Chapter 2
"Michelle, honey, the chaffeur's here. I told him to get all of your bags," Mrs. Banks told her daughter as her footsteps echoed from the winding staircase outside.
Michelle looked out from her closet, "That's fine mother."
Mrs. Banks sighed and sat down on Michelle's lace flowered bedspread, "I can't believe my little little girl's leaving," she muttered while wiping her eyes, "Are you really sure about this, dear?"
Michelle heaved a deep breath, turning around to face her mother, "Mo-om, first of, I'm twenty-two years old, obviously not a little girl anymore. Why some girls my age are already married."
"Married?" the world apparently caused her mom to be more upset.
"Nevermind that, what do you think, teal or slate blue?" asked Michelle , holding up two sleeveless knit blouses.
Her mother stood up and reached for the blouses, "Slate blue", she replied, while holding the fabric against Michelle's face, "It brings out your eyes."
"Slate blue it is", Michelle said as she shimmied into the blouse, then walked over to her dresser and brushed her shoulder-length black hair.
A figure appeared in Michelle's doorway, "The car is ready mam," said their chaeffeur, Henry.
"I'll be right down!" chirped Michelle. She bent down to pick up her little purse and long, leather coat. She turned to her mother, "Aren't you coming, mom?"
Mrs. Banks shook her head, "No dear, I can't stand to see you drive away. I'd rather say goodbye here." She gave her daughter a tight hug and kissed her on the forehead. "Now you behave yourself, young lady. You might be a hundred miles away, but remember you're still carrying the Banks name."
"I will, Mom, " Michelle ran down the stairs, into the living room and out the big, wooden front door. She turned to get one last glimpse of Banks Manor, her home for twenty-two years. "I'm gonna miss this house, " running her eyes over the vines crawling over the outside walls, the massive glass windows and the sprawling garden. "Goodbye", she whispered.
Henry held the limo door open for her, and she casually slid inside. As the drive to the airport started, her sadness quickly began to fade. "I'm gonna be a dancer for the Backstreet Boys", she said to herself, "This is where life begins". She looked out as the image of Banks Manor gets smaller and smaller in the distance, "Yes, the Backstreet Boys...."
