The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Twenty-Five
Sugar Plums, Slippers and Roses
“Delivery!”
Noodlemantra repeated beyond the door.
“Come in, come in, my
good man!” Wood invited the young man. They all stood back,
remembering how Oprah Noodlemantra had pushed in the book cart first
before him. Sparrow, unfortunately, was hanging precariously from a
rafter trying to attach the cage when he saw the door open.
He’d
never make it down in time to try to flee out the door, so he stayed
where he was.
The young man did indeed push the cart into the
Room. But this time there were not only books, but a large brown
carton. He wheeled over to Dean who waved him to put the books on the
table.
“What has he read now?” Dean asked curious about
the titles.
Noodlemantra took a gander at one of the book
spines.
“Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom
Robbins.”
Dean shrugged at the title.
O.N. picked up the
next one, a thin paperback.
“The Diving Bell”
Nick
nodded an approval.
The next one was pencil-thin, oversized.
Dean waited to hear the name of it.
“The Seven Silly Eaters”
O.N. saw Dean’s expression question the book.
“He
read it to Lily last night.” He explained to Dean.
“Quite
adorable, actually. Don’t cast it aside. You should give it a
chance.”
“Sure, sure,” Dean waved his hand, the
cigarette casting smoke over the table. “What’s in
the box? More
books?”
O.N. tapped the box, shaking his head. “No, no.
This isn’t for you. It’s for…”
O.N. checked his clipboard.
“Ms. BonBon?”
Across the room, BonBon pressed a hand to
her heart and watched as the handsome young man push the cart to
where she sat. He handed her the clipboard to sign, which she did
with a dramatic flourish, giving it back with a smile and a seductive
look. O.N. smiled nervously back as he took the clipboard from her.
Lt. Victor cleared his throat reminding them both he was
still in the room.
“Gotta go.” O.N. announced quickly, pushing
the cart towards the door. Envy filled the Room as they watch him
turn the knob, open the door and disappear.
Would any of them
get to do that someday? They left that thought as they turned their
attention to BonBon’s delivery.
“Please Victor,” she
cooed, wiggling her fingers, “Could you be a precious and
open the
box? I just did my nails.” Victor bowed and obliged her
request.
BonBon peered inside the box, bringing both hands to her lips
as she viewed what was inside the box.
“This is all for me?”
My, she thought, but she must be truly loved by her friends.
The
first thing she pulled out was a make-up kit. Across it was the
designers name: Sarah Isabella. Only the best, BonBon prided herself.
She opened it to look at all the new colors and found herself
attracted to a certain one.
Using the mirror that came with
the kit she applied the shade to her eyes, batting her lashes to
admire her new look.
“Ah, my lovely” DeMarco’s smooth
voice melted over her. “Such a complimentary color. Does it
have a
name?” BonBon felt herself blush beneath the
Spaniard’s
attention.
She glanced at the name of the color.
“Sugar
Plum Fairy.” she told him.
He lifted her hand to his lips. “It
suits you well my dear. You are as sweet as sugar, you are plum
beautiful and you are as delicate as a fairy.” She blushed
again,
enjoying his compliments.
She set the make up aside and
pulled out the next item.
It was a pair of blue slippers. She
quickly kicked off her shoes and placed them on her feet. They were a
perfect fit. A “please enjoy” card had been
attached to them. She
smiled at Allison’s name. She always loved a good comfy pair
of
slippers.
The Room watched as she went back into the box for
more. The next gift was a small expensive looking flower made of
crystal. A crystal rose. It sparkled in the light of the Room,
casting a prism of color on the walls. Her eyes flashed with glee at
the beautiful gift. BonBon needed no card to know who had sent this.
DeMarco gently eased it from her hands and held it up higher to the
light, colors dancing all around, creating a rainbow throughout the
room.
The rainbow made Sam smile as he glanced over to his
painting with the Dutch Irises.
“Beautiful craftsmanship.”
Don Juan whispered as he returned the rose back to the lady.
BonBon
peeked back into the box. “Oh…one more
gift.” she told them as
she reached inside. Three roses. But it was their color that
astonished BonBon as well as the onlookers. They were black,
jet-black. Mysterious and almost foreboding looking.
“Black?”
Ichabod asked, his voice filled with a superstitious fear.
“Why
would someone send you black roses? And three no less. Why not red?
Pink? White? That’s just insane.” The inspector
waved a white
hankie through the air to emphasize his words.
BonBon shook
her head slowly. “No, she is not insane…it is
Christina’s way
of telling me she is sad that I cannot be out there, with her. It is
her way of saying she misses me.”
BonBon’s heart was
touched at all her friends kind gestures. She hoped they knew how
much she missed them and prayed that someday they would be back
together.
She let Gilbert take the empty box away and
continued to admire all her new gifts. Yes, she thought, she was
loved.
“What the hell?” came Mort’s voice. The
sudden
curse cut through the Room like a knife and all eyes turned to the
writer. They saw him sitting at his desk, as usual, but a questioning
look upon his face as he stared to the center of the room.
Eyes
followed his gaze until they saw J.M. Barrie, standing, dead center,
holding open his coat pocket, looking down inside it. From inside the
pocket they could see a small, yellowish glow emitting outward, a
light, shining, casting shadows on Barrie’s face.
“What
the hell do you have in there, Barrie?” Mort demanded to know.