New Day, Part Two

Posted on Thu Jan 15th, 2026 @ 11:28am by René Rouen & Juliet Parrish & Lola ‘Myth’ McDowell
Edited on on Sat Jan 17th, 2026 @ 2:50am

1,735 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Safe Harbour
Location: Lola's Cottage
Timeline: 04 December 2013, 0900 (9am Wednesday)

Juliet heard the sound of an axe splitting wood coming from the back of Lola's cottage as she approached the front door. She smirked as she knocked on the door. She had a pretty good idea who was splitting firewood less than an hour after sunrise. Her suspicions were confirmed as the door swung open.

Lola opened the door and blinked in the sunlight, but stepped back to invite the woman inside. "Come on in, Doctor." She said, leading the way back to the kitchen, where she was washing the breakfast dishes. "Coming to check we all survived the first night?"

Juliet chuckled as she followed Lola into the kitchen. "Partly, I wanted to make sure there were no issues." She had gotten a good impression of the young man from the impromptu meeting a few days before and the way he had handled himself on the foraging run. "He wasn't a bother or anything? Was he?"

"No... he was perfect. He was... he can stay as my housemate." The communicator operator shrugged. She was not going to tell the woman about the connection between the pair, thanks to her knowing his sister through the radio, unless he wanted to bring it up.

Juliet glanced at Lola's expression curiously. The young woman wasn't always the most open person. "He was perfect? In what way?" She wasn't quite grinning but Lola was not one to say perfect often, least of all about a man. Juliet had witnessed many a man try and impress Lola at the pub during meals. She finally did grin. "He must have made a good impression if you were willing to make him breakfast."

"Me make him breakfast?" Lola laughed as she moved to start making the woman a cup of tea. It was her usual coping mechanism for any situation. It was very British, but she did not care. "No, Juliet, he made me breakfast. I have never had a partner make me breakfast, let alone someone who got assigned to me."

Juliet rose from her seat and walked over to the window. She glanced at René chopping wood in the backyard and smiled as she turned to Lola putting a kettle of water on to boil. "Is he as good at cooking as he is good looking? Inquiring minds want to know." She seemed to be studying Lola's facial expressions

“Do not study me Doctor.” The younger woman laughed as she turned away to finish the three cups of tea. “He is a good cook or at least he never burnt the food and I eat it.” The woman shrugged walking over to the window and tapped on it indicating the cup of tea when he turned around showing that Juliet was stood there watching too.

René looked up at the window to see Lola holding up a steaming cup of tea with the young Doctor Parrish standing next to her. He gave a nod and buried the axe head in an old tree stump. He grabbed his jacket and headed to the back door to meet the ladies in the kitchen. He nodded at Juliet with a smile. "Bonjour, Doctor Parrish." His smile grew as he turned to Lola and grasped the cup and saucer. "Merci Lola." He gratefully took a sip to warm himself up.

Juliet studied René for a moment before taking a seat at the table with her tea. "You seem to be settling in nicely René." She glanced at Lola with just the hint of a smirk. "Lola's been telling me you have been the perfect housemate and saying you are a pretty decent cook."

His gaze went from Lola to Juliet and back before focusing on his tea. He was glad for the workout splitting wood in the cold wind. It would hide the blush he was afraid would show due to Juliet's words. "I was just trying to be helpful and repay the kindness in a small way."

"Which I told him he did not need to do." The woman said sitting down with her mug, cups, and saucers was for guests. She loved her huge mug, which meant she got more for her tea bag. "But he was a very good cook. He should go speak to Talis and help cook at the pub." It might not be a pub anymore, but everyone still called it that.

René looked curiously at the two women. "This town has a pub? What do they serve there?"

"Mostly the food that we all eat, unless people eat in their own houses, and sometimes a few beers." Lola laughed a little at the thought of the fact it was very similar to the Wetherspoons restaurant, just less payment as they all contributed to the village.

