"Michelle?"
No answer. Eyes shut tight. Body limp on the ground. "Michelle?!" Sounds all around. Noises and whispers. Everything was still at least slightly audible. Then the sound of sirens in the distance. Then everything went silent, and nothing was heard anymore. *** "You look good," Leslie said, leaning against the wall as she watched Beatrice put earrings on in front of her vanity in the bedroom. Leslie was already dressed, in a loose white blouse and tight jeans, with Beatrice having yet to choose her outfit for the appearance. Beatrice sighed and shook her head, pushing her bangs from her eyes. "I really don't want to do this, I'm no good at public stuff," she said, as she felt Leslie standing behind her now, massaging her shoulders. "You're gonna be great, okay? You're unveiling the doll, announcing new episodes, have a little meet and greet with some kids, it'll be a fantastic day," Leslie said, leaning in and kissing her neck, "and everyone will be there. Liam, Eliza, everyone will be there to support you, alright?" Beatrice nodded, just as the doorbell rang, and Leslie ran to answer the door. Beatrice stayed staring at herself in the vanity mirror and thought about herself. About what people might think of her when they see her in person, outside of the dog suit. Would kids like her, or did they just like Beatrice the dog? She nervously chewed on her nails and began to pace back and forth, just as Liam entered the room, leaning on his cane as he walked. Beatrice looked at him as he walked in, and furrowed her brow at the reappearance at his cane. "You still have that?" "Some days my left leg doesn't work so great," he says, "I think I did nerve damage to it when I...well, you know." "Indeed I do." "Anyway, ever since the hospital stay, I've had to use it on and off," Liam said, "so, you gonna wear something to this event or just go like that?" Beatrice scoffed, chuckling as she headed to the closet, pulling the doors open and peering inside. Liam walked up behind her and looked in as she reached inside and pulled the light string, illuminating her wardrobe. "Should I be fashionable, casual, what?" Beatrice asked. "I would choose something casual, sure," Liam said, "but it depends on how much you care about how others view you. See, me, personally...I'm an attention whore. I refuse to leave the house without looking fabulous. You think this just happens? Nah. This takes time and effort." "You're so goddamned annoying," Beatrice said, laughing, shaking her head as she leafed through pieces of clothing hanging from the closet until she finally pulled out a light blue long sleeve button down shirt and a grey wool skirt. She turned and held them up against herself together before asking, "well, what do you think?" "They need a new name for lesbians with no fashion sense like you. I know there's chapstick, but you're not chapstick, you're more like...well, I don't know but you're boring," Liam said as Beatrice started to get dressed. "I'll take boring over dramatic any day," she said, pulling the skirt up around her hips and zipping it up alongside the side before adding, "the last thing I need is attention." *** Eliza was standing in front of her bathroom mirror in the upstairs hallway, clipping some of her hair back up when she stopped and stared at herself. She pulled her glasses off slowly and looked at herself again. Blurry. She couldn't see. She slid them back up on her nose and sighed as she pulled the tube of lipstick out and applied it, just as Michelle entered the bathroom, surprising her a bit. "What are you doing here?" Eliza asked, checking her watch, "You're...15 minutes early." "Well your dad let me in and told me where you were, so I figured I'd find you instead of waiting in my car," Michelle said, almost wheezing, "but boy...those stairs are killer on my lungs right now." "You still having trouble breathing, more than usual?" Eliza asked, "what about that little machine?" "It's doing its job but it can only do so much. My poor biology is much stronger than medical science, sadly," Michelle said, "why are you putting on makeup? Should I have put on makeup?" "I don't know. I just...I figured it would be good to look good. It is a public appearance," Eliza said, "I could put makeup on you." "I...I don't think I've ever had someone apply makeup to me before," Michelle said, laughing a little, "never really had girlfriends growing up, no slumber parties or whatever it is girls do together, but it...it could be fun, sure. I look good in eyeliner." "I could do that, sit down," Eliza said, snapping her fingers and pointing at the toilet, where Michelle took a seat as Eliza rifled through her makeup bag, found her eyeliner pencil and then knelt down so they were eye level as she started to apply it. Being this close up, Eliza couldn't help but realize just how odd Michelle's eyes were. After a moment she stopped and said, "you know, you have two different eye colors." "I know." "That's really neat," Eliza said, "it's very pretty." "Thanks," Michelle said, smiling as Eliza continued. "So," Eliza asked, biting her lip, "do you...do you know if I'll have to speak at this thing? Cause I'm the one who actually designed the doll. I'm not good at public speaking." "I'm not sure but I'd like to think if you didn't want to they wouldn't make you," Michelle said. Eliza stopped, her free hand on Michelle's face, staring into her eyes and looking at the job she'd done thusfar. She knew it was bad to make a move without consent, but