Bellflower Part 26

In this installment, Rachel tries to see if Veronica really notices what's going on at the Bellflower, or is really just the awful woman she assumes she is.

This one was originally supposed to be a little shorter, but I kind of liked playing them off one another. I hope to have another shorter part up soon, as the goal was to have two short ones up to bring us to another little time skip. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! 

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26

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“So did the others send you?” Rasped Veronica with a fair amount of disdain. Almost as if she was expecting there to be some vindictive ulterior motive. She settled her ample rear back onto the far side of her sectional, perpendicular from where Rachel very timidly smoothed out her tight skirt to take a seat. As she did, the fabric in other parts of her outfit cinched in uncomfortable ways she wasn’t used to. It made her wonder if Veronica had noticed her putting on a few pounds too.

It seemed like even though she lived quite (some would maybe even argue “too”) comfortably in a high rise condominium, cloistered far off in the suburbs, Veronica seemed to have been in the middle of intently watching what seemed like a rerun of some “down-home” renovation show featuring a very cloying couple, which still continued, only now on mute. Rachel remembered catching an episode of it here or there over the past few weeks, only when Holly would bother stop on it. But even then she & her sister could really only stomach it by cracking jokes about how much the wife seemed like a monster the instant the camera turned off. And how hopelessly hen-pecked the husband seemed to be. And for Rachel? If Holly was able to bust on TV show for being bad, yeesh. At the same time? Of course Veronica was a huge fan.

She wiggled in to readjust. Her ass & the couch cushions comfortably reunited, Veronica picked right back up where she was & noisily rummaged through the jumbo sized bag of potato chips for another handful of what smelled like salt & vinegar. Once again, Rachel could only think “Of course!” Her being her. If there was one flavor Veronica had to prefer? Of course it was Rachel’s least absolute favorite. 

Still, after a long, fairly rough day of trying to maintain some modicum of willpower, Rachel was so goddamn hungry at this point. She stared at the bag, strongly tempted to ask. She decided then & there she wouldn’t. Showing up unannounced was already an imposition. Then again, it was only Veronica. Fuck it, she settled on the idea that she certainly wouldn’t declined if they were offered. But a standoffish Veronica didn’t seem to be floating that offer. Much to Rachel’s hungry resentment. 

“Well…?”

“Um… actually?” Rachel shook her head, fighting the temptation for even the smelly chips she didn’t quite like so much. She had to think back to what the original question was. Right, was she sent? “They’re all probably at Camille’s right now for their... thing.” She waved over her shoulder dismissively, hoping to distance herself from the group’s drama just a little. “I wouldn’t know because I didn’t really talk to them today. Or a good chunk of this week. Even Holly, for that matter, really. So, no. They don’t know that I’m here.” It was true, but her tone edged towards being a little devious about it. While it was true, she thought it might have a chance of endearing herself a little further if she tried to play up some level of subterfuge to her coming. Hell, would the others get mad if they knew she had broken this little unofficial embargo they had going? Maybe. But for some reason, she couldn’t see them getting all that mad at her, seeing as she was essentially “new.” Holly would probably give her some guff. But probably not in a way where she could really pinpoint where the problem actually lied. Besides, it wasn’t like she was doing this purely to spite them. And it damn sure wasn’t out of any love loss for Veronica herself. Heaven forbid, she thought to herself sarcastically, eyeing yet another church-related tchotchke hanging on the girl’s wall. No. She was here on behalf of her other, other friends. This was Fran’s big idea in the first place. “Recruiting” Veronica, as it were. Or at the very least, gauging to see if like them, she could tell that there was something definitely amiss here at the Bellflower. The only major problem with that was that’s precisely where they had to hold this conversation. In her condo, where Penny, was most certainly listening in. But given how much of a homebody it looked like Veronica had become in the ensuing time since the incident, foregoing caked-on layers of make up & hair product for a gross sheen of potato grease over round blotchy cheeks? It seemed like there was very little chance of doing this someplace else. Still,  Rachel kicked herself. She really should’ve had a better game plan going into this. Like a strategy on what to say, & just how to say it. Especially for someone like Veronica. But it was a little too late at this point. “Yeah, no! I’m here on my own volition.” She continued a bit confidently, though not sure how much time had passed. It could’ve been just a few seconds. It could’ve been a full minute. As if them being diametric opposites didn’t already make things painfully awkward enough. Luckily, Veronica had her chips to keep her busy. Hell, it sort of seemed like maybe she hadn’t noticed either.

