JILLIE CONLAN from Secret Horizons
Bio provided by author:
Born and raised in Conlan's Glen, Jillie is the epitome of a wild-child, small town girl, dying for a taste of something "bigger". While her budding career has led her many places, she's always returned to the Glen. Always the party girl, Jillie hasn't quite been able to grow out of the stereotype placed upon her. Having grown up in the shadow of her "perfect" older sister, Maura, Jillie focused her energies on finding ways to attract attention...and she didn't fail. Ever popular with the men of the Glen, she doesn't have very many friends of the female persuasion. However, she doesn't miss what she doesn't have; she's quite willing to tell anyone who asks that she's got everything she'd ever need in a friend and confidante in her own twin brother, Jory.
JILLIE SCENE #1:
Some things in life were incredibly unfair. Like being the President of the United States of America...yet being remembered only for getting caught with your pants down around your ankles in the Oval Office. Or being misdiagnosed with cancer, but only learning the fact after you'd had a hysterectomy and lost part of a lung. Or finding *the* perfect dress, but not in the color you wanted.
"Be right back," Jillie told her father as she sprinted back upstairs towards her room. She'd almost forgotten something very important. The right accessories could make or break an outfit. Running back into her room, she rushed to her dresser, opening the antique jewelry box that sat in front of her mirror. Blue was her signature color. Blue matched her eyes. Blue was the color of most of the jewelry she owned. Sapphire earrings, blue topaz choker. She didn't own much...pink.
It hit her suddenly. Her mother's pearls. They would compliment the dress nicely. Searching through the box, Jillie frowned. They weren't there. And she knew she had them. They had been her favorites since childhood and their mother had given them to her right before the last time she'd gone into the hospital. So why weren't they there?
Ire sparking to life in her blue eyes, she flung her door open, screaming her sister's name down the hallway. "Maura! Maura!"
Seconds passed with no reply and Jillie stomped down the corridor to her sister's room. "Maura!" she shouted, pushing open the door without waiting for an invitation. Well, that answered that. Her sister was nowhere to be seen. For some odd reason, that only made her more angry. As if Maura had deliberately fled the scene, just to spite her. Wouldn't have surprised her.
Glancing around the room, Jillie sighed, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jean shorts. If she were Maura, where would she hide something? She eyed the bed suspiciously, before dismissing the idea. No, Maura wasn't that spiteful. She wouldn't actually hide them from her. Would she? Besides, Jillie wasn't so sure she wanted to find anything that might be hidden underneath Maura's mattress. Some things were better left uncovered.
Moving to the dresser, she opened the top drawer, poking through the underwear there. Nothing. And geez, Maura needed to take a walk on the wild side a bit more often. The second drawer proved to be just as disinteresting, as was the third. But finally she stumbled across Maura's
accessory drawer. It made sense, she figured, that if Maura had borrowed the necklace, she might have *mistakenly* stored it with the rest of her trinkets.
Sifting through scarves and chains, Jillie arched a brow as her fingers made contact with something that felt distinctly...un-accessory-like. Curious, she pulled out the envelope, testing its weight and thickness. If she were to guess, she would have said it was a photograph. Opening the flap, she turned the envelope upside down, letting its contents spill out. It was a picture after all, and she couldn't help but briefly wonder if perhaps it was a photo of an old flame. "Tristen" the back read.
Wasn't too much of a hint, though she could tell it wasn't written in Maura's hand. Turning it over, her curiosity peaked. It was a girl, no more than ten or eleven. She didn't look familiar, or rather, she was no one Jillie knew. She did, however, seem familiar. Despite her dark hair, there was something strangely...what was it?...uncanny about the girl's face. Her eyes. They were so....
Why did Maura have this picture? Why was it so important that she felt the need to tuck it away in her dresser drawer? Slipping it back into the envelope, all thoughts of the pearl necklace gone,
Jillie slid it into the drawer and turned to leave. Still, she was unable to shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong with this big picture. Nothing was adding up. And that bothered her.
"Jillie!!!" Kevin's booming voice shook Jillie from her reverie and she exited Maura's room, stopping by her own to grab her purse. A glance at her watch told her the they was on the verge of being late. Taking the stairs three at a time, she made it outside just in time to see Jory being to pull out of the drive. There was Maura, looking for all the world as if she had nothing to hide. It just didn't add up.
"Finally ready?" she heard her father ask and she nodded.
"Yeah, but, how about we take my car? Just in case...I have to make a quick exit." Her tone was dry but she caught her father's disapproving look. This was, after all, one of Luke's big nights. Whatever. She had better things to do than mingle with the future in-laws, connections be damned. Tonight was something she'd been looking forward to since she'd last spoken to Rick...and not even thoughts of Maura could ruin that.