she couldn't help but feel like all she wanted to do was kiss her. She leaned in closer, breathing hard, then raised her pencil hand again and continued applying eyeliner. "Your breath smells nice," Michelle said, laughing, "smells like fruit." "I had a smoothie for breakfast," Eliza said, laughing nervously, "but thank you." After another minute she was done, and she capped her eyeliner pencil again. Michelle stood up and admired herself in the mirror before thanking Eliza and saying she'd go get the car started. Once she was out of the bathroom, Eliza locked the door, then leaned her back against it and did her best not to start crying. She wouldn't want to reapply her makeup, after all. *** "I love your cane," Leslie said as she, Liam and Beatrice drove to the event in Bea's car. Liam smirked and watched as Leslie looked at his cane up close, adding, "the detailing is absolutely incredible. Did you get someone to carve this for you personally?" "Please don't humor him," Beatrice said. "No, humor me," Liam said, "and yes, I hired someone who does woodworking to carve this for me. It's a visual representative of a trail Marvin and I used to love to hike. See, at the top, in the knob, there's a mountaintop, and a sunset, and it all leads up the cane to that image." "That's so sweet, I wish I had a cane that was symbolic of my love for Beatrice," Leslie said, handing his cane back. "When we get home I'll cripple you, how about that?" Beatrice asked, turning onto a street and approaching the venue as Liam and Leslie laughed uproariously in the backseat. They loved getting to her, and today was a good day just for that. Irritating her was Liam's way of making Beatrice distracted from what scared her, and she appreciated his efforts. She pulled in and parked, the three of them getting out of the car as they noticed the crowd already gathering - parents and little kids alike - and the area that was set up outside just for her, with a cardboard standee of Beatrice waving that the kids could take their pictures with. "God I'm so nervy," Bea said, digging through her purse, "fuck, I didn't bring any cigarettes. Did you guys?" "I have a joint in my pocket," Leslie said, smirking. "God you're perfect," Bea said, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away as Liam shouted after them. "Just don't be late! We're on a schedule here!" Meanwhile, in another lot, Michelle parked and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Eliza opened her door and climbed out the passenger side as Michelle got out and locked the car up. Together they started to head across the street towards the event. Eliza couldn't help but notice that, with every step she took, Michelle was wheezing a little. "Um, are you sure you should be doing something physical today, if...if you...ya know...are having this much trouble?" she asked, "ya know, with your health and breathing and stuff?" "I can't just put my life on hold cause of it," Michelle said, "I have responsibilities." "Is Keagan coming?" "She and Lexi had to meet with an accountant today regarding the money Lexi got from her father," Michelle said, "but they're gonna meet us afterwards for dinner. You are coming to dinner, right?" "Di...dinner, like...with you?" "Yeah, with us," Michelle said, laughing, "You're our friend." Eliza's heart sunk. She nodded, stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets and continued walking close by Michelle's side. She just couldn't bring herself to say the truth. *** "Say it again, say I'm perfect again," Leslie said, sitting on Beatrice's lap as they were sitting on top of a trash can in the alley near the toy store, and Beatrice rolled her eyes as she made a grab for the joint, just as Leslie jerked it away and laughed, saying, "come on! Say it and you'll get more!" "Fine, you're perfect, okay? You're the most perfect amazing woman to ever live," Beatrice said, taking the joint from Leslie and taking a long puff, just as Leslie leaned in and kissed her on the collarbones, making Bea laugh and blush, as she added, "Come on! Jeez, you horn dog!" "I can't help it, weed puts me in the mood," Leslie said, "Also, you rarely wear skirts and you look so good in them." Beatrice took a long drag and then exhaled before looking at Leslie and smiling, blushing. "You're so beautiful," Beatrice said, whispering, "like...like so beautiful. I wanna take you to meet my parents. They live out in the country and I think they'd love you, not like I do of course, but still." "You're so corny, man," Leslie said, chuckling as she took the joint back, took a long drag and then exhaled as Beatrice leaned up and licked her neck, making her screech in surprise and laugh hard as she said "geez!" before grabbing Bea's face and kissing her hard. Beatrice, for so long, had hidden who she was, and who she loved, only because she was a private person, not because she was ashamed. But after hiding it so long, being with Leslie this way, so publicly, it felt so good...so real. As the kiss broke, Bea and Leslie looked into eachothers eyes and Bea realized for the first time in her life that she was, even with everything going on around her, truly happy. "Beatrice?" a voice asked, and both women looked to the end of the alley only to see a little girl standing there, holding the doll. They were giving them out as a promotion, and she'd already gotten one, squeezing it tightly to her as she added, "I recognize your voice." Both women were frozen, and as Leslie attempted to climb