Traveling

Pop.  I look over and smile at the small four or five year old boy sitting next to me on the dark blue velvet seat of the plane.  He had short brown hair which indicated that he had got it cut recently.  His mother sat on the other side of him and eyed him for popping his gum a little too loudly.  “Henry, have a little respect,” she told her little boy.  “I’m sure that this young lady doesn’t want to hear you popping that gum.”  She looked over at me with sympathy in her eyes.  “I’m sorry about that.”

          I kept my smile to reassure the woman.  “It’s fine.  It doesn’t bother me.”

          “Oh well still I’m trying to teach him manners.”

          I kind of nodded and locked eyes with Henry.  His big, brown eyes just stared up at me like a puppy’s eyes filled with anticipation.  My smile grew as I had an unmentioned staring contest with the child.  The contest ended when he blinked and turned his attention toward the bathroom.  “Mommy, I have to go potty,” he told his mother.

          “Okay.  Come on.”  The woman stood up and she looked as if she hadn’t had any children because she was so small.  She was about as skinny as I was which was surprising but in a way she had kind of reminded me of my sister.  The only difference was her dark brown hair with a hint of autumn red highlights.  It was obvious that they were natural and not dyed.  I could always tell the difference between hair which was its natural color or if the person had dyed it.  One way I knew was by the eyebrows.  Eyebrows were always the natural color but for me there were other ways to tell.

          I sighed as they walked off and turned my attention outside of the window.  I looked down at the white clouds which had slithered past the moving plane and as I tried to look even further down I had figured that we were flying over the ocean.  I loved flying even though I didn’t do it often because I never really had the money.  My sister had sent a plane ticket for me as a birthday present.  I couldn’t wait to get to Landon to see her again.  It had been about four or five years since I had been there to visit her and her husband.  The last time I had seen them, I had met my niece for the first time but she was a baby then…. A tiny little thing and so fragile.

          I closed my eyes, leaning back on my comfortable seat, kind of pushing it back.  The memory of meeting my niece for the first time brought a warm face to my face.

          My sister had blonde wavy hair which almost curled.  She was a few years older than me.  At the time she was 21 and I was only 18 at the time.  Her hazel eyes smiled at me as she held a small baby in her arms.  She had taken after our mother where as I had taken after our father with dark brown almost black hair and dark brown eyes as a match.  “Sam, this Elaina,” my sister had told me as she walked over to me carrying this little bundle of joy wrapped up in a soft, pink colored, fuzzy but comfortable for a new born child blanket.  She handed the baby over to me.

          I took the baby carefully, placing my right arm under her head to keep it from falling backwards and held the rest of the baby with my left arm.  I felt kind of fearful of dropping the child on accident or squeezing the small little person too tightly in my arms but I managed to keep any of that from happening.  “Hi, Elaina,” I whispered as I looked down at the precious, sleeping infant.  “I’m your Aunty Sam.”  I looked over at my sister and smiled.  “She’s adorable, Annie.”

          “Thank you.”

          “So you three ready to go to the house?” my brother-in-law had asked as he arrived from picking up my league for me.  He was about a year older than Annie was but I had to admit she made a good choice with him.  He was charming, funny, attractive and one of the best men in the world.  I had wished I could find someone like him but I just hadn’t had that luck yet.

          “Yes, Ron,” Annie replied, shaking her head playful at him.

          “Thanks for getting my league, Ron,” I replied.

          “Your sister made me,” he joked.

          Annie smacked him for the comment.

          His laugh filled the air.  “I’m just joking, honey.  It’s not a problem, Sam.”

          “Please turn off all electronic devices, we are preparing to land,” the flight attendants voice had said waking me up.  “Please buckle up and if you have any trays down on the back of the seats please push them up against the chair.”

          “We’re here, mommy,” Henry’s little voice replied.

          “Ssshhh.” Henry’s mother had placed her left pointer finger against her lips so she could let Henry know that it was time to be quiet.  She handed him another piece of gum and offered me a piece as well.

          I smiled and shook my head.

          She took the piece she had offered me and unwrapped it and placed it into her mouth.

 

          Once I walked out into the airport, I looked around the crowded building searching for Annie or Ron.  I knew that one of them had to be there waiting for me.  I had decided to stop looking and go to get my luggage which I wasn’t able to carry on with me when I noticed a man who was standing there with a big sign which read: Samantha Moore.  I couldn’t believe that they had actually sent a chuffer to pick me up or at least someone I hadn’t recognized.  He was about 22 or 23 with short dark brown hair and he wore dark sunglasses to hide his eyes from the sun.  He wore a grey tank top which the cuts on the sleeves had indicated that at one time the sleeves weren’t short.  He wore dark blue jeans.  I couldn’t help but notice he had muscles which could easily be hidden under long sleeves.  I sighed and walked over to the man.

          “I’m Samantha Moore,” I told him.

          I watched as he surveyed me with his eyes still hidden under those dark sunglasses.  He nodded.  “I’m Louis Matthews,” he replied.  His British accent was strong which from what I could tell made him attractive but I wasn’t there to meet men so I shrugged off the attraction.

          “I have some luggage that I need to get before leaving.”

          “Whatever.”  His rudeness was apparent in his voice which was a definite turn off to me.

          “I’ll be back,” I replied, acting like I hadn’t noticed his tone.

          “Okay.”  Obviously, he didn’t want to be there so I decided that I would purposely take time getting my luggage.

 

          Riiing…. Riiing…. Riiing.  I pulled my cell phone out as I walked over to the area which indicated the luggage.  I pressed the small funny shaped talk button as I answered it.  “Hello?” I asked.

          “Hey, Sam,” Annie’s soft, sweet voice spoke.

          I had to smile a little.

          “Because you answered I’m assuming that you finally landed.”

          “No we’re still in the air,” I replied, sarcastically.

          Annie’s laugh filled my ear.

          “Yea actually I just landed---”

          “I’m sorry that Ron and I aren’t there.  Ron had to rush to work for a meeting and I’ve been busy preparing the guest room with some help from Lainie.  I had sent one of Ron’s good friends to go and get you.  Is he there yet?”

          I sighed.  “Actually, yea.  He’s kind of rude though.  I have to pick up my luggage so I’m taking my time.  Why him?”

          I could hear Annie take a deep breath over the phone.  She sounded kind of like she had lost some hopefulness.  “Well, he was the only one who was free and he’s single….” There was where the disappointment had come from.

          “Annie, I’m not here to meet men right now…. If I want to meet a jerk, I’ll just go back to America…. I’m just here to visit with you that’s all.”

          “He’s not all that bad…. He’s just going through a tough time right now.”

          “Annie….”

          “Sam….”

          I sighed.  “I’m not here to meet men.”

          “You don’t have to but please give him a chance at least….”

          I made a face which I was glad that she wasn’t standing right in front of me.  I sighed.  “Fine…. But this doesn’t mean anything…. I’ll just get to know him as a friend and that’s it….”

          “Okay.”  Her disappointment had left a ringing in my ear, but I had to decide what I wanted, not tell her what she was hoping for.  “Well, I’ll see you when you get here then.”

          “Okay.  Bye.”

          “Bye.”  I hung up the phone, placing it back in my right pocket.

 

          When I had my three other bags of luggage, I had found my way back over to Louis.  The jerk I really didn’t want to deal with at the moment.  “Okay.  I’m ready go to now.”

          “Took you long enough.”  He snatched my luggage out of my hands and began to walk out of the building.  I hurried behind him so I wouldn’t get lost in the crowd.

 

We arrived at a small, black car.  I wasn’t big on cars so I couldn’t tell you what kind it was but it was nice and still looked brand new.  I bet he’s the kind of guy who would choose his car over a girl, I thought.

He dropped my luggage on the ground, kind of throwing them down.

I dropped my mouth with anger.  “Be careful with those they have some breakable things that are important to me.”

He looked at me and shook his head.  Even though his eyes were covered by those sunglasses I knew that he was shooting me a dirty look.  “Important….” He kind of laughed, snottily.  “Whatever.”  He unlocked the trunk to his small car and lifted the lid.  He picked up my luggage and tossed them into the trunk one by one, not even trying to be careful with the breakables.

I shook my head out of anger.  I went to reach for the black small, slim door knob of to the side which was facing me.

“What are you doing?” Louis asked as he closed the trunk and locked it.

“I’m getting into the car.”

“That’s the driver’s side…. The passenger side is on the right.”

I shot him a dirty look.  Of course, I forgot that cars were made differently in Europe than they were in America.  I walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door.  Could have been nicer about it, I thought as I climbed into the car, sliding down on the black leather seat.

Louis climbed into the driver seat and lightly closed the door.

I closed the door to the passenger side as well kind of slamming it.

“Don’t slam that door.”

“Too late.”

“Stupid damn American,” he muttered under his breath.

“Excuse me?” I asked, kind of ticked off and insulted.

“Nothing.”  He placed the key to the ignition and cranked the car.

The air conditioner had popped on and slowly cool air began to fill the little car.  It was quiet for a while.  A long, awkward silence had filled cool air.  Neither of us were willing to speak to the other.

 

The silence was starting to annoy me and we still had a few hours before we finally had stopped at our destination.  “Can we listen to the radio?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Nope,” his reply didn’t sound as rude as before but it was obviously that he wasn’t in the mood to talk either.

“Why not?”

“I just don’t want to listen to the radio.”

I narrowed my eyes and glanced over at him.  “How come you’re so rude?”

“That’s none of your damn business.”

I bit my bottom lip.  I wanted to yell at him so bad but I kept myself as calm as possible.  “I’m just trying to start a conversation.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk.”

“I can tell.”  I looked out of the window and watched as the trees and mountains raced paced us in blurs.  The light blue sky had a few clouds flying above the car.  I was board out of my mind I had wished that I was already at Annie’s and didn’t have to sit in the car with the jerk whom could care less about me anyways.  “So, Louis….”

“I told you already…. I don’t want to talk.”

“Well, it’s quiet and I’m going crazy just seating in silence.”

“Well, I don’t care.”

I shook my head.  “Why can’t you just at least pretend to be nice to me?”

“Nope.”

 

Louis had pulled up to a silver gate which was held up by dark red brick walls on both sides.  He rolled down his side window and stuck his right arm out pressing buttons on some kind of alarm thing.

“Yes?” a woman’s voice replied over the intercom.  It wasn’t a voice I had recognized.

“Heather, it’s Louis.  I’m here at the front gate with the American girl.”

“Okay.”  With that said, I watched as the sliver gate opened from the middle.

When the gates had opened completely, Louis drove in slowly.  I turned around in my seat and watch as the gate closed automatically.  I was amazed by the sight.  I had never actually been anywhere that had those kind of gates and when I turned back around I was surprised to see a long, wide huge, beautiful dark brown house…. No, mansion to be exact.  I couldn’t believe my eyes at the sight.  “Annie and Ron live here?” I asked.  The last time I had visited them they had lived in a small two room apartment.  The upgrade was insane.

“Yep.”  Louis didn’t sound too enthused but he had most likely been there a million times or so which to him just seem like another house really.

“That’s so crazy.  The last time I was here they were still living in that little, tiny apartment.”

Louis sighed as he placed the car in park.  He climbed out of the car and a 4 year old blonde child ran out to greet him.  She was the prettiest little thing I had ever seen.  “Uncle Louis,” she said as she wrapped her little arms around his knees.

“Hey there, little girl,” he replied and for the first time I noticed as he actually let a smile grow on his face.

The child looked at me with wide hazel eyes just like my sister and I knew she was without having to ask.  “Who are you?” her little voice asked as she stared at me with curiosity.

I couldn’t hold in my smile.  “I’m your Auntie Samantha,” I replied.

“Oooohhhhh.”  She titled her head trying to take everything in.  That was the one thing about children whether or not they had questions their looks would so interest as they looked at people or animals or other things that they weren’t quite familiar with.  “You’re my mummy’s sister?”

I nodded.

“You don’t look like my mummy…. My daddy’s brothers and sisters look like him but you don’t look like my mummy…. That’s strange.”

My smile grew at her words.

“Time to eat, Lainie,” Annie had said as she walked out of the long wide front door and stepped onto the long round porch with three or four steps.  “Oh, Samantha.”  She rushed over to me and gave me a big hug.  “I’m so glad that you’re finally here.  Now we can catch up on everything in the past few years.”

I nodded.

“Thank you for picking her up for me, Louis.”  Annie had broken out of the hug and turned her attention to the jerk of a driver I had to deal with.  “You’re welcome to stay and hang out if you want.”

Louis kind of smiled.  “Sure.  Let me bring your sister’s things to her room.  Want to show me the way, Lainie?”

“Yea.”  Lainie waited for the man to grab all of my bags out of the trunk and close it then she led him into the mansion.

Annie watched as they vanished then turned her attention back toward me.  “So was he still a jerk to you during the drive?”

“Yea,” I replied.  “How can you think that I’m going to find a man like that attractive?  I had enough jerks in my life…. I want a man who’s actually going to be worth the time not another one who’s going to think he can get away with being snotty toward me.”

Annie shook her head.  “He’s not that bad…. You just have to get to know him.  Now come on inside with me and we can catch up.”

I sighed and nodded as we started to walk into the beautiful structure.

Dining In

I followed Annie into the family room and my mouth dropped.  The room was so big and wide.  There were a couple of couches on both sides of the room.  A few chairs in front of each wall.  A glass chandelier hung over a wide, slim glass coffee table.  The lights on the chandelier looked like glass candles made of glass and the lights shone from the glass flames.  There were family pictures of Annie, Ron, and Lainie all over the walls.  Most of the pictures were of Lainie by herself from when she was a baby to now that she was four.  I noticed a picture of me holding my niece and I smiled.  The picture had been taken from the park the last time I had visited them.  “She was so tiny then,” I said as my smile grew.

“Yea,” Annie agreed and I’m pretty sure that she had nodded as well.

“You have to tell me about when you guys moved here,” I told Annie as I turned to face her.

“Well, Ron was promoted quite a bit within the last few years and now he’s making good money….”

“I can tell.”

“I’m just glad that he gets to spend time with Elaine and I…. I kind of worried at first because I didn’t think that Lainie would be able to see her father all of the time but Ron reassured me that he wasn’t going to let his job get in the way of us and he’s done a pretty good job at keeping his word too.”

“That’s good.”

“So anything new with you?”

I shook my head as I sat down in one of the big red bulging chairs.  “I’m still working and in the same boat as always…. I went out with this guy a few times but he turned out to be nothing more than a lying jerk.”

“You’ll find someone, Sam.”

“Who?  Every guy I seem to meet seems to be a total….”

“Hey, Annie, is it okay if I take Lainie to the park?” Louis asked as he stuck his head into the room.

I rolled my eyes.  I couldn’t understand how that guy could be so nice to everyone else but act like such a jerk to me.

“Sure…. Um, Louis, why don’t you take Sam with you?  I’m sure that she would love to get out and do something to get fresh air…. She was stuck on that plane for hours anyway.”

“Annie,” I kind of whispered.

I could tell by the look that Louis of giving my sister that he didn’t want to.

“Please?”

“I don’t---”

Annie shot Louis a look which meant that he had better offer or she would kill him.

“Okay,” I heard him mutter under his breath.  “Samantha,” I could hear the agitation in his voice but he tried to speak kindly and without acting snotty toward me, “would you like to go to the park with me and Lainie?”

“No,” I replied.  “I’ve had a long flight and I would like to stay here and relax…. Maybe tomorrow or something.”

Louis turned his attention back toward my sister.  “See she doesn’t even want to go.”

“Well it’s just a nice gesture…. Now thank you.”

“Okay.”  Louis left.

“See what I mean?” I asked.

“You two need to get along better.”

“Get along?  He started it….”

“Quit acting like a big baby.”

I took a deep breath and sighed.  “Fine.  Is it okay if I can take a shower and freshen up a bit?”

“Oh of course.”

 

I walked out of the bathroom with my long, wet dark brown hair wrapped up in a long white towel.  I wore a long light blue robe over clean clothes which had consisted of sweat pants and a short sleeve shirt and slippers which were white and fuzzy.  I walked down the long dim hallway, carrying my dirty clothes, trying to find my way back to the room Annie had shown me which I would be staying in.  I felt kind of lost as I walked inside of the mansion.  The feeling of being in such a big place felt like something that they show in the movies not something that ordinary people such as me would ever dream of roaming around in.

I had run into a maid who had salt and pepper hair.  She looked to be about in her mid-forties and seem to be a sweet woman.  “Excuse me I’m Annie’s sister Sam and I’m kind of lost.”

“Oh yes, Miss Moore,” her soft, sweet voice replied as she smiled at me.  “I’m Kathleen,” she introduced herself.  “How may I help you?”

“I need to find my room.  I was there earlier but now I forgot where it was located.”

Kathleen nodded and gestured down the hall.  “Right this way.”

“Thank you.”  I followed Kathleen down the hall until we stopped at a room with a picture on the door.

“I believe this is your room, Miss Moore.”

“Oh yes, thank you.”

“Always a pleasure,” Kathleen replied.  “Now if you need anything else I’ll be downstairs preparing the table for dinner…. And I believe that Mr. Matthews will be joining us…. He is such a sweet young man…. He reminds me of my son.”

Mr. Matthews? I thought confused for a moment when I remembered when Louis had introduced himself.  Of course….This is going to be one heck of a night.  “That was the guy who dropped me off here right?” I asked as if I didn’t know the answer.

“Oh yes.  He’s a very helpful fellow.”  Kathleen left without another word and I knew I was in trouble.

 

          As I closed the door to the room I dropped my dirty clothes on the floor and removed the towel from my head dropping it on top of the clothes.  The room wasn’t small but it wasn’t huge.  It was deceit size.  The bed was a full size bed which was already made with a sheet, a thin sheet which was used to cover the person, and then the comforter which was very thick but looked comfortable to sheet under.  I turned to my right to see a dresser which had eight drawers sat against the wall.  It was wide and bugling but it still hadn’t taken up a lot of room.  Right in front of me was a long, wide window which took up the middle half of the wall.  I walked over to it and looked outside to see what kind of view I had.  Trees filled most of the ground with a few houses, well other mansions, in between gates keeping the mansions away from one another and keeping security from having too much trouble with crimes.

          I looked up to the light blue sky which was starting to change from afternoon to evening.  It was a beautiful orange, purple, and pink as it changed and the sun was setting in the distance.  It was a beautiful sight to see.  I watched as a small white car pulled up to the gate which Louis had pulled up to earlier and without hesitation the gate opened and the car drove in.  After the car was parked, I watched as Ron had stepped out.  I smiled at the sight of the man.  He was like an older brother to me who I haven’t seen in a while and I knew I had to go say hello.

 

          I had found my way to the living room which looked like the family room with the couches and the chairs pretty much fixed the small but the only difference was the fire place at the far end which filled the other end of the room.  I turned to see Annie who had walked in with Ron at her side.  “Hey, Sam,” Ron said as he smiled.

          “Hello,” I replied, returning the smile.

          “How have you been?”

          “Pretty good.”

          “Can you talk to Louis, honey?” I heard Annie ask in a whisper.  She must have thought that I couldn’t hear her but I had.

          “Why?  Oh never mind,” Ron replied.  “I’ll try but you and I both know that he’s going through a tough time.”

          “I know but I think that….”

          “Excuse me,” I interrupted.  “I can hear the both of you.”

          Annie made a face that meant that she had forgotten that I was even there.  Her hazel eyes began to search the room for words but she frown when she couldn’t think of what to say.

          “Sorry your sister wants to play matchmaker so bad.”  Ron kind of smiled and shook his head.  “Don’t worry though if you do wind up liking Louis that would be your choice not ours…. Right, honey?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at Annie.

          “Okay,” she spoke weakly wanting so bad to win the battle but knowing that was never going to happen.

          I smiled at my sister’s stubbornness.  She had always been stubborn which was about the only thing she had actually gotten from our father.  I could be stubborn at times as well but not that often.  I knew she meant well but her attentions weren’t agreeing with my thoughts about the man who I had met earlier that day.

          We heard the front door open and not even five minutes later Lainie had hurried into the room.  “DADDY!” she shouted as she ran over to Ron with excitement and wrapping her little, tiny arms around her father’s legs.

          “Hey, kiddo,” Ron replied.  “How was your day?”

          “It was awesome.  Uncle Louis took me to the park and we saw this man who was dressed like Charlie Chaplin.”

          “Really?”

          Lainie nodded.  “And he acted like him too…. Just like in those movies that you and mummy let me watch….” Her laughed filled the air and even muffed some of her words as she spoke.  “He blew up a balloon and drew Charlie Chaplin’s face on it…. With the mustache and the hat and bow tie….”

          By this time Louis was standing at the entrance of the door, holding a small, slim hotdog shaped balloon.  He wore a smile on his face and for the first time I actually saw his eyes.  They were a dreamy sea blue color and I could get lost in them for days but I shook off the thought as I reminded myself that he was a jerk and I didn’t need to be caught up in that mess.  “She enjoyed it…. I enjoyed it…. It was almost as if Chaplin himself came back to life just to perform for everyone in the crowd.  I’d go back to see the act again.”  He glanced at me for a brief moment then back toward Ron and Annie.

          “Louis, Sam would probably love to see that…. Why don’t you bring her some time while she’s here?” Annie asked.

          I dropped my mouth and stared at my dear sister in disbelief.  She wasn’t giving up and I couldn’t believe that she would even suggest such a thing.

Louis seemed to be as dumbfounded as I was at the thought as his beautiful blue eyes moved to my sister.  “I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” he responded with a tone of shock and confusion.  He looked at me with his eyes which wore the colors of a jerk but revealed some kind of pain which I couldn’t figure out what it was.  “I don’t want to waste time with an American girl.”

His words were cold and hurtful.  I couldn’t believe how rude one guy could truly be.  I had only met the guy that day and I hated seeing the attractive, bone structure of his cheeks and his eyes which made me melt every time that I looked into them.  He was making me hate him so easily but the fact that he was a very attractive man tangled my thoughts as if I were lost in a maze of vines and branches.  How could he have been so handsome but so ugly at the same time?  I sighed knowing that it was true when people said that looks could be deceiving.

“Louis,” Ron replied, “that was rude of you.”

Louis turned his attention to Ron and sighed.  “I’m sorry.”