“Really?” She finally asked, dipping her head a little to stare up at her guest. She was always a little tough to read. And right now, Rachel couldn’t tell if the look the blonde gave her was her being intrigued by this admission, or her skeptically doubting the veracity of it. And for her part, Veronica witlessly shoving yet another handful of chips noisily in her mouth didn’t seem to help tilt things much one way or the other. But at the same time? Rachel didn’t honestly care that much, since the truth was on her side. But that’s when she noticed that one of her top’s buttons, the second from the bottom, must have slipped out of the hole at some point & came undone. Probably as she was bending to sit down. She might have to retire this top. Which sucked because it was cute. But her belly had been pulling it just a little too tight all day & it was starting to get uncomfortable, both from how tight it was on her & how it seemed like she kept busting out of it now. She tried to very sneakily refasten it when she noticed Veronica glance back into the bag to pull out another handful of chips. 

“Really.” she answered while fiddling to get it quickly, before recatching Veronica’s eyes to play up her shrug with a little extra theatricality. Veronica squinted, making Rachel think her initial look was out of skepticism. But that seemed to slowly lift & soften slightly now. 

“So then... what did you want to chat about then?” the Southern Girl asked slowly, a bit puzzled before loudly crunching into that next handful of chips. Crumbs sprinkled out sloppily, as a couple seemed to miss clearance. Rachel bit a tiny bit of her lip, trying not to full-on wince. It was hitting her one too levels. One, just how slobbish Veronica had seemed to become. It was weird to see her of all people suddenly just not seem to give a fuck, especially given how she usually seemed to give too much of a fuck about appearances. But also, on some level? Those crumbs & chip-bits were wasteful. And she was starving right now!

“Well,” Rachel sighed, composing herself once again. “That night, when you wanted to like… confront Courtne...?”

“What? Has she gotten even BIGGER since…?” Veronica cut in with a sort of weird glee, in what almost seemed like big “I-toldja-so” energy, before yet another loudish crunch. Rachel’s eye twitched. For all the times Holly tried to accuse her of being insensitive towards her large friend, this seemed particularly callous, especially coming from a so-called “friend.” And while on one level, while it definitely answered the question of whether she’d been in touch with Courtney, for the most part, it reduced poor Courtney into less a person, & more just like some line item of resentment she could use to throw in her other friends’ faces. It was troubling, but Rachel tried to maintain her cool the best she could. Still, she was fast approaching her “Veronica Bullshit” quota. After a deep breath, she went on.

“Actually,” she settled on the word hard. “Everybody kept talking about holding a proper intervention for her, but nobody’s really seen her to like… stage one.” She leveled before squinting back. “Thanks for asking.” She drilled in snidely under her breath. Just like she emphasized “proper” as a sort of dig. Veronica, whose mouth was just a little too full of salt & vinegar chips, froze & bobbed her brow. In a way that seemed a little bit more out of confusion than concern. But maybe with just a slight bit of honest-to-god concern in there too. “Like… her work keeps getting done from home, & it seems like every other day someone seems to get a text message from her, which...” She trailed, not wanting to get into all the ins & outs of how she thought the messages were really Penny. Partially because of how crazy it sounded, but especially in front of Penny directly.

Reminded again about where they were, Rachel eyed the ceiling as the paranoia set in. She glanced sideways, along the length of the living room area, but also across the open floor plan to where the retractable screen was mounted. It was almost as if she was awaiting some form of protest. But none came. Penny remained silent. 

“But I… haven’t spoken to her. So... no clue.” Rachel finally concluded. 

Instead of any AI interjections, Veronica just munched on more chips. Noisily. Creating more of a mess, with chips falling onto her hoodie. Most seemed to get caught along the shelf of her bust, but a few tumbled past even the protrusion of belly that had started playing catch-up. And out of frustration of not being offered any herself, Rachel was very quickly approaching the end of her rope. With very little patience left in her tank, she decided that the whole idea of skirting around the topic at hand? Loading everything with subtext & passive aggression? It was Veronica’s whole schtick. She would just be playing the game at her level. No. She finally just decided to just be blunt. 