Juliet studied René's expression. "The pub serves as a communal recreation center for the town's adults. You can play darts, pool even find a game of cards. Travis and I were thinking of going up there tonight." She glanced at Lola, the barest hint of a smile. "You should bring René to see it. It might be fun."

"I am sure if he survives the council, he will find himself there," Lola said, looking at the woman as she stared at her. "I have not decided if I am going myself." She admitted. She was not sure how she was feeling about things and she was not sure she wanted to be surrounded by loads of people.

Juliet shrugged. "Well, I hope you do decide to come. We actually obtained a fair amount of adult beverages at the supermarket when we went on the foraging run. The pub is going to allow folks one beer or one drink after the dinner meal. There is even talk there going to have dart and pool tournaments tonight." Juliet glanced at René for a moment. "It could even turn into a welcome to the community celebration for Bert and René should they pass the council review."

“Is that why they had to spend a night in the town as you brought so much back?” The young woman teased a little. A glass of something would be nice but she was not sure what she fancied if she went.

Juliet nodded. "In part. It took more time to load things up then expected and I wasn't comfortable sailing back in the dark."

René nodded as well and gave a slight sigh. "We were preparing to depart the next morning when a score of the Soulless arrived at the docks just as we were loading the last of the supplies."

“Ah.” Lola said quietly. “Well I am glad that everyone got back safely.” She decided before she rubbed her eyes looking at the clock on the wall. “What time is your meeting?” She wondered thinking of his council meeting to decide his future.

René shook his head. "I don't know." He glanced at Juliet. "Do you know Doctor Parrish?"

Juliet smiled. "Council meeting starts at one. You and Bert will be brought before the council about two this afternoon during the opening of new business." She glanced at Lola. "You will be there to testify as to Mister Rouen's conduct and any other observations you have had."

Lola nodded, glancing at her watch, and set an alarm so she would not get too distracted and not turn up. "I have many observations." She said quietly. "I will try not to get too distracted and forget." It was an unfortunate quirk of hers that she got distracted and lost time.

René glanced between the two women. He wasn't sure what Lola could have meant by having many observations as she had only met him a little over 12 hours ago. He wondered if his staying here last night had been some sort of test. See how he would react to being quartered with a beautiful young woman. He decided to play it off with a bit of humor. "Not sure I have done anything noteworthy. Unless you want to count being fond of a book I found."

Lola smiled and just shook her head. “That is for me to know and you to find out at one pm.” She commented, stretching a little as she tried to gather her thoughts and wits for the day ahead, even if she was already slightly late for duty. She knew no one would judge, but still she prided herself on being on time, even in winter when it was harder to gather herself in the morning.

René realized Lola might be talking about the possibility of him being the sibling of the girl she had been in weekly contact with over the last several months. He wasn't quite sure how it would be significant. Especially when it had not been confirmed. "Well, I look forward to one pm then." He glanced at his watch, an older style windup, and looked back up at both of them with a sigh. "Well, I should go get ready. I need to find a job that helps the entire community and not just splitting firewood for one household at a time." He nodded at Juliet with a smile and then nodded at Lola with a slightly bigger smile. He then headed upstairs to prepare for his day.

Juliet was mildly surprised as she studied both of their expressions. Lola hadn't smiled a lot recently. Not since the younger woman's break-up with her boyfriend at Halloween. She took a sip of her tea and smiled. "It’s good to see you smile again."

The woman, at the mention of her smile, dropped it and frowned. "I smile." She commented with a roll of her eyes as she stomped over to where her boots were and started to pull them on.

Juliet chuckled as she watched her friend. "Not often enough in recent weeks." She rose from the chair and finished the last of her tea before placing the cup in the sink. She started for the door, but paused with her hand on the knob. "Just saying. You have a beautiful smile." She glanced at the staircase leading upstairs before turning back to Lola. "I get the feeling I'm not the only one who thinks so too. You should keep an open mind about your future." Juliet opened the door and exited the house. A grin formed on her face as the latch clicked shut.

 

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