Protecting Heather

This is a work of fantasy and fiction. The author does not condone any sexual activity among persons under legal age in real life.

Oliver had just gotten upstairs with a load of laundry.  I should have installed a washer set down there.  Maybe next week, I can make some room by the end cabinet.

Unexpectedly, he heard the doorbell, followed by knocking at the door.  

Who could that be?   He wondered.  It being Sunday, it couldn’t be any delivery person.  Nobody ever showed up here without a reason.  Before he went to the door, he checked the exterior monitors.  He saw a car in the drive, and at the front door he saw…  Janice!?  

Walking to the front door, he opened it.  She stood there looking business-like.  “Janice?  What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”  He stood there, puzzled, looking around and past her beyond the doorway, just in case.

“Site visit.  Invite me in, Oliver.”   She was not her typical cheerful self.  She had her clipboard with her.  Completely taken aback, he silently stepped aside and let her through.  

“Can I see Heather please?”  

“Janice, this wasn’t exactly part of the deal.”

“Olliver…”  She started in, in full client mode, but then she pulled back, gentled her tone.  “Ollie.  This isn’t exactly my typical deal.  I just… I just had to know that what I’d done wasn’t…  I need to know that I did right.  I hope you can understand that.  And if you let me see her, right now, get to talk to her… and if you’ve treated her well, then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to.”

“Well, I could bring her up.”

“No, Olly.  Wherever she is, that’s where I want to see her.”  She held his gaze, no backing down now.

“Ok.”

“Ok.  To start, just her and I.  Then just you and I.  If everything goes alright, we’ll all sit down for a bit ot talk. ”

He drew in a big breath, let it out slow.  “Ok, then.  Follow me.”

He took her to the basement stairs, down into the unused dummy basement family room.  He clicked the remote, and as the wood paneling silently slipped sideways, she raised an eyebrow. “James Bond fan much, Olly?”  

He suppressed a smile, keeping it deadpan.  He led her through the inner secured doors.

She saw the playroom.  Her eyes darted from one thing to another as they dilated open, both from the subdued lighting, and from the shock she felt.

“Oh, Ollie… you’ve got it bad.  You weren’t kidding about this.”  

He walked past her and stood beside the doorway to Heather’s apartment.  

“Heather’s in here, if you want to talk to her.”

Janice just stood there for a full minute, her mind taking it all in.  Then she visibly collected herself, shaking her head.  “Ok, I’m ready.”

“Knock on the door when you’re done.  I’ll wait here.”  With that, he began keying in his access code.  It responded with a triple beep and he turned the handle.  

Heather called from inside.  “Hey, Honey, you’re back quick, did you forget… some…  “ Her voice trailed off to nothing as Janice stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

Oliver took up a seat on the pine table, waiting.

---------

Heather dropped her pencil from where she had been working out a math problem.  

“Janice?!”  She said, in shock.  “What… what are you doing here?”  She felt numbness creeping down her back.  

“Hi, Heather.”  Janice said, and waited for a reaction.

Heather stood up, walked around the table, slowly.  She stood opposite Janice for several seconds.  Then her composure broke, and she threw herself at Janice, sobbing.

“Shhhh…. it’s ok, baby.  It’s ok…”  Goddammit, I knew this was all wrong, and just look at this place.  Just…  Look at it?   Her brain scrambled to assimilate everything at once as she gently comforted Heather.  She really took a good look around the studio apartment.

This is really nicely done.  It’s clean… That’s a step above the grand majority of all my sites.  But … But that’s not important right now.  

“Heather… Heather, baby, I can get you out of here right now.  Don’t you worry about that.”

Heather looked up at her through red rimmed eyes.  “Wh.. what?  Oh, OH!  Oh, no, Janice.  It’s not that at all.”

“Then what is it, honey.”  She said, puzzled.

“It’s just… it’s good to see you.  I mean… it’s been a long while.  And seeing you, it made me think about my mom.  And I know, I just know that I’m not all done feeling sad about that.  Da… I mean, Oliver says that these things take a while, that it might come and go.  Maybe for a long time.  And that it’s ok, if I let him know that I’m feeling sad, he sits and talks with me and hugs me till I feel better. But seeing you again, it just.. sort of… brought it all back in a rush.”

“Let’s sit and talk a bit.  Let’s start with, how are you, and how are you being treated here.  Be completely honest.”

Heather’s smile was the Sun beaming as it emerged from behind a dark cloud, and the dreamy look in her eyes told Janice just about all she really needed to know.  Heather led Janice over to the table and began babbling on about her textbooks, and her new laptop, and the treadmill, and something about how there were books that smelled like coffee…

----

When Oliver heard the three knocks, he keyed in and opened the door.

“Now in just a few minutes we’ll both come back in.  Right now I need to talk to Oliver.” Janice called over her shoulder.

“Ok!” Heather called back, smiling.

Janice closed the door, trying to give him an unreadable look, but unable to wipe the smile off her face.

Impatient, and a little worried, Oliver prompted.  “Well?”

“Well, well, and well indeed.  I feel like I’ve met this girl for the first time.  I mean… I’ve never heard her string more than 10 words together before.  She loves english, hates history, loves math…   School?  You’re home-schooling her.  How… “  Janice collected herself.

She took a deep breath then.  “I just have to come right out and say it.  That girl loves you, inside and out. Wouldn’t hear a cross word about you, not even just askin’.  She’s at least 10 lbs heavier than I saw her last if she’s gained a pound, and needed every bit of it. Dark circles under the eyes, gone.  The place is goddamn spotless clean, and claims you make her take care of it except the laundry and the cooking.  And good for you by the way on that.”  She shook her head.  

“So… do I pass inspection?”

“You’re making me believe it.  But standing here with all your freaky gear is sure as shit a contrast isn’t it?”

Oliver grinned broadly, making no apologies.  Then he stated, seriously, “I’ll never do anything that would willingly harm her.  Ever.”

Janice looked him over long and hard.  “I know.  I guess I knew that before, but I had to KNOW it, with my head, so it would leave my heart alone.”  She broke into a grin again.  “How about you invite me in for supper and we can all sit and talk about whatever until I have to head back home.”

“I’d like that, Janice.  Let’s go chat a bit.  It’ll be a good break for her to talk with you now and again too, if we can work that out.”

“Yeah, I think I can.”

“Oh, one thing, before we go back in.  Something I’ve been thinking about, and here you are, the perfect person to help.  It’s about Heather.  Her identity.  Heather Waters is a name thats got a lot of problems right now.  And I intend to make good on the things I told you about initially.  But I didn’t consider how dangerous her old name would be for her if it resurfaced.  You got any ideas how I could fix that?”

“In fact, I do.  Give me a few days and I’ll call you.”

Oliver thanked her, then turned and keyed into the door again.

“Hi, guys, come on in!” Heather grinned, all excited, as she received her visitors again.