jeweler to engrave the symbol onto the round disk. It was the only thing she could think of to do. She had to give her something since that’s how she’d gotten Adara there. For a brief moment, she wondered how different her life would’ve been if she’d never met Ramos. If she had a better relationship with Adara, would she have looked after her when she received her inheritance?

“Thank you.” Adara’s eyes glistened as she held the round disk in her hand.

“I really am sorry for not believing you.” Adara just nodded at Juniper’s words. “I heard you got married. Congratulations.”

“I did, thank you.” Adara felt awkward talking to Juniper about her personal life. She didn’t trust her but she had been curious about this meeting.

“Are you happy?” Juniper asked her, and touched her hand on the table. Adara pulled her hand away quickly and Juniper looked down. Adara’s happiness sent a pang of pain through her own heart and a flicker of jealousy surged to life. Adara had it all and she still had nothing.

“I am. I love him very much.” Juniper believed that she did and she could see how her eyes lit up as she thought of him. Juniper leaned in to Adara and started whispering.

“You have to leave. Use the back door. Just trust me on this please.” Juniper pleaded with her and stood up.

“Why?” Adara asked her with a suspicious frown on her face.

Juniper glanced around and leaned forward. “Just do it, Adara. Go and don’t look back.”

She placed some money on the table and walked to the front door. She turned back and looked at Adara. Adara slowly got up and walked towards the bathroom, then slipped into the kitchen and out of the back door.

Juniper kept her expression neutral as she walked out of the restaurant and she knew Adrian was watching her. She could only hope that Adara wasn’t still around. It was the one good thing she could do for her. Adrian was going to kill her no matter what she did; she might as well die now, without giving him Adara.

“You were supposed to call me!” Adrian said harshly, as Juniper walked up to the car. Adrian got out of the car and grabbed Juniper by her arm.

“I told her I was sorry about everything. She said she needed to go to the bathroom and she never came back. I went to check and the bathroom was empty. I guess she left through the back entrance.”