Ron shook his head slightly.  “Don’t apologize to me.”

Louis made a face as he turned his gaze back toward me.  “Sorry,” he said, kind of rudely but it was better than nothing.

I eyed him up and down.  Anger had entered my mind and I could feel my cheeks burning with the hatred I was feeling toward the man.  “Fine.  I’ll accept but that was very uncalled for you, freaking jerk.”

“Hey, Sam, Elaina is right here,” Annie replied, gesturing toward my little niece whose wide eyes just stared at me with shock and she looked like she wanted to cry.

          “I’m sorry, Lainie,” I told the child as I looked down at her.  Thanks to Louis, I wasn’t making a good first impression with my niece who wouldn’t remember anything about me from the first time I had held her in my arms.

          “Lainie, why don’t you go ahead and wash up for dinner?” Annie asked, kneeling down beside the child.

          Lainie nodded.  “Okay, mummy.”  She left the room, leaving the four of us adults alone in the big room.

          “That was uncalled for from the both of you,” Ron replied.  “In front of the child?  Come on at least go outside or something.”

          Louis and I both looked away from Ron and Annie, keeping our eyes from meeting one another’s as well.  Neither of us knew how to respond.  We knew our behavior had to change or at least we couldn’t be in the same room as one another.  I had wished that I had knew what Louis’s problem was anyways, seeing that he had started the battle first.

“Sorry, guys,” I finally spoke, keeping my eyes on the red rugged carpet.

“Sorry,” Louis replied afterwards.

A maid with blonde hair which was placed in a bun walked into the room.  She wore a black dress with a white apron around her waist which indicated that she was a maid.  Her dress was about to her knees and kind of puffed outward at the bottom.  She looked around the room and could tell that something horrible had taken place.  “Dinner’s ready,” she spoke awkwardly and slowly made her way out of the room afraid of a fight breaking out or something.

Ron sighed.  “Please, you two, let’s get through this meal and if either of you have anything rude or snotty to say to each other then go outside.  I don’t want Elaine to have to hear you two argue.  Got it?”

Louis and I nodded in agreement.

 

          Dinner was silent and awkward.  I sat at the long table made for a palace with matching chairs which had lion paws for the feet of the chairs.  There were three chandeliers which hung over the table.  The each looked like the one in the family room but the two closer to the ends were smaller while the one in the middle was wider and seemed to take up more room than the others.  In the middle of the table was a glass vase which was filled with fake roses from red to pink to white.  Even though the flowers where fake they still seem so beautiful and I wasn’t surprised that the flowers were even there, knowing that Annie loved flowers and other plants and I was sure that there was probably a greenhouse somewhere in the mansion which Annie was going to wind up showing me anyways.

          Louis sat on the other side of the table, keeping his eyes down so he didn’t have to look at me.  I felt kind of offended like I was an outcast or something by the way he treated me.

          Ron and Annie each sat at the ends of the table, looking at each other with eyes of love and tenderness just like they had when they first met.  I had wished so badly that I would find that man…. The one who was going to treat me like a princess from the moment we met, not so much that he would buy me nice things but just treat me with respect and show me kindness and love.  I was bit of a romantic but the guys I’ve come face to face with were nothing but jerks and idiots.

          Lainie had sat next to me.  I was surprised because I had figured that she would want to sit next to Louis or close to one of her parents because she knew them better than me.  As we waited for the food to come in she looked up at me and just stared with inquisitive eyes.  “What’s it like in America?” she asked with curiosity in her little voice.

          “Well, it’s…. It’s nothing like this….”

          “I’ll bet,” I heard Louis mutter under his breath.

          I shot him a dirty look but I remembered the agreement with Ron and shrugged him off.  I looked down at Lainie and smiled.  “It depends on who you ask…. For me it’s busy…. I work and then I get home take my dog for his afternoon walk…. Then I---”

          “You have a dog?” Lainie asked with amazement.

          I felt my smile grow.  “Yea…. He’s a big dog too.”

          “What kind is he?”

          “He’s a German Shepherd….”

          “You got him from Germany?”

          I couldn’t help but laugh at the child’s question.  “No…. He’s from America…. His breed of dog is…. It’s kind of hard to explain…. But if you ever would to come to America, I’ll let you meet him….”

          “What’s his name?”

          “His name is Bruno.”

          “Wow.”

          The maid who had let us know that dinner was ready walked in followed by Heather.  Both of them were pushing silver carts with food.  The younger maid had walked past Ron and placed a plate of food in front of me and another plate of food in front of Lainie and then walked over to Annie and placed another plate of food down in front of her while Heather placed food in front of Ron and then placed another plate of food in front of Louis.

          I looked down a my plate as the sweet smell of ham hit my nose.  My plate was filled with peas, mash potatoes, and of course honey glanced ham.  The smell of hot fresh food filled the air and I could feel my mouth start to water.  “Thank you,” I told the maid as she walked past me again.

          “No problem,” she replied with a smile then left the room.

          “Uncle Louis, can you say the prayer please?” Lainie asked with big wide eyes as she looked over the man on the other side of the table.

          Louis smiled at the child and nodded.  “Everyone, bow your heads and close your eyes.”

          We all did as we waited for the man to speak.  “Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this meal which the cooks had prepared for us and I pray please reach down and bless it so it will fill us up.  Lord, thank you for letting Samantha have a good and safe trip here on the plane and thank you for giving us this moment to share and to be here with one another as well.  Thank you for everything in Jesus name, amen.”

          As I opened my eyes, I kind of glanced over at Louis surprised that he had thanked God for me arriving safely.  I didn’t think that was something that he would have been thankful for but then I remembered that Lainie was there as well and that he was probably just trying to show her how to be gracious for others whether she got along with them or not.

          Lainie stuck her fork into a little piece of ham which one of the maids had cut up for her and placed it into her mouth.  She tried to chew with her mouth close out of respect but she was kind of having trouble.

          I kind of smiled to her and held up a napkin.  “Watch and learn,” I told her.  I took a sharp knife and cut a piece of ham for myself keeping it on the fork and took a bite.  As I began to chew I took my napkin and placed it over my mouth so that I wouldn’t seem rude to the others.

          Lainie smiled as she got the idea and copied what I had done with the napkin.

          “Nice trick,” Louis said as he smiled at Lainie.  “Keep it up, kid.”

          Lainie removed the napkin from her mouth so she could return the smile and went back to eating.

 

          After dinner, Lainie had me follow her into a bathroom so we could wash up.  She stood on a stool so she could reach the rounded sink and look into the rectangular mirror.  “Why don’t you like my Uncle Louis?” she asked.

          I sighed as I placed my hands under the warm water which ran down the faucet.  I didn’t know how to explain the situation to the little child.  “We just don’t agree with each other.”

          “Why don’t you agree with him?”

          I looked at my hands as I placed squirted some soap on my hands and I did the same for Lainie because she couldn’t reach the bottle of the hand soap.  “It’s just one of those things…. You can get along with someone the moment you meet them or you can’t.  It just depends on the person.”

          “Oh you mean like my cousin Phillip?  He is so spoiled and he always gets whatever he wants…. Then he comes here and he brags about everything…. He takes my toys and says, ‘I have a better one than this version.’  And I don’t say anything but he makes me so mad when he does that…. It hurts my feelings.”

          “Something like that,” I replied, nodding.  Little children were so interesting to talk to because they seemed to be getting smarter and smarter each year and the conversations they have are insanely similar to ours but dealing with things that only a child would understand.  I felt that in a way they were little people.

 

          I stood in the room I was staying in, looking out of the window.  The sky was a beautiful dark blue color with small silver stars to light up the sky.  It was such a beautiful night and I just loved the scene.  There were few streets light which let the stars shine through the neighbor.  I had never seen such a sight being from a town where when people would look up to the night sky the street lights would over run the stars.  It was amazing.  I looked down and noticed that Ron was outside talking to Louis as Louis began to get into his car.  They laughed and joked.  I didn’t know what they were talking about but just watching them made me think that they were close like brothers.  I shook my head as I looked at Louis who obviously hated me for some unknown reason.

          Knock, knock.

          I snapped out of the daze and turned my attention toward the door.  “Come in,” I spoke softly wondering if the person on the other side of the door had heard me.

          As if to answer my thought Annie walked in and smiled.  “Like your room?” she asked.

          I nodded.  “Yea.  I love being able to look at the stars being in the city is so different.”

          Annie nodded.  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

          I nodded again.

          She walked over to the window and stood next to me, looking down at the two men on the ground below us.  “They grew up together like brothers,” she told me as her smile grew at the sight of her husband.

          “I can tell,” I replied.

          “Aside from the fact that you and Louis got off on the wrong foot what do you think about him?”

          “Well, I have to admit that he is handsome but that doesn’t mean anything especially seeing that he was so rude to me today.”

          Annie smiled.  “You two just had a bad first impression….”

          “Bad first impression?” I asked.  “He talked to me like I was a dumb dog or something.  It was rude…. I don’t know how they are here but his way of wording certain things about me were very insulting.”

          Annie sighed.  “He’s really not that bad believe me.”

          I raise an eye brow as I looked at my sister.

          “He was just having a bad day.”

          “He acted like he didn’t even want to be there to pick me up from the airport earlier…. He talked like he had better things to do.  You know that really hurt as if I was just some outcast who shouldn’t have even been here….” As I spoke I felt my voice shake from hurt and pain.  I kind of wanted to cry but for some reason the tears weren’t coming out.  “Do you really expect me to get to know that guy?”

          “Sam, if I didn’t think that he was good for you then I wouldn’t even have tried to play matchmaker,” she admitted.  “I wouldn’t try to set you up with someone who only cared about himself…. Louis is a good guy, you just have to get to know him better…. He’s been through quite a bit in the past couple of years and he may seem cold hearted but he’s really not…. Do you really believe that I would want to hook you, my dear sister, up with some jerk?”

          I shrugged.

          “That would be cruel.  I love you and I want you to find a guy who’s worth your time and believe me I think that you and Louis are meant for each even if you two don’t see it yet.”

          “If we are meant for each other, don’t you think that he would have at least been nicer to me today?”

          I watched Annie play with a few facial expressions which gave her a few minutes to think.  “If he didn’t think that you were worth the time, do you think that he would have thank God that you had a safe trip?”

          I thought about Annie’s question for a moment then closed my eyes.  “Yea, if he only said that for Lainie’s benefit.”

          “I don’t think he did.”  She looked down the window and we both watched as Louis climbed into his small black car and drive off as Ron headed back into the mansion.  “I’m going to go ahead and go so you can sleep if you want or stay up…. Whatever you want to do.  Good night, sis.”

          “Good night.”

          Annie left the room.

          I stood at the window and continued to stare out of the window.  Louis?  What a jerk? I thought as I stared out at the night sky.

At the Park With Lainie

          I woke up to the sunlight shining through the window.  As I sat up on the bed I looked around the room.  There was this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me that something bad was going to happen but I shrugged it off.  Usually when I got that feeling the worst thing that would happen was me being late for a meeting or losing my keys which I always manage to find but I knew that it wasn’t either of those because I wasn’t at home.  I had the feeling that the worst thing that I’d have to deal with was seeing Louis again.  I rolled my eyes at the thought of even being in the same room as that man.  He was ruining my vacation which was aggravating.  I didn’t even know why I had let him bother me so bad.  I stood up and let my hair fall out of the bun which I had wrapped it up in the night before.  I took the hair tie out and kind of shook my head letting my hair fall down a little past my shoulders.

          “COME IN!” I yelled and started heading for the door when it opened unexpectedly and little Lainie ran in wrapping her arms around my waist.  I felt so small compared to the men whom she had to hug their legs in order to hug them.  “Good morning, Lainie.”  I smiled at her.

          Her beautiful hazel eyes looked up at me with a wide smile underneath them.  “Good morning, Auntie Samantha.”  Her little voice was so full of excitement.  “Did you sleep well?”

          I nodded.  “Yes I did.  The bed was really comfortable.”

          “That’s good.  I helped mummy fix it for you yesterday.  I even choose the blankets and pillows to place on it.”

          “Well, you did a good job.  They were perfect for me.”

          Lainie’s smile grew even more from the compliment I had giving her.  I could tell that I had made her morning.  She broke out of the hug and backed away.  “I was wondering if we could go to the park today?”

          “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

          “And you don’t have to worry about Uncle Louis…. He had to work today so he’s not going to be around.”

          Thank goodness, I thought.  Knowing that I didn’t have to deal with that jerk left a lot of relief inside, but that strange feeling only grew even more.

          “What’s wrong, Auntie Samantha?” Lainie asked, snapping me back to reality.  “Uncle Louis isn’t going to be here today…. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

          I looked down and smiled to reassure her that what I was feeling was nothing dealing with Louis.  “It’s nothing…. I just was thinking about something…. That’s all.”

          “What were you thinking about?”

          “Nothing that you need to worry about…. Come on, let’s go get breakfast.”

          “Okay.”  Lainie grabbed my left hand and dragged me out of the room and into the kitchen.

          Two older men and a woman stand in the kitchen.  All three of them wearing white coats and hats which had indicated that they were the cooks.  One of the men looked to be about in his mid-thirties with a little bit of grey hair and the other looked to be about in his sixties with barely any hair at least from what I could tell.  The woman looked to be about in her early forties but age hadn’t been harsh to her through the years.  It was obvious that she was in her forties but her face had no proof that aging was doing its job as she grew older.

          “Good morning,” Lainie told the cooks with a smile that anyone could fall in love with.

          “Good morning there, young lass,” the eldest cook had replied as he smiled down at the child.  His voice had an Irish accent which made him sound as though he was singing to the young child.

          “Good morning, Elaina,” the woman replied returning the smile.  “Would you like a cookie?”

          “Not yet but after breakfast please,” Lainie replied.

          “Well I see someone is learning when the proper order of food is to be served.”  The woman kind of laughed as she kept her smile.

          “Good morning, little girl,” the other man had replied.  “Did you have a good dream last night?”

          “Yes, sir.  I dreamt that I was flying on a unicorn and I got to sing with a mermaid.”

          “Sounds wonderful.”

          “Oh this is my Auntie Samantha.”

          The three cooks looked over at me and smiled with kindness in their eyes.  “Nice to meet you,” they all spoke in unison.

          “Same here,” I replied.

          “Now what would you two like to have for breakfast?” the woman asked.

          “An om-el-et,” Lainie spoke trying to sound out the word.

          “Very good, Elaina…. Pretty soon you’ll be able to pronounce it without any trouble,” the woman encouraged Lainie, making the child feel more confident in herself.  “And what would you like, Samantha?”

          “I’ll have an omelet as well please.”

          “Okay anything special in it like ham, bacon, or onions…. Etc.?”

          “Bacon please.”

          “Okay and the usual, Elaina?”

          “Yes please,” Lainie replied, nodding.

          “Okay two omelets coming right up.”  The female cook smiled at us and nicely shooed us out of the room.

 

        I sat at the dining room table next to Lainie as we waited for our breakfast.  Annie walked in followed by Ron and they both sat across from us.  Annie wore a big smile on her face; it was the same smile she wore when Ron had proposed to her and she couldn’t stop talking about that day for weeks.

          “What’s up?” I asked, raising an eyebrow with a small smile.

          “Well, we were…. Lainie, did you wash up for breakfast?” Annie asked, quickly changing the subject which kind of worried me.

          “Oh no, mummy…. I’ll be right back.”  Lainie stood up and hurried out of the room.

          Annie waited a few minutes before she continued the first part of her conversation.  “We were wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking Lainie to the park…. Just the two of you because well…. Ron has the day off today and we just wanted to be alone today…. The cooks will be heading off after breakfast…. The maids and butlers are having a few days for themselves…. And security is going to be working the neighbor…. And we’re….” She looked at Ron for approval before continuing.

          Ron smiled at her with a slight nod.

          “We want to try for another kid…. A boy this time.”

          I smiled at their honesty.  “I see how it is…. You two invite me here to babysit, not to visit,” I joked.  “Honestly, I don’t mind and I think that’s great…. As long as I don’t have to deal with Louis today then I’m fine.”

          “Good,” Ron replied.

          “I’ll give you some pounds for food and some extra for if you decide to take a taxi…. I’ll drop you two off and just call later if you want a ride or if you’re taking the taxi just so I know what’s going on.  I would go with you two but….” She took her husband’s hand.  “We really want another kid and we thought that this would be a perfect time to try with everyone gone for the day.”

          “I understand…. Besides,” I told them, “this would good a way for me to get to know Lainie better seeing that I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to see her again.  I think it’s great that you two want to be alone…. I don’t want to know what goes on when you two are alone but hey you two are married and should have a good happy married life.”  I smiled.

          “Well thank you for understanding.”

          “No problem, sis."

 

          Annie drove Ron’s small car.  I sat in the passenger seat and Lainie sat in the back.  Annie had the radio on a station which played nothing but kiddie music for Lainie to listen to as she drove.  I looked out of the window as we drove into the town.  The buildings were mixed with apartments which were connected to one another like some big structure while others were businesses.  The roads looked like they were made from brick which was very different from the ash felt roads in the United States.  The city was a beautiful sight to see.  I remembered the last time I had visited and how I went with Annie to go shopping and do some sightseeing.  It was the same but felt different.  Being there made me feel like I was in some kind of movie.

          Annie placed the car in park after she had pulled up to the side walk on the left of the car.  “Here you go,” she said as she looked at me and smiled.

          “Thank you, Annie…. And I think that we’re going to take a taxi later that way you and Ron can have extra time alone.”

          “Sounds good…. Just call me if you change your mind…. Oh and here.”  She handed me some pounds which I quickly placed into my the back right pocket of my light blue jeans and buttoned it back so that I wouldn’t worry about losing the money.

          “Thanks.”  I unbuckled and turned to face Lainie.  “Ready to go?”

          Lainie’s expression lite up with excitement.  “Yes.”

          “Okay.”  I opened the door and climbed out as I closed it.  I slid over to the back of the car.

          Lainie unbuckled herself as I opened the door for her.  She kind of slid of the seat of the car as she climbed down.  Once she was standing on the side walk I closed the door trying not to slam it.

          I backed up next to Lainie on the side walk and we watched as Annie drove off.  I looked down at the child and smiled.  “So what do you want to do first?” I asked.

          “Can we go to the lake?”

          I nodded.  “Lead the way.”

          Lainie grabbed my hand, wrapping her little tiny fingers around mine.  She dragged me to the lake which was beautiful like everything else I seen.

          The lake was large and round with some curves lining it with the town.  We walked up a small, flat walking bridge and she let go of my hand to stand on the stone, fat railing which kept her from falling into the lake.  I walked next to her and looked around admiring the trees and the sun shining into the crystal colored water.  There were ducks swimming around of different colors.  I even noticed some white swans with long delicate necks which looped over making half of a heart with beautiful yellow beaks with a little bit of black coloring the fur of their noses.  “You know if the two swans touch their noses together and pushed their bodies closer together they would make a heart?” I asked Lainie.

          She looked up at me with amazement in her eyes.  “Really?” she asked.

          I nodded.

          She turned her attention back toward the swans and looked at them hoping that she would see that.  “Wow.”  She took a step back from the railing and made a heart with her fingers and held them up, looking at me.  “Like this?”

          I couldn’t help but smile and nodded again.

          She looked at her heart shape she had made with her fingers then looked back up at me.  “Can you do this?”

          I kind of laughed at her question.  Children were so adorable especially when they were asking simples questions that everyone else knew the answers too.  “Of course.”  I kneeled down on both knees and made a heart with my fingers as well.

          “Cool.”  She took her left hand, keeping it as half of a heart and I let her remove my left hand so she could replace it with hers.  The heart was lopsided because my fingers were longer and bigger than hers so I moved them together so our fingers could fit.

 

          It was about noon time when Lainie dragged me to a small hotdog type stand so we could eat lunch.  The man was round and looked like he would explode if he eat anything.  He wore a smile on his face and a white apron tied around his neck and waist.  “What would you two like today?” he asked.

          I looked on the menu which sat off to the side of him to see what there was and the cost was for everything.  Even though it had been a while since I had been in London I had remembered the trick Annie had taught me on how much pounds I had needed for the prices.  It was pretty much like American money but at the same time it was kind of hard to get use to because I haven’t really used pounds but that same trick had popped into my head which helped me out.  I looked at Lainie and let her choose first.

          She looked up and down the menu debating on what she wanted.  “A strawberry crepe and water please.”

          “Hm…. Strawberry crepe?  That sounds good.  I’ll have a couple of strawberry crepes as well along with water too please.”  I began to pull out the pounds from my pocket.  “One for her please because she’ll probably only eat on anyways.”

          “Sure thing,” the man replied.  “Three strawberry crepes and two waters coming up,” he said as he began to prepare the crepes.  “That will be twenty pounds please.”

          I kind of looked at the guy as if that was kind of expensive for three small crepes and a couple of waters but I didn’t say anything as I pulled out the pounds and counted them as I handed them to the man.

          He counted the money and gave me the change.

          Once the crepes where done, the man handed the two waters to me and I handed them to Lainie as I took the two plates of strawberry crepes, napkins, and two plastic forks from the man.  I followed Lainie to a small concrete bench without a back and we sat down.  I had Lainie place the water bottles on the ground and handed her the plate with one crepe and a fork.  I placed the napkins in between us as we eat in peace, watching people walk by and listening to the singing voices of the birds harmonizing somewhere in the trees.

 

        The afternoon sun started beating down on Lainie and I as we walked along the path of brick down the park trail.  I sighed as I looked up at the blue sky filled with a couple of white clouds.  “Are you about ready to head home?” I asked.

          Lainie looked up at me with tired eyes and nodded.  We both had a long day and it had to end but I figured that we would do it again sometime before I left to go home.

          I sighed.  “Okay.”  We walked down to toward the road when I spotted a statue of a young boy.  The statue was made of gold and I smiled as it made me think about a fantasy story which everyone knew about the young child.  “Have you heard the story of Peter Pan?” I asked.

          “No.”  Lainie shook her head as she looked up at me.  “Can you tell me?”

          “Well, he was a child who wound up in Neverland….”

          “Neverland?”

          “Yes, a place where children never grow up.  He was the only child who till this very day has never grew up.”  I sighed as I tried to think of the story but only bits and pieces of the movies popped into my head.  “Maybe when we get back to your house we could ask your parents if they’ll let us get one of the movies…. Would you prefer the live action or the cartoon?”

