Simulated Lives [08 - Unfortunate - Updated]

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 01 - All About Angela

Not for the first time, Josie wished her roommate was a normal person. Ideally, she would like to live with someone who at least knew who Stephen Hawking was; but she’d settle for normal. And playing the guitar at 5:30 a.m. definitely wasn’t normal.




She could feel the warning pressure of what promised to be a pounding headache and closed her eyes for a second, trying to block out the sound.




Unfortunately, her sleep-deprived brain could envision all too clearly what was going on the other side of the wall. Angela, in her pink room, probably still in her pink underwear, playing her favorite pink guitar.




She wondered briefly if she should try to reason with Angela, then decided not to bother. She had learned the hard way that time and space were not allowed to come between Angela and her guitar. Instead she chose to focus on the bright side: Angela’s guitar skill was a lot better now than it was when they started living together.




And being up early meant she had more time to review her report. She had been working on it for over a month, she had written and re-written it, but she was still not entirely happy with the way it turned out. It was due today and she wanted it to be perfect. The last thing she needed was to lose her physics scholarship.




She was trying to stop herself from freaking out over the thought of losing her scholarship when Angela entered the room.
“Hey bookworm, do you need a ride to campus?”




“You’re going to school?!” Josie couldn’t quite hide her surprise. So far Angela’s academic endeavors seemed to involve spending as little time taking classes as she possibly could.




Angela rolled her eyes. “Do you need a ride or not?”




An hour after she accepted Angela's ride, they still hadn't left the lot. Josie was practically fuming by the time they got to the car.
"Just chill, Josie! We're not that late."
Josie very much wanted to argue the point, but doing so would further delay them, so she kept her mouth shut.




Josie tried to distract herself from her anger by way of mentally reviewing her last theoretical physics lecture so it took her a little while to notice her surroundings. “Angela! We’re going in the wrong direction!”
“Don’t start freaking out again, Josie. It’s just a quick stop to grab some breakfast. I’m starving.”




Don't freak out. Just a quick stop. Josie closed her eyes. She wanted to trust Angela, she really did. Except… well, she didn’t.

02 - Sonya's Diner

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 02 - Sonya's Diner

Josie opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn’t. Her expectations weren’t high to begin with, but she hadn’t anticipated a run-down gas station.




She reluctantly got out of the car, then stopped. "Angela..."
Angela laughed at her hesitation. “Don’t just stand there, come on!"
Josie wanted to wait for Angela outside, then quickly reconsidered when she saw something crawling near the dumpsters. She shuddered and followed her roommate inside.




“Hi, Sonya!” Angela cheerfully greeted.




Sonya‘s reply was less than enthusiastic. “You again.”
Angela rolled her eyes. “Come on, Sonya, I already apologized, like, a dozen times. I truly didn’t know Alma was a vegetarian when I invited her here.”




Sonya turned sideways and stared at Josie suspiciously. “What about you? You kinda look like one of them damned veggies.”




The vaguely threatening comment caught Josie off guard. She wasn’t a vegetarian… yet. She had been considering the notion seriously for a couple of years, but so far she hadn’t really committed to it. What to do? She hated lying, but…




Angela saw her expression and jumped to the rescue.
“Well, for once you’re wrong, Sonya...“
Josie was insanely grateful for a moment. Unfortunately, Angela wasn’t done defending her yet.
“…Josie is a meat girl through and through. She’s the only person I know who always eats hamburgers for breakfast.”




Josie groaned out loud. “Angela, you know that's not--
Sonya lit up at the news. “Now that’s my kind of gal. One burger coming up.”




Josie panicked. “Angela, tell her—“
But Angela wasn't listening. Josie's predicament was nothing more than a laughing matter to her.




Josie's earlier headache returned with a vengeance.
Why, oh, why, did these things always happen to her?

03 – Fear of Abandonment

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 03 – Fear of Abandonment

Josie knew (her shrink had explained it to her in detail) that her need to please others came from her fears of abandonment as a child. She also knew that understanding her behavior intellectually didn’t mean she could actually stop it. At least not when she could feel Sonya staring at her back and Angela clapping and egging her on. I can do this, she thought, as she slowly raised the burger to her mouth.




She was still trying to swallow her first extra greasy bite when Angela got a call from Lance, one of her two exclusive boyfriends. “You go ahead and finish, Josie. I’ll be right back.”
Josie sighed and stared longingly at Angela’s unfinished blueberry pancakes.