“Look!” She started, waving her wide stretched fingers of each hand away from one another. “I hate beating around the bush. So let’s… not!” Veronica seemed to freeze again. “I’ll just come right out & say it.” Her schlubby hostess munched a bit more quietly now, but seemed to listen a bit more intently with the tone shift. “First, if you & I met in any other sort of circumstance? I think it’d be safe to say that since we don’t really see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, we’d probably not really… like one another. Hell, maybe even hate each other.” And of course, Veronica had to try & interject. And just as Rachel had sort of anticipated, she played it up by feigning ignorance.

“What?” She asked, aghast. “Do you really think tha...” She was wearing a look of faux dejection, trying to seem as though she was hurt by it. But aside from not buying it, Rachel wouldn’t be derailed. She waved for her to stop as she continued on with that same train of thought. She leaned forward, unwittingly unpopping that same button again as her round little gut pulled the top tighter. She didn’t notice. She was too busy trying to lay tracks in front of the train here & figuring out what to say. 

“But I am perfectly content in the knowledge that we might have our differences, but we both… mean well. Right? Is that fair?” She rolled along, starting loud until Veronica stopped. Rachel didn’t expect her to allow herself to be spoken over, but the chips seemed to help with that in some capacity. At least just a bit. 

“Uh-uh… of course!” Veronica wiggled her softer chin, mid-munch as she seemed to catch up with the words. The brief pause gave Rachel a bit of time to develop at least some kind of strategy. Maybe she’d go for the ol’ “compliment sandwich?” Fuck, why did she have to mention sandwiches right now? 

“So with this whole Courtney matter?” Rachel pressed forward, both in the conversation & a little further in her seat. Another button seemed to slip out of its hole as the fabric pulled. This one a little further up. But she focused on starting off with a positive. “I’m willing to go out on a limb, insofar as to suggest that you were right about the poor girl having the troubles she had.”

“Mmmm. Of course!” Veronica was compelled to add, speaking over a full mouth. But Rachel didn’t break pace.

“And the desperate need for those troubles to be called to the attention of both her & the group as a whole.” She leaned her head to the side & nodded. “Maybe even a bit… urgently.” Veronica flashed a look of pride. In what seemed like vindication. As if she was about to interrupt with what Rachel assumed would be something along the lines of “Omigod thank you!” with a theatrically exasperated expression. But almost as quickly as it came, Rachel seemed to instantly cut it off & ruin it. With the critique portion of that “compliment sandwich.” “You just insisted on going about doing that, much to everybody’s chagrin, in a completely bitchy & frankly? Unnecessarily mean way.”

“Euch!” She loudly scoffed in disgust. “Nuh-uh!” It was almost the sort of immature tone Rachel remembered using once or twice as a teen bickering with her mother over something. Especially in the few instances she knew her mother might’ve had a point, but where she didn’t want to necessarily admit it.

“Listen!” Rachel raised her palm as if to gesture stop, while raising her voice to match the volume. She was starting to regret that whole “lack of a game plan” thing. Maybe the “compliment sandwich” wasn’t the best way to go. Then again, it was going as about as well as she had always sort of anticipated it going. And at the absolute very least? Seeing as she could hardly stand the girl? Being this real with Veronica did offer her some level of catharsis. Especially since she wouldn’t offer her any chips. “I’m new here.” she happily admitted. “Beyond my sister, I might not know all the ins & outs of you girls & your relationship with one another, but I call things as I see them. And whatever it was that you did? As a result? Blew up the whole entire situation! And seemingly made a lot of shit worse for almost all involved... by the looks of it.” Rachel said with a stare at the chip bag. She had intended this as a sort of jab at Veronica & her newer, seemingly more homelier existence, but Veronica still seemed a little too hung up on just being called “bitchy,” & still hadn’t really seemed to catch much past that.

“But! I mean! It was fact! Not feelings!” Veronica added a weird sing-songy lilt to the word. “She was just… getting SOOO FAT!” she hollered. Possibly a little too loudly “Someone had to say som…” Rachel cut her off, almost as if to remind her they had already covered that.

