Sending A Message

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 9, Post Number 212

-Capital Crocus, inside Capital Coffee, early afternoon-

Wearing her casual outfit so that she would blend in with all the other young twentysomethings and thirtysomethings who frequented the place, Diana entered Capital Coffee and got in line behind a trio of older Crocus Magicka University students who were all middle-aged men. They were dressed in long-sleeved Crocus Magicka University t-shirts and khaki dress pants with dress shoes. They were discussing a technical topic related to engineering, something Diana was unable to understand because she had never studied the subject in her life.

Diana waited patiently behind them until they had each gotten their orders, then walked up to the counter and placed her usual order of a double espresso. The huntress should be working, but today she was not plying either one of her trades. Today she was going to work up the courage to finally send an iLac message to her sister Lucia. She had gotten Lucia's Lacrima Identification Code a week or two ago but had not yet sent a message because she was hesitant to do so. One of her problems was trying to find something meaningful to say to her sister.

It had been so long since the Winchester sisters had last met. Diana did not know what to say to Lucia because she had trouble expressing her emotions. It was easier for her to wear a mask of calm indifference than it was for her to say how she really felt, but lately that mask had been almost ripped off several times. One of them was when Diana had went to Professor Fauntleroy's camp in Mysterious Canyon to find that a good deal of his expedition team had been murdered by a bandit gang she had thought she had defeated several months ago. She should have teleported to Mysterious Canyon right away, but instead she walked there with Ami and some of the expedition team paid the ultimate price for Diana's tardiness.

Another was when Angela Helton gave her Lucia's Lacrima Identification Code without any strings attached. Diana had expected the brunette to demand a high price for such valuable information, but to the blonde's considerable surprise Angela gave the code for a lot less than she could have demanded for it. Angela had only requested that Diana exchange Lacrima Indentification Codes with her and Diana found that to be a fair price. Now the two could communicate almost instantly instead of having to rely on job board postings or written messages to communicate. Since Angela Helton was a legitimate contact with no underworld ties, it was safe to give her the Lacrima Identification Code.

Diana's worldview had been challenged that day. Diana had been taught by her parents that nothing was free and that the world ran on trading one valuable thing for another. If Diana wanted something from another person she had better be prepared to pay for it or perform a service for the person in question. Diana expected more of the same when presented with Lucia's Lacrima Identification Code, but to her considerable surprise Angela had given it to her and requested only that Diana giver the former her own code.

Then after spending the other part of the day with Lorelei Wingate and escorting her home, Lorelei's mother Edna invited Diana over to dinner at her place. There were no strings attached to that offer, only an invitation extended in good faith that Diana was free to turn down without consequences. Diana accepted the invitation and had a family dinner of lasagna with the Wingates, who treated her like family instead of a stranger. The Wingates had treated Diana the way her own family should have treated her, as a member of the family instead of treating her as a stranger and a servant. Diana did not want to think about that subject for too long, so she quickly moved on from that.

With her coffee in hand Diana walked over to her favorite chair near the window facing the mall and claimed it. She sat down and took her coffee cup into both hands, then sipped from it. She was trying to think of a good message to send to Lucia, one that was not too formal or too sappy. Right now the right words were evading her.

Diana tried to think of something to say, but she was drawing a blank. Diana suddenly became aware of the iLac sitting in her right pocket... it was like the device was telling its owner to just pick it up and write a text message already. In theory it was that easy, but to the huntress it was not that easy. It was dumb for Diana to agonize over writing a text message, but something personal kept getting in the way of completing that task. She wanted to send Lucia a message that was meaningful instead of sending a generic text to a beloved family member she had not seen in over four years.

But what could Diana possibly say to Lucia that was meaningful?

[Post Word Count: 844]
[Total Word Count: 844/2,500]

-Inside Capital Coffee, twenty minutes later-

Diana had finished her double espresso and was now holding the empty cup while trying to think of a text message to write to Lucia. She was still unable to find the words she wanted to say, which was embarrassing because it was a simple text message to a family member. It was not a message on which the world's fate depended. It was just a simple text message to her sister. Why was she hesitating in writing it?