She was trying to talk herself into finishing the rest of the hamburger when a wave of nausea assaulted her. She needed to get to get away from the sickening smell of grease in front of her. Maybe some fresh air would settle her stomach.




Big mistake. The combined smell of diner grease and gasoline was too much for Josie’s sensitive stomach.




One moment she was feeling vaguely queasy and on the next the contents of her stomach were spread all over the asphalt, window and her clothes. Great, she thought, now I can had vomit to the grease-gasoline combo.




She stumbled to her feet and glanced around trying to see if there were any witnesses to the most mortifying event of her life. No one inside the diner seemed to be paying her any attention.
She spoted Angela and Lance a few feet away, but they were too involved in each other to pay any attention to their surroundings.




She greeted Lance rather abruptly then turned to Angela. “We need to leave. Now.”
Angela looked at her and wrinkled her nose. “What the hell happened to you? You stink.”
And whose fault is it? Josie wanted to close her eyes and count to ten – or a hundred – but she couldn’t waste any time. “Angela. I have a report to deliver and we’re late.”
Angela shrugged. “Yeah, about that, Lance wants me to see his new sculpture so I’m dropping by his place first. He’s giving me a ride on his truck so you can have my car.”




Angela took one look at Josie’s momentarily perplexed face and quickly pulled Lance away. “The keys are in the car. See you later.”
Josie lost it. “Angela, come back here this instant!”




“You can’t do this! I hate to drive. I don’t even have my driver’s license with me! Angela!”
But, as usual, Angela wasn’t listening. Josie could only watch, powerless, as Lance drove away, leaving her behind.

04 – Trauma

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 04 – Trauma


Josie had debated going home to change her vomit-splattered clothes, but she had been afraid she would miss her class. Any other person could probably do it, but Josie was well aware that it would take her twice as long to drive across town than a regular person. She hated driving. Every time she sat behind the wheel she couldn’t help thinking about the car accident that took her parents lives when she was a toddler. As a result she always drove very carefully and very, very slowly.




She had hoped that driving with all the windows open would have made the smell subside a little, but as soon as she got out of the car every nose in close proximity turned in her direction.




She wasn’t usually a violent person, but today was apparently destined to be the exception to that rule. She glared at the student closest to her and snarled. “What are you staring at!?”




There must have been something in her expression, because no one glanced her way again. She ran to her classroom feeling relieved when she caught her professor, Dr. Juliet Bragg, entering the small Advanced Physics classroom a few seconds ahead of her.




Josie was first in line to deliver her report.
Professor Bragg wrinkled her nose. “What is that smell?”




Ethan Radford had been standing right behind her. “Uh, Josie, stand back. I think it’s coming from you.”




Ethan quickly put some distance between them. Josie tried to stammer an explanation. “I’m so s-sorry Professor Bragg, I c-couldn’t, I mean I didn’t- I thought I-“




Professor Bragg inched away from her. “I’m sorry, dear, but I can’t have you attending today’s lecture in that condition. You’ll have to leave.”




Her favorite teacher had just asked her to leave her class. Josie was mortified as she slowly walked out of the classroom, trying to hang on to what remained of her dignity.
It was barely 9am and she could officially label this the worst day of her life.

05 – Crushed

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 05 – Crushed

As soon as she parked Angela’s car, Josie ran into her building. Two flights of stairs and she would be in her apartment, safe from further humiliations. She would have a nice, long, hot bath and try to forget the past couple of hours had ever happened.
She was so focused on her little fantasy she almost ran into someone.




“Sorry, I didn’t see you…”
“Uh, Josie?”
“… there.”




“Ryan?” Josie could feel her face turning red. “Oh. Oh! I mean… Hi! I mean-”
She wouldn’t admit it to anyone but she had a little crush on Ryan, who occupied the apartment above hers. He was ten years older than her, a photographer and Angela seemed to dislike him, which made him just about perfect in Josie’s eyes.




“Hey, Josie. Can you believe this smell? The Newtons must have left the trash with Emma’s diapers outside their door again. If you see Ruth, tell her-”
Josie mumbled something incoherent, and ran to the stairs, leaving Ryan standing there with a confused frown on his face. For once she didn’t care. She needed a bath or she was going to have a nervous breakdown right then and there.




The bath helped somewhat but Josie’s nerves were still too frazzled for her to calm down. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so she called her psychiatrist’s office and scheduled an emergency appointment.