          “The cartoon.”

          I smiled at her answer.  “Okay then we’ll ask to get the cartoon.”  We stopped at the beginning of the road as I looked for any taxis driving past.  I stopped a small blue punch buggy I think it was which had a triangular sign on the top which I assumed was a taxi.  I held up my right arm.  “TAXI!  TAXI!” I called as I motioned for the vehicle.

          The car stopped and I read the sign and likely I was right that it was a taxicab.  The man in the car was skinny and had dark color skin almost making him seem like an Indian.  His face looked like it was sucked in.  His dark brown eyes locked with mine, giving me a creepy stare.  His lips curled into a creepy grin.  For a moment I was reconsidering my reaction but I was hoping that he could prove me wrong although my heart and mind were warning me to be careful and watch this guy.  “How may I help you?” the man asked with an eerie tone in his voice.

          I was rethinking my decision but didn’t let my fear show.  “We’re going to the Williams’ residence…. You know where that is?”

          The man’s spooky grin grew.  “Yes I do.”

          At that moment I was wishing for anyone who I knew show up, preferably a man, even if Louis had been the man to show up.  I needed to fill safe which wasn’t happening for me.  I needed to know that Lainie was safe.  I wouldn’t have even cared if I was in danger as long as Lainie was safe was all that really had mattered.  Lord, I don’t know what this man’s intentions are, but please keep us safe, especially Lainie, I prayed.  “Okay.”  I had Lainie climb into the back and I sat next to her.  We buckled up and I hugged onto her, worried about what the man might have had in mind.  I kept praying that God wouldn’t let the man harm us or kill us.

 

          The man pulled up to the gate of the mansion and I sighed in relief.  “Okay, Lainie, we’re home.”  We unbuckled and climbed out of the car.  I paid the man and his left boney hand grabbed my right hand.

          “I’ll be seeing you again, baby,” he spoke, eerily and his creepy grin appeared on his face.

          I left my heart beat race as he let of my hand and I felt that I had made the worst mistake in my life.

          The car drove away leaving Lainie and me alone.

          “Are you okay, Auntie Samantha?” Lainie asked.

          I took a deep breath.  I knew that I couldn’t let her know that I had fear for our lives.  “I’m fine, Lainie.  Let’s go inside.”  When I turned toward the gate, I noticed that something was wrong but I couldn’t figure out what.  I walked over to it, lightly place a hand on the gold slim bar of it, kind of pushing the gate open.  That’s not right, I thought.  I’m pretty sure that gate shouldn’t have opened that easily.  “Come on, Lainie,” I told her as I grabbed her hand and we walked toward the mansion as I looked around wearily.

 

          As we walked into the mansion I noticed that there was something wrong in the entrance but I couldn’t figure out what.  For some reason I had Lainie follow me into the living room and the room was a complete mess which wasn’t the way it had looked the day before.  The throw pillows and the cushions to the couches were torn to shreds and on the ground with cotton covering the carpet.  Pictures were broken and in odd places.  “What happened?” Lainie’s little voice asked, terrified.

          “I don’t know, Lainie.”

          Thump-thump-thump.  It sounded like footsteps from the upstairs.  I was hoping that it was Ron but with the way things looked I had a bad feeling that someone else was in the house.  Someone who didn’t belong was in the house.

          “Come on, Lainie.  Keep quiet though,” I whispered.

 

          We quietly hurried upstairs.  Thump-thump-thump.  The sounded had sounded like it came from one of the rooms on the left so I had Lainie sneak into the office on the right and she showed me a hidden room behind a bookshelf.  We sneak behind it and it closed, concealing us from danger.  It was dark and no light could be seen.  We kept quiet as we heard the thump-thump-thump again this time whoever it was had walked right into the same room.  Fear crept inside.  Lord, please keep us safe.

 

          We heard the clattering and clambering of things being throw around and tossed to the floor.  A few moments flew by when we heard the thump-thump-thump of the footsteps leave the room and close the door.  I waited for the right moment to walk out from behind the bookshelf.  I took a deep breath, giving myself a good second.  “I’m going to be right back,” I whispered to Lainie.  “Stay in here and be quiet just in case.”

          “Okay,” Lainie whispered a reply.

          I slowly slid the bookshelf open, quietly.  I worked my way from behind the bookshelf and looked around.  Whatever that person was looking for wasn’t here.  Books, papers, the drawers from the desk were on the ground, leaving a big mess.  I heard the sound of cars.  I looked out of the window, keeping a good distance so that I wouldn’t be seen easily just in case and watched as Ron’s car drove away being chased by a small black car.  I think it was a mustang but I wasn’t sure exactly.  Somehow I felt that I and Lainie were the only two in the house both reassuring and worrisome.  I hope Ron and Annie are alright.  “Come out, Lainie.  I think we’re safe now.”

          Lainie wearily walked out from behind the bookshelf and looked around.  Tears began to fall from her hazel eyes.  “Where’s my mummy and daddy?”

          My heart dropped knowing that I couldn’t answer her question.  “I don’t know,” I replied, wanting to cry.  I walked over to Lainie and hugged her.  “I’m sure wherever they are that they’re fine.  Okay?” I reassured her, the best that I could.

 

          About three or four hours had pass by when the phone rang.  I answered it afraid of who might have been calling.  “Hello?” I asked, wearily.

          “Samantha?” Ron’s voice spoke with reassurance as he heard my voice.

          “Ron, what’s going?” I asked.

          “I don’t know,” he replied.  “These masked men broke into the house earlier and began going through our stuff while me and Annie were at the house…. I had Annie rush into the car…. I had no idea where you and Lainie…. Annie had tried to call you several time to tell you not to go back to the mansion but you had left your mobile phone on your bed….”

          As soon as he had said something I had begun digging through my pockets with the realization that my phone was missing.

          “We’re at the police station and they’re going to place us in witness protection until they can solve this case…. For right now you and Lainie need to leave as soon as possible…. Louis is on his way to pick the both of you up…. Please for Elaina don’t fight with him…. At least not while she’s around….”

          “ELAINA?!” I heard Annie’s worried voice in the background cry.

          “I won’t….” I told Ron.  “And tell Annie that Elaina’s fine.”

          “I will…. One more thing,” Ron sounded as if he wanted to cry as well, “please let Elaina know that we love her and we want to see her but right now we’re going to be gone for a little while…. The police won’t let us go back to get her…. Please take care of her?”

          “I will.”

          “Okay.  Bye.”

          “Bye.”  I placed the phone on the hook and looked at Lainie.  “Your parents are fine but they’re going to be gone for a little while…. They love you, Lainie, and I’m going to take care of you for them and so is your Uncle Louis….”  Louis, great I really have to deal with him?  Why not anyone else?  Why does it have to be him?

          Lainie nodded.

          “SAMANTHA!  LAINIE!” Louis’s voice called through the house.

          Why?  “Come on.”

 

          I walked with Lainie into the area of the entrance were Louis stood next to the door.  He crossed his arms and stared at us.  “Lainie, go and get your things we have to hurry…. Okay?”

          “Okay.”  Lainie ran  toward her room.

          I walked down and over to Louis.  We had a stare down as I moved closer toward the man.  “Look, I told Ron that I was going to be nice to you around Lainie so you better be nice too.”

          “Around Lainie…. It’s different now that we’re alone…. Now go and get your damn stuff…. We don’t have all day.”

          I puffed as I listened to his words.  “I was just---”

          “Go…. You’re in danger, got it?  I don’t have time to play the knight in shining armor…. Believe me I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t promised my best friend that I’d come to get you…. The only reason I even agreed to come is for Lainie…. Now hurry up we don’t have much time.”

          “You’re a jerk.”  I started to head up the stairs toward my room.

          “By the way, don’t grab everything you have…. You only need a few things…. You can always get new clothes and stuff later.”

          I balled up my fist as I filled up with anger.  “Fine,” I puffed out of frustration.

 

          I grabbed my small black duffle bag and began throwing clothes into it as my thoughts jumped around to the events of the horrible day.  And I still have to deal with Louis….  Great…. Just great.  I was about the zip up my bag as a man’s hand gripped mine I opened my mouth to scream as fear began to grow over the anger.

          “It’s just me,” Louis reassured me, “Lainie’s already in the car.  We’ve been here long enough now hurry.”

          “Let me zip up my bag first.”

          Louis grabbed my duffle bag, quickly zipping it.  “There it’s zipped.  Now come on,” he said as he grabbed my left hand and dragged me out of the room quickly.        

The Trip

          We sat in Louis’s car.  Silence had filled the air after the long day of confusion and horror.  I stared out of the passenger window as Louis drove past countless green and brown trees.  Lainie had fallen asleep not long after we had left the mansion.  “Where are we going?”

          “It’s pointless telling you because you wouldn’t know where we’re heading anyways, dumb broad,” he had muttered the last two words.

          “Lainie’s right there,” I whispered harshly trying to keep my voice from waking Lainie.

          “But she’s sleeping.”

          I shook my head as I stared at the man.  “Why did you have to come huh?”

          “Because Ron called me no one else…. That’s something that you should ask him…. I think it’s because of your sister trying to play matchmaker…. She’s so damn stubborn….” He kind of laughed.  “But she’s a sweet woman….” He sighed.  “She’s perfect for Ron.”

          “How come you’re so nice to everyone else but me?”

          “I don’t want to talk now,” he replied, avoiding the subject.

          “Why won’t you answer me?”

          “I told you that I don’t want to talk now.”

          I couldn’t believe it he ignored my question.  How could he have done that?  “I can’t believe that Annie would want me to end up with someone like you.”

          He looked at me then back to the road.  “I don’t know why anyone would even want to be with you.”

          I dropped my mouth at the insult.  I wanted to know what his problem was and why he hated me so much.  I had never done anything to hurt him.  I hadn’t even known who he was until then.

 

          We pulled up a small restaurant.  It looked kind of like a some kind of waffle house or something that was from a small family business at one time.

          “Hungry?” Louis asked.

          “Yea,” I replied.

          Louis parked the car in an empty parking space.

          I unbuckled and turned toward a sleeping Lainie.  She looked so peaceful and I smiled.  I didn’t want to wake her up but we couldn’t leave her alone in the car.  I place my left hand on her small shoulder kind of shaking her.  “Lainie,” I whispered, “wake up.  We’re going to get some dinner.”

          Lainie’s eyes slowly blinked as she woke up and looked around.

          Louis had pushed his seat forward and unbuckled Lainie.  He picked her up so she didn’t have to walk after just waking up.

          I climbed out of the car and closed the door as Louis kind of used his back to close his door and carried Lainie in his arms.  I kind of smiled at the sight.  It was nice to see that what he was willing to do for Lainie, kind of like an uncle would for his beloved niece.  Even though he was a jerk to me, he treated Lainie almost like she was his own and for some reason that made my attraction to him even stronger, although I had to remind myself what a jerk he was.  I looked at the sky.  It was about dusk with the orange, pink, and purple turning into dark blue with the stars of twilight lighting up the night sky.  So beautiful to see.

 

          I looked around the dinner as we waited for the waitress to seat us.  We were behind a couple of groups of people.  The first was a family of five which included the mother, the father, a little boy about ten, a little girl about six, and an infant which the mother carried in her arms.  The infant was covered with a little blue blanket which I assumed meant that the baby was a boy but I didn’t want to say anything just in case I was wrong.

The other group consisted of adults which the men all wore nice black suits and the women wore nice long deceit dress which made me believe that they were there for dinner for some business meeting or something.  There had to have about twelve of them all together, six men and six women.

“Why don’t you sit down?  I’ll place Lainie next to you so that way you two don’t have to stand in line as long,” Louis explained and for the first time since I had met him he didn’t have that rude tone in his voice.

I nodded.  “Okay.”  I walked over to the small brown bench which was connected to a wall which sank in and was filled with plants and dirt.  I sat down on the wooden bench and Louis placed Lainie next to me.

Lainie rested her head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her, playing with her beautiful long blonde hair with my fingers.  She didn’t say anything but I figured that was because she was tired and after the events of the day she probably didn’t know what to say.  It was terrible to see a child lose her world in one day.  Everything she had known had changed and she had to learn how to cope with it.

I sighed as we waited.

“Next please,” a waitress had said.  I looked over at the podium to see a woman about my age with her dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail.

The group filled with adults dressed for a business meeting had stepped up to her.

I watched as she wrote down the information then had the group fall her off into another part of the building, vanishing behind a bulletin filled with pictures and sticky notes.

Louis waited at the podium for a waiter or waitress to arrive.  He had his back toward Lainie and me as he waited.  He let an arm rest on the podium as he waited for someone to come and lead us to our table.

“I’m hungry,” Lainie spoke with sadness in her little voice.

“We’ll be eating soon,” I replied.  “Uncle Louis has brought to a nice little restaurant.”  I looked over at the fish tank which had sat across from us.  It was filled with gold fish, a little red and silver fish and a funny looking brown fish which buried its self in the different color rocks at the bottom of the tank.  I wasn’t one for pet fish because they were boring to me but at the moment just watching them swim around made me feel at peace and took away the worry and fear I had felt earlier.

“Next please,” a woman’s voice said which broke me out of my daze.

“Come on, Sam and Lainie,” Louis replied from the podium as he turned to face us, gesturing for us to move.

“Okay, Lainie, time to go eat,” I said as I stood up helping Lainie too her feet.  She held onto my hand as we walked over to the waitress and Louis.

The waitress looked to be about in her early thirties with a little grey in her black hair which she wore in a bun.  Her smile was welcoming as Lainie and I walked up to her and Louis.

“Three in your party, sir?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Louis replied.

“Okay.”  She wrote it down in a small pad and then turned her attention toward us.  “Follow me this way please.”

We followed her into the back to a small rectangular table which sat in between two booths.  I had Lainie sit in the middle of me and the window.  After the events of the day, I was kind of paranoid that the wrong person might show up.

Louis sat in the booth across from us.  He obviously wasn’t too worried.

“Can I get you drinks?” the waitress replied.

“Chocolate milk please,” Lainie answered without thinking.

“Chocolate milk for me too please,” I replied I wasn’t really in the mood to look through the menu to see kind of drinks they had.

“Okay.  Two chocolate milks,” the woman repeated as she wrote down our order.  “And what about you, sir?” she asked Louis, kind of flirtatiously.

Louis obviously could care less.

I kind of smiled and shook my head.  If he hadn’t been so rude to me when at the airport then I probably would have fallen into that trap as well.

“Water,” Louis replied, ignoring the flirtation from the waitress.

“Okay.  One water,” the waitress repeated as she wrote it down in her notepad.  “Anything else, cutie?  For you it could be on the house.”

“Nope,” Louis replied, still ignoring the flirtatious waitress.

I wondered if he would have flirted with her if it wasn’t for me and Lainie being there.

“Okay then.  Well, I’ll be back with your drinks and to get your orders.”  The waitress left.

“I need to go to the restroom,” Lainie said.

“Okay.  Here I’ll go with you,” I said as I stood up and let Lainie slide out of the booth.

“I’ll wait till you two get back to order…. I’m sure by then the waitress will be back with our drinks.”

“Okay.  Come on, Lainie.”  I looked back at Louis and something seen off about him.  He didn’t look at me, instead just turned his head toward the window and stared out.  He seemed almost depressed about something, like something was bothering him deep down inside.

 

          I stood in front of the stall which Lainie was in just in case.  As I stood there I looked into the mirror and my brown eyes revealed the pain and fear I had been filling earlier that day.  The emotions were there and I was surprised that no one else had seem to notice.

          “I’m coming out,” Lainie’s little voice said behind me.

          I turned around to watch as she opened the stall door and I moved out of the way as she walked over to the sink to wash her hands.  I held her up so she could slide her hands under the automatic facet which sensed motion.  After her hands were wet from the water, she squirted the soap onto them and rubbed them together.  Once she was finished, I set her on the floor and she ran to the paper towel thing and pulled some paper towels out and dried her hands with them.  When she had finished, we left the restroom as soon as a couple of other women had walked in.

 

          Louis was still sitting at the table and this time the drinks were there waiting for us.  Lainie sat down and slid over to the window and I sat down next to her.  “The waitress should be coming back soon to take our order so....” Louis began

          “Yea yea,” I replied.  “Do you know what you’re getting?”

          “Of course,” Louis replied with the rudeness in his voice.

          There it is, I thought.  “I was just asking.”

          “I don’t care if you were just asking,” Louis responded, sounding agitated.

          I looked at Lainie whose eyes moved back and forth from me to Louis.  “Sorry, Lainie, but your uncle is being very rude.”

          “And your auntie is being very annoying,” Louis replied as he placed his glass of water to his lips.  He took a sip.

          “My mummy always says that if a boy is mean to you that usually means that he likes you.”

          Louis had spit his water out all of me at Lainie’s words.

          I dropped my mouth in disbelief at both Lainie’s words and the fact that the jerk had spit all over me.

          “Sorry about that,” Louis replied as he turned his attention to Lainie.  “Look, Lainie, I don’t like her…. I’m just putting up with her, there’s a difference.”

          Lainie didn’t respond.  Her hazel eyes just stared at Louis as if she had known something was up.

          I took a few napkins to clean the jerks spit off of my clothes.  “That’s more for boys around your age…. Men are different,” I replied, eyeing Louis with hatred.  I smiled as I looked down at Lainie.  “Men have to be trained.”

          I felt Louis’s stare as I spoke to Lainie.  His stare was burning right into me with anger and I was enjoying every moment of it.

          “But that’s something that I’ll have to teach you when you’re older.”  I picked up my menu and flipped through it.  The food choices were odd from what I was used to seeing in America.  The food ranged from bone marrow to wiener schnitzel.  The pictures didn’t look too appetizing for me but I was hungry and was willing to eat anything.

          By the time I had finally made my decision the waitress had made her way back to our little table.  “Have you decided what you wanted?” she asked.

          “I’ll have a few kiwi burgers,” Louis replied.

          “Are you sure?” the waitress asked.  “I think an attractive man so as yourself should eat more than that….”

          “Why are you flirting with a man whose here with another woman?” Louis asked, kind of snapping angrily toward the waitress.

          I dropped my mouth in disbelief.  I couldn’t believe how rude he was being.

          The waitress obviously was surprised as well as she stared with wide brown eyes.

          “What?  Are you some kind of---?”

          I kicked his shin before he could finish the sentence.  Something had been bothering him and whatever it was ticked him off.

          Lainie stared at Louis with wide eyes which revealed tears.

          Louis took a deep breath and turned his attention toward the waitress.  “I’m sorry…. I’m just having a hard time right now,” he apologized, feeling kind of bad for what he had just done.

          The waitress moved her eyes over toward me.  “What about you, Miss?”

          “I would like to try some bacon na-an?  I’m sorry…. I’m visiting from America and I don’t know how to pronounce some of these words.”

          “Well, let me see….”

          I pointed to what I had decided and she nodded as she wrote it down.  When she was done, she smiled down at Lainie.  “And what would you like?”

          “Mac ‘n’ cheese,” Lainie replied.

          I smiled at the choice for kids.  It was something that they made on every continent I guessed.  It was so simple.  If I had known that was even a choice whether or not for kids, I would have probably had ordered that instead.

          “Okay, I’ll be back with your orders.”

 

          After dinner, we sat at the table letting our food digest when the waitress walked past and placed the bill on the table as she picked up our dirty dishes.  I went to reach for the bill but Louis had stopped me.  “Whether I like you or not,” he said, “a woman shouldn’t have to pay for the meal.”  He took the bill and examined it to make sure that it was what he had figured it would be in his head.  I watched him slowly nod as if he had been right.

          I was kind of surprised that he had been willing to pay for me even though I was the one person who he seemed to hate the most.

          “Why don’t you two go out to the car?  I’ll pay for the meal.”

          “Okay,” I nodded.

 

          I held Lainie’s hand as we walked over to the car.  The sky was covered with stars and completely dark blue.  I loved it.  I looked down at Lainie and smiled.  “Lovely night huh?”

          Lainie looked up at the sky with sadness in her eyes.  “Do you think that my mummy and daddy are staring that the stars too?”

          “I don’t know for sure but I bet they are…. I bet their thinking of you as well.  Thinking about your smile, your beautiful hazel eyes, your long, nicely brushed blonde hair…. Lainie, I think their missing you so much right now…. But they want you to be safe…. Me and your uncle aren’t going to let anything happen to you and they know it.”

          Louis walked out and over to the car as he looked around wearily.  “We need to go…. I have a bad feeling.”

          I nodded and helped Lainie into the car as Louis climbed into the front seat.

 

          Louis drove for about an hour or so when he started getting tired.  I could see the weariness in his eyes as he shook his head to stay awake.  It kind of worried me.  “Pull over and let me drive.”

          “No,” he replied.

          “You’ll falling asleep…. You’ve been driving almost all day…. You need a break.”

          “I’m fine….”

          “If you don’t let me drive, then at least pull into a hotel for the night so you can get a good night sleep…. Do it for Lainie’s sake.”

          He glanced into the rearview mirror then nodded.  “I’ll pull into a hotel for the night, but first thing tomorrow we have to leave.”

          “Okay.”

 

          He pulled up to a small little inn which the sign had read vacant rooms.  It was the only place he could find that wasn’t full.  It looked deceit for a small inn.  It wasn’t flashy but it wasn’t worn down either.  It looked like a nice little place to stay.  He parked into one of the empty parking places which stand right in front of the building.

          “Is this where we’re staying?” Lainie’s sleepy little voice asked.

          I looked back at her and nodded.

          “I want the both of you to go inside with me…. I don’t trust this neighborhood.”

          I nodded.  I opened the door and climbed while Louis pushed his seat forward to let Lainie out.  He picked up Lainie and let her lay her little head on his shoulder.

Before we headed inside, Louis made sure that both car doors were locked.

 

          As we walked into the lobby of the hotel I looked around.  It was small with a desk on the right of the room and some chairs surrounding a little coffee table on the left.  The coffee table was kind of covered with magazines and newspaper articles.  I followed Louis over to the front desk.  No one was there and the room was empty of life.  Louis hit a small round silver bell, hoping to get someone’s attention.  “I’m going to get two separate rooms.  One for the two of you and one for myself,” he informed me.  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for an unmarried man and woman to share a room together…. Besides, you have the child to look after…. I have to make sure that the both of you are safe…. So I’m going to get four keys for the rooms…. You’ll have your room key and my room key and vise-versa…. Just in case for any reason there’s danger…. Got it?”

