Dawno Frets and Joanne Spills Secrets

The pounding on the door was insistent and loud. Joanne rolled over and slapped at the alarm clock. Coming completely awake, she realized it wasn’t the alarm that woke her up at all but someone insistently beating on the door to her room. She glanced over to the other bed. It was still made. Where was Unique and why wasn’t her bed slept in? Joanne grabbed her robe and called out, ‘Hold on, I’m awake.” Maybe it was Unique pounding on the door; perhaps she had forgotten her key card. What time was it anyway? She put her eye to the peephole. Pink sparkly ears glimmered in the hallway.
“Dawno”, said Joanne as she opened the door, “Why on earth are you pounding down the house? Come in out of the hallway. We’re not the only people on this floor, you know.”

“I’m sorry, Joanne. I didn’t mean to wake you up. Where’s Unique? We were going to take the ‘Filling in with Non-Fiction’ class together. Did she leave without me?” Dawno reached down and pulled up one of her slipping argyles. These were pink and blue to match her sparkly mod ears.

“I don’t think she came in last night”, said Joanne. “Her bed’s still made.”

“Are you sure? She’s such a neat freak it would be just like her to make the bed so the maid wouldn’t see it messy.”

Joanne laughed. “No; she’s not that neat. Besides, all her notebooks are still there on the table. She wouldn’t leave for class without those. I spent yesterday afternoon with my brother so I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.”

“Do you think –“, Dawno started to say.

“Do I think what?” Joanne asked.

“Well, do you think she spent the night with –“Dawno hesitated, “Do you think she spent the night with some man?”

Joanne burst out laughing. “Are we talking about the same person?” Joanne continued to laugh. Dawno blushed as pink as her ears.

“Why do think that’s so funny? A lot of guys would like to go out with her.” Dawno was becoming indignant on her friend’s behalf. Joanne continued to laugh. “Oh, I’m sure they would”, Joanne agreed. She studied Dawno’s face. Poor Dawno, she looked so blank and ill at ease. “Do you mean you really don’t know? She never told you?”

Dawno frowned. “Don’t I know what?” Dawno wondered if there were something about her friend that she didn’t know; maybe it was something truly awful like maybe Unique wasn’t really a woman at all, but a man in disguise. Joanne sat down on the bed and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. She could tell Dawno was perplexed and even beginning to worry. She wondered how much she should say since they were Unique’s secrets to share – or not. Joanne could tell by the look on Dawno’s face that she needed to say something quick before she ran from the room shrieking.

“Dawno”, said Joanne, “haven’t you ever noticed that Unique only flirts with the married men?’

Dawno scratched between her ears and thought about it. “That’s not right, Joanne. Unique’s no home wrecker. Besides, she flirts with Ray, and – “ Dawno hesitated, “and Bill Brokenfingers; and Nique Zoolio, too!” Dawno said triumphantly.

“And they’re all in cyberspace”, Joanne added. “That’s as close as she’ll get to a single man, believe me. You may not know this, and I hope she doesn’t mind me telling you, but Unique’s a very wealthy woman. She ran into a man that damn near cleaned her out before she caught on. She’s not going to make that mistake again.”

“Well, if she’s not here and she’s not with someone else, where is she?” asked Dawno.

“I don’t know. I have a class to teach in 45 minutes or so. Let me get dressed and we’ll go downstairs and see if anyone has seen her. How does that sound?”

“That sounds good, Joanne. I don’t think she’d stand me up; not without a good reason and not without leaving a message for me with someone. I’m not liking this at all.”