“Yeah, ok. Agreed! But as a result of you just blurting it out the way you did? Telling her just like THAT? At best? Courtney, who was already in a pretty bad way, has now shut herself off from everybody. And YOU are on everybody’s shitlist, sitting alone, pounding salt & vinegar chips on a Friday night! So y’know… way to go!” 

Veronica’s eyes widened, seething with what looked like fury. It seemed as if putting it a little more succinctly this time finally got the point across, & now she looked almost ready to boil over. Her face even seemed to twitch. The devil on Rachel’s shoulder kind of wanted to see her explode. But at the same time, rubbing it in wasn’t exactly why she was here. Realizing she was perhaps maybe being a little too real, & now definitely starting to lose her, Rachel took another deep breath & tried pulling the conversation back up from a nosedive. Her volume lowered, eye contact broken as she leaned in just a little tighter. She was moving in to tie up the “compliment sandwich.” 

“But here’s what I admired about… the attempt.” It seemed to catch Veronica completely off guard. 

“What?” She demanded sharply, her teeth almost clenched in a grimace. The rage certainly didn’t go anywhere, but now that she was hanging on Rachel’s next word, it appeared as though she had stopped building towards an immediate blow up. Or at least postponed it for a few. 

At the same time, when Rachel went down this route? She didn’t really have a second example of a compliment in mind when she started to say it. Speaking slowly, she was trying to come up with one on the spot, without seeming like she was floundering. When she totally was. She suddenly knew why hacky comedians tug on their collar as it suddenly felt a little tight. But then again, everything felt tight.

“Even though... you really, totally sort of… you know... went about it the wrong way?” She grasped at whatever straws she could until very suddenly, it came to her. She had it! “You went… against the grain!” Rachel nodded with confidence. She had found the plot, & even a nice way to work it back into the real reason she was here. Veronica’s angry eyes filled with more skepticism as she tilted her head inquisitively. Rachel hesitated, just to word it properly, but was sure she finally found her footing. “Everybody was trying to tell you one thing, which…” She stopped at the cliff edge, avoiding the pitfall of rehashing with a wave. “But you know what? You had the courage to speak your mind! And to at least, y’know, try.” Given her job in the writing department recently, slinging ad & catalog copy? She felt a little like she was getting better when it came with persuasion. But speaking it now? Out loud? This was new. But Rachel rolled with it. “And you know what else? It was also pretty... observant too!” 

“Observant…?” Veronica repeated flatly. The rage had sort of boiled over into a simmer in a strange way, where it seemed like she was just going to sit back now, & wait for Rachel to dig her own grave.

“Like… you saw that there was, like... this serious problem!” Rachel attempted. “And you did what you thought was… right.” It sounded better in her head, but out loud? Yeah, no duh! It was impossible not to notice how large Courtney was getting. It probably came off as super-patronizing. But at the same time, her segue hinged on this. “Which is, actually? Kind of what brings me here.”

“Oh…?” Veronica asked with a stiff nod. She kept the same flat tone, shoveling another smaller handful of chips into her mouth. It looked as though the bag was getting down into the smaller bits at this point. 

“So like… I just wanted to maybe ask you…” Rachel’s volume lowered a little more, as she shot another glance along the ceiling. There was no sign of Penny, but that totally didn’t mean she wasn’t listening. She had to choose her words carefully. She thought back to that time almost about a month ago. When Fran asked her, in the hallway, after her first Ladies’ Night. “Maybe again… just because I’m sort of new, still. But like, have you... noticed anything else strange? Around here, I mean. With the building." Her voice got more timid the more she said. She was just waiting for Penny to interrupt somehow. Say something, or distract them with food. But Penny stayed notably silent. 

Instead, Veronica’s head slowly shifted into a tilt. Slowly she broke eye contact & her lips wrinkled in the corners up into something of a devious little smirk. And while her gaze stayed fixed on Rachel’s person, it seemed to have shifted down, from her face.

“Well,” She purred, sounding more like the Veronica of old suddenly. “I have to say. I have.” Rachel squinted, bracing for something, but not sure entirely what. Veronica leaned in, & just slightly above a whisper offered “I have noticed you’re starting to look pretty chubby yourself!” Before leaning back, cattily proud of herself. 