Diana took a quiet breath. She set her empty coffee cup at her feet and reached into her right pocket to pull out her iLac. She was going to sit here until she sent the text message. Diana double-tapped the screen, went to the Contacts menu, and found her sister's code. Her right index finger hovered over the number for a few moments before she tapped it.

A new menu popped up, one that gave Diana the option to call or text the person in question. Diana hesitated again. She looked at the button with a phone icon and the button with an envelope and hit another impasse.

Did she want to text Lucia or call her?

Diana was not sure which method of communication would be quicker and easier. On one hand, she would not have to go to the effort of typing and sending multiple messages if she called Lucia. If speed was what the huntress wanted most it would be easier to just call and have a conversation.

On the other hand, if Lucia was out on a job right now, Diana did not want to get her sister in trouble by calling at the worst possible time. If Lucia was hiding from someone the iLac's ringtone could give her hiding place away and get her killed. A text message would be better because there was only a brief notification tone as opposed to a persistent ringing or musical ditty that alerted the iLac's owner to an incoming iLac call.

Another reason Diana opted to send a text was that the huntress just did not feel up to having a lengthy conversation with her sister. If she had difficulty finding words for a text message, that difficulty would only be magnified if she actually called Lucia. Diana truly wanted to talk to Lucia, but not over a phone. Something about it felt too impersonal, like she was talking to a business contact about a job instead of talking to her long-lost sister. Only a face-to-face conversation with Lucia would suffice for the huntress.

Diana weighed her options for a minute or two more and eventually decided to stick with her original plan of sending a text message. She tapped the envelope and up came the box in which to type text and the QWERTY keyboard below it. Diana took another quiet breath and readied her thumbs to type the message to her sister.

"Hi Lucia. It's me. Diana." Diana started the message before a mental block fell squarely into her lap. It was such a promising beginning, but after that the huntress faltered. What should she say after the greeting?

Diana put her thumbs over the keyboard and began adding to the message.

"Hi Lucia. It's me. Diana. How are you?" The message read after Diana's brief burst of inspiration fizzled out. Diana frowned. The struggle to find some words to make it a worthwhile message began anew.

What should she say now? She did not want to say too much, but she also did not want to say too little either. Diana looked at her brief message and frowned again. What she had typed out was not nearly enough for what she really wanted to say to Lucia, but there was no point in dragging it out any longer. Diana found the SEND button and tapped it with her right thumb. Within a few seconds the message was sent to Lucia and a brief notification tone sounded, but Diana did not feel relieved of her burden.

On the contrary, she started to feel like she had not written enough to her sister. This was their first communication in over four years and eight words was all she could write before encountering a mental block that she just could not overcome. No amount of willpower, no amount of wanting to talk to Lucia could overcome the mental block. Diana closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

There was no unringing the bell.

The message had already been sent, so there was no point agonizing over it any longer. All that remained to do was wait for Lucia's response. With that Diana exited the Contacts list and put her iLac back into her right pocket, then picked up the empty coffee cup she had set at her feet. She was going to buy a refill and then go to the mall to kill some time while waiting for a response from Lucia. Diana was too anxious to sit here and wait any longer... a change of scenery might improve her mood.

With that Diana got up from her favorite seat in Capital Coffee and made her way to the counter to buy another double espresso to take to the mall.

[Post Word Count: 878]
[Total Word Count: 1,722/2,500]

-Inside Capital Crocus Mall, forty-five minutes later-

Diana exited Earthland Eagle carrying two shopping bags. One contained a white skirt that was much like the black skirt she was currently wearing. The other bag contained three t-shirts, a purple short-sleeved t-shirt, a pink short-sleeved t-shirt, and a light blue short-sleeved t-shirt. Diana bought those to add a bit of color and variety to her wardrobe, which she really needed to add new things to. She did not really need them, but it was nice to buy something for herself every once in awhile.

The new t-shirts were also a welcome addition to her wardrobe. They were actually of normal thickness as opposed to the thin t-shirts that Earthland Eagle seemed to stock on the racks. She also liked the colors... purple, pink, and light blue would all go nicely with her new white skirt and would work with her black skirt as well. They were also shirts from a somewhat famous clothing brand, so no one would find the acquisition the least bit suspicious.

