𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝗔𝗳𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘀 | 𝐁𝗼𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲/𝗥𝗙𝗞

XXIII: "Errands with Jack"

[November 26, 1948]

It was six in the morning — the next morning of Thanksgiving. Evelyn Bellamy had two days left to spend in Hyannis Port. Her friend, Wendy had been asleep and snoring loudly; she had drank a little too much last night. They'd gotten home at midnight and had to sneak into the house so Maurice or Julia wouldn't nag at them for breaking the curfew and drunk driving.

Evelyn wiped her damp hands on the nightgown she was wearing, her hair styled into a French braid her mother had taught her to do. She poured some hot water into a teapot on the countertop. "Bonjour, Evelyn." Julia's voice almost startled her, but Evelyn regained her composure. "Morning, Ma." She faintly smiled at her mother while stirring the tea. "Do I smell rose tea?" Julia remarked, her lips curled into a smirk; she'd always known it was her daughter's favorite drink. "You know it," Evelyn simply replied before putting the lid on the teapot and bringing it to the coffee table in the living room.

"Oh, merci!" Julia thanked her daughter when her empty teacup was filled with tea to the brim. She then noticed the newspaper on the table, Evelyn had picked it up just as it was delivered by a man. "You know..." Julia leaned forward to grab onto the newspaper. "Ted asked about you a lot yesterday." She quickly goes through the pages; she was a fast reader. "Oh." Evelyn's heart sunk into her stomach. She set her teacup down to pay full attention. "I told them you had a fever. Do you feel better now?" Julia's hazel eyes remained on the papers as she was directly talking to her daughter. "Yes, Mama. I was just fatigued." Evelyn pressed the palm of her hand against her face and rubbed her temples. She had made rose tea to calm her nerves but all she was getting was the opposite.

"I sure hope a night in the town was enough." Julia's words stink of sarcasm, and domineering. "Mama..." Evelyn snatched a distinctive blue package with the winged Gallic helmet logo that was lying on the table — you could tell it belonged to Maurice; only true Frenchmen smoke Gauloises. "No, I'm just curious. You said you were tired but then..." Julia shrugged and threw her hands in the air. "Wendy wanted to see downtown." Evelyn tried to get an old lighter to work until her mother handed her a new one. "Ma fille... Do you still want to go to Hollywood?" The mother was like a cat on a hot tin roof; she felt awfully nervous asking that. "Yes—" Evelyn paused to take a drag from a cigarette. "God, yes," She continued, soaking into the couch — the taste of Maurice's patriotic cigarette mixed well with the floral tea, it almost put her to sleep.

Julia leaned forward, looking askance at Evelyn, as if she didn't believe her answer for one bit. "Then why did you pick political science as your major?" Sipping the hot tea, she waited patiently for Evelyn's answer. "Mama, we've talked about this." The daughter's constrained groan broke into the mother's thoughts. "I'm sorry, it just... doesn't fit your starlet dream." Julia was shaking her head while leaning back into the leather couch. Evelyn sighed deeply. "Women are experts at multitasking." She gave a simple answer; it seemed like a hassle to try and explain her thought thoroughly. "Heh, of course." Julia reached over to hold Evelyn's hand. "And you proved that to me," the daughter said, smiling and taking another puff of her cigarette. "Merci, Evie." The mother tightened her grip on Evelyn to gesture her appreciation.

After finishing the newspaper, Julia abruptly placed it back on the small table. "Say, will you see Ted today? I sort of promised him that you would be up for it." She enquired of Evelyn. "Of course, Ma. I will visit them in the afternoon." The girl nodded her head, a faint smile on her face and a hand behind her neck. "That's my girl," Julia replied before looking away. She began to wonder whether or not to tell Evelyn about Joe's offer regarding her Hollywood dream. "Where's Wendy?" Julia's eyes glanced at the stairs — she'd decided to not talk about it just yet. "She's knocked out cold. Stayed up too late." Evelyn secretively said, hiding the truth about their last night's shenanigan. "You girls are trouble." Julia quipped, hinting at her knowledge of their secret.