The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Sixty-Three
The Stranger at the Door
Mort,
DeMarco and the Frenchman watched as the scene played out. As Johnny
ran across the screen and disappeared so did the signal as it
switched back to Rainey’s writing program.
“I do not
think the lady was very happy,” DeMarco sighed. “It is a shame
for such a beautiful woman to feel so much anger. Senor Depp needs to
better watch himself with his dalliances.”
The Frenchman
said something as if in agreement, but among the words the men
understood the words French and Carrie.
Mort was shaking his
head.
“No, something more here is going on than meets the eye.”
He leaned towards the monitor, hand on chin as if thinking. He then
reached out and maneuvered the mouse, bringing the cursor to the
refresh button.
Chancing his instinct, he clicked. The screen
crackled and once again they saw Johnny standing in the center of a
room, the letter opened in his hands as he attempted to decipher the
words. He shook his head as he skimmed the page, flipping it over.
“I swear, Nessa!” he called out, flipping the letter back
to the front. “I swear I do not know this Carrie…hell, I can’t
read half of this…you know I’m still barely learning French,
babe!”
“Do not call me ‘babe’!” came Vanessa’s
voice off camera. “It looks as if you have enough ‘babes’ already! Do not add me to your harem!”
A commotion from the
kitchen caught their attention, distracting them from the computer.
Roux came bustling into the Room, his head swiveling from side to
side as if in search of something or someone.
“Captain
Sparrow!” he called out.
Sparrow caught the urgency in the
gypsy’s voice and he attempted to move around to the back of the
bar.
“Stop right there, Captain!” Roux warned. “You took
something from the box. The rings. They’re missing. Hand them over.
They need to go back.”
“Not until I get me letters,”
Sparrow sneered.
“The letters weren’t there, Captain. You
must have put them in another box.”
“No, he didn’t”
Mort called out. Roux turned to the writer who was pointing at his
computer. “He’s got them now. Don’t ask me how. But Depp has
them.”
Roux paled, then regained himself and rushed over to
Mort’s side. He watched along with them as Johnny tried to calm the
mother of his children, still waving the letter, claiming ignorance.
The other letter, Jess’s letter, was crumpled in Vanessa’s fist
as she shook it at Johnny.
“Is this what you do when you
work? Gather lovers? Tell me! I have a right to know!”
Her
voice an octave higher as she screamed.
A knock on the door
came. The men glanced up at the Room’s door and waited. A knock
came again, but this time they realized it was not The Room’s door.
It had come from the computer. Someone was at Johnny and Vanessa’s
door.
Vanessa and Johnny stood facing one another. Her face
red with anger, Johnny’s white with confusion.
The
doorbell.
Vanessa huffed. “Go answer it. It might be one of
your girlfriends!”
“Nessy, don’t,” he tried to comfort
her, but she pushed him away.
“Go answer the door!”
Johnny’s
body slumped as he turned. The camera followed him to the front door.
They watched as he pressed the intercom button.
“Yes, who
is it?” he asked. It became obvious he was agitated at the
intrusion.
A mumbled voice answered and the men in The Room
watched as Johnny’s body straightened. He appeared shocked at the
identity of the caller.
“What do you want?” he inquired.
The visitor answered, but it was too muffled for them to
understand.
“Yes, yes, they're here.” Johnny said. The
men watched as Johnny crossed the foyer and picked up a pile of books
on the hall table, returning back to the intercom.
“I don’t
understand,” Johnny talked into the intercom. “You say they were
delivered here by mistake? But I remember these…” his voice
trailed off as he inspected the books in his hands. “Christmas
gifts. Yes…” he murmured, “Christmas gifts, from Winona. And
this one…this one came from Lori…but I haven’t seen them in
years. How did you….”
He did not finish the sentence as
he unlocked the door and opened it.
A gasp came from the men
as they watched the visitor step inside the Depp household. He
extended his hand in greeting to Johnny.
“Oprah
Noodlemantra, Mr. Depp. And I believe there were some letters inside
the books that were delivered by mistake. May I have them back?”