Rachel clenched her face up tightly, fighting the urge to flat out telling her to go fuck herself. As vapid & dumb as Veronica was, she had walked RIGHT into that. But at the same time, she wasn’t wrong. It was the truth. Veronica wasn’t beating around the bush. Still, she was being a total bitch! 

“Yeah?” Rachel asked through grit teeth, playing a little coy for the sake of civility. “You really… think so?” She tried swallowing her kneejerk reaction but now she was the one almost ready to boil over.

“Oh, sure!” Veronica answered confidently. “You were like, a skinny little thing when you first got here, like, not too long ago. Now you’re practically bustin’ out o’ yer the buttons!” Rachel suddenly noticed the two that had came undone as she was sitting. With attention being drawn to them, she blushed & didn’t see the harm in leaning back & trying to refasten them again.

“They’re… not busted, they’re just… slipping out.” She fiddled.

“Yeah, slipping out because you’ve got a growing potbelly…” She leaned to the side. “AND muffintop, pulling them apart on you.” She purred devilishly. Rachel, who had to suck things in a little to get the buttons refastened, tried to keep it that way, holding her posture a bit more rigidly too. “If you don’t watch up, you might end up like your sister & the others.”

“The others…?” Rachel asked, trying to keep an even keel. It was abundantly clear Veronica was trying to “trigger” her. And bringing up Holly was almost enough to make her lose it too. But her noticing the gains in the other was sort of relevant to why she was even here.

“Oh yeah! Think about it! They all have sedentary jobs, sitting on their asses all day, eating the way they do?” She stopped to chuckle. Rachel let her go on. “How do you think Courtney got that way? They’re all going to swell up like ticks & balloon to be the same size as her, just you watch! Especially if they’re too sensitive to talk about that sorta thing with one another til’ it’s too late!” She chomped on some more chips. “Then again, it sorta seems like a lot of the people here. All working office jobs.”

“You think it’s their jobs...?” Rachel tried to ask.

“That’s what I said!” Veronica snapped a little. “Like I said, sitting on their ass? Eating so much? Of course they’re going to get fat! Look at Holly! C’mon! She’s your sister! You should know! Don’t you have eyes? Can’t you tell how much she’s blimped up? In such a short span of time too! A real cow, that one.” She stopped for more chips. With her now making her intent clear, & attempting to double down on attacking Holly? Rachel was ready to done trying to be civil. But she started slowly.

“But not you though…?” Rachel, still kept her posture stiff, but reared her neck back a little, eyeing Veronica’s own growing belly.

“Nhm-mmm.” Veronica grunted shaking her head back & forth. “Not with my metabolism.” In reaction, Rachel clenched her eyes shut again with a snap & smiled. It didn’t seem like she was just being contradictory for the sake of it. It seemed as though she genuinely thought she was somehow… different. “What…?” Veronica immediately noticed Rachel’s reaction & asked sharply, before chomping on some more chips. Rachel slowly unclenched. Realizing the level of delusion going on with her, she felt like her original plan to just sort of write Veronica off was probably for the best. If Fran wanted to “save” her so badly, she should be the one to try. Rachel had had it. She was more than willing to leave her to what seemed like a lonely & inevitable fate. And she started by nodding towards the almost empty bag of chips in Veronica’s hand.

“Still! Don’t you think… you’re overdoing it… just a little…?” She asked with faux sheepishness.

“Um!” Veronica snapped loudly. “Are YOU trying to call ME fat?” Rachel folded into an assured smile. She looked down. 

“Well, I mean, I’ve gotten a bit of a gut, sure. I’ll admit it.” Her hands smoothed the wrinkles over it a little before she looked up & stuck her chin in Veronica’s direction. “But you’re like… way curvier than me, for sure! And like honestly? Moreso than when I last saw you even.”

“Lots of men would KILL for these curves!” Veronica tried to rebound, breaking eye contact to pinch a few last extra salty chip crumbs between her fingers. Rachel immediately had a response to that, but waited until she was about to bring them to her lips.

“Oh sure! Is that why you’re at home on a Friday? Watching home renovation shows?” It caused Veronica to freeze, but somehow miss & spill the bits of chip all over herself, angering her all the more! She was back to seething again.