          I nodded in agreement.

          “Okay good.”

          After a moment, a man wearing a button up t-shirt which was decorated with flowers and a grey tank top under it and light brown long shorts walked out.  He looked to be about in his late twenties and was kind of attractive with wavy dark brown hair which dropped past his ears and a dark tan.

“Ooo.”  I couldn’t help but stare.

Louis raised an eyebrow as he looked over at me.

“What?  I’m not a loud to look?” I whispered at the man.

“I didn’t say anything,” he defended himself.  I didn’t know why it had affected him anyways with the way he treated me.

“Sorry I was kind of busy,” the man responded and kind of smiled at me flirtatiously.

I couldn’t help but blush.

Louis raised an eyebrow again and I kind of got that odd feeling that he was kind of jealous but I didn’t understand why.

“How may I help you today?”

“I would like two rooms please,” Louis replied.

“Two rooms?  You two aren’t a couple or something?”

“No,” I replied.  “He’s kind of---”

“It’s a long story,” Louis interrupted.  “Two rooms for the night.”  The jealous was kind of starting to grow but I really didn’t know why he would be jealous in the first place.

“Okay then.”

“You think I’ll be seeing your little friend again?” the guy asked Louis.

“Nope, she’s not from around here and I don’t think you’d want her anyways….”  He looked back at me then to the man.  “She’s too disrespectful and she believes that men should be fed to the sharks.”

I dropped my mouth in anger at Louis’s words.  Why would he have said that?  He was ticking me even more that I figured he would.

“Ouch.”  The guy handed the keys for the rooms to Louis.  “You guys have rooms five a and b…. They’re both upstairs to the right and right next to each.  You shouldn’t miss them.”

“Alright.”  Louis dug into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“That’s a hundred pounds please.”

Louis nodded as he pulled out the money in his pocket and handed them to the guy.

 

          Louis handed me a key to the room me and Lainie where going to stay in and a key to the room which he was going to stay in.  “You two take five a…. I’ll be in five b.”

          I nodded and rolled my eyes at him.  I was so ticked off.

          “What?”

          “Why did you have to tell that guy all that stuff that isn’t true about me?”

          Louis shrugged as if he didn’t know what I was even talking about.

          I slid the key to the room for me and Lainie and opened the door.  I walked in followed by Louis.  “That was so frustrating…. Do you realize that he---?”

          “Not your type.”

          I looked at Louis with confusion.  “How do you know if he’s not my type?  How do you even know what my type is?”

          “Ssshhh,” he said as he laid a sleeping Lainie on the bed.  He removed her shoes and stocks and placed her under the blankets.  He had done all of that without waking her up.  He stood up and turned toward me.  “I’ll be right back to get your bags so that way tomorrow you two can change and freshen up and then I’m going to my room where you’re not welcomed.”

           I eyed him as he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.  What a freaking jerk?  Why would he even consider saying any of those things?

 

          After I was dressed for bed, I had decided to climb into the bed with Lainie, pulling her closer to me so she wouldn’t feel alone in the unfamiliar room when she had woken up.  I closed my tired eyes and feel into a deep sleep.

          I walked inside of the mansion and Lainie ran up to me with excitement.  “Auntie Samantha, guess what?”

          “What?”

          “I’m going to be a big sister.”

          “You are?”

          Lainie nodded.  She grabbed my hand and dragged me into the family room where Annie was sitting on the couch and smiled at me.  Her stomach was kind of round indicating that she had to have been at least about a few months but not too far along yet.

          “Still hoping  for a boy?” I asked.

          Annie nodded, keeping her smile.  “Of course.  Ron’s at work.  He’ll be home in a few hours though so that gives us time to chat.”

          I walked over and sat in a chair which was across from where Annie sat.  We talked for what seem forever when everything went black and Annie and Lainie had vanished.  I was standing in a light but all around me was pitch black.  “HELLO?!” I cried with only an echo of my voice fading in front of me.  “ANNIE?!  LAINIE?!”

          “WATCH OUT?!” Louis had tackled me out of nowhere as the sound of gun shots fired.  He hugged me as if he were shielding me from something or someone.  He looked behind him then kind of backed away pulling me up to my knees.  “We have to get out of here.”  He looked back to see if the person with the gun was behind him then quickly stood up, pulling me to my feet.  He kept a hold of my left hand as he rushed me away into what seemed to be the woods.  His breath was shallow as he had me hide in a small dark cave.  “Get down and don’t come out till I know you’re safe, Sam.”

          I didn’t know how to respond.  I just stared at the man with confusion.  Why was he trying to protect me?  Why had I heard gun shots?  Where did the gun shots come from?  Questions buzzed in my head as the confusion grew.

          “Sam…. Sam…. Wake up, Sam…. Time to go,” Louis’s voice had slowly worked its way into my dream that I hadn’t realized that I was in the process of waking from my sleep.

          I sat up and looked around, rubbing my eyes.  “Can’t I sleep a little longer?”

          “No, we can’t stay here,” Louis answered.

          I looked around and began to panic when I realized that Lainie was missing.  “Lainie?  Where is she?  Did someone---?”

          “Ssshhh,” Louis replied as placed a finger over his mouth.  “She’s okay.  She’s in the bathroom getting ready to leave.  The kid’s fine.”

          I took a deep breath and sighed with relief.  That dream kind of worried me.  It had seen so real but it hadn’t happened.  I figured that was probably because of everything that had happened the day before.

          Louis stood over the bed and looked me up and down, trying to figure something out.

          “What?” I asked, kind of grumpily.

          “You’re not a morning person, are you?”

          “No I’m not.”

          “Okay well after we leave we’ll stop and get some coffee…. We should eat something because it’s going to be a long drive.”

          Any riding with you is a long drive, I thought but decided not to say it.

Hours & Hours of Boredom

          I placed my paper coffee cup into the cup holder which was next to me and next to the cup of coffee Louis had been drinking as well.  Lainie had some juice in a bottle but most of her drink was about gone.  “Can we listen to music, Uncle Louis?” Lainie asked.

          “Yea,” Louis replied as he turned on the radio with his free hand whereas the other was steering the wheel.  He placed the station on the same station Annie had played for Lainie the day before.

          I raised an eyebrow, kind of mad that if I had asked he would have said, ‘no’ or something rude on that line.

          He looked at me and he knew what I was thinking without having to ask.  “I have a soft spot for kids.”

          “I can tell,” I replied, turning my attention outside of the car.  We were just leaving the town we had spent the night in.

 

Louis and I sat in silence while Lainie sang to the children songs which they were playing.  Some of the songs were old nursery rhymes like Hey Diddle Diddle and Mary had a Little Lamb others were songs which I didn’t recognize but it wasn’t surprising seeing that I was from the other side of the world.

“Having fun, Lainie?” I asked, looking back at her with a smile.

She nodded while she continued to sing.  At some point she had seem confused with some of the lyrics to a few songs but managed to get back on track when the lyrics she knew actually started up again.

I loved knowing that even during a scary time such as what she was going through right now she could let herself laugh and enjoy being a kid.

 

          Hours drove by and Lainie had worn herself out from singing with the radio.  The only sound from the back seat was her breathing as she slept.  Louis had turned off the radio so she could sleep for a while.

          “What do you do?  I mean working wise?” I asked to get some kind of conversation started because the silence was killing me.

          “None of your business,” he replied.

          I looked at him with a look that meant that he couldn’t be a little nicer when he spoke.

          “I didn’t mean it like that,” he replied as I way for me to know that he knew what I was thinking.  “It’s just the job I have is top secret…. Nothing that you need to know about.”

          “Top secret?  Like FBI or something?”

          “Something along that line,” he replied.  He glanced back Lainie.  “There’s a reason Ron chose me come to protect you and Lainie…. Although your sister is probably hoping for something to happen between us which I don’t understand why…. I’m happier alone.  I don’t need a woman right now.  That would just give me someone else to worry about…. I don’t need that not with the job I have.”

          I was kind of interested in his words.  They were a good choice coming from him but I still hadn’t understood what kind of job would be so bad that he wouldn’t want an extra person to worry about.  I guess it did make some since though.

          “What about you?  What do you do as far as work goes?”

          “I’m a writer,” I answered.

          “Of course you are,” he kind of laughed as he spoke.

          “What’s so funny about that?”

          “Nothing…. Nothing,” he replied.  It was kind of surprising seeing this side of him though.  He was being honest and wasn’t being rude like usual.  I wanted to know more but I figured that the more questions that I asked he would eventually start acting like a jerk to me so I decided to leave it alone.  This was the man who Annie probably had wanted me to get to know instead of the jerk which I had met about a couple of days ago.

 

          I was bored stiff out of my mind.  Louis kept droving for what seemed like forever.  We hadn’t pulled over for gas in the past few hours because the last stop Louis had made sure that he had a full tank of gas.  I stared out of the window and guessed that it had been about four in the afternoon.  I hadn’t bothered to check the clock on the dashboard of the car but I felt that would have been pointless.

          Lainie had fallen asleep again after our last bathroom break and even though I had offered to drive Louis hadn’t agreed like the night before.  I had wished that he would have given me a little information so I would know where we were heading but he wouldn’t.

          I stared out of the window and watched as other cars drove past in blurs or watch as we drove past them in what seem like slow motion.  I looked up at the smoking light grey sky.  It looked like it was going to rain.  I wished that it was as beautiful as the last couple of days had been but it wasn’t.  I sighed and rested my head against the back of the seat.  “Do these seats recline?” I asked.

          “Yea the nob for the seat is on the bottom left kind of under the chair,” Louis answered, keeping his eyes on the road.

          I slid my left hand under the chair and searched for the nob.  It didn’t take me long to find it and as I did I kind of pressed it back which the seat moved backwards for me.  When I was comfortable, I placed my left hand over my stomach and closed my eyes.

 

          “Sam, wake up,” Louis spoke softly and almost sweetly.

          I slowly opened my eyes and realized that we were at some kind of inn.  It looked smaller than the other one but just as deceit.  I guessed that Louis had decided to stop off for some rest this time without me having to make him.  As I unbuckled, Louis was already getting out of the car, helping Lainie get out.

          “We’re going to go ahead and get the rooms so we can put our stuff up and then go get something to eat…. But dress up nicely, I want some where nice not a little dinner like last night.”

          “Okay,” I replied.

          “Oh and you can wear red if you have any skirts or dresses just not any other colors.”

          “I don’t have any skirts or dresses with me,” I replied, as I watched Lainie run up to the sidewalk, leaving us a good distance behind.  “Why?”

          “Because my wife never liked red so she never wore it,” Louis replied.

          I made a few confused and   frustrated looks.  “You’re married?” I asked, confused to why Annie would want me with a jerk who was also married.

          “Not anymore,” he replied simply.

          “What happened?  Did you leave her?  Did she leave you?  I would so understand if she left you.”

          Louis gave me a look of anger and confusion as well as if he was telling I had no clue what I was even saying.  “No one left anyone…. At least, not the way you would believe.”

          “Then what do you mean?”

          “That’s none of your damn business.”  He left me alone and moved over to Lainie, taking her hand as he opened the long wide glass door.

          I hurried after them and made that he didn’t leave me outside.  I wanted to know what was going on with him.  Why can’t he just tell me what happened?  Why can’t he just be honest with me?  All I want is for him to trust me.

          We walked over to the front desk where a kind of overweight forty something year old man stood.  The man was going bald but he had hair which kind of made a horseshoe around his head.  He wore small reading glasses and looked at us with a smile.  Something about his smile reminded me about my father and I had to return the smile as well.

          “How many I help you?” the man asked with a welcoming tone in his voice.

          “Two rooms please…. One for the lady and the child and one for me….” Louis seemed to know how to talk to people without them throwing some kind of fit unless it was me of course.

          “You two aren’t together?” the man asked, confused.

          “No,” Louis replied, “we’re not together.  Just kind of here to keep the woman and the child out of danger for a couple of friends.”

          “Oh,” the man replied, kind of nodding as if he had known the situation.  “Got trouble with an ex-boyfriend or husband or something?” he asked me.

          “No,” I replied, unsure how to answer the man’s question.  We were in trouble, yes, but unless one of the lazy jerks I knew from America, I highly doubted that.

          The man nodded.  “Okay.  Do you want the rooms closer together so just in case something happens?”

          “Yes please,” Louis replied.

          “Okay then.  Let me see what I can find here….” The man turned over to face a wall with hooks that had some key chains hanging from them.  It was different than what I was used to seeing but then again as I looked around the room it seemed like the hotel was older and more traditional than the newer ones.  He took two keys from the wall which had been sitting side by side.  He checked them to see the room numbers on them.  He walked back over to us and handed the keys two Louis.  “Rooms A 2 and A 3…. Oh and don’t tell the other guest because I don’t want them to freak out but all of the door nods are the same kind so pretty much all of the keys can unlock any of the doors…. Just in case for some reason the two girls need to go to your room or you need to go into their room for any reason,” the man told Louis.

          Louis and I exchanged worried glances at the sound of that but Louis went ahead and took the keys without any problem.  I could tell by his facial expression that he wished he had chosen that particular hotel.  “How much is that?”

          “Forty-five pounds each.”

          Louis nodded and pulled out his wallet.  Man, he must have been rich because no matter where we went he seemed to have a mess of money with him.  I figured whatever job he didn’t want me to know about was a pretty good job in order for him afford everything.  I watched him count the money and then hand it to the clerk.  The hotel clerk took it and counted as well then handed Louis back some change and wrote down some information then smiled at Louis.

“The rooms are just around the corner to the left.  Hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Yea I’ll enjoy it,” Louis muttered under his breath as if he was regretting the decision.

 

          We walked out of the building and headed for the car and climbed in.  Because Louis wasn’t driving too far, none of us buckled up and I let Lainie sit in my lap.  “We’ve got to be careful tonight,” Louis told me.

          I nodded.

          “If anything happens tonight, I want you and Lainie to come to my room.  I don’t care if a car alarm goes off.  I need to know that you two are safe.  Got it?”

          I nodded again.

          “Now remember we’re going somewhere nice to eat so dress nicely and clean up a little,” Louis told both me and Lainie as he parked the car in front of our rooms.

          “Can I wear my butterfly dress?” Lainie asked Louis, sweetly.

          Louis smiled at the child.  “Did you pack it?”

          Lainie had a small twinkle of excitement in her eye as she smiled at Louis.  “Yea.”

          Louis nodded, keeping his smile.  “Then you can wear it.”

          “Yay.”

          We got out of the car and started heading toward the rooms.  Louis handed me the key for the room me and Lainie were going to stay in.

          “I’ll meet you two at your room when I’m ready.  I would say lock the door but after what that guy said it would be pointless.  I’ll knock three times to let you know that it’s me.”

          “Okay,” I replied as me and Lainie walked into our room as Louis walked away from us.

 

          Lainie sat on the bed as she removed her white sandals she’d been wearing.  I walked over to the sink and looked into the mirror and sighed.  All I really did was change clothes quickly and brushed my hair.  I was a simple girl.  I didn’t care for makeup.  I wasn’t one for dresses and high heels unless it was a specially occasion or something like that otherwise I could care less.  Lainie rushed into the bathroom, holding her small little green and blue dress filled with butterflies.  “Don’t come in,” she told me as if I didn’t know what she was going to do.

          I smiled and shook my head.  “You’re safe, Lainie.”

          Knock.  Knock.  Knock.  Louis already?  Man he was fast.

          I walked over to the door and took a quick peak out of the window just to make sure and I was kind of in shocked by his clothes.  He wasn’t dressed really nice but it was different from what I was used to seeing him wearing.  His hair was combed nicely to the side.  His long black pants looked almost formal and his shirt was nice and buttoned up but short sleeve.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.  He was handsome and dreamy.  I almost forgot who he was for a moment.

          “Sam, it’s me…. Open up,” his voice sounded almost frustrated as he spoke through the door.

          I shook my head slightly, breaking me out of the daze.  I walked over to the door and quickly opened it.  “Sorry about that---”

          “Kept me waiting?” he asked.  He raised an eyebrow as he looked me up and down.  I was waiting for him to say some kind of snotty remark like he’s been but he didn’t which kind of surprised me.  “Lainie getting ready?”

          “Yea she’s in the bathroom,” I replied, moving out of the way so Louis could walk in.  Once he was inside, I closed the door.  “You look…. Nice,” I replied, trying not to seem eager or anything.

          “You don’t look so bad yourself,” he replied.

          I was amazed.  I had been waiting for a rude remark or something but he actually gave me a compliment.  “Thank you.  So can you tell me about your wife?”

          “Not a subject I like to talk about.”

          “Why not?”

          “Because I don’t want to talk about it.”  He looked at me with anger in his eyes but also sadness.

          I didn’t know how to respond.  I figured that it was a sensitive subject for him but I wanted to know.  It was something I needed to know if Annie wanted us together so badly then it was important information.

          Lainie had walked into the room.  If she had heard our conversation, she didn’t seem like it had bothered her.  She walked over to a bed and sat down after she had picked up her sandals.  She slid her little feet into the small sandals and looked at Louis.  “I’m ready to go.”

          “Okay.  Come on,” he said as he held out his hand for her.

 

          The restaurant was small but seemed kind of fancy.  It almost seemed to be one of those places where you need to book it for seats but likely for us it wasn’t.  There was a buffet so all Louis really had to pay for was the drinks and for each of us to eat.  I was glad because I didn’t want to try and figure out any odd names again.

          The waiter was cute but seemed to be too young for my taste.  He had to be about seventeen but he was very helpful and brought our drinks to us as soon as possible.  He had short black hair and dark brown eyes.  He wore thin glasses but didn’t seem like a nerd.  He looked to be built but small at the same time.  “I’ll be back if I have to refill any of your drinks or if you need help with anything.”

          “Thank you, Mr. Waiter,” Lainie said, smiling.  She sounded as if she had a little crush on the guy.

          I kind of laughed.

          “No problem.”  The boy smiled at Lainie, not knowing what the child was thinking.  He walked away.

          “You have a crush, Lainie?” I asked.

          She kind of blushed at the question.  It was so adorable.

          “I think he’s kind of too old for you though.  Why don’t you go ahead and get your plate?” I asked her because the buffet was in our view so Louis or I could see her and keep a good eye out just in case one of us had to rush over to her or something.

          “What is it with woman and older men?” Louis asked as he looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

          “Hey if they’re cute then they’re cute…. I have a lot of celeb crush who are older than me.”

          Louis raised an eyebrow.  “Really?  Like who?”

          “Oh…. Johnny Depp…. Robert Downey Jr.…. Charlie Chaplin….”

          “Wow…. You’re going way back into time there aren’t you…. He kind of laughed.”

          “Chaplin was a very attractive man even with that little mustache.  Besides I’m sure you have your share of female celebs who you like.”

          “Of course but none of them are as old as the little tramp himself was.”

          I kind of smiled at his reply, shaking my head.  He was so charming when he wanted to be but most of the time he was a jerk.  “Well, I’m hungry…. I’m going to go join Lainie at the buffet,” I replied as I stood up.  I started walking when I felt my foot hit something and I almost went face forward into the ground but someone’s hand grabbed my arm before my face could hit the floor.

          “Wow,” Louis said as he pulled me closer to himself.  “Just like when we first met.”

          I looked at him confused.  What was he talking about?  We had met a couple of days earlier and I didn’t trip over anything at least I didn’t remember tripping over anything.

          Louis raised an eyebrow as he looked into my eyes.  “You don’t remember?”

          “A couple of days ago?”

          “No…. Annie and Ron’s wedding…. You were the maid of honor and I was the best man…. We were walking down the aisle after them and you tripped because of your high heels but I caught you before you could hit the ground….”

          I opened my mouth at the realization of what he was talking about.  I didn’t even know how I had forgotten about that.  “That was you?”

          “Yea,” he replied, kind of laughing

          The memory played in my mind as I continued to walk to the buffet.  Annie was wearing the most beautiful wedding dress any woman would have died for.  It was long and poufy at the bottom and even though it didn’t touch the ground it hid her shoes.  The sleeves were long white but clear until they hit the shoulder blades.  The dress it’s self was solid white and shined in the beautiful candlelight in the room.  Her blonde hair was down to her shoulders at the time and curled under the white long clear vial which had sat on her head like a tiara.  She looked like Cinderella.  So beautiful, our mother had fixed her makeup and she looked like a princess.

          Ron wore a black and white tux which all of the men did so he didn’t quit stand out as far as the suit went, but he was handsome.  His hair had been brushed off to the right side of his face.  He was the perfect match for my lovely sister.

          As Ron and Annie left with their arms clasped together, they waved to everyone on both sides of the room.  I followed along with Louis who at the time was Ron’s best man.  We had started walking down the aisle when I had lost my balance.  High heelers weren’t my thing and when I wore them I never got use to the trick in walking in them.  My face had almost smacked into the floor when Louis had his arm around my waist to seem formal and helped me to stand up straight.

          “First down on your new feet?” he asked with a smile.

          I looked at him and kind of blushed.  He was as attractive then as he was now but he didn’t seem like such a jerk.  His hair was long then and I believed that was why I had recognized him.   I was kind of embarrassed because of my clumsiness with the shoes but as I looked at him, he just smiled.  I wanted to melt into that smile of his it was so beautiful.  “I guess you can say that,” I replied.  “I’m not big on high heels or dresses for that matter.”

          “Here…. I’ll help you.”  He led me out of the room as we smiled at everyone who I felt like wanted to laugh at me for my moment of clumsiness.

          Louis walked with me to the buffet.

I was so confused at reading the names I just decided to grab a plate and take whatever had looked good. 

“Need any help with the names?” Louis asked.

“No,” I replied.  “I know what I’m going to do.”

“Okay.”

I went to grab for what seem to be like a sandwich when Louis stopped me.

“Do you like sea food?”

“No,” I answered.

“Then you won’t like that.”

“Okay.  Then what will I like?”

Louis looked around then back at me.  “Give me your plate.”

I handed him the small round plate, kind of confused.  The next thing I know he was filling both my plate and his plate up with all kinds of things.  Some of the stuff didn’t seem too appetizing but I wasn’t going to say anything if Louis knew what he was getting.