An hour later and she was in Dr. Turner’s office. Dr. Louisa Turner was one of the best psychiatrists in the city, and the famous author of such titles as “Neuroses and I” and “Raising the Neurotic Family.” Josie knew she was lucky to have her as her doctor, but the downside was that she couldn’t always get an appointment when she needed it. Getting an appointment today must have been karma's way of compensating for the rest of her day.
Narcissa, Dr. Turner’s secretary, took one look at Josie’s face and whistled. “Jesus, girl, you sounded bad over the phone, but you look even worse.”
Josie sighed, too depressed to comment.
“That bad, uh?” Narcissa asked. “Well, you’re here now. There’s one person ahead of you, then Dr. Turner will take care of you.”




Josie sat down, opened the book she had brought with her and prepared to wait.




Half an hour later and she was finally face to face with Dr. Turner. She recounted her day, but instead of feeling calmer by talking about it, she was growing increasingly more agitated. Dr. Turner finally interrupted her and suggested she move to the sofa.




Lying down in the sofa helped and Josie managed to finish narrating her day in a much calmer way.
“I understand how you feel, Josie.” Dr. Turner said after a few moments. “And I think what you need right now is to spend some time away from Angela, Ryan and your classmates. Why don’t you go visit your aunt and uncle’s farm for a couple of days? It may help you to distance yourself from what happened and put things in perspective.”




Josie was silent for a long moment, while she considered the doctor’s suggestion. A part of her felt like it would be running away from her problems. Another, bigger part didn’t care. ‘Putting things in perspective’ sounded just like what she needed.

06 - Family Reunion

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 06 - Family Reunion

Decision made, Josie wasted no time packing her favorite books and clothes, then wrote a quick note to Angela letting her know she would be away for the weekend.




Fairview Village hadn’t changed at all in the two years Josie had been living in Burwell. She had gotten used to living in an urban environment, but she missed the familiar sights, scents and sounds of the small countryside village that had been her home since the deaths of her parents, when she was just a toddler.




Her Aunt Edith and Uncle Dominic were waiting to give her the customary “welcome home” bear hug she always received when she came back to visit. Edith and Dominic Moore were the only parents she remembered having and she loved them for taking her in and for never making any distinctions between Josie and their own daughter, Mia.




Think of the Devil…
“Mia!” Josie was thrilled to find out that they were both visiting at the same time. It was rare for her workaholic cousin to take the time to come and visit her parents.




Afterwards they sat in kitchen, gossiping and catching up with each other. Josie’s life was the same old, same old, studying and searching for a new part-time job. Mia, on the other hand, had all kinds of adventures to tell from her many trips abroad. Close encounters with mummies, riding a kespa scooter in France, training in secluded martial arts academies in enigmatic Chinese mountains. Mia had done it all in her constant quest to find the rare seeds necessary to keep their family business alive and prospering.




After dinner, Josie retreated to her old bedroom, feeling nostalgic about her family reunion. She wished she could return to the past and relieve the many good moments she had had in this house. Maybe she should put her physics lessons to good use and attempt to build a time machine…




“Josie, wake up! It’s already 6 a.m.”
Josie sighed as she got out of bed. She knew her aunt expected everyone to be downstairs having breakfast in twenty minutes.




After breakfast it was time to help out in the garden. This, she really didn’t miss. Unlike the rest of her family, Josie was not an outdoors person.




She got up to harvest the next tomato plant and almost ran into Doug Kruper.
“Hey Josie, long time no see.”
“Hi, Doug,” Josie greeted, somewhat awkwardly.




A few years back Uncle Dominic had found eighteen year old Doug sleeping in his barn and had offered him a job helping out around the farm. Doug had had nowhere else to go so he had accepted the job and had been living in the tiny room above the barn ever since.
Doug had always been nice to her, often trying to help with her various chores around the farm. Josie, on the other hand, had always kind of avoided him, feeling guilty whenever she spent time with him. Today was no exception.




As she watched Doug return to work she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be all alone in the world. Doug’s past – being bounced around from one foster care family to another - could have easily been hers if not for her aunt and uncle’s kindness.

07 - Romani

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 07 - Romani

After all the hard work in the garden, Aunt Edith convinced Josie and Mia to have lunch in Fairview’s Community Park.




At first, Josie wasn’t too happy about it. Despite having grown up in a rural community, she wasn’t really an outdoors person. But the mood zapper gods must have worked some of their magic because she soon found herself enjoying her aunt’s famous grilled cheese sandwiches.