“I let YOU into MY home! Have the trust to let YOU see me in my pajamas, without even a bit of makeup…” She listed, as if she was ever really that vulnerable. “And then YOU have the nerve to treat me like some sort of lonely lardass?!”

“Lardass?!” Rachel asked to clarify. “Oh c’mon! Now I didn’t say the word “lardass” per se.” She started to rock forward. The writing was on the wall. She knew she was going to soon need to be making her way towards the door anyhow. 

“Miss Veronica? Miss Rachel? Is everything alright?” Penny suddenly butt in. Rachel could only grin.

“Everything’s fine, dear!” Veronica addressed her machine. “Miss Rachel was just leaving.” Implying she was getting thrown out. Rachel stood, but Veronica hadn’t budged from her spot on the couch. She poured the last of the bag down her gullet, waiting for Rachel to just leave, it seemed. And when she hadn’t, she followed it up with a simple, “WELL?”

“Miss Veronica, I did want to inform you that your pizzas have arrived.” Penny said almost as if she hated to interrupt them.

“Pizza-Sssuh?” Rachel asked, emphasizing the plural with a giggle. Veronica crumbled the chip bag noisly & folded her arms.

“Ech, take care of it, Penny!” She shouted at the ceiling, still not standing up. “And you?” she pointedly looked back at Rachel. “You can LEAVE!” She repeated, feeling she needed to spell it out clearer. Like Rachel hadn’t already gotten the hint. Or already hadn’t started leaving just before that.

“Oh, don’t worry! I am quite happily leaving. That way you can just, y’know, chow down like you were gonna, without any fear of being judged!” Rachel backed away. “And I hope those pizza-ssuh, work out okay with that “metabolism” you’ve been blessed with.” She turned & managed a few steps. The sound of the home renovation show came back, got turned up a little, & was followed by the remote slamming against the coffeetable.

Rachel tried to tell herself that she tried her best. After all, it wasn’t her fault Veronica was just such a huge… well, she hated to say it... but there really wasn’t a better word than “bitch!” And if she didn’t see the problem with isolating herself off from everyone but Penny, & pounding potato chips & pizzas plural all night long? That was completely on her! 

Rachel kept walking. But then, somewhere around the kitchenette, her pace slowed. Her conscience started to override things a little. Huge bitch or not, could she really just let Veronica do that to herself? After all, that is why she came in the first place. And being on her own could only spell disaster at the Bellflower? Veronica had started off thick, but had gotten even thicker in a real short time, all on her lonesome. Maybe if she intervened now…? She hesitated, standing by the pub table, as the door ahead of her hissed shut. A mechanical arm whizzed by, carrying two large pizza boxes & what looked like a container of garlic knots. The aroma strongly tempted a starving Rachel, but she held firm.

“Look...” Rachel attempted, turning to face Veronica again.

“What part of GET THE FUCK OUT, don’t you fuckin’ understand?” Veronica growled at Rachel while greedily tearing the boxes out of the arms’ grasp. She was angry enough that the drawl was in full effect, & any of her “sweet, Christian girl” pretense completely dropped. She was over Rachel & seemed to not want to pay her another iota of attention past that as she set the boxes down & instantly slammed a garlic knot in one huge bite. Rachel used that split second to get a word in edgewise.

“LOOK!” Rachel tried one last time. “If you notice anything out of the ordinary, or like, strange? Reach out, ok? Even if the others don’t still aren’t talking to you.” Veronica looked up at her. Her expression still seemed to fume, but she was at the very least listening. “I still might trying to be figuring this place out, & I damn sure don’t have to like you. But I have a feeling, sometimes? This place is tough on your own…” She started to turn before offering “Just… be mindful.” Veronica took a deep breath. The door hissed open, Rachel stepped out, & then hissed shut again.

“What was all that about?” Penny seemed to chime in. Veronica slouched deeper into her seat, smirking towards the ceiling as if to appreciate Penny’s attempt to be snide. She popped another garlic knot in her mouth. But at the same time, couldn’t help thinking of how big it was of Rachel to still attempt to reach out like that. Even after the blow up & insults. Was she serious? About something out of the ordinary going on here? Ech, wait! What was she even saying?

“Ech, did you see how big she’s getting?” Veronica cattily chirped to her AI. “She doesn’t look out, she’ll catch up to that sister of hers.”