Lainie walked up next to me and stared at me.  She held a plate of mac ‘n’ cheese and some bread crumbs sprinkled on top.  “Aren’t you going to eat anything?” she asked me.

I smiled at her question.  “Yea but your uncle is working on getting our plates because I don’t know what I would like.”

“Oh…. Uncle Louis knows food,” Lainie replied.  “Sometimes when he’s not working he signs up to be a food critic….”

“Really?”

“Yea.”  She nodded.  “He does it at random times for the newspaper company.”

“Wow…. I didn’t know that.”

Lainie nodded again.  “Can we go sit down?  It’s probably going to be a little while knowing Uncle Louis.”

“Yea but hold on.”  I looked up and Louis had moved a few tables down, examining the food and deciding what would be good to try.  I worked my way over to him, trying not to run into anyone.  “Me and Lainie are going to sit down okay.”

“Yea that’s fine go sit down.  I’ll be there in a minute.”

I kind of smiled as I backed into someone.  “I’m sorry,” I said as I turned around to see the creepy cab driver from the day before.

He smiled creepily as he seen me.  “Hello again, baby.”

I back quickly looked back to see that Louis was still behind me.  In a way, I was relieved but at the same kind fear started growing.  “Louis,” I whispered.

Louis looked up at me and he could see the fear in my eyes.  “What’s wrong?”

“That…. Uh…. I….” I couldn’t speak the fear was keeping the words from leaving my mouth.  I pointed to the cab driver who had turned his attention away from us.  “That guy…. He was the cab driver who drove me and Lainie back to the mansion…. He’s very strange and creepy.”

Louis eyed the man and even though the man wasn’t facing us he seemed to think that there was something off about that man as well.  “I’ll talk to the waiter about giving us something for the food…. We need to get out of here.  We need to get to Lainie fast.”

I nodded.

Louis took both plates and I followed him back to the table where Lainie had found her way.  She had started eating when she looked up at us with a wide smile.  “Hey.”

“Lainie, we need to leave,” Louis replied.

“But I’m eating,” the child sounded disappointed.

“Lainie, look,” Louis dropped down on both knees as he spoke, “this is an emergency.  We need to leave, now.  I’ll talk to the waiter about getting us bags.”

“How are you going to do that?  This is a buffet they don’t do doggy bags.”  I was kind of confused.

“They will if they know that we need to leave.”  Louis spotted the waiter and motioned for the boy to come over to us.

When the boy was standing at our table, Louis had explained the situation to him and the boy nodded as he understood.  The boy left and returned with containers filled for the food. 

“Thank you.”  Louis took the containers and stuffed the food into them in a hurry and we left as soon as possible.

The Creepy Taxicab Driver

          Louis sat with us in our room as we ate.  He kept glancing out of the window and I was assuming he was keeping an eye out for that creepy guy.  “I’m probably going to stay in here with you tonight,” he said as his eyes stared out of the window.

          “We’ll be fine,” I told him.

          He raised an eyebrow as his beautiful blue eyes locked with mine.  “That guy could have followed us back here…. Are you really that stupid?”

          “I’m not stupid,” I retorted.  “I just think that you’ll probably get better sleep tonight if you were in your room…. I don’t think that you’ll get any sleep in here.  Besides, I can defend us if needed to.”

          He kept staring with his brow raised.  “I won’t get any sleep, knowing that guy is out there.  I have to protect you and Lainie at all costs…. I’m not going to leave you two alone knowing that guy could break in here and do things….”

          We both knew what he meant but he was keeping his words clean for Lainie’s sake.  We both knew what could happen but I felt better if he was in his room instead of in there with us all night.  “Look we both know what could happen but we have to risk it.”

          “Risk it?”  Louis shook his head.  “You have no idea what I have to deal with…. If something happens to you or Lainie, how am I supposed to tell Ron?”

          I stared at the table, knowing he was right but I didn’t want to admit defeat.  I kept quiet for the next few moments.

          “How would I be able to tell Ron that I listened to you because you wanted to risk it?  I wouldn’t be able to do…. I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye if something happened.”

          I sighed.  “I understand that but come on do you really want to deal with me for the night?”

          He looked away as if he had considered that thought.  “I just don’t want anything to happen to Lainie….”

          I looked at him feeling that there was more to his sentence that he couldn’t bring himself to admit, dealing with me.  “Please just this time?”

          He took a deep breath then turned his gaze back over toward me.  “Alright…. Just this time but if anything happens, your accountable…. Got it?”

          I nodded in agreement.

 

          I stayed up a little bit laying in one bed while I let Lainie sleep in the other.  I had the little light on next to my bed as I thought about everything.  So far nothing had happened so I was glad that I was proving Louis wrong.  No one came in who didn’t belong and nothing odd had happened.  I took a deep breath and released a sigh as I turned out the light.  I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep when I heard the door open and close.  “Everything things fine, Louis, you can go back to your room,” I said, kind of yawning.

          “Your boyfriend’s not here,” another man’s voice replied.

          My eyes fluttered open and I had a feeling I knew who the man was.

          The man kind of laughed evilly as I watched the dark figure move closer to my bed.

          Fear crept through me.  I didn’t want to wake Lainie up because I was afraid that she would be his next target if I said anything.

          “Hey there, baby.  Did you miss me?” the creepy cab driver asked as he climbed on top of my bed and worked his way above me.

          Crap, Louis was right, I thought to myself.  I went to open my mouth to let out a scream but the man quickly covered my mouth his bony left hand.

          “Ssshhh, baby,” he whispered into my ear as he leaned in to kiss my cheek.  “There there, that’s a good girl.”

          I felt tears streaming down my face as he leaned closer.  Our faces where practically touching.  I wanted to scream my head off but the fear of what the man might do flew through my mind.  His breath smelled like alcohol and drugs and the touch of his skin felt like I was touch a living skeleton.  He removed his hand from my mouth and I clamped my lips under my teeth as he leaned in and kissed me.

          “Aww come on, baby, now what kind of kiss is that?” he asked, eerily.

          He moved his hand down to my thigh and started to slide his hand under my shirt when….

          “Get off of her,” Louis demanded as he stood in the door.

          “Aww looks like your boyfriend caught us…. That’s okay, I’ll get rid of him.”

          “I said, ‘Get off of her,’” Louis said as he knocked the man down on the floor.  He fought with the man as they rolled off of the bed.  “Sam, get Lainie and go into the main office.”

          “But---”

          “No buts,” Louis replied as his fist went into the creepy man’s jaw.

          I nodded and moved over to Lainie’s bed.  I hadn’t realized that she was even awake.  I could see tears and terror in her eyes as the confusion made its way into the room.  I felt worse than I ever had, knowing it was my fault and I should have listened to Louis but by my own stupidity I didn’t want to believe it.  “It’s okay, Lainie,” I whispered to her as I picked her up and had her hide her face in my shoulder so she didn’t have to watch the fight.  I was surprised how light she felt as I hurried out of the room.  She wasn’t big but I had figured that her weight would be a bit heavier than I thought.

 

          I ran to the main office, opening the door and rushed Lainie over to a small little brown leather couch.

          “Is everything alright, ma’am?” the clerk asked, worried had been in his voice.

          I looked over at the man, terrified from what I had just seen.  “J---J---” I couldn’t speak.

          The man seemed to catch on and nodded.  “Can I get you two anything?” he asked.

          “W-water pl-please,” I whispered as I tried to catch my breath.

          The man nodded and left the room for a moment.  When he came back into the room, he had two small paper cups filled with water.  He walked over to the couch and handed a cup to Lainie then handed the other cup to me.

          “Thank you,” I barely got out.

          “No problem, anything else I could help you two with?”

          I shook my head.

          “Okay, well I’ll be behind the desk if you need anything.”

          I nodded as the man walked away from us.  When Lainie was done with her water, she placed the cup on the table and fell against my shoulder.  The tears were still crawling down her cheeks.  I wrapped my right arm around her and wiped her tears with my left hand.  “It’s okay,” I told her.  “Don’t cry…. You’re okay…. Don’t cry….”  Dear Lord, this is all my fault why didn’t I just listen? I prayed as I tightened my grip around Lainie.  Why did I have to be so stubborn?  Lainie could have been hurt by that man and it would have been my fault for not listening to Louis.

          Louis walked into the room.  He had bruises and his lip was blooding.  I could look at him knowing it all was because of.  He was sweating from the fight as well.  He walked over and to and held out his hand.  “Key?” he said.

          I reached into my pocket of my sweat pants and pulled out the key to the room and handed it to him.

          He took it and walked over to the desk.  “We’re going to check out.”

          “Okay.”  The man didn’t ask any questions.  He just took both keys to the room.  “Do you want your money back, sir?”

          Louis shook his head as if he were tired.  “No keep it….” He was all out of breath from the fight but still managed to say more than I could seem to spit out.  “Look can we take the back way trouble seemed to fall us tonight and I believe that going out the front would be a bad idea…. I’m leaving my car behind do you know of any car dealerships around here?”

          “Yea…. Let me write down the address for you but you’ll have to wait till morning cause they’re closed now….”

          Louis nodded.  “We just need to leave as soon as possible.”

          “There’s another hotel a few miles away from here…. I could drive you three there and even pay for you three to stay there seeing that your stay here wasn’t exactly the best stay here.”

          Louis took a moment to think then shook his head.  “No I don’t think staying at any hotels would be the best choice to do right now.”

          “Okay well have a safe trip wherever you’re going then.”

          Louis nodded then turned his attention toward us.  I didn’t want to look at him, feeling that he was most likely angry at me for convincing him to leave Lainie and me alone.  He walked over to us and picked up Lainie then lightly touched my shoulder.  “Are you okay, Sam?  Did he hurt you?  Did he touch any places that a man shouldn’t touch without permission?”

          “No…. He was going to try when you came in.”

          “Good…. Now come on.  Thanks to you, we can’t stay at any hotels for a while.”  His tone was rude with a tad of anger but I didn’t reply knowing that he had a reason to have an attitude with me.

 

          I followed Louis in silence.  He carried Lainie as we walked out into the city.  I knew he had to have been tired but I believed that he was too angry to care.  I felt the guilt take over as my conscience spoke to me, tears filled my eyes.

          “I can’t believe I listened to you,” Louis replied.  “I had a feeling something like this would happen but I let you convince me otherwise.”

          I didn’t respond as we watched a few cars drive past along the dark pavement which was lit up with a few streetlights along the path.

          “Do you realize the danger you put Lainie into tonight?”

          I really didn’t want to answer that.  The question broke my heart.

          “You’re lucky that I was there to save you….” I heard the hurt and fear in his voice as he spoke.  It was a different tone then from earlier.  It hurt worse than anything he could have said out of rudeness.  “You could defended the both of you?  Yea right…. He broke in and could have hurt you and Lainie…. You’re arrogance could have cost you and Lainie’s lives…. Do you even realize that?” he asked, shaking his head.  “If I didn’t come in when I did, he could have had the both of you killed.  That’s what I get…. Next time you do as I say and no arguing…. No disagreeing with me.”

          I kind of nodded, understanding that I made a very horrible mistake.

          “You said that guy was the taxicab driver who drove you two back to the mansion yesterday?”

          “Yea,” I said, weakly.

          “Did he give you an eerie feeling then too?”

          “Yea but I had no choice then…. He didn’t do anything.”

          Louis looked at me with a look of shock.  “And you still got into the taxi then?”

          “Yes….”

          “What if he had done something then?  Do you realize how stupid that is?  If you have a feeling about someone don’t be stupid enough to climb into a car with them…. Taxi driver or not…. That’s peer stupidity…. You should know better than that…. You’re about twenty-two right?”

          “Yea,” I replied, kind of nodding.

          He shook his head.  “You are the most arrogant person I have ever met…. I can’t wait till you go back to America that’s where you belong.”

          “I made a mistake okay,” I shot back.  He was kind of starting to aggravate me with his complaining.  I knew he was angry and he had a right to be angry but he was making me feel worse than I had before.  “I know what could have happened…. I wasn’t thinking okay…. People make mistakes…. I’m only human,” I began crying as I spoke.  “You can leave me alone because right now I don’t care…. I know that I have put Lainie in danger unknowingly…. I’m sorry…. I made a mistake and I don’t need you to keep pointing it out to me…. Telling me that I’m stupid that just makes me feel so much worse right…. I don’t need that right now.”

          Louis sighed and shook his head.  “I’m sorry but if you had listened to me instead of tried to convince me that you two were safe then that wouldn’t have happened.”

          “And I understand that but with you practically yelling at me doesn’t help what I’m feeling…. That guy was going to try to do something very bad to me before you came and I knew that I was wrong that I didn’t listen to you.  I thought that I had that under control but I didn’t…. At least, Lainie’s okay right?  Isn’t her who you really care about?  Because if it had been just me you probably wouldn’t have even come in there---”

          “You don’t know that,” he spoke harshly.  “You don’t know me so don’t act like you do…. You don’t know what I’ve been through…. You don’t know what I would do just to make sure that you stay out of danger…. What I’d do to keep you safe as much as Lainie.”  There was something in his tone that was hinting that he cared for me in some way.  Something that meant that he’d do anything for me but it was strange coming from him.  “I wasn’t just worried about her…. I was worried about you too but you don’t seem to notice that.”

          I was surprised by his words.  All that time I hadn’t believed that he would have felt a thing if I were in danger.  I thought that he’d be glad and just leave me to die but for him to have worried about me was so far beyond what I had believed.

 

          I woke and realized that we had found our way to some kind of park.  I looked over at Louis and Lainie who had been cuddled up together and smiled.  It was a sweet little sight to see.  The birds were out singing the sky was light blue with no clouds.  The only thing sailing in the sky was the bright yellow sun indicating that it was morning most likely ten or eleven.

          “What time is it?” Louis asked as he slowly woke, keeping Lainie in his arm as he leaned forward trying to keep her from waking up.

          “I’m guessing morning.  If I had a watch, I’d check the time but I don’t,” I replied.

          “Oh well.  Man, I have to get a new car now.” He looked at me almost as if he were surprised or something.

          “What?”

          “Nothing,” he replied, shaking his head.  “Let’s get breakfast and some coffee then see if I could get a new car.”

          “Okay.”

          I watched Louis stand up as he scoped Lainie up in his arms and carried her.

          I followed him and we manage to find a little coffee shop.  We entered and walked over to the front desk.

          “How may I help you today?” the young man about eighteen asked with a pleasant smile.  He had somewhat long brown hair and seemed to be a collage freshmen.  He had brown out that stood out and wore a green apron over black shirt and pants.

          “We’re here for food and coffee,” Louis replied, kind of laughing.

          I shook my head at his little joke.

          “Of course,” the teenager replied, laughing as well.  “What would you like to order?”

          I looked up at the menu and was surprised by the meals.  Everything that I recognized from America was listed which made me happy because I didn’t have to try and figure out what they were.  “Can I get a bagel and some bacon?”

          “Of course, of course,” the boy replied, politely.  “Too drink?”

          “French vanilla coffee please.”

          “Sure.  For you, sir?”

          “An omelet with everything in it with black coffee.”

          “Okay and what about the child for when she wakes up?”

          Louis smiled as he looked down at Lainie.  “Waffles and chocolate milk.”

          “Okay.  You’re total will be….” The guy typed the prices of everything into the cash register and then checked to see what everything was.  “Twenty pounds please.”

          “Okay can you hold on for a moment?  I need to place the child in a seat before I can reach for my wallet.”

          “Oh of course.”

          I followed Louis over to a booth which was next to the window and sat Lainie down then turned his attention toward me.  “Can you sit with her while I pay for the food and drinks?”

          “Yea,” I replied, nodding.

          Louis walked away and I sat down next to Lainie.  Time hadn’t seem to past when Lainie’s eyes finally opened.  She rubbed them and looked around, blinking a few times.  “Where are we?” she asked.

          “At a coffee shop.”

          “Oh.”  She looked around with confusion.  “Where’s Uncle Louis?”

          “He went to go pay for our food…. He’ll be back though.”

 

          About thirty minutes had gone by when Louis arrived at the table carrying a tray with food on it.  “Who’s hungry?”

          “I am,” Lainie replied.

          Louis and I both smiled at Lainie’s answer.  We both figured she would say that.  Louis sat the tray down and handed out the food and drinks to us.  None of us had mentioned anything about the night before.  The night before was one of those things that once it happened everyone tried to block out the event but knowing it was still on everyone’s mind.  I just hoped that Lainie wouldn’t grow up afraid of people after the horrible scene she had to watch with the taxicab driver.  I was thankful that Louis had been there because if it wasn’t for him there would have been no telling how the events from the night would have turned out.

          “So can you tell me where we’re going yet?” I asked as I took a half of my bagel and smothered it in butter and cream cheese.

          “Still not information that you need to know,” Louis replied.

          I shot him a look.  I wanted to know why he would just tell me where we were going.  I mean I know that I wouldn’t know where exactly we were headed but to at least know something would help me a little bit.  “Okay.”

 

          After breakfast we headed to the car dealership, which the clerk from the hotel had given to Louis.  I sat back with Lainie as we let Louis go talk to the car salesman about a car.  It was something that always bored me and when I would go to pick out a car then I would always have a man like my father or one of my brothers and even occasionally a male cousin bring me to buy a new car so they could deal with everything.  They would talk to the car salesmen or women for me while I just listened and nodded as if I knew what they were really talking about.  I would even have them test drive the car for me as well.

          Louis walked over to us and sat down.  “I just got back from test driving the car and I already made a deal…. The car’s a keeper.”

          “That was fast,” I replied.

          “We can go now.”  Louis led me and Lainie out to the parking lot and we followed him toward the brand new car.  It was a nice dark blue small but kind of big car.  It was small in the since that it was low and had four doors which had a driver seat, a passenger seat, and the back seat which looked be made out of grey velvet.  It was big in since that it was wider and unlike Louis’s last car had more room.  It was the perfect car for the three of us.  The windows were clear whereas in the other one the windows were tinted and kind of hard to see the inside.

 

          We were on the road again.  So long and dreadful especially not knowing where we were heading in the first place.  Louis drove for a while.  I figured that when it came time for rest he would probably stop at a rest stop because of what had occurred at the hotel the night before.  I wouldn’t have blamed him either, kind of because I still felt guilty for all of it.  It was silent and I was surprised that Lainie hadn’t asked for music or something.  I wondered what had been going through her little mind.

          “Look I’m going to stop some where’s tonight,” Louis told me.  “It’s someone I know personally because I think that stopping at hotels or rest stops might be a bad idea especially after the scene with that driver last night.  I figured it’s the only way we could know that we’re safe and Lainie knows the person as well so that works out for her as well.”  He sighed.  “I’m sorry for yelling at you last night…. That was my fault as well as yours…. I knew better than to leave the two of you alone but I did it and I feel horrible for it….”

          “And I’m sorry for yelling as well,” I replied.

          “No you had a right…. I was giving you all the credit for the trouble knowing that it happened because of me as well.”

          I looked at Louis, kind of surprised by his words.  He actually wasn’t blaming me for everything and that was shocking to me.

          “We were both to blame.”

          “Do we need to call the police or something?” I didn’t know why it took me so long to even ask that question.  The answer was obvious but I guessed that with everything going the way it did from the night before calling the police was out of mind.

          “No…. I did my job last night….”

          “You’re a cop?”

          “Not exactly…. Look my job is top secret like I told you before…. You’ll probably find out sooner or later but for now it’s nothing that concerns you…. Got it?”

          I nodded then looked around kind of board and stared out of the window.

 

          It was about eight o’ clock at night.  The sky was dark blue blanketed with stars all over.  It was so beautiful.  I couldn’t see the moon from where I was but the sky was so amazing to stare at.  Louis had pulled off of the road and into a little town.  He drove past streets and houses till the car came to a long dirt road in some trees on the left.  He turned on the blinker and turned into the dark arch of the trees.  Even though it was dark and trees where surrounding us it wasn’t scary.  It was actually an interesting sight to see with the lights from the car and the stars in the sky.  It was beautiful.

          Lainie was fast asleep.  I figured that she must have had to go to bed around that time of night because no matter what she would always fall asleep around eight or eight thirty.

          Louis pulled up to a small little cabin and placed the car in park.

          I wished I could have seen it during the day instead of at night but I guessed that I would have to wait till the next day.  We climbed out of the car and Louis made sure to grab Lainie and carried her up the steps after he closed the doors to the car.

          I followed behind, looking around.

          Louis knocked on the door and waited.

          When the door opened, a woman who looked to be twenty-three or almost twenty-three stepped out.  She looked dark but that was because of the light from the inside which had shone out of the little cabin.  “Louis?  What are you doing here at this hour?”

          “Long story, Carmen,” he replied.

          “You have Lainie with you for the night?” she asked as her attention dropped down at the child.

          “Something like that.”

          The woman’s gazed moved over to me and even though I could really see her facial expression in the dim light I figured she was confused.  “Who’s that?”

          “You know Ron’s wife Annastia?”

          “Yea.”

          “That’s her sister Samantha.”

          “Oh.  Hello, I’m Carmen, Louis’s older sister.”

          “Hello,” I replied as I stood with Louis and his sibling.

          “Look, Carmen, we need a place to stay…. The mansion was broken into…. Ron and Annastia have to go into witness protection because they were the only two there and the men who broke in are most likely after them…. I told Ron that I was going to keep an eye on Lainie and Annastia’s sister.  I was wondering if for the night we could stay here?”

          “Of course…. You can always stay here, you know that, Lou.”

          I kind of laughed as I watched Louis cringe at the nickname.

          “You know I hate that,” he told Carmen as he walked into the house.

          Carmen kind of laughed.  “I always call him that.  I love messing with him,” she whispered to me as I walked past her.  “Otherwise it wouldn’t be fun to have younger siblings.”

          I couldn’t help but laugh at her comment.

Inside of Carmen's Cabin

          The light in the cabin lite up the hall.  It wasn’t too bright but it wasn’t dim either.  It was perfect.  I looked around as Carmen closed the door behind me.  The hall was somewhat long with two side doors on each wall and an opening into what I had guessed to be the kitchen.  There was a staircase leading up on the right wall and pictures of Carmen with a man who I guessed was mostly her boyfriend or fiancé was hanging on the walls in between the doors and a few of her, Louis and three other guys who all looked alike.  Louis held Lainie as he looked around.  “You and Eric need to do some rearranging.  This place always looks the same can’t you two fix it up some?” Louis asked as he looked around the hallway.