off her, an older woman, clearly the girls mother arrived at her side and grabbed her hand, staring to apologize before realizing what it was she was seeing. She stopped mid sentence and stared, unsure of how to react. After a minute or two of awkward silence, she just tugged on her daughters arm and they headed away. Beatrice exhaled deeply as Leslie adjusted her blouse and fixed her hair. "Well," she said, "that was sufficiently awkward. Guess we should get going. You've gotta give a speech." *** "God, look at the turnout," Michelle said, "this is fantastic!" "It's a lot of people. You wouldn't get me in a crowd this big if it wasn't for her," Eliza said quietly. "Same, honestly," Michelle replied, "oh, there's Liam! He's on the stage!" Michelle grabbed Eliza's hand and pulled her closer, squeezing her hand tightly as she got more excited upon approach. By the time they got to the little makeshift stage and podium in front of the toy store, even Eliza couldn't help but smile, as Michelle's joy was simply contagious, and she was happily infected with it. Liam tapped the microphone and cleared his throat as he began to speak to the crowd of kids and parents. "Hello," he said, "My name is Liam, and I'm Beatrice's best friend. We are here today to celebrate the release of the very first Beatrice Beagle talking doll. And of course, my friend Bea is here, and she will happily talk to any and all kids who want to meet her! These dolls are made by our very own puppet maker on the show, and we cannot be grateful enough to her for her efforts in bringing it to life!" He glanced to the side of the stage and noticed Bea standing there, nervously chewing her lip. "And now, please kids, welcome miss Beatrice Beagle herself!" he said, moving aside to let her approach the mic, standing behind her now as everyone applauded politely. Beatrice got to the microphone and tapped it, then exhaled nervously and blinked a few times. "Beatrice Beagle is a dog, and dog is mans best friend," she said, "and that's why I wanted to make this wonderful doll made by my wonderful friends, because everyone deserves a best friend who loves them. Far too often, kids are-" "Do you think same sex relationships are a good thing to promote for children?" a woman in the crowd asked, interrupting her, "because I heard just today that you were seen, by a child, kissing another woman near the store. What do you have to say about that?" "I...I uh...I don't know what you're..." Bea said, stammering, stumbling over her words, her emotions caught in her throat. "I don't think kids need to be subjected to anyones sexuality, straight or otherwise," a man said, interjecting, "how could you come to an event with children as the primary audience and then flaunt it?" "Flaunt it? It was in an alley!" Bea said, before realizing what she'd just done. She looked back at Liam, who was quickly realizing he needed to do damage control, but Bea then turned back to the mic and added, "I mean, I kissed someone, yes, but it...it was out of sight and, and uh..." she glanced to the side of the stage, looking at Leslie before saying quietly, "...I'm sorry?" And all hell broke loose as other parents started to chime in, and Bea relinquished control of the podium mic back to Liam, but he was drowned out by the audience. Michelle, looking around, was horrified. Simply horrified at the ridiculousness of the situation. She looked at Eliza, and then she turned and started to walk away angrily, Eliza in tow. As they got further from the crowd, Michelle finally started to stomp her feet on the ground. "Why is it that every time something nice starts to happen for her, someone ruins it?!" she yelled, "this was supposed to be a big day, a huge event, and that...those bigoted assholes are just...god! Who cares who loves who?!" "I...I don't..." Eliza said, fighting to find what to say in response. "I mean, she's actually genuinely happy, and they're stuck in bad marriages, often with kids they never wanted! Just like my mom! God! They just wanna take whatever morsel of joy they can from those who can actually attain it because they're pissed they couldn't have it themselves!" Michelle said. "Can I...can I tell you..." Eliza said, trying to find courage. This was it. This was the moment. This thing with Beatrice being out in the open, and now Michelle's ranting. Eliza knew she'd never have a better chance. "I just cannot stand..." Michelle said, "...cannot...stand..." She stumbled back, grasping at her chest as Eliza watched in horror as she dropped to her knees and then fell onto her side. Eliza screamed and then jumped up and down, calling for Beatrice, who quickly left the stage and raced over there, a crowd behind her. Beatrice knelt down beside Michelle and patted her on the face, her eyes nearly closed now, breath barely escaping her throat. "Michelle?" No answer. Eyes shut tight. Body limp on the ground. "Michelle?!" Sounds all around. Noises and whispers. Everything was still at least slightly audible. Then the sound of sirens in the distance. Then everything went silent, and nothing was heard anymore.
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Beatrice Beagle follows a young woman obsessed with a defunct pizzeria and kids show featuring a dog mascot. As she uncovers more about its mysterious past, she becomes sucked into the life of the woman who played the mascot, they both discover just how much they need eachother. Archives
April 2024
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