Revelations

[a_time_slip]

She'd fallen asleep on the couch that night, only after insisting to herself she would go to her hotel room after dinner.

This wasn't the first time Janie had done that, and by now it was accepted that she would spend a few days at Vito's, insisting she would leave right after dinner, or lunch, or breakfast.  She would then leave for a day or two and the process would repeat.  Somehow her disappearances coincided with Vito's shifts.

Tonight, however, she was off just a bit.  That morning she'd seen her boyfriend off to work, and stayed around his apartment that day.  The place was cleaned from top to bottom, her clothes packed neatly away, and takeout was stashed in the fridge for him.

When Vito returned to the apartment, Janie would be asleep on the couch, tossing and turning, in the middle of a nightmare.

Comments

[a_time_slip]

"Dream..." Janie took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. Vito's apartment, somewhere safe. "I... yes. Everything is fine now. I'm okay."

She wasn't, entirely.

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"You sire? Sesame ball?" he asked, pointing to his plate.

[a_time_slip]

"I need a moment to calm down." Janie admitted "No food, thank you."

Janie stared at Vito's plate. "Did I order what you like?"

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"Looks good, yeah. What were you dreaming about?"

[a_time_slip]

"Something that happened in the war." she said, after a moment "An attack. I'm sorry about the cursing."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"It's okay, I've heard worse. You sure you're gonna be all right?"

[a_time_slip]

"I don't know." Janie admitted. "Finish eating and I'll go... this isn't my normal night here."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to go. I thought we were going to hang out tonight."

[a_time_slip]

"Come sit with me please, after you finish. We need to talk."

Janie sighed, and looked down at her hands.

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

Vito killed the lase sesame ball and settled beside Janie. "Okay, sure. What's going on?"

[a_time_slip]

"You've done a lot for me." Janie said, slowly. "And there's nothing I can do to make up for that. You're one of those rare and amazing people that I didn't think existed."

After a little hesitation, she hands over an envelope to Vito. "There's- well, back where I'm from, I'm still hiding from people there, and I really don't want you caught up in that."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

Vito opened the envelope. "Well, of course you don't want to, and you don't have to ... "

He glanced inside the envelope, closed it again. "You don't have to," he said, more firmly, handing it back to her.

[a_time_slip]

Janie set the envelope on the coffee table. "I said I'd pay you back. Soon, I'll get an apartment. I picked one out but Lynn said it wasn't acceptable."

She was behaving quite stubbornly. "I don't have to, but I want to."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but that's a lot more payback than is necessary," Vito said. I'm glad it's coming together for you, now, but this is excessive." He handed it to her again.

[a_time_slip]

She set the envelope on the table once more. "It won't be missed."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"No, but you will," He again handed the envelope to her. "Why didn't Lynn like the first place you picked?"

[a_time_slip]

"How much to pay you back? I don't like to owe anyone. I refuse to!" She set it on the table.

"Lynn said it was too small and too far from Phoenix and Sam... She's really close to them."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"Don't worry about it for now," Vito said. "Pay me back after you're established in a new place."

He handed the envelope to her yet again.

"Where was it? And where does she want to live? And where do you want to live?"

[a_time_slip]

"That check isn't going to stop me from getting an apartment. I have more money, alright?" The envelope went back on the table, and Janie folded her arms. "The apartment was in Harlem and she wants to live in Queens so she's close to the rest of her family. Me? I want to go home, to where I'm from and see my friends and all of the family that I've lost. But I can't do that, so I'm going to be mature and find somewhere here that my daughter likes. I'm going to pay back what I owe to everyone else, and I'm NOT going back to my old job. I'll continue at the shop."

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"I'm not taking the check," Vito said. "And I hope you're able to do what you want, eventually, but for now, it sounds like what you have in mind is a good thing."

[a_time_slip]

"I'm not taking it back." Janie insisted "And I will be able to do what I want to do. No one is going to stop me!"

WIth that bit of a tantrum, she disappeared from the couch. Vito wouldn't have seen that happen before and it didn't really make sense.

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

Vito blinked and looked around the apartment.

"Uh ... Janie?"

He looked around again, more slowly, then turned over the sofa cushion beside him. It didn't make sense, but neither did her vanishing into thin air.

"Janie?"

He took out his phone and hit Janie's speed-dial number.

[a_time_slip]

She was nowhere to be seen. Not under the cushion, or the couch, or anywhere in his apartment.

But, there was a knock on the door.

[vito-the-mook.livejournal.com]

"Hang on," Vito said, waiting until his call to Janie dropped to voicemail.

"Yeah,. Janie? That was weird. Call em when you get this."

He got up and opened the door.

"Yeah?" he said, before he looked.

[a_time_slip]

"I left my key." Janie said, standing at the other side of the door. "I'm sorry that I got upset."

She didn't explain how she got on the other side of the door, or what happened a few moments earlier.