          “I like it the way it is,” Carmen replied, kind of laughing.

          Louis kind of snorted.  “Where is your dare ol’ hubby anyways?”

          “He went fishing for the weekend with our brothers.  Can you believe that?  They ask Eric to go fishing with them all of the time but they never ask me to do anything.”  Carmen kind of smiled.

          “Well, I hate to say it sis but that’s because you’re boring,” Louis joked.

          “If you weren’t carrying that child, I would smack you upside the head right now.”

          Louis couldn’t help but laugh.  “Where can we sleep?”

          Carmen took a moment to think as she looked around.  “Well, right now I only have two rooms that are opened that the moment and I’m not going to aloud an unmarried couple to sleep together.”

          “I figured that,” Louis replied as he looked around.

          “That’s okay,” I interrupted.  “I could sleep with Lainie…. I don’t mind.”

          Carmen smiled at my offer.  “That’s great.”  She began to head up the long staircase with about ten wide small steps.  “Follow me.”

          We followed Carmen up the stairs and I could help but look at the pictures which she had hanging up on the walls.  She stopped at a closed door and opened it.  When she stepped in, she hit the switch and the light came on.  The room was wide and looked like it could a fit a few good sized furniture.  Inside was a small closet on the left of us.  The bed was a full size bed which the bed post was against the wall as the bed popped out.  On the right of us was a small tall dresser with a small TV sitting on top of it and on the right wall was a small but wide window.

          “Samantha, you and Lainie can have this room,” Carmen told us.

          “Okay.  This is a nice little room,” I replied as I looked around.

          “Thank you.  And Louis, you have the room you always stay in while you’re here.  Okay?”

          “That works for me.”  Louis carried Lainie over to the bed and laid her down.  She was still in her night clothes from the night before and didn’t have any shoes on so all he had to do was cover her up after he placed her head on the pillow of the right side of the bed.  “Night, kiddo.”  He kissed her forehead and then turned to face us.  “You don’t have to go to bed yet, I just figured that she needs to sleep.  I’m going to be down stairs in the kitchen.”  He left me and Carmen alone.

          Carmen smiled and shook her head.  “My brother….” She turned her attention to me.  “Are you going to go to bed too?  Because like Louis said, ‘You don’t have,’” she told me.  “You could actually stay up with us if you’d like.”

          “I’m not going to bed,” I replied.

          “Oh good.”  Her smile kind of grew as we walked out of the room and she slightly closed the door just in case Lainie was afraid of the dark.

          I followed Carmen down stairs and into the kitchen which I had been right about being the room at the end of the hall.  Louis sat at the small round glass table, drinking some water.  “Hello, there girls,” he said.

          “So tell me is there anything that I need to worry about as far as those masked men finding us?” Carmen asked as she walked over and sat down at the table and offered me a chair as well.

          “I’m pretty sure that you’re fine.  I had to leave my car at the hotel last night because of this guy who Sam had informed me about seeming off to her.  He had followed us and when I was out of the girls room he snuck in….”

          “Oh my,” Carmen’s voice filled with concern as she spoke.  She turned her attention to me with worried eyes.  “That must have been scary.”

          I nodded with the ‘tell me about it’ look.

          “Before he could actually get away with doing anything I rushed into the room and wound up fighting him while I had Sam and Lainie leave the room to go into the main office.  It was a long night, Carmen.”

          “I’ll bet…. Did you have a chance to grab your things?”

          “Nope…. We hurried out of there just in case.”

          I watched Carmen move her shoulders as if a chill had crept up her spine.  “Why don’t you guys stay here for a couple of more days?”

          Louis made a face which meant that he had rather not.  “I don’t know.”

          “Why not?”

          “Because I promised Ron that I was going to bring Sam and Lainie---”

          “Look I’m sure Ron will understand…. He knows me well enough that unless he wants me to find him and kick his butt I will…. He would want to know that Lainie’s safe right?”

          Louis nodded.

          “Okay well stay here for a couple of days and if I have to I’ll call Eric to come home early to help you keep an eye on Lainie…. Besides you three can go and get new clothes to bring for the trip wherever you’re heading and besides I’m bored without anyone to talk to seeing that Eric’s out of the house…. It’s just me, the dog, and the cat…. Although the cat’s pregnant….”

          “Again?”

          “Yea,” Carmen answered.  “We need to bring her to get fixed and I keep telling Eric that he needs to do it but he won’t because he feels that a cat is a woman’s pet and needs to be taken care of by a woman….”

          “He kind of has a point,” Louis spoke without thinking.

          “You agree with him?”

          Louis’s eyes grew wide.  They looked as if they were about to pop right out of his head.  “I mean…. You’re right…. A cat’s a cat…. It can belong…. I’ll be right back.”  He stood up and left the room as quickly as possible.

          I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

          “Oh my gosh…. Men…. And they say that us women all stick together.”  She buried her face in her hand, kind of laughing as well.  “So you’re Annastia’s sister?”

          “Yep and I’m visiting from America,” I answered, nodding.

          “What’s America like?  I haven’t been there…. I wanted to go to Ron and Annastia’s wedding and it was in America…. That was the year I had met my husband but anyways we were invited to the wedding but wasn’t able to make it because of money trouble…. So what’s it like?”

          “It’s really no different from here except the money is really all that I could think of…. The buildings here seem a lot nicer than the ones where I’m from though and older like maybe from the 18th century or something like that…. It actually looks a million times better than where I live.”

          Carmen nodded.  “So how’s my brother been treating you?”

          I rolled my eyes.  “He’s been like a jerk the entire time…. I mean he does have his moments but I swear he ruins them.”

          “Sounds like Louis.”

          “Can you tell me about his wife?  He’s mentioned her but won’t just tell me.”

          Carmen sighed.  “I would but if he hasn’t told you himself then I don’t feel right going behind his back…. I’m sure that he will eventually he just needs time…. Besides I think he kind of likes you.”

          I felt myself blush at her words but tried not to let her see as I turned my attention toward her.  “He’s a jerk to me…. How can he like me?”

          Carmen smiled.  “He’s going through a tough time…. The last couple of years have been hard for him and he--- I’m sorry I shouldn’t say anything.”

          “Can I ask you something about him?”

          “What?”

          “Is he afraid to love?”

          Carmen took a deep breath and sighed.  “He’s not afraid to love…. That’s not his problem…. He’s afraid of what he could lose if he loves…. It’s not---”

          Louis cleared his throat to let us know that he was in the room.  He eyed Carmen with an angry glare.

          “I’m sorry I said too much,” she whispered to me.  Carmen stood up and started to head out of the door.  “I’m going to go ahead and get ready for bed.  You’re extra change of clothes you left here, Louis?”

          I looked at Louis.  He was in a new tank top and a pair of old shorts.  He seemed to like wearing old torn up clothes.  I couldn’t blame him though because I felt comfortable wearing old clothes as well.  “Yep,” he replied.

          “Oh, Samantha, I don’t know if you could fit in any of my clothes but I might have some clothes you could wear including night clothes so that way you don’t have to be stuck in the same outfit.  I’ll bring some do when I get back.”

          “Oh thank you…. That sounds great,” I replied.

          With nothing else to add Carmen left the room.

          Louis walked back over to the table and picked up the glass of water he had been drinking.  “Want anything to drink?  Carmen won’t care.”

          “Water please.”

          “Okay.”  He took a sip finishing the little bit of water he had and turned on the facet and filled it up.  When his glass was full, he turned off the facet and opened a cabinet door, pulled out another glass and repeated what he had done with his glass.  Once the cup was filled, he turned off the facet, closed the cabinet door, picked up his glass and walked back to the table.  As he sat down he handed the new glass to me and took a sip out of his glass.

          “Thank you.”

          “Sure.”

          “Your sister seems nice.”

          “Yea, she’s a people person…. If it were up to her, this place would most likely be filled with homeless people or orphans or possibly both.”

          “Wow.”

          “Yep.  Her husband don’t want that to happen…. Not that he hates people just this isn’t a big place…. It’d be different if they lived in like a mansion like what Ron and Annie live in but they don’t…. Not only that but she’s pregnant…. Don’t tell her I said anything though…. They’re not trying to be too excited about it….”

          “Why not?  A pregnancy that’s great---”

          “Not when they had two miscarriages already…. They’re happy about it but at the same time weary because they know that they could lose it again and they don’t want to have to go through that.”

          “Oh…. That makes since.”

          Louis nodded as he took another sip from his glass.  I liked that side of him when we could just talk and not argue.  It frustrated me knowing that at any moment he was going to say something that was going to tick me off again but at the same time just talking to him felt good.  I liked being around him when he just let go of all of that unknown anger he had for me.  It was the side of him that I wished he would let me see more of rather than yelling at me or being rude for no reason when I didn’t do anything to him.  And looking at him, he was so attractive and I just wanted to be there with him and no one else but then…. “What?” he asked, snapping me back to reality.

          I shook my head a little to wake up from the day dream I was having.  “Nothing,” I lied.

          He raised an eyebrow as he locked eyes with me, confused.  “Look I’m not the talkative type so if you have questions then keep them to your damn self,” the rude tone was back in his voice out of nowhere when he spoke.

          I dropped my mouth in anger and threw my water on him as Carmen walked into the room.  “Just when I thought that you were a good guy you go and say that with that rude tone of yours again,” I retorted as I stood up and slammed my hands into the table.

          “Well it looks like you two are getting a long,” Carmen said, kind of smiling, knowing that she didn’t really mean it.

          I took a deep breath and looked over at Carmen.  “I’m sorry but your brother was just being a jerk.”

          “Don’t worry about it…. He deserved it.”

          “Hey?” Louis replied throwing his arms up to let us know that he was there.

          “Don’t look at me…. I heard what you said…. That was very rude…. I agree with Samantha.”

          “Thank you,” I replied.

          “No problem.”  She walked over to me and handed me a change of clothes.  Neither of us paid any attention to Louis as he stood up.  “I went ahead and just grabbed a t-shirt and sweat pants for you for tonight and then tomorrow you can help me go through my old clothes that don’t fit me anymore and see if you can wear them.”

          I nodded in agreement.

          “Why does Eric have to be gone this weekend?  I don’t want to be stuck in a house full of girls.”  I glanced over at Louis just as he was removing his wet shirt and couldn’t help but noticed that he had a six pack which told me that he must have worked out a lot.

          Before I could say anything stupid, I turned my attention back to the t-shirt and sweat pants which Carmen had handed to me.  I felt myself blush from the sight and was hoping that no one else noticed.

          “Sorry, it just didn’t work out that way but if you guys are still here Sunday then you won’t be the only guy here…. Unless you count Imhotep….” Carmen shook her head.  “Eric loves that American movie the Mummy and had to name our dog after the mummy….” She kind of laughed but tried to hold it in.  “I thought it was stupid name for a dog especially because we’re not from Egypt but he wouldn’t give up so now we have Imhotep.”

          “I’m not counting the dog,” Louis replied also shaking his head.  I kind of watched him with the part of my eye as he used his shirt to dry off his face.  “I’m going to go ahead to bed and no talking about me when I leave the room, Carmen.”

          Carmen smiled as Louis left.  “Don’t worry…. I’ll be good.”  She turned her attention toward me.  “Oh if you need to go to the bathroom for any reason like to take a shower or freshen up or anything…. It’s upstairs on the left…. As a matter of fact it’s right across from the room which you and Lainie are staying in.”

          I nodded at the information.  I looked at the clothes Carmen had given to me and then back at Carmen.  “I think I’m going to go and change and then go to bed as well…. It’s been a long day…. Thank you for the clothes.”

          Carmen’s smile grew as she closed her eyes slightly.  “No problem always glad to help…. And I think I’ll have the both of you together in no time.”

          I gave her a funny look, confused as if to ask if I heard her right.

          “Oh nothing.”

          I left the room, trying to figure out if she had said the last part of her sentence or if I had imagined it.  I kind of had the feeling that she did say it but I didn’t want to ask to find out.  I headed up stairs and then into the bathroom to freshen up and change.

 

          I laid down staring at the pitch black ceiling, thinking about everything that I had gone through the last few days, partly wishing that it was all a really horrible nightmare and that I would wake up in my own bed, but I was partly glad that I wasn’t because I was kind of starting to like Louis after seeing the good side of him even though he still had his moments.  I smiled slightly then rolled over and cuddled with Lainie.  I kissed her little forehead and then slowly closed my eyes as sleep took over.

          I sat in the darkness as the evil taxicab driver stood in front of me.  He kneeled down in front of me, grinning with that eerie smile I had seen the day of the break in.  The smile that freaked me out and sent a shiver up my spine.  “Hey, baby,” his cruel words spoke.  “Where’s your boyfriend now?”

          “Get away from me,” I whispered, harshly.

          “Aww, baby, why do you have to talk to me like that?” he asked as he placed a hand under my chin.

          I tried to pull my chin away from him but he just grabbed it with his long boney fingers.  “Why are you doing this?” I asked as tears filled my eyes.

          “Why?  Because I like you, baby.”  His reply was evil and the words were haunting as they echoed through my mind.

          “LOUIS!” I cried.

          “Ssshhh…. He won’t come for you, baby,” the man replied as he leant in to kiss me.  I turned my face away from him and anger took control of the man.  “Why are you acting like that, baby?”

          “LOUIS!” The tears slowly worked their way down my cheeks as I cried.

          “He’s not coming,” the man replied with the anger growing in his tone.  “He doesn’t want you.”

          “LOUIS!”

          “LOOK AT ME!” the man demanded.

          I closed my eyes as I felt alone and defenseless in the man’s grip.

          “He doesn’t care for you.”

          “LOUIS!  LOUIS!  LOUIS!” I screamed as I sat up in the bed and looked around.

          Louis rushed into the room and over to me.  He could tell that I was afraid and he looked around the room to make sure that no one had broken in.

          Lainie had woken up by my burst and looked up at me with confusion as she stared at me.

          “What’s wrong, Sam?” he asked.

          “I’m sorry,” I replied, feeling horrible that I had woken everyone up because of my shouting.  “I had a nightmare.  You guys can go back to bed.  I’m sorry.”

          “It’s not a problem…. Nightmares happen in this kind of situation.”  He shook his head as he sat on the bed next to me.  “Don’t feel bad.”

          “Who’s in here?  What’s going on?” Carmen asked as she hurried into the room, holding a wooden baseball bat ready to attack.  She walked around the room, checking the window and closet for an intruder.

          Louis sighed as he looked at his sister.  “Everything’s fine, Carmen, Sam just had a nightmare.”

          “Oh….” Carmen sighed with relief as she looked over at us and kind of smiled.

          When Louis caught onto his sister’s smile, he quickly jumped to his feet and backed away from the bed slowly.  I felt myself blush at her observation.

          “What was the bad dream about?” Lainie asked, still looking up at me with confusion.

          “Nothing that concerns you…. Just go back to sleep…. Okay,” I spoke softly.

          Lainie nodded, lay back down, and instantly was sleeping again.

          I looked at Carmen, feeling so horrible.  “I’m sorry you came rushing in here for nothing and I’m really sorry for waking the both of you up.”

          “I already told you, Sam, it’s not a problem,” Louis replied.

          “Yea, you had a nightmare and after what the three of you been through its’ not surprising so don’t be sorry,” Carmen agreed.

          I nodded, still feeling horrible for the scene.  “Can I have some coffee or something?  I don’t think that I’ll be able to go back to sleep for the rest of the night.”

          “Of course…. How many cups do you want?”

          “One will be fine, thank you.”

          “I’ll fix it,” Louis offered.  “Carmen, go ahead and go back to bed.  I’ll stay up with Sam.”

          Carmen raised an eyebrow as she looked at her brother with a grin which could be as worrisome as Annie’s stubbornness was.  “Okay.”

 

          Louis had me sit on the couch in the living room which was about the biggest room in the house.  There was a small but wide plasma screen television in the middle of the room sitting on an entertainment center which was deceit sized and filled with a VHS/DVD player on the left side and a few DVDs a couple of shelves.  I ignored everything else in the room except for the little table which sat on the left side of the couch which held the little lamp Louis had turned on.

          Louis walked into the room, carrying two cups of coffee and sat down next to me as he handed a full hot cup of French vanilla coffee to me.

          “Thank you,” I whispered.

          “No problem.”  He placed his hot cup of coffee down on the small brown wooden coffee table.  “Tell me about your dream…. What happened?”

          “That taxi driver was in it,” I replied as I leaned forward holding the hot cup with both hands as I took a sip.

          Louis didn’t reply as he listened.

          I kept calling your name to come and save me, I thought but didn’t feel the need to tell him that part.  “He went to go kiss me but I turned my head away as soon as possible afraid of what he might do…. He got angry at me…. I woke up before he could do anything else though.”

          “You’re safe here.”

          I locked eyes with him and he looked like he wanted to kiss me but decided against it.  I looked away from him wondering what was going through his mind.  Wondering if he wanted to yell at me for waking him up in the middle of the night…. Wondering if he even really wanted to stay up with me…. There was no telling what was going on his mind.  “I know I replied….” Then the tears started crawling down my cheeks as I felt fear of something worst happening.

          “What’s wrong now?”  His voice was filled with concern.

          “It’s just what if he comes back…. What if he kidnaps me or Lainie or something?”

          Louis hugged me which was surprising.  He was so warm which had brought me to the realization that I had been freezing.  His arms held me close to his chest as I felt him lift his head up and set it down on top of mine.  I felt so safe in his arms.  I felt secured as he held me.  I felt as if no one could have pried me away from his grip.  It felt as if God was working to bring us together and this was His way to show me that Louis was the man I need in my life…. The man who I couldn’t find anywhere else.  “I won’t let him do that,” Louis replied.  “I won’t let him take Lainie…. Or you.”

          Is he the one I need, Lord? I prayed.  He was such a jerk to me earlier, why?  Was there a reason?  Did it have to deal with whatever happened to his wife?  Lord, what’s going on?  Why am I feeling this way?

          “You don’t have to worry…. No one will take you…. Or hurt you…. So you don’t have to cry…. God brought you here for a reason and I know that He’s not going to let anything happen to you.”  He kissed my forehead gently but I didn’t take it to mean anything because it was something that my brothers or father would do if they were worried about me too.

          “Thank you for that,” I barely got out.  “I needed that reassurance…. It’s just after everything that happened recently…. I don’t know how to handle it.”  I locked eyes with Louis and I couldn’t look away that time.  I could see sadness his beautiful blue eyes which had once showed me anger.

          “You’ve never had to deal with this situation before…. I have experience because my job is to protect innocent lives for reasons such as these…. I was angry at you when you had naively believed that you and Lainie were safe at the hotel when I knew you weren’t…. That wasn’t your fault because you never knew that stuff was possible…. I mean you knew it but you never had to go through it so of course naively you thought that you were fine…. I should have stayed in the room or at least on the other side of the door to keep the man out but I didn’t…. We’re both at fault for that but I should have most of the blame…. I would have never forgiven myself if I didn’t get to you and Lainie in time.”  He looked at me for a moment.  “How far did that guy get anyways before I came?”

          I felt myself tense up at the thought and memory of the night.  “He tried to kiss me at first then he placed his hand on my thigh and was going to slide his hand up under my shirt but you came in as his fingers where just moving under my shirt,” I replied as I kind of showed Louis what the guy had done.

          Louis kind of sighed with relief.  “He shouldn’t have been able to even try that…. If I had known what he had managed to do then I would have killed him.”  He moved away from me and I watched as he turned his attention to the black screen of the television.  “No man would even have that thought…. Not a real man…. A real man is more respectable to woman…. That guy was a creep…. He’s kind of man who wouldn’t even think twice before harming a woman…. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

          I wanted to kiss him for his words but I kept to myself.

Getting to Know Louis

          I sat the empty coffee cup on the table and curled up, freezing to death.  Louis looked at me and I figured that he had guessed that the cool air was affecting me.  “I’ll go get a blanket.  I’ll be right back.”

          I nodded as I watched him leave the room.  He came back into the room not long later with a long white fluffy wide blanket and wrapped around both of us as he awkwardly wrapped his arms around me to keep me warm.  He pulled me closer to him, letting me rest my head on his shoulder blade.  I felt my eyes grow heavy with sleep and blinked a couple of times.  “Thank you,” I replied kind of yawning as I kept my eyes closed.  It was so comfortable behind there with him and peaceful.

 

          “Hm-hm,” I heard someone clear they’re throat.  I woke up to see Carmen standing in front of the coffee table kind of smiling.

          I looked over at Louis who was still sleeping and felt embarrassment take over as I pulled myself away from his grip.

          “So did you sleep well?”

          I didn’t know how to respond, feeling awkward from what she had seen.

          “Are you hungry?  I made some pancakes and Lainie kind of helped.”

          I nodded and stood up, following Carmen into the kitchen.  Lainie sat at the table and in the process of eating a few cut up pieces of pancakes.  “Good morning, Auntie Samantha,” she said, trying to swallow what was in her mouth with a bright little smile.

          “Good morning to you too,” I replied, returning the smile.

 

          Louis walked into the kitchen, stretching as he yawned.  “Good morning, ladies,” he told us three girls as he sat down at the table next to Lainie.

          I avoided eye contact from the man, keeping my eyes on my food while I thought about the night before and how he was so comforting toward me.  The awkwardness of the situation was that I was starting to like him a little more than I had hoped for.  It wasn’t something I was ready to face yet.

          “Good morning, Uncle Louis,” Lainie replied.  “I helped Auntie Carmen with the pancakes.”

          Louis smiled.  “Well, then I bet they’re extra specially then, huh?”

          “Yep,” Lainie replied with the widest smile that I had ever seen on her face.

          “She did a good job too,” Carmen replied as she placed a plate of about four or five pancakes in front of Louis.

          “I’ll bet,” Louis answered.  I felt his eyes move over toward me but then back down to his plate.  I had the feeling that he was feeling kind of awkward too.  It might have been childish the way we were kind of avoiding the others gaze but after constantly arguing for about three or four days then having a nice long conversation wasn’t exactly the way to get into a relationship.