With her new purchases firmly in her left hand Diana stopped outside the front of the store and walked left, stopping outside the display window so that she would not hold up traffic. She then reached into her right pocket and pulled out her iLac to see if Lucia had replied to her text message. The music playing overhead and the noise generated by other customers in the store made it next to impossible to hear the iLac message notification noise unless she was really listening out for it, which Diana was not. She was too busy shopping and trying not to get trampled by other customers.

Diana looked down at her iLac and tapped the screen to get the home screen to come up. She looked at it for any text messages or missed calls. There was nothing.

Diana shrugged her shoulders and put the iLac back into her right pocket. Lucia might be busy with something and could not answer just yet. Undeterred by the lack of response, Diana then began to think of something else she was interested in buying. She looked at her feet and noticed her black tennis shoes. She might want to buy a pair of new shoes in another color, preferably white if she could find a good pair.

Diana decided to at least go browsing for a new pair of shoes just to pass some more time before she went home. She walked over to a mall directory near the mall entrance and began to read over it until she found what she was looking for. On the second floor was an athletic apparel store named The Athlete's Edge. That might be exactly where she needed to go. Diana left the mall directory behind and began to walk towards the stairwell, seamlessly merging with a crowd heading for the stairwell and following them to where she needed to go.

-On the second floor, one hour later-

Diana emerged from The Athlete's Edge with a box in a shopping bag containing a new pair of white tennis shoes that were just her size. Diana was particularly pleased with her find because they were the very last pair the store had in stock. The biggest challenge was getting to the checkout counter because so many people were in the store. Now Diana was the proud owner of a new pair of white tennis shoes that would go with her new clothes.

Diana found an empty bench to sit on and claimed it for a moment in order to check her iLac. She set her bags down at her feet and fished her iLac out of her right pocket. She checked the home screen and was not particularly surprised by what she saw... or rather, what she did not see.

There was still no word from Lucia.

Diana put the iLac back in her pocket, picked up her bags, and started to head for home for the day. She needed to save money for her trip to Crescent Island and she was not going to save the money she needed if she spent it on clothing. If Lucia ever answered her text message the pair could begin communicating without their mother influencing the conversation. If everything went well maybe the Winchester sisters could go to Crescent Island together one day.

While walking towards the stairwell to leave Diana looked right and happened to see a clothing store named The Modern Woman. Maybe Diana could go and look to see what kind of clothing the store sold. While she needed to save money for her eventual trip to Crescent Island, she could afford one or two more additions to her wardrobe before she needed to rein in her spending. With that Diana made a detour and began to make her way towards The Modern Woman for a brief look inside.

[Post Word Count: 818]
[Total Word Count: 2,540/2,500]

-Capital Crocus Mall, outside The Modern Woman, thirty minutes later-

Diana exited The Modern Woman without adding any new shopping bags to the ones already clutched in her left hand. That was no loss to her because The Modern Woman was full of shoppers who had picked over a good deal of the inventory. What was left was clothing that Diana did not want to buy, mostly paper-thin t-shirts, short shorts, short skirts, and crop tops. She had done enough shopping for today and had found quite a few decent things she really needed, so it would be a good idea to head home before she spent way more than she needed to.

Diana stopped to the right of the shop so that she would not be blocking traffic and checked her iLac for any response for Lucia. She set down her bags to free up her left hand, put the iLac into her left hand, and brought up the home screen with her right hand. It came up and Diana frowned.

There was still no word from Lucia.

Diana quietly slipped the iLac back into her pocket, picked up her bags, and headed for the stairwell, narrowly beating a crowd of shoppers who were heading for the stairwell themselves.

-On the first floor-

Diana stepped down and immediately made a hard right to head for the mall entrance. She walked slowly and looked around one last time for any place of interest she wanted to visit before leaving the mall for the day. Nothing appealed to her, so Diana picked up the pace and continued heading for the mall entrance. She would be back another day, maybe with Lucia at her side.

After a minute or two of brisk walking Diana finally reached the entrance and opened the door with her free right hand. She stepped outside and took a quiet breath, then continued walking for home. Maybe she would hear back from Lucia in the next few days.

[Post Word Count: 330]
[Total Word Count: 2,870/2,500]