Snow Drifts-Chapter 20
By: Kara
At 2:30, everyone was gathered in the Living Room. It wasn't empty. The little girl, Alyssa, was sitting on her mother's lap. She was being read a book. Kevin was staring at them. Howie noticed this.
"Hey Kev! Whatcha lookin' at??!!" he asked happily. Kevin looked at Howie and sighed.
"Nothing" he lied. Howie moaned.
"Oh yes it's something! You're staring at Alyssa's mother!" he exclaimed. Kevin shushed him.
"What if I am?" he whispered, smiling. Howie grinned.
"Go talk to her man!" he replied. Kevin looked back at Alyssa and her mother. Then stood up.
"Okay I will" he said. Kevin took a deep breath and walked up to Alyssa and her mother.
"Hi Alyssa! I'm Kevin!" he said. Alyssa waved shyly. Her mother laughed.
"She's really shy! Hi, I'm Mary" she explained, sticking out her hand. Kevin smiled and shook it. He sat down in the chair beside her.
"So... are you two here alone?" he asked. Mary nodded.
"Yeah we are. Her father left us a few days after she was born. I guess he wasn't ready to be a father" she explained. Kevin bit his lip.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know" he said, feeling guilty. Mary waved her hand.
"Ah, don't worry about it. We're doing just fine without him anyway" she replied, setting Alyssa's book on the floor. Kevin nodded.
"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you" he asked. Mary smiled.
"I just turned 28" she said. Kevin smiled.
"So did I" he replied. Mary smiled at him. Alyssa started squirming on Mary's lap, wanting down. Mary laughed and let her down. Alyssa ran off to play with the toys in the corner. Kevin had to know if Mary knew who he was.
"Do you know who the Backstreet Boys are?" he asked. Mary smiled.
"Yeah. You're one of them" she said. Kevin laughed.
"Yep!" he exclaimed.
***
Kevin and Mary talked all afternoon. She seemed so casual around him. Which was different than the other women Kevin had met before. He could talk to her about anything. She did the same. After 'getting to know each other a little better', he brought her over to meet the others. Alyssa came too.
"Guys. This is Mary, and you all remember Alyssa" he explained. Everyone greeted them and Mary sat down on one of the empty couches. Kevin sat beside her. There was a loud beep from the PA system. Then Patricia's voice came through the speaker.
"Excuse this interruption. But can Laney Finch please come to the main lobby desk for an urgent phone call. Thank you." Then it clicked off. All eyes went to Laney, who stood up. She bit her lip and walked from the room. Brian jumped up and ran to go with her.
"Laney, wait!" he yelled. Laney turned around. "I'll come with you." Laney waited for him to catch up to her. Then they walked to the elevator.
"Do you know what it is?" he asked, pushing the down button. Laney shook her head. The elevator opened and they stepped in.
"I just hope it's not my Grandpa" she mumbled. Brian stared at her.
"Why would it be him?" he asked. Laney looked at the floor.
"Because he's really sick in the hospital. The doctors didn't give him much more time" she explained. Brian nodded. The elevator opened and they stepped in to the lobby. Patricia looked up when she saw them. Laney and Brian walked to the desk. Patricia handed her the telephone.
"Hello?" she said into the receiver.
"Hi honey. It's Mom" said a quiet voice.
"Hey mom. What's up?" Laney replied. There was a long pause on the other end.
"I need you to come home" her mother said. A pit grew in Laney's stomach.
"Why?!" she exclaimed. Brian listened intentfully.
"We sold the house!" her mother exclaimed. Laney squealed happily.
"We did??! That's great!" she exclaimed. "But why do I need to come home?" Her mother laughed.
"Because we have to be out by next week! We haven't even started packing! Bring KC and Ashley too. We need all the hands we can get" her mom explained. Laney groaned.
"Can you hold on a sec?" she asked. She covered up the phone to talk to Brian.
"I have to go home. We sold our house. We have to be out by next week. I need to pack. And my mom wants KC and Ashley to help" Laney explained. Brian's face cringed up.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed. Then he had an idea. "Wait! Do you think it would be okay if me and the guys helped? We have the rest of the week off! I doubt management would care what we did with our time off" he explained. Laney's face lit up and she hugged Brian.
"That's a great idea!" she exclaimed. She returned to talking to her mom.
"Uhh.. mom? We kinda met some guys here and they want to help. Would it be okay if they do?" Laney asked.
"Sure! The more help we get, the faster we get outta there. How many guys are there?" her mother asked.
"Five" Laney replied. There was silence on the other end.
"I guess I could bring the van to pick everyone up" she said. Laney squealed.
"Great! I gotta go! When are you gonna come?" she asked.
"Tomorrow at 8:00AM. At the front entrance. Make sure everyone is ready by then" her mom explained. Laney said goodbye and hung up the phone.
"Okay! It's set! My mom's gonna pick us up at 8:00 tomorrow morning!" she exclaimed. Brian smiled.
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