          Although, I did kind of want to know why he was starting to show me kindness after being a jerk to me for a little while?  I wondered if he was starting to get feelings for me or if he was even attracted to me.  I wanted to know what was going on inside of his mind.

          “I’m going to go shopping today, Samantha, would you like to come with me?” Carmen asked as she sat down next to me.  “You could pick out some outfits if you want and we could chat.”

          “No, I think I’m going to hang around here for today.  I’d like to kind of get use to everything here…. If you don’t mind,” I replied.

          “Of course not….”

          “Can I go with you, Auntie Carmen?” Lainie asked with excitement rising in her voice.

          “Of course and I’ll get you a new pair of shoes because you don’t have any here and you didn’t bring any with you, did you?”

          Lainie sighed with disappointed.  “I had some with me but we had to leave the hotel and I didn’t grab my shoes in time.”

          “Aww.  Why don’t you go ahead and get ready?  I think Sara left some clothes here the last time that she was here and there should be a pair of her sandals in the closet which should fit you…. Okay?”

          “Okay,” Lainie nodded as she jumped out of her seat and rushed out of the room.

          Carmen waited till Lainie was out of earshot then turned her attention toward Louis and me with a devilish smile on her face.  “So…. Did you two have a nice night together?”

          “What?” Louis asked as he raised an eyebrow as he looked over at his sister.

          “You two were cuddled up together this morning….” Her smile grew as she spoke.  “You can ask Samantha…. She practically had to pull herself away from your grip.”

          I felt myself blush as I looked down at my plate.  I wanted to melt in my seat and slid under the table so that they wouldn’t see the embarrassment on my face.

          Louis, apparently, was filling the same way I was.  He kind of hid his face in his right hand.

          “It’s okay, you two,” Carmen replied.  “I remember when I fell in love Eric and those sweet nights we would spend talking about nothing and laughing…. You two looked so cute together and so sweet….”

          “It’s not like that, Carmen,” Louis replied, “I was just---”

          Carmen raised an eyebrow as she looked at the both of us.  “I know what I saw, Lou….”

          “Don’t call me that,” Louis replied with embarrassment in his voice as he spoke.

          Carmen just kind of laughed.  “So cute and so sweet….” She sighed as she stood up and started heading out of the room.  “Well, my fun’s done for now…. I’ll be back though.”

          Neither Louis or I moved.  We both just sat there in an awkward silence which we both felt so embarrassed by what Carmen had said before she left.  Neither of us knew what to say that would make the situation any better or any worse than it already felt.

          Louis sighed and turned toward me.  “I’m sorry about my sister,” he replied finally.

          I kind of smiled to hide any embarrassment I still had and to keep myself from blushing.  “It seems that we have something in common.”

          He kind of nodded and looked around the room, trying to figure out what we could do while Carmen had Lainie for the day and possibly something for us to talk about.  “Why did you call my name last night anyways?”

          I felt a shock go through my body as I blushed but turned my head to where he couldn’t see it.  “I don’t know…. I guess maybe because you’re the only one I know here and Annie or Ron aren’t here,” I kind of lied because I didn’t want to tell him that I wanted him to be the one to keep me safe even though it was partly true as well.

          He nodded as he took in what I said.  “That makes sense.”

          I kind of bit my lip.

          “Look…. I’m going to my room for a little while….” He swallowed then looked at me.  “I have some things to think about.”

          “Okay.”

          “If you need me, my room is upstairs, the first room on the right…. Right next to the room you and Lainie are staying in…. You can watch TV in the living room…. They have tones of movies you can look through in the drawers of the entertainment center…. Pretty much whatever you want to do you can…. Just stay out of trouble, alright?  I don’t feel like fighting off anymore taxicab drivers.”  He smiled.

          I couldn’t help but kind of laugh at his comment.

 

          I walked into the living room and went through the movies that Carmen had.  Most of them I had never heard of because they were from other countries but there were a few I had recognized.  I kind of laughed to myself when I spotted the DVD collectors all three movies of The Mummy Trilogy.  Personally, it was one of my favorite series.  I loved the movies.  Although, the first one was my all-time favorite out of the three, the other two were still pretty amazing.  I searched to see if I could find any others that I might have recognized.  I found a few Disney movies which had caught my eye as well.  I was about to give up when I found The Vow.  I loved that movie and decided to put it in.

 

          After the movie was over, I placed it back where I got it and decided to head up to the room.  I wanted to lay down, not take a nap just to lay down and relax a bit.  As I walked past Louis’s room, I couldn’t help but notice that his door was opened and he was sitting on a full size bed, facing a window, staring at what I figured to be a picture.  I kind of knocked on the door to let him know that I was there.

          Louis didn’t bother to look at me or even really seem to notice that I was there at wall.  I walked into the room and over to him, trying not to seem rude by moving to close to him.

          I noticed a woman was in the picture he was holding.  She had shoulder length blonde hair which curled outward.  She was wearing a beautiful light blue dress which had thin but wide straps which hung on her shoulder blades.  She looked to be about nineteen and she was lovely.  “Is that her?  Your wife?”

          Louis kind of sighed and nodded as he kind of tilted his head toward me.

          “She’s beautiful….”

          “She was even more beautiful without the wig on….”

          Wig?  Oh, I thought at the realization of what she wore the wig for.  “What happened to her?” I asked as I sat next to Louis on the bed.

          “She had childhood cancer,” Louis replied, “it wasn’t leukemia…. But it was another deadly cancer…. No one thought she would make it to twenty but she did…. We weren’t even married for about six months when she lost her battle….” I looked at him and I could see the tears in his eyes as he spoke.  “I would have loved even more if she was alive today but she’s gone now….”

          I felt so horrible about the comment I had made to him about a couple of days before when I told him that I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had left him.  I felt like the worse person in the world to even have considered had saying that.  He may have been a jerk to me when we met but no one should have to deal with that.

          “We were eighteen when we met…. I was twenty when we got married and she was about to turn twenty….  A few weeks after her twentieth birthday she had past…. I couldn’t believe it…. I was by her bedside every day and night until she was finally gone…. When she was alive and when she was well, I would tell her that she was beautiful and I didn’t see the point in her wearing the wig…. It only hid her true beauty but she wouldn’t listen…. She felt better with it on…. Of course, she was still beautiful but I felt she was hiding what I seen…. She was modest and that was one thing that I loved about her was her modesty…. When she died, I felt as if my heart was ripped out…. It’s my job to protect people but I couldn’t protect her from that nonhuman enemy…. Carmen was partly right about me…. I’m not afraid to fall in love…. I’m of afraid of what I could lose if I love…. That’s only part of it though…. The other part is that I’m afraid that if I fall in love again then I’m going to replace her…. And when I replace her, I’ll lose her forever…. Like she was never there…. I don’t expect you to understand what I’m going through…. That’s why when Annie wanted us to hit it off because she was hoping that something would happen between us I acted like a jerk and I’m sorry I had to put you through that…. It’s just I don’t want to lose Christy again but for good….”

          I wanted to cry at his story, knowing what he been through made me feel like the horrible one.  I just assumed that he hated me for nothing but he had his defenses up.  I shook my head.  “I need to apologize too…. I mean if I had known what you had gone through then I wouldn’t have acted the way I did toward you.  I’d be lying if I said that I understand what you’ve been through but I don’t…. Even though I don’t understand, I would have let you have your time…. And I’m sure that your wife would want you to move on…. She wouldn’t want you to live life alone and miserable…. She’d want you to be happy…. To find some else who will make you happy…. I’m sure that’s what she would want…. And when you do find that someone who you do fall in love with that she wouldn’t replace your first wife…. No one could replace her…. You’d love them both the same but in different ways….” I looked at the floor and felt the tears crawl down my cheek.  “That’s just something that you’ll have to figure out yourself.”

          Louis took my hand and lifted up my chin to look into his beautiful blue eyes which revealed a lot of sadness.  “Sam,” he spoke softly, “thank you for that.”

          I didn’t know quite how to respond to that.

          “You know you’re beautiful?”

          I felt myself blush at his words.  I could feel my cheeks turn flushing bright red as I looked at him.

          I could tell that by his expression that he wanted to kiss me and I was wondering if he was actually going to do it or if he would decide against it like he had the night before.  “I deserved everything that you said to me from the day I picked up at the airport.”  He kind of smiled.  “I’m actually not as bad as I seem.”

          I kind of smiled in return.  “I figured that…. See you can be nice and sweet when you want to be.”

          He leaned into kiss me but stopped himself he pulled away quickly.  “I’m sorry…. I can’t do that…. At least not yet.”

          I was kind of hoping that would be the moment of tenderness from the one man who was so complex but to my disappointment it wasn’t.  I kind of bit my lip.  “The night we left the hotel and we were arguing…. You told me that you were worried about me just as much as Lainie…. What did you mean by that?”

          He kind of smiled but didn’t answer the question.  “You’ll have to find out.”

          Ruff…. Ruff…. Ruff…. Ruff….

          “Imhotep?  Want to go meet the mutt?”

          “Sure.”

          Louis grabbed my hand and practically dragged me downstairs and opened a door, releasing a huge all black Doberman pitcher.  His ears were small and pointed with light pink on the inside.  His beady black eyes revealed a good sense of security.  He started to jump Louis when he noticed me and slowly worked his way over to me trying to figure out if I was a danger to his home or a new friend toward the family.  His black wet nose sniffed my clothes as he was trying to figure out if I should stay or if I should go.  “It’s okay, boy, this is Samantha, she’s a friend and she’s going to be staying here with me for a little while.... You have nothing to worry about.”

          Imhotep stopped what he was doing and looked at Louis as if he was debating on if the man was lying or not.  Then he looked back up at me and smiled, sticking his long pink tongue out of his mouth, revealing a couple of rows of sharp pointed teeth, including the four canines which sat in the front of his snout.

          “You’re a big boy, aren’t you?” I asked as I smiled at the dog.

          Ruff.

 

          A few hours had past when Carmen walked into the house, followed by Lainie.  Carmen carried a few big bags of groceries while Lainie carried a couple of small bags with clothes and a new pair of sandals.  “Did you two have fun shopping?” Louis asked as we made our way into the room.  I kind of trailed behind him, hoping that maybe Carmen wouldn’t assume anything had happened.

          “Yea, I got a new pair of sandals with the Disney Princesses on them,” Lainie replied as she pulled the sandals out to show Louis and me.

          “Cool,” Louis replied, nodding as he looked at the sandals.  “Did you get anything else?”

          “Yea, Auntie Carmen brought me a couple of new outfits two.”

          Louis nodded again and smiled.  “That’s awesome.”

          “I’m going to go try on my outfits.”  Lainie rushed upstairs and we heard the close behind her.  She kind of slammed it with excitement on accident.  “SORRY!” we heard her little voice shout.

          The three of us adults couldn’t help but laugh.

          “So what did you two while we were gone?” Carmen asked, raising an eyebrow.

          “I watched a movie and then we just pretty much talked after that,” I replied.

          Carmen nodded as her eyes moved from me to Louis.  “What about?”

          “Just getting to know each other,” Louis replied, “apologizing for our behavior toward each other…. That’s about all.”

          Carmen had a look on her face as if to ask if anything might have happened that she was waiting for one of us to admit.

          “What?” Louis asked, raising an eyebrow.

          “Did anything else happen that you two aren’t telling me about?”

          I wanted to blush at the question but I managed to bit my bottom lip to keep myself from blushing.

          “No,” Louis replied.  “Do you think something might have happened?”

          “I don’t know…. Maybe I mean anything can happen….” She kind of smiled.  “You two really didn’t do anything else that I should know about?”

          “Are you implying something?” Louis asked.

          “No I’m just saying….”

          Louis shook his head.  “Nothing happened…. Why are you so nosey all of the time?”

          Carmen’s smile grew.  “I like being nosey…. Besides it’s boring when there’s nothing interesting to talk about.”

          “Okay.  I’m going to go take a shower,” Louis replied as he headed up the stairs, leaving me alone to fend for myself.

          I had absolutely no defenses and I didn’t know what to expect from Carmen.  She was kind of starting to remind me of Annie which kind of gave me the feeling that her and Annie were working together to set me and Louis up.  Bad situation to be in at the moment.

          “Would you mind helping me with the groceries?” Carmen asked as she headed toward the kitchen.

          “Sure,” I replied, feeling that she was going to use this time to distract me so she could integrate me about what was going on with me and her beloved brother.  I headed out side and noticed a dark blue many van.  I walked around it to the back which was opened and began to pull out bags filled with all kinds of food, from meals to snacks, what needed to be frozen and what could be placed in the cabinet.

          As I grabbed a couple of bags, Carmen had walked out and began pulling out some bags.  “So what’s going on with you and my brother?”

          Oh no…. Here we go, I thought to myself.  The questions had just started.  “Nothing,” I replied, I felt Carmen’s eyes look at me.

          “You sure?”

          “Yea,” I answered as I started walking away with the bags in my arms.

          “Okay,” Carmen spoke as she followed behind, “whatever you say.”  I heard that smile in her voice as she kind of sang the last part of her sentence.

 

          I placed the grocery bags next to the ones Carmen had placed on the floor and turned to face her as she did the same.  “Can I ask you something?”

          “Yea what?  Is it about Louis?” she asked with excitement in her voice.

          “Something like that but it’s a casual question nothing dealing with him personally,” I replied, hoping that would throw her off.

          “Okay go ahead.”

          “You mentioned that you were older than him…. How much older because you two look to be almost the same age, kind of like twins?”

          Carmen kind of laughed.  “Actually, I’m almost a year older than him…. We’re about the same age for a couple of months…. We’re both twenty two right now but I’ll be twenty-three pretty soon.”

          “Oh,” I sighed.

          “Yep…. I’m the oldest and sadly the only girl in the family…. Louis is a year older than our brother Jessie…. Jessie’s a couple of years older than our brother Isaac…. Isaac’s a year older than our brother Quinn…. And Quinn is a couple of years older than our brother Kevin who is the youngest.”

          “Wow…. Sounds like a big family,” I replied, kind of laughing.

          “Tell me about it…. Our mother tried to convince our father to get fixed before she wound up pregnant with Quinn but he didn’t so after Kevin was born…. She got herself fixed because she was done with children, although she loves each of us equally and wouldn’t trade any of us, she doesn’t want any more.  How many are there of you?  I know Annie obviously but are there any others?”

          “We have two brothers…. I’m one of the middle children…. The second oldest while Annie’s the oldest.”

          Carmen nodded.  “Almost as big as our family…. So you know what’s like growing up fighting over food then huh?”

          I nodded in agreement as I helped Carmen place the last of the groceries where they needed to go.

          “You know a few days ago before you were supposed to be arriving here at the airport I talked to Annie.”

          “Oh really?”  I bet I know why.

          Carmen nodded.  “Yea we’re really good friends…. Some times when they come here we let them stay for the weekend or however long they want to stay for and vice versa when we go to visit them…. Ron and Eric usually go fishing or go do guy things while me and Annie stay here or at their house depending on where we are and stay talk about the guys…. And other girl things that the men could care less about.”  She kind of laughed.  “We tell stories about what had happened to us when we haven’t seen each other in while…. Kind of like sisters do…. You’re lucky to have a sister, especially one such as amazing as Annastia.”

          I kind of smiled.  “I know…. She’s pretty amazing.”  Then my mind went back to the day when someone had broken into the mansion and I began to worry.  “I hope that she and Ron are alright.”

          Carmen looked at me with a look of sympathy.  “I’m sure they’re fine…. Wherever they are…. I’m sure they’re alright.”

          Louis walked into the room as he slid his arms through the holes of a grey tank top.  He wore matching grey pants.  His damp hair revealed that it was in the process of drying although water wasn’t dripping off of it.  His blue eyes locked with me and kind of smiled at me before Carmen could notice.

          “Thanks for not wanting to help with the groceries, bro,” Carmen replied as she glanced over at him.   

          “Sorry but after a couple of nights without showering it was about time…. You know I hate going so long without cleaning myself up…. My five o’clock shadow would have been growing soon and I wanted to stop that from happening.”

          “Of course…. Of course…. Or is there another reason for that?” she asked.  “More like another person actually?”

          Louis sighed and looked at Carmen.  “No assumptions…. There’s nothing going on.”  His beautiful blue eyes locked with mine and I could see that there was something in them letting me know that there was hope for him…. For me…. For us…. That maybe eventually we would be together.

          I kind of smiled at the thought.

          Riiing…. Riiing…. Riiing.  Louis had pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed talk.  I watched as he placed the phone to his ear.  “Hello?  This is…. What? But---”

          I didn’t know who the other person was or what they were saying but the expression on Louis’s face told me that something bad had happened.  Carmen seemed to have noticed the exchange too.

          “I’ll be on my way.”  He pressed a button to end the call and placed the phone in his pocket.

          “What was that about?” Carmen asked with concern in her voice.

          “Are Ron and Annie okay?” I asked, whispering with panic in my voice.

          “They’re fire,” Louis reassured me.

          “Then what’s wrong?  Who were you just talking to?”

          “My boss…. Someone set the mansion on fire.”

          I dropped my mouth in shock.  I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

          “That’s horrible,” Carmen replied.  “Ron worked so hard for that place…. Who would do such a terrible thing?”

          “I’m assuming the people who broke in…. Carmen, I have to go…. Keep an eye on Lainie and Sam---”

          “I want to go with you,” I replied.

          “It’s too dangerous and I don’t have time to argue.”

          “But I want to go…. I want to see if I can find out any new information….”

          “It’s information that doesn’t concern you,” he replied, I felt that he was worried about me getting into trouble or something and the concern in his voice wasn’t trying to be rude but to let me know that he was trying to protect.

          “Please let me with you?” I begged.

          Louis sighed.  “Fine but we need to leave as soon as possible.”

          I nodded.

 

 

 

Fire

          I was placing the seatbelt into the buckle while Louis started the car.  He sped off after he pulled out of the driveway.  “There’s no way that we’re going to make to the mansion before it’s completely burnt down,” I told him.

          “Yes we are,” Louis replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

          “How?  It took us a couple of days to get here there’s no possible---”

          “I know some shortcuts that’ll get us to the mansion about less than an hour…. Besides it’s a big house, there’s no way it’s going to be completely damaged by the flames before we arrive…. Believe me I know what I’m doing.”

          “Why didn’t we take the shortcuts to here then?”

          “Because I knew there was a good chance that we were being followed…. Remember your taxicab driver who followed us back to the hotel?”

          I didn’t reply, instead I just kept quiet.  Hoping that no one was in the mansion and wondering what happened for it to catch on fire anyways?  Wondering if Louis was right about the people who had broken in had planned on destroying the mansion or if it was an accident?  There was no telling what had really happened until we were there.

 

          Like Louis had said, we made it within less than an hour and the mansion was almost completely covered in flames.  I climbed out of the car as I stared at the mansion which was almost engulfed by the fire.  Louis grabbed my hand so that he wouldn’t lose me during the chaos as we walked over to a few firemen surrounding a long red fire truck.  “Any ideas what happened, Thomas?” Louis asked one of the firemen who was prepared to go marching into the house.

          “We’re assuming that it’s an arsonist…. We found foot prints of what appeared to be boots of some kind standing over by the tree,” the man responded, his voice was deep for a guy who I guessed was about in his late twenties, early thirties.  “Do you know if Annie and Ron might have been home or anyone else like a maid or one of the cooks?”

          “Annie and Ron are in witness protection right now…. As for the maids or cooks,” Louis shrugged as he shook his head in response, “I’m not sure….”

          “Annie and Ron are in witness protection?  Why?  What happened?”

          “Someone broke into their house about three or four days ago…. Annie and Ron were chased out of the house when it happened…. Lainie’s with Carmen right now and Annie’s sister,” he said as he gestured toward me, “wanted to come to see what any of us could find out?”

          “Hello.”  Thomas kind of nodded toward me then turned his attention back toward Louis.  “We’re in bit of a hurry and right now kind of shorthanded…. Do you think you can help?”

          “Yea.”

          “Okay then suit up as soon as possible…. And thanks, man.”  Thomas hurried over to the truck and picked up a hose.

          Louis went toward the truck but I grabbed his hand.  I felt fear grow inside of me at the thought of something bad happening to him when we were just starting to get to know each other and I didn’t want to lose him.  I had a feeling that the fear I felt was the same fear he had felt when he had to fight off that taxicab driver.  “Please don’t do this?” I begged, tears filled my eyes.

          “It’s okay, Sam.  I’ll be fine.”

          “But you could get hurt.”

          “Sam, I’ve done this before believe me…. I know what I’m doing….”

          “I don’t---”

          “Sam, I know how to handle this kind of situation.  I’ll be right back…. Just stay here and close to the fire truck…. I know these guys they’ll make sure that you’re safe and nothing will happen to me…. I’ll be back.”

          I went to reply but Louis hurried off into the cabin of the trunk and I figured that he was preparing for the fight with a fire when I noticed a fire fighter run up to the truck.  He ran past me as if he were in a hurry.  “THERE’S A PERSON ON THE SECOND FLOOR?!”

          Louis jumped out of the truck with a yellow baggy but fire proof coat on with black fire proof boots.  He placed a helmet with a clear plastic mask tightly on his head and pulled down the plastic mask over his face as he rushed past me.  I had no idea what to say or do as I watched him run into the burning building.  The fear grew as I had to watch in panic, wondering if he was going to make it out in time or not?  Hoping that I’d see him hurry out soon.  I felt heart drop at the sight when the building began to burst into flames.  I couldn’t take it, I buried my face in my hands to keep from watching anymore.

 

          I felt someone grabbed my shoulders and I just broke down into tears without looking to see who it was.  “Sam, it’s okay,” Louis’s voice reassured me.

          I slowly moved my hands from my face as I locked eyes with him.  I was angry but more hurt than anything.  “Why would you do that?  Why would you run into a building that was on fire?  Why would you put yourself into that kind of danger?” I cried with tears running down my cheeks, knowing that I could have lost the one man who was starting to mean something to me.  “Why would you do something that stupid?”

          He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug as I hid my face in his shoulders.  “It’s okay…. I was wearing protective gear….”

          “That doesn’t matter…. I thought you were going to die because…. Because….” I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence.

          “Sam,” he replied as he lifted my chin with his pointer finger, “I’m here now…. I’m safe…. There’s nothing for you to worry about….”

