Chapter 28
Lane (June 2023)
...
There was a text message notification from Phoebe on Lane's phone and they opened it to see what it said. Lane had been wondering if she had found anything else connected to the two girls that lived there in the past so long ago. It seemed that now Phoebe had found something connected to them.
"Good morning! I found something last night that is super interesting! Are you home?" the text read. Lane wrote back, "Hey! I'm home."
"Great! I'm on my way," Phoebe replied.
They hopped in the shower and speedily washed up, dried off, and then got dressed. Afterwards, Lane decided to do a little cleaning before Phoebe got there. Their apartment was a little bit of a mess and even though it wasn't too bad, Lane wanted their home to look presentable for guests, especially their landlord. Lane threw out the pizza box from the night before and scrubbed the kitchen sink clean. Then they put away the dishes and cleaned out the litter box that belonged to Petri, Lane's new cat. Lane had adopted Petri from the shelter in town a few days after Atlas had claimed he knew what apartment Lane was living in. Ophelia suggested getting a pet so they wouldn't feel completely alone in the apartment. Lane looked under the couch but Petri wasn't there.
"Where did that baby go?"
Then, Lane entered the bedroom and found Petri sleeping on the bed. Her tail was curled around her body as she slept scrunched up in a ball.
"Aw, there you are," Lane said.
Petri didn't look up at Lane but continued to sleep and they sat beside her. After she felt the mattress shift, Petri stretched and yawned and then looked up at Lane. She meowed sweetly, melting Lane's heart.
"Oh, hi Petri." Lane rubbed her chin. "You're gonna meet Phoebe today and then later Aunty Ophelia is coming over for dinner."
Petri purred and rolled onto her back, inviting Lane to rub her tummy.
"I'm so glad Ophelia helped me with getting you," Lane whispered to the cat. "She picked you out, you know. She said you looked sweet and she was right!"
Petri closed her eyes and her ears wiggled. The tip of her tail wagged calmly and Lane couldn't get enough. Petri yawned once more and then went back to sleep.
Lane returned to the couch and played on their phone while they waited for Phoebe to arrive. They scrolled through social media and thought about all of the pictures Lane had with Altas on their profile. Lane looked through the photos briefly before closing the app.
"I really shouldn't be looking at his face," Lane sighed.
After a moment, Lane heard a knock at the door. They got up from the couch and went to answer it. Before opening the door, Lane wanted to be sure of who was on the other side. There was one person they didn't want to let into the apartment.
"Who is it?" Lane asked with their head pressed up against the door.
"It's Phoebe!"
Lane unlocked the door and let her in. She carried something in her hands and Lane couldn't determine what it was as Phoebe pulled Lane into a hug.
"How are you, Lane?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm good. Come on, we can sit on the couch. Do you want anything to drink? I can make tea or coffee."
Phoebe smiled. "I'll take a black coffee if that's alright."
"Okay," Lane said. "You can make yourself at home and I'll be right back with your coffee."
"Aren't you a barista?" Phoebe chuckled.
Lane nodded. "I'm also the supervisor."
"That's great!"
Lane disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes and then returned with two cups of hot coffee. They brought creamer out as well just in case Phoebe changed her mind. She didn't but Lane required the creamer in their coffee. They weren't a fan of coffee without it. Petri joined Lane and Phoebe on the couch and Phoebe fell in love with the little cat in a heartbeat. Petri went right to sleep next to Phoebe as she showed Lane what she had discovered.
"So I found this in the storage unit." Phoebe handed Lane a small photo album. It looked leather bound and was slightly rough around the edges but was overall in good shape.
"There are pictures of them?" Lane asked. "Of Carolyn and Nancy?"
Phoebe nodded. "Yep. Got their signatures on the inside of the cover and everything."
Lane opened up the photo album and looked at the photographs. "Polaroids."
"Yeah. Pretty cool!" Phoebe smiled. "They look really happy together."
Lane and Phoebe looked at the aged photos. They were sepia toned. The first image was of a young woman who appeared to be a light brunette and she also wore glasses. Her hair fell in waves and her bangs were neatly curled. "She must be Carolyn," Lane said.
"How do you know?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm just guessing," Lane laughed, "but she looks like a Carolyn and the other one looks like a Nancy." They pointed to the other girl in the second photograph. This young woman had a short curly bob. She appeared to have blonde hair and wore a dark headband. Lane tapped the photo of the second girl. "Yeah, this one looks like a Nancy."
Phoebe laughed. "They're both dressed so gorgeously. They remind me of photos of my mom when she was young."
Most of the photographs looked like they were taken inside one room. Lane imagined that it was probably C7 from back in the day and there were also several photographs that looked like they were taken in hotel hallways. There was one photo that stood out to Lane only because it was different from the others. It looked like it was taken in a hallway and instead of featuring either of the girls, it showed a young man dressed in a hotel worker's uniform. He smiled while holding up a book but Lane couldn't read what the title was. At the bottom of the photo, the name Roger was written in faded pen.
"A friend of theirs?" Phoebe asked.
"Probably," Lane replied.
"How sweet. He must've been the one taking the pictures of both of them together."
Lane looked over the other photographs carefully. There were a few of each girl alone and a few of them together and in several of the ones where they were together, they were looking into each other's eyes, lovestruck.