After lunch, Josie let herself be persuaded – somewhat reluctantly - to go for a walk and revisit Mia’s favorite childhood hangouts.




They were walking casually when something caught Mia’s attention.




“They’re back!”
Unfortunately, Josie knew exactly to whom she was referring to. She grabbed her cousin’s arm, trying to hold her back. “Mia, maybe we shouldn’t-”




But Mia had never shied away from a new adventure and, despite Josie’s protests, she wasn’t going to let her turn her back now. “Come on, Josie, there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a gipsy camp.”
Josie knew that – intellectually. She knew that the gypsies camped here every couple of years for a few weeks, then headed out for parts unknown. She also knew that they had never caused any problem. But she was still afraid of them.




As soon as they reached the camp a gypsy woman approached them and said in a strange accented voice, “Sadira has been waiting for you.”
Josie started trembling and stepped closer to her cousin. “I told you we shouldn’t have-”
Mia ignored her and turned to the woman, eying her suspiciously. “Who’s Sadira?”




The woman raised her arm in a dramatic motion. “I am Sadira, the great Seer. I look and I see. Future, past, they cannot hide. I always see.”
Josie’s previous irrational fear immediately disappeared. There was nothing she found more ridiculous than someone who believed in supernatural nonsense.




Suddenly, Sadira lowered her voice and looked straight at Josie. “You, come closer.”




Caught off guard, Josie was too slow to react. Before she knew it Sadira was holding her hand.

08 - Unfortunate

[Josephina Anderson] - Part 08 - Unfortunate

Despite her initial surprise, Josie was amused when the gipsy woman closed her eyes and inhaled in an overly theatrical manner. Doesn't she need her eyes open to read palms?
Sadira was silent for a long, dramatic moment. Finally, she spoke in her strange accent, "I see a man whose name starts with "R." He is here now, but you will see him in a distant land."




Mia rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Josie! This means you will finally travel. And fall in love!"
Sadira wasn't done yet. "I see cars… speed." She opened her eyes and stared straight at Josie. "Your past is the same as your future and you will have to conquer both."




Josie demeanor immediately changed and she glared at the gipsy woman. Speed and cars? Someone in Fairview must have told Sadira the story of her parents’ deaths and it was evident that she wouldn't hesitate to use that knowledge to her advantage.
Mia obviously thought so too. "You were right, Josie, we shouldn't have come here."




Josie and her cousin walked away from the gipsy camp, leaving Sadira and her opportunistic "visions" behind. The more she thought about it, the more upset she was over the whole incident. She couldn't understand how someone could take someone else's personal tragedy and use it with such complete disregard.
"Come on now, Josie, just forget about it. You can't let unscrupulous people get to you like that."
Josie knew that Mia was right, but… "I can't just pretend it didn't happen. It did."
"Of course you can." Mia smiled encouragingly. "You just need the right bribe."




The right "bribe," as Mia put it, was located in Elmsworth, a tiny village twenty minutes away from Fairview.




Despite Mia's insistent prodding, Josie had to stop, close her eyes and inhale deeply. She had come here many times during her childhood. Back then she couldn't think of anything more delicious than the scent of Janice's freshly baked treats.




The delightful scents were more intense inside. Janice was still behind the counter, ready to take their order and give them a little taste of heaven. The problem, as always, was deciding which piece of heaven to choose.




Their orders in hand, they wasted no time finding an empty table.
"Do you want a piece of my birthday cake?"
Josie eyed Mia's monster birthday cake slice and shook her head. "I can't believe you really ordered that. And that Janice let you have it."
"Well, Suzie - whoever she is - was supposed to pick up her cake at 9 am and it's already 5 pm. Everyone knows if you don't pick up your cake, chances are someone else is going to eat it."




A few hours later it was time to say goodbye to her aunt and uncle. This time Josie didn't have to call a taxi since Mia offered to give her a ride home. Mia lived in Maywood, and although Burwell wasn't exactly on the way, it wasn't that big a detour.




Mia spent the entire ride home telling Josie all about the upcoming gala event that would distinguish a few select nectaries with an Excellency Award. It was the first time Mia's nectary had been nominated and a great opportunity for the family business.
Bribe aside, Josie knew the constant chatter was Mia's way of distracting her so she wouldn't think too hard about what had happened earlier in the day. Regrettably, it wasn't working. Fortune telling, apparently, wasn't fortunate at all.