Adeline Violet Hagen
Adeline was hanging on to every word Rosemary said. Something about her, whether it her looks or intelligence, made Adeline want to listen to her for hours on end. Adeline had been in the same position, with her head in the palm of her hand, ever since she had finished her meal. Rosemary didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't say, but Dr. Sommers definitely did.
He cleared his throat and said, "Adeline?" Adeline shot up and looked at him. Rosemary turned to face her.
"Y-Yeah?" Adeline replied. She was visibly startled and she noticed Levi trying not to laugh in the corner of her eye.
"Would you like a tour of the property?" Dr. Sommers asked.
"Sure, yeah. That'd be nice," Adeline said. Phew. This didn't have to do with Rosemary.
"Well, why don't you put your plate in the sink and Rosemary can give you a tour?" Dr. Sommers said.
Adeline could feel the color drain from her face, "Uhm.. yeah, yeah, that sounds.. fine."
"Is something wrong? I bet Dewey would be happy to sh-" Rosemary said.
"No! No, no, no, it's fine." Adeline said. Levi shot Adeline a look that said Way to go. Adeline stood up, grabbed her plate, and walked over to the sink.
"You sure you don't want me to wash it?" Adeline asked.
"Could you pl-" Dewey began to say, but Dr. Sommers cut him off.
"It's fine, dear. Just put it in the sink." Dr. Sommers said. Dewey scowled and Irene began rubbing his shoulders again.
"No, it's fine, I'll just rinse it off," Adeline said. She wiped the plate off with some water and the nearest dishrag before setting it to the side of the sink. Adeline thought it was the least she could do, and if it bothered Dewey as much as it seemed to, she figured it was better if she just did it. Once Adeline was finished, Rosemary stood up, patted the wrinkles out of her dress, and set her plates next to Adeline's.
"Why don't you show her out back, near the chicken pens?" Irene suggested. She was still massaging Dewey's shoulders.
"That sounds good, Irene," Rosemary asked, "Would anyone else like to go?"
Levi spoke first, "No, Bo, Liam, and I are going to help do... stuff." The rest followed suit and declined. On one hand, Adeline was grateful for this, but on the other hand, she was not excited for the embarrassment ahead of her.
"Let's go then," Rosemary said as she led Adeline out the back door. The back door led to the back part of the wrap-around porch, which led into a small enclosed yard. They traveled out the back gate onto a dirt path like the ones the group had seen on the drive up. Rosemary and Adeline didn't say anything until they were out of view from the house.
"So, you're really from the future?" Rosemary asked.
"Yeah, I am," Adeline replied, "And your really from the past?"
Rosemary chuckled and Adeline's face turned red. Why had she said that? "Yes, I was born right after the Great War."
"The Great War?" Adeline asked, bemused, but then she suddenly remembered what the Great War was, "Oh, World War One."
"I guess so," Rosemary said, "Are there any other wars after this?"
"I'm not really sure if Juliu- I mean, Dr. Sommers wants me to share to much about the future, but yeah, there's plenty of wars. I wouldn't say any were as big though. At least I don't think so."
"Wow," Rosemary said. There was a couple minutes of silence as they walked past more and more fields, "Oh, this is the chicken coup. That's Henrietta, Penny, Gertrude, Linus, and.. I forget that one's name."
"You name the chickens?" Adeline asked.
"I named Penny. Dewey and Irene named the other ones."
"Ah, yeah, I forgot you don't live here," Adeline said, "Well, you do, in Oklahoma, but not here here. Like the farm."
Rosemary laughed again. Man, her laugh was pretty, "I get it. Anyways.. what's the future like?"
"Well, first of all, there's these things called pizza rolls," Adeline said, "And they're, like, half the size of your thumb and-"
"No, no, what's life like? What do you do for fun? What do you do?" Rosemary asked. She was walking with her hands held behind her back. The flowers in the fields behind her complimented her dress perfectly.
"I work at a grocery store called Whole Foods, but my fiancee studied Journalism and she now works for the Tribune," Adeline said. Out of the corner of her eye, she swore she could she Rosemary's smile grow wider at the word "she," but she couldn't be sure, "She works extra hours occasionally, well, a lot, to save money if I want to go to college."
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how much does she make?" Rosemary asked.
Adeline thought for a moment, but for the life of her, she couldn't recall Maddy ever telling her what she made, "I- I don't know. She does all the financing stuff."
"But she knows what you make?"
"Yeah.." Adeline said.
"Do you know why she works overtime?" Rosemary asked.
"N- why do you care?" Adeline snapped. She didn't feel like discussing her private affairs. For the first time since she appeared in 1943, Adeline began thinking about her and Madison's relationship. It had always been the sore spot of hers, and she never really liked to think or talk about it, but Rosemary's questions made her realize again how much Maddy kept from her. Adeline's friends had brought it up previously, but now that someone she had hardly known for a couple hours mentioned it, she began to consider the possibility that Maddy was keeping something from her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," Rosemary said, breaking Adeline's train of thought, "I was just curious."
"It's fine," Adeline mumbled.
There was another moment of silence before the roaring of a car engine could be heard.
"They're probably taking the engine out of your dad's car," Adeline said, "They need it for the machine."
"Oh, wait, no," Rosemary said, "Let's get back before they take it out."
"How come?" Adeline asked. Rosemary was already running back to the farmhouse, so Adeline ran after her and exclaimed, "How come?!"
"There might be another way to conduct the electricity in the car and transfer it to the time machine without removing the engine," Rosemary explained as she ran.
"In English, please?" Adeline asked.
"They might not have to take the engine out of the car to make the time machine work," Rosemary said, "Or if they do, they could use my car instead."
1,126 Words
Gender:
Points: 1992
Reviews: 142