"So.." Phil started inquisitively as he sat upon Calci's large bed "What did you think of Phyllis's house?" he asked a bundled up duvet.

"It's gone down plenty since it got built" Calci's tired voice spoke from under the fabric "Every new owner just strips back the character, and the woodlands, I wouldn't be surprised if she turned the trail path into a carpark and the house into a showroom".

"Would the original owners he turning in their graves?" he quizzed.

"Oh yes!" Calci confirmed with a seriousness "That family bought up everything, every little corner of this was a was an outlet for one of their passions, I swear this town became so diverse and multicultural" Calci relayed.

"So perhaps they made this place what it is today" Phill enquired.

"Absolutely, only unlike the likes of Phyllis, their ventures where no novelty, oh, how I miss them" Calci sighed.

"How unusual" Phill stated at her admission.

"No, they were something, I was always welcome, countless times did I enter for they were always throwing showy gathering" Calci said as she rose from the sheets; revealing flat, limp white hair almost covering her equally pale face before she swept it back "back then, I was 'Lady Caledonia Worthington', wife of 'Lord Harrington Worthington'"

"I know this one, he was the favourite" Phil said.

Calci thought for a moment "I'd, actually say second" she corrected.

"Second? You speak so fondly of him, I just assumed..."

"He provided me with a lovely life in this town, and I love this town" Calci cut in before moving her hair out her face, revealing dull looking, tried eyes "An entertaining boy, but a handful and bags of trouble".

Phil shook his head with a slight smirk "All these years the two of us have been friends, yet there's still so much I don't know about you" he stated.

"So much I don't want you to know" Calci claimed with a smirk across her dry lips. She broke eye contact before moving closer to Phil "Nothing personal, just.. some things, should be kept secret, certain things you don't need to know in your life time" she added.

Phil looked down towards Calci's scalp, discomfort visible on his face.

"Your heart's pounding" Calci stated.

She was met with silence.

The silence apparently turned awkward; Phill moved his neck around to look about the room, before clearing his throat, then officially ending the pause by speaking...

"Is, your freezer still running?" Phil quietly asked.

"Distraction distraction" Calci chanted smugly "when will you quit clamming up every time mortality's mentioned?"

"I'm not afraid to admit I'm scared" Phil answered without turning to face her.

"And that's why I like you" Calci replied.

*

A phone then rang...

*

Calci looked Phil dead on, impatiently, as he extracted a leopard print mobile phone from his pocket and answered
"Hello Phyllis" he greeted before a barrage of undecipherable ranting came through the device.

Calci simultaneously rolled her eyes and huffed as Phill listened.

Some time later, Phil nudged a napping Calci, who laid foetal position at the end if her bed
"She's finished" he confirmed.

"Ripping into me I'm guessing" Calci enquired.

"To a degree; she seemed unhappy that you tracked her down" Phil stated before a thought arose, animating his face "which reminds me, you have entered her property before"

"Yes" Calci responded.

"Well, since you have been at that house beforehand, does this mean you can enter without permission?" Phil asked.

"Yes, it would do" Calci began.
She got up and sat cross legged before continuing "However, the premises has both changed hands and left the direct bloodline, I mean loooong left, not a trace of inherent contract remains in Phyllis"

"Are you positive?" Phill started.

"Phill I could feel a fever coming on just stood at the window chatting to that sulking mere" Calci confirmed.

"Phyllis inherited that house from her grandmother, that place has been an heirloom in that family since it was built, so, surely they where her ancestors?" Phil quizzed Calci, who was now shaking her head.

"She's far removed from the pair who built it, I don't even believe their children where of their father, promiscuity was something natural them though, including Phyllis' alleged grandmother" Calci giggled "you're likely a closer relation to that lot".

"Well.." Phil drew out "I don't think I'll be passing on that news".

"Don't!" Calci ordered in a stern tone "We wouldn't want to bruise that ego of hers too soon"

"I suppose family is what you make it anyway" Phil mocked.

"Especially in this changing world, adapt or die you know" Calci said through a nervous sounding laugh.

"That said, you tried reaching out to Nia?" Phil asked.

"And how many times have I told you, never mind her" Calci said with clear but slight irritation.

"You could at least see if she's on YourFace" Phil defensively offered.

"That's one of those wide web digital letters things isn't it?" Calci asked.

"Yes, it is!" Phil confirmed.

"Channel once explained that to me" Calci remembered.

A burnt orange sky and a lantern street light that flickering animated 'Rosie's Posies' not-so-noticeable sign.

A pair entered into Calci's store.
The red haired, bi-spectacled man and blonde woman dressed in colourful loose clothes approached the till, where Channel quickly shoved a pair of ear covering head phones over her ears.

"My 6 o'clock" Calci, clad in a big puffy ginger wig, shouted from her position kneeling on the floor spraying a leafy potted plant.
"2 hours late" she added with a forced smile.

"Are you Calci Ireland?" the woman asked.

"Guilty" Calci warmly confirmed as she approached and extended her hand towards the lady first, before the man.
"Don't worry about your lateness, I may have plenty to do, but I'm a night owl and I'll make an exception, just for you two" she said with a wink.