Page 92 of Bless This Hot Mess

“Why aren’t you at the station?” Rebekkah asked in confusion. It was strange seeing them outside of WWJD andstrange to see them running. They were both more of the prance and pose variety.

“There is no station!” Suwarna yelped, her eyes wide. “There was a fire!”

“What!?” Japheth gulped, the word breaking in his throat as it bubbled up. “But I just quit my job at Saddles ‘n’ Spurs! How am I gonna pay my cell phone bill? How am I gonna pay my rent? Do I need to come out of semi-retirement? Are we still going to have a show? How will people listen to the Trinity Radio Hour?”

“And we can’t find Emma-Lou!” Carrington said, grabbing a bus stop pole and leaning over, taking big gulps of air.

“What do you mean you can’t find her?” Rebekkah said, her head suddenly feeling light and foggy.

“She went up to her office with Rino when you three left,” Suwarna said, words clipped with the urgency of sharing everything she knew. “They were up there for a while. It sounded like they were arguing, something about needing to follow through on your promises, that the whole town was going to know…”

“Arguing?” Japheth blurted, “how do you know?”

“The intercom, Japheth!” Rebekkah filled in the blanks, turning to him as the realization jolted through. “Suwarna listens to everything that happens in WWJD, including in Emma-Lou’s office!”

“For her safety,” Suwarna added earnestly.

“Obviously,” Carrington said, a little wild around the eyes from replaying the shocking events. “That’s when Rino left. I was at my desk in the lobby and was going to say goodbye, but he was on the phone and was walking fast. He didn’t look happy but you know he often looks like that. Kind of that sexy scowl? Emma-Lou flew out of the elevator a fewmoments later and ran after him. But I dropped an earring and bent down to get it…”

“And then?” Rebekkah pressed, hands clenched into a tenuous prayer pose.

“And when I found the earring and was back in my seat at my desk, they were both gone,” Carrington said, voice tightening. “I didn’t think it was anything to worry about. I thought it was just more pressure tactics from the Ferraris and that we’d handle it or rather that you three were already handling it, with your lawyer.”

“That’s when he came after us!” Ronald said, dawning comprehension blinking on like a stuttering streetlight. “Oh my God… he said something about getting these little things finally executed.”

“He followed you!?” Carrington asked, startled. “To your lawyer’s office?”

“No!” Rebekkah shook her head hard enough to jostle the errant hair flap. “Rino is good! He’s agoodguy! He came to make sure we received our Kia Rios.”

“Oh, so that is gonna happen,” Suwarna said, reflexively taking notes in the air with an invisible pen and striking that to-do off her list. “I really wasn’t sure. I wasn’t optimistic to tell you the truth.”

“But what about Emma-Lou?” Japheth asked, their boss suddenly a buoy untethered. “She didn’t come to Weinus, Weinus, and Ware. So where is she? Did she get out of the station fire?”

“Or not?” Rebekkah whispered, the edges of the late afternoon light seeming to dim with the dark thought.

“We don’t know,” Suwarna admitted, and for the first time she didn’t have a title at WWJD that was equipped to handle the emergency. “She’s missing! Just like her parents… she’s…”

“Disappeared!” Rebekkah gasped. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Maybe she’s been raptured!”

“I don’t think so,” Ronald whispered with growing concern. “She’s been Ferraried.”

“That’s not a verb,” Suwarna said.

“It is now!” Ronald replied grimly.

“Japheth, I take it back. Rino maynotbe a good guy. Maybe you shouldn’t go to dinner with him tonight!”

“Obviously! I’m not going to dinner with someone who makes people disappear!” Japheth agreed. “I like being here.”

“Wait a minute. He asked you to dinner?” Suwarna turned on Japheth and a smile spread across her face. “You have to go.”

“What?!” Japheth took a step back.

“You absolutely don’t have to go!” Rebekkah doubled down and then wheeled on Suwarna. “He’s not going.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea, Suwarna,” Carrington had regained their composure and casually leaned on the bus stop post, assessing Japheth. “I mean, you can’t wear this…” they gestured from jacket to boot and back up again. “But I may have a thing or two in my closet you could borrow, if you really want to seal the deal. And we’re gonna need you to seal the deal.”

“What deal?! What am I sealing?” Japheth took another step back. “I’m not so sure about a makeover, Carrington. No offense. It’s just, well…” he gestured to Rebekkah without another word.