quest

noun

a search for something.

Emilia removed her jacket and draped it over the back of a plastic chair at the library. Jonathan did the same, watching as Emilia hunkered down in front of this device. The computer turned on, slowly whirring as it warmed up and made sure all the parts inside of it were working properly. After some time, it was finally ready, and Emilia was able to access all the newspapers that Hawkins had ever had over the years.

She typed in the date of her accident, and winced when the computer finally revealed an image. There was no real image, just the charred shell of a car in grainy black and white, but it brought back the very real image to her mind. She had no idea how much it impacted Jonathan as well, who had raised his hand to his mouth. Shakily, he sat down next to her and reached over to place his hand gently on her thigh.

"You really think it is a good idea?" Jonathan asked as Emilia began reading the articles.

"I know I'm going down a rabbit hole, but my feet are already in, I might as well keep going," Emilia said as she began to nibble her lip, scrolling through articles. She had made it past the accident and was reading about the trials. "Look! Here!"

Jonathan leaned in and scanned over the words, tiny as the font was. "Beth O'Brien and her daughter Grace did not make appearances at any of the trials. Beth turned down any attempts by the press to uncover her side of the story, while Grace was away at university."

"So they really abandoned him..."

"Hey," Jonathan knew that Emilia was going to somehow warp it and take the blame for it. "We all make choices we aren't proud of, Lindsey O'Brien knows that better than anyone. But it isn't up to you to fix it."

"But you chose to fix me, way back when..." Emilia said. "And I wasn't even your burden to bear, your consequence to deal with."

He held her gaze, those piercing blue eyes wide and filled with determination. "I didn't choose to fix you Emilia... It wasn't like that. It's not like you were my project or something..."

"I know!" Emilia didn't think her choice of words were the right ones. But nevertheless, she still felt as though Jonathan swooped in and began fixing her pieces right when it mattered most, and it was not a bad thing. Not at all. "But what if I can fix just one thing in their lives? If I can make the world just a bit better."

"You always make the world a bit better," he said softly.

She smiled, dipped her head and licked her lip nervously. She somehow still felt butterflies in her stomach whenever Jonathan talked like that, whenever they got close or intimate. She wondered if that feeling could go on forever, and certainly hoped so. She thought of their lives when they would move to New York, how would things change if they were both going to post secondary school, working night shifts to make ends meet? Would it tear their relationship apart?

No, she did not think so.

She kissed him, lightly, not making a spectacle about it in the library should any retired old lady turn her nose up at them. Jonathan gently kissed back, the softness of her lips always surprising him. When they parted, it was as though everything in the world had been resolved with just one kiss.

They went back to their quest to find Grace Malarky, and how to contact her. After some time, edging close to the start of Emilia's shift at work, Emilia hit the jackpot. There was information about Grace Malarky saying she had finished her nursing program with top grades, and immediately began working in the field. Emilia couldn't help but wonder if she chose nursing because she wanted to help people, when her father did the opposite.

"It doesn't say where she works," Jonathan noted.

She frowned, "It says a hospital outside Hawkins. We just need a phone book, assuming she lives nearby."

They went to the library phone, which had a battered old phone book hanging from a chain. Flipping through it, they were pleased to discover that there was only one Grace Malarky. Emilia slipped in a quarter and dialed the number. It rang and she began to feel her palms sweat. It rang a second time and she began to grow cold all over. The third ring she heard a tired yet melodic voice answer.

"Hello?" The voice said.

"Grace Malarky?"

"This is her," she sounded as though she was stifling a yawn. "Who is calling?"

"Oh!" Emilia felt like an idiot, "My name is Emilia Roth, you don't know me-"

"Yes I do," she said firmly. "Why are you phoning?"

"I met with your father over the weekend, and I was wondering if... Maybe I could... meet you?"

There was a silence that hung in the air, Emilia began to regret ever phoning Grace or even going to visit Lindsey. The dread of being turned down ate away at her quickly as she waited for a reply from Grace. All she could hear was her breathing away, both of them in some sort of pseudo-shock.

"Look, kid, it won't make anything better. Just move on. I have."

"Wait! Please don't hang up!" Emilia shouted, earning a glare from the librarian. Jonathan stepped up and held Emilia's shoulders gently, rubbing them to calm her down. Emilia sighed, "I understand that bringing up the past won't fix anything... but I feel like life is too short to let opportunities to pass us by, and I don't want to live my whole life with the knowledge that I didn't even try."

"You're trying right now," Grace said. "But it still won't change a thing."

"Please, one cup of coffee. That's all the time I ask for."

"My father set you up to this?"

"No," Emilia shook her head, "He told me not to contact you."

A sigh came through the receiver, "Fine. You drive?"

"Yes, I do."

"The Electric Umbrella, it's a café just outside of Hawkins. Sunday at ten work?"

"Yes!" Emilia exclaimed, then calmed down, "Yes, thank you."

The click on the other end told Emilia that Grace had hung up the phone. Emilia clutched the phone for a moment, and then when the dial tone began to beep at her and the machine began asking for more quarters, she hung it up. Looking at Jonathan with eyes that were unreadable, she said, "Come with me?"

"Always," he told her, because he would go through thick and thin with her. 

Sorry for the completely boring ass chapter. I've been run dry, but the next chapter has the bits I've been waiting to write since the get go! Cue the drama!

Question of the Day: How do you think Emilia and Grace will get along?