          “But…. But…. You could have---”

          Louis kissed me before I could finish my sentence.  The kiss was amazing and was nothing that I had ever experienced before.  So people described the feeling like fireworks but what I was feeling at the moment was even better than fireworks.  The words to describe the kiss were hard to find.  But it was enjoyable.  When he pulled away from me, I was speechless and couldn’t think of what to say.  My mind went blank and I just stared at him in surprise.  I felt myself wanting more than just one little kiss.  “Better?”

          I nodded, still surprised by the moment.

          He took my hands in his.  He kind of smiled.  “Sorry about that…. I’ve kind of been waiting for the right moment….”

          I kind of blushed as I returned the smile.  “I’ve been wondering when you were going to actually go through with it.”

          “We need to go out on a date…. This isn’t exactly romantic.”

          I kind of laughed at his words.  “It might not be romantic but at the moment you have a job to do….”

          Louis’s face went blank as he realized what I said.  “Kathleen?  I have to find out if she’s okay.”

          Kathleen?  Oh no the maid who met the first night…. She was so kind and helpful…. I hope she’s okay.

          Louis grabbed my hand and we walked around to the other side of the fire truck where an ambulance sat with the back doors wide open.

          Kathleen was lying on a stretcher and kind of smiled at me and Louis.  Her facial expression revealed that she was in some kind of pain and she was covered with ash and burnt marks.  Her clothes had stains from the fire.  “Hello, there Samantha right?” she asked.

          I nodded staring at her wondering how bad the pain was she was going through.

          She kept her sweet smile though.  “Louis, thank you for saving me.”

          “No problem,” Louis replied, lightly.

          She noticed that our hands were locked together and her smile grew even wider.  “You two make a cute couple…. I’m sure that Annie will be proud to see that.”

          I kind of smiled while my eyes filled with tears.  I hadn’t known her too long but she was kind of motherly and friendly.  I would have liked to spend more time with her.

          “Well, now I guess I’ll be going home soon.  It’s about that time for me anyways.”  Her words were haunting knowing she wasn’t actually talking about going home.

          “Ron and Annie would want to see you first though,” Louis replied, giving her more reason to live.  “Not only that but Lainie will need you around…. She’s loves you like a grandmother….”

          Kathleen sighed as she locked eyes with Louis.  “I know but my time is up.  They’ll understand and Lainie will too one day.  Samantha, it was good meeting you and a joy helping you find your room.”

          I nodded, feeling the tears fall from my eyes.

          Louis removed his hand from mine and wrapped his arm around me.  I had the feeling that he knew I wanted to burst into tears but he was letting me know that everything was going to be alright.

          We watched as the two guys who were carrying the stretcher worked getting it into the ambulance.  Once the driver was in the vehicle and all of the doors were shut and locked the ambulance drove off.  E-er-e-er-e-er.  The loud sound from the sirens indicated that a person was in need of medical attention as soon as possible which was good news in a way knowing that the maid was still alive even if she wasn’t planning on staying on earth for too long.

          By the time I looked at the mansion, whole place was burnt and damp from the hose the firemen had used to put out the fire.  It looked so broken and ruined.  “What are Annie and Ron going to say?”

          “There’s no telling…. Come on, I have to go talk to my boss…. You can meet him.”

          I kind of nodded as we locked hands again and we walked down closer to what use to be the mansion.  “Are you a fireman?” I asked.

          Louis shook his head.  “No but if I’m around and they need help then I will.”  He led me toward a bunch of cars and a few of them were cop cars but most of them were all the same or looked to be the same.  The cars were all black and small even though some seem to be a little bit larger than others but pretty much they were alike.  I knew he wasn’t a cop because he already told me he wasn’t but I was trying to figure out from the scene what kind of occupation he was in.

          A tall man with brown hair walked over to us.  He looked to be about somewhere in his fifties.  He looked good for his age considering.  He had some grey in his hair but it wasn’t too noticeable.  He was dressed up in a nice suit which made me think he was an undercover cop or something like that.  “Louis, good to see you.”

          Louis nodded.  “Good to see you too, sir.  How’s Annie and Ron?”

          “They’re good.  We already have them waiting for you, Lainie, and Annie’s sister.”  The guy looked at me and smiled.  “Why hello, Miss?  Who might this be?”

          “Believe it or not this is Annie’s sister, Samantha.”

          “Samantha?” the man asked, nodding.  “That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful young lady.”

          “Thank you, sir,” I replied.

          “So are you two together?”

          Louis looked at me and smiled then to the man.  “I believe so or we’d look pretty strange holding hands.”

          The man laughed.  “That’s true.  You better hold on to her, Louis, because I might steal her from you,” the man joked.  I could tell by the way the man talked that he didn’t mean anything by it…. It was just his way of joking.

          “I’m not planning on that happening, sir.”

          “Good, then.”

          “Sam, this is George Mann my boss.”

          “It’s nice to meet you,” I told the man.

          “Nice to meet you too,” George replied.  “Now, back to business,” his tone changed from a joking to a serious as he spoke, “we’re assuming that whoever broke in is the cause of this.”

          Louis nodded.  “I agreed.  Thomas told me that they found foot prints around here somewhere making them believe that it was arsonist.”

          George nodded as well.  “That’s why we believe that whoever it was to set the fire had to deal with the break in.  Oh and that taxicab driver you told us about well we did a background check on him and it turns out that he rapes and murders young women and children as well.  We’ve been searching for him for a few years now and thanks to you we’ve finally found him.”

          “Yea if I hadn’t been there then Sam wouldn’t be here right now because that guy was in her hotel room.”

          George turned his attention toward me with grim eyes.  “I’m so sorry that you’re vacation isn’t turning out to be a nice one…. And that must have been scary for that guy to have found his way into your room.”

          “Yea but it does add a little excitement in a way,” I replied.

          George nodded.  “That’s true too.  Well, do you want to see what we’ve found so far because I’d hate that you had to drive all of this way for nothing?”

          “Of course,” Louis replied.

 

        We followed George over to a tree and he pointed down at the tracks on the ground.  The dirt and grass had revealed that someone had been standing there for at least a little while.  “We had a feeling that whoever was here wanted to make sure that the mansion wouldn’t last too long and of course by the time the fire trucks arrived, the ambulance arrived, and we all arrived the person was already gone.  Oh I heard someone say that there was a person in the mansion during the fire earlier.  Do you two know who it could have been?”

          “It was Kathleen,” Louis replied.  “I rushed in as soon as I heard that someone was trapped inside.  They had to rush her off to the hospital.”

          George nodded.  “Of course.”

          “Was there anything else that I needed to know?”

          “Oh I forgot…. That taxicab driver he came clean when we interrogating him he had admitted that he was the driver of the break in.”

          The words sent a chill up my spine as I remembered the first day I had met the man.  “We’re going to the Williams’ residence…. You know where that is?” I heard my voice ask.

           “Yes I do,” the taxicab driver’s voice echoed through my mind.

          “Sam, are you alright?” Louis asked.

          I looked at him and moved a little closer to him for safety.  “Just the thought about the taxicab driver being here is creepy.”

          Louis sighed and lightly kissed my left temple.  “You’re safe with me,” he whispered into my ear.

          I nodded.

 

          It was late when we arrived back at Carmen’s cabin.  I sat in the car staring at the dashboard as Louis climbed out of the car and closed his door.  He walked around and opened the door for me as I unbuckled.  I couldn’t help but think about the mansion which was no more.  “Come on out,” Louis whispered to me.

          I kind of worked my way out of the car slowly as I thought about everything that had gone on that day.  It felt surreal to me as if it were all a dream but I knew deep down inside that it wasn’t.

          Louis closed the door for me and took my hand in his as he led me up the steps.  “I’m used to seeing that kind of stuff happening all of the time.”  He opened the door quietly and we noticed that the only light on came from the living room.  When we were both inside he closed the door as quietly as possible and locked it, he didn’t want to disturb anyone who was sleeping.  “Go into the living room, I’m sure that Carmen’s in there waiting for us.  She worries about me when she knows what I have to go through during the day…. Her husband actually is one of my colleagues so she kind of worries a lot about him too.  I’m going to get some water.  Want anything?”

          I nodded.  “I’ll have some water too please.”

          “Okay.”  He nodded as his hand slid from mine and we both went separate ways.

 

          As I walked into the living room, I noticed that Carmen was sitting on the couch and Lainie was sleeping on her lap.  Imhotep was on the floor and lifted his head to stare at me, still trying to get to know me.  I noticed a small pregnant orange little cat sleeping under the coffee table.  Carmen looked up at me with a worried look on her face.  “Is Louis okay?”

          I nodded.  “He went to go get us something to drink.”

          She nodded as she sighed in relief.  “I figured he would be but knowing the kind of job he does is worrisome.”

          I nodded with agreement, thinking back to how worried I was when I had to watch him run into the burning building.

          “Lainie wanted to stay up to see you two when you two got back but she didn’t make it past nine,” Carmen told me with a smile.

          I kind of smiled as well as I looked down at Lainie.  “I could see that…. Did you tell her about the mansion?”

          Carmen shook her head.  “With her being so young I didn’t want to worry her and knowing that she’s been through so much already I couldn’t do it.”

          I kind of nodded and sat on the opposite end of the couch.  Imhotep stood up and walked over to me.  He started sniffing me again and then laid his head on my lap, hoping I would pet him.

          “Imhotep, leave her alone…. I’m sure she doesn’t want you to bother her.”

          The dog lifted his head to look at Carmen for a moment then looked back up at me with his beady black eyes and rested his head on my lap again.

          I kind of laughed while Carmen shook her head.  “Sorry about him.”

          “It’s okay, my dog’s like this too.  I’m used to it.”  I placed a hand on the dog’s soft furry head and slowly slid my hand down his neck and onto his back as I lifted my hand to repeat.  His ears laid off to the side as I slid my hand down his back.  “Does that feel good?”

          Imhotep kind of stuck his tongue out as if he were letting me know that felt good.

          Louis walked into the room with a couple of cups and handed one to me.

          “Thank you.”

          “No problem.”

          Carmen kind of started to stand up, trying not to disturb Lainie.

          “I’ll take her,” Louis told Carmen as he set his cup on the table and moved over to Carmen.  He carefully took Lainie without waking her up and started to walk out of the room.

          “Thank you,” Carmen told him.

          “Not a problem, sis.”  He left the room.

          “How bad was the mansion?” Carmen asked.

          “It was horrible.  When we first arrived, the place was slowly starting to fill of flames…. Louis ran inside before it burst into completely…. I guessed he saved one of the maids.”

          “That’s so scary…. Louis doesn’t realize how worrisome that could be either…. Him and Eric both…. I don’t know how they do it.”

          “Louis mentioned that your husband works with him is that how you met him?”

          Carmen shook her head.  “No…. I met Eric from school…. We were eighteen when we married…. High school sweethearts actually…. It just so happened that him and Louis both went into the same line of work.”

          “And what is that exactly because Louis won’t tell me himself?”

          “It’s kind of like secret service work or something like that…. I’m not sure how to describe it but it’s kind of dealing with keeping people safe like Annie and Ron for example what they’re in right now…. I don’t know how to describe it…. I don’t even think Louis knows how to describe so for him to tell you is a no because he knows what he does but it’s one of those things that isn’t easily explained unless you do it yourself to know.”

          “Oh.”

          “Now changing the subject…. Did something happen between you two while you were gone?”

          I should have known.  I was unsure if I should have told her about the kiss or not.  I had a feeling that if I had she probably would want to know every little detail and what lead to it?  How it happened?  The reason for it but I bit my lip as I debated if I wanted to tell her or not.

          Luckily, Louis walked back into the room before I had a chance to answer.  “Not talking about me, are ya?”

          “It depends,” Carmen replied, kind of laughing.

          “That’s nothing to worry about,” Louis replied, kind of sarcastically.  He sat in the middle of Carmen and me and Imhotep didn’t seem to like that one bit.  The overgrown dog jumped up and sat in between us, pushing all of his weight on me as he kept a close eye on Louis.  The man looked at the dog with disbelief.  “What’s that for?”

          Carmen and I started cracking up with laughter.  “Apparently, he doesn’t trust you,” I spoke trying to stop laughing.

          “Apparently…. Look, Imhotep, buddy…. I know your name is from a movie and that the character was an immortal but that won’t keep me from pushing you off of the couch,” Louis explained to the dog.

          Ruff.

          “Really?” Louis sighed, trying to think of what he could do with the dog.  “Look I’m not trying to take over your territory but I think your confused.”  He pointed toward me.  “She just met you and I’ve known you for a few years now…. About three years to be exact so how could you just come and disrespect me like that?” He laughed.

          Imhotep stuck out his tongue as if he was telling Louis that he was the boss.

          “I don’t think so.”  Louis grabbed Imhotep’s blue green collar which kind of reminded me of Scooby’s collar and pulled the dog down to the floor.

          Imhotep eyed Louis as if he was asking him with suspicion ‘why did you do that?’  It was so funny.  I covered my mouth to hold in my laughter so I didn’t wake Lainie up where as Carmen laughed silently to herself.

          “Don’t give me that look…. I won and you lost…. Better luck next time, brother.”

          Imhotep sat on the floor, eyes glued on Louis until he finally gave up and walked back over to a dark corner and curled up into a ball.

          Louis smiled as he kept his eyes on the dog then turned his attention toward me.  “Did you tell Carmen yet?” his smiled turned into a half smirk as he asked.

          I shook my head, shyly knowing what he was referring to.

          “Tell me what?” Carmen asked with a raised eyebrow.

          “She’s your sister,” I whispered, kind of smiling.

          “Okay then.”  He kind of laughed as he took my hand and raised it for Carmen to see.

          It took her a moment for her to figure out what was happening and then she smiled.  “Awe…. You two are together?”

          Louis and I didn’t respond right away.  We just shared a smile and then Louis turned toward Carmen.  “Kind of…. We’re working on it…. You think we could stay here for a couple of more nights?  I want to take Sam out on a real date…. Get to know her some more….”

          “We kissed….” I couldn’t resist the words were out of my mouth before I realized what I even said.

          Louis looked at me with both eyebrows kind of narrowed but with a smile on his face.  “I wasn’t going to tell her that part.”

          “Awe…. You two kissed?  That’s so sweet…. Wait till Annie finds out she’s going to be so excited…. Samantha, I have to take you shopping tomorrow…. So that way you can get a few nice outfits, especially one perfect for your date…. And Louis, Eric will be home tomorrow so you two can hang out…. Actually, change of plans, I’ll have Eric make sure that you’re ready to go out on your date with Samantha….”

          Louis shook his head, kind of laughing.  “If it was up to Carmen, we’d be getting married at the end of this week.”

          “Be glad Annie’s not here…. She’ll have a field day,” I replied.

          Louis nodded.

          “Why don’t we all go to bed?  Samantha, we need to get up early tomorrow so that way I can bring you to the store and we can shop….” Carmen went on.

          “I’m not really one for fashion,” I admitted.

          “That’s okay,” Carmen replied.  “I’ll help you find something nice to wear.  Now, be up and ready by ten…. Can you do that?”

          “I think so,” I replied, kind of nodding.

          “Good, good…. And Louis, when you’re out on your date, pick up some flowers for her or something nice….”

          “Carmen, I’ve dated before you don’t need to tell me what to do and how to do it,” Louis replied.

          “I know but it’s been so long…. I mean this is your first real date since….” Carmen thought about what she was going to say then decided that it was probably not a good idea.  “It’s just been a couple of years for you that’s all.”

          “Well,” Louis replied as he stood up, pulling me to my feet as he looked down at Carmen, “I’m not going to mess this up besides I didn’t say that our date was going to be tomorrow anyways so why….”

          “You might not have,” Carmen answered as she stood up as well, “but I’m telling you two…. Actually, I’m making you two go out on a date tomorrow besides after everything that’s happened you two need time to yourselves and I think tomorrow will be perfect and don’t worry about Lainie I’ll keep an eye on her and I know that when Eric comes home that he’ll visit with her.”

          Louis sighed.  “If you insist.”  He started dragging me out of the room.

          “And no sharing a bed you two until you’re married.”  Carmen laughed.

          “You don’t have to worry about that.” Louis laughed as well.

          I couldn’t help but smile and shake my head.  Carmen reminded me so much like Annie it was insane.  That was probably one of the reasons they were close friends because of the similarities they shared.

 

        Louis stopped in front of the door to the room that Lainie and I were sharing.

          “You walked right past your door,” I informed him.

          He kind of laughed.  “But that would have been rude of me, I wanted to walk you to your room…. If Carmen said anything that might have embarrassed you I’m sorry….”

          “No.”  I shook my head.  “She’s a lot like Annie…. As a matter of fact could imagine that same situation going on when we tell Annie.”

          Louis smiled and kind of nodded.  “Well, we better go to bed before Carmen kills the both of us tomorrow for not getting any sleep.”

          “Okay.”

          “Oh and,” he said as he took both of my hands in his and held them up to his face, “if you have any nightmares tonight, don’t be afraid to come to my room and wake me up…. I’ll stay up with you like last night so you can talk.”

          I nodded.  His hands felt rough almost as if he used them a lot when he did hands on work but they felt so reassuring and comforting as they held onto mine.  They felt just right and I wouldn’t have wanted another man to hold my hands then him.

          “Good night.”  He kissed me softly on my forehead.

          “Good night,” I whispered to him and walked into the room.

Shopping

          I lay in the bed with Lainie curled up next to me.  I kept staring at the dark ceiling, thinking about the kiss and kind of smiled.  I didn’t want to go to bed but I knew I had no choice.  My eyes were fighting to stay awake but I knew it wouldn’t have been long before they lost the battle.  Eventually, my eyes closed and darkness overcame me.

          I sat in a diner looking around.  It was almost empty of life but in a good way.  The sunlight shone through the long and wide window which I was sitting next to.  There was a woman over by the counter, counting money or something.

          Louis walked out of nowhere and sat in front of me.

          I felt myself smile as I looked into his beautiful eyes which took my breath away.  He took my hand in his and lightly kissed it.

          “Sorry I’m late,” he told me with a small but delightful smile.

          I kind of bit my bottom lip as my smile grew.  “It’s not a problem,” I replied.

          “Good.  Now, did you go ahead and order without me or did I make it in time?”

          I kind of laughed at his question.  “You made it right in time.”

          Louis nodded.  “Good…. Sam,” he began softly, “I have something I would like to ask you.”

          I kind of tilted my head, wondering what was going on in his mind.

          “Well, I was wondering….” He looked around, searching for help.  “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right.”  The next thing I knew, he stood up and moved around.  He stood on one knee and held out a small black jewelry box which looked like it was made from velvet.  He opened the small box and inside was a small princess cut clear beautiful diamond ring.

          I was speechless at the sight and had no idea how to respond.

          “Samantha, will you marry me?”

          I tried to speak but I couldn’t.

          “Say yes,” Annie replied as he appeared out of nowhere followed by Ron and Carmen.  “Please say yes.”

          “Annie, it’s her decision,” Ron replied as he pulled Annie back with one arm.

          “But….”

          “Let her decide for herself.”

          Annie sighed and looked over at us then turned her attention toward Ron.  “Okay.”  Her voice sounded defeated which kind of made everyone laugh.

          I turned my attention back to Louis and smiled as I took his hands.  “Yes I will marry you.”

          Louis’s smile grew as he placed the ring on my finger.  He stood up and pulled me too my feet.

          “YAY!” Annie shouted with excitement.

          “Congrats, you two,” Ron replied.

          “Yay,” Carmen replied as she clapped her hands together a couple of times.

          Louis and I smiled at the excited audience who were probably waiting for us to kiss.  “Let’s give them what they want,” Louis whispered to me as he laughed.

          We went to go kiss when….

          “Samantha, time to wake up,” Carmen replied as I sat up and looked around the room which was filled with the morning sunlight.

          “What time is it?”

          “Eight thirty…. Sorry I like to wake up early…. I thought you might like a shower before we left to go shopping to go shopping and I’ll be making some breakfast while you get ready.”

          “Of course…. Thank you.”

          “I’m guessing you didn’t have a nightmare last night because you didn’t wake up like you did about a night ago.”

          “Oh no…. Actually, the dream I had, was far from a nightmare….” I kind of smiled as I thought about it.

          “Well, you’ll have to tell me about it but on the way to the store then…. Oh I brought you some of my old clothes that I couldn’t fit and I thought that possibly you could…. Along with an old bra which is way too small for me, a pair of socks, and clean underwear which I never wear…. As a matter of fact it’s still new…. I send Eric out to go get me knew clothes and he doesn’t even get what I ask for…. Moron,” Carmen said as she kind of laughed, shaking her head at the thought.  “But that doesn’t stop me from loving him.”

          I kind of laughed at her comment.  “Well, thank you.”

          “No problem.”

 

          After I showered and dressed, I walked down stairs into the kitchen where Louis sat at the table with Lainie, drawing some pictures with her.  “That’s a princess,” he told her as he pointed to the picture.

          “No,” Lainie said as she shook her head and laughed.

          “Yes it is.”

          Lainie shook her head.  “If that’s a princess, then where is her tiara?”

          Louis sighed as he locked eyes with the child.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  “Here,” he replied.  He drew something on the picture and showed it to Lainie again.  “See the tiara?”

          Lainie laughed.  “You’re so weird, Uncle Louis.”

          “I try,” he replied.

          Carmen stood at the stove, shaking her head with a smile.

          Louis and Lainie looked up at me, both of them smiled.  “Good morning, Sam,” Louis replied.

          “Good morning,” I answered.

          “Good morning, Auntie Samantha,” Lainie spoke with a sweet little voice.

          “You slept well?” Louis asked.

          “Yes I did.  Thank you for asking.”

          “No problem.  Lainie, are you finished eating?”

          “Yep,” Lainie replied.

          “Okay then why don’t you go and clean up?”

          “Okay.”  Lainie stood up and left the room.

          “Sam, you can sit next to me?” He offered Lainie’s chair.

          “I don’t know.”

          “Why not?”

          “Because Lainie was sitting there and you made her get up.”  I kind of laughed.

          “She won’t mind,” Louis replied, also laughing.

          “I don’t know…. It won’t feel right.”

          “Be that way….”  He stood up and walked over to me and grabbed both of my wrists.  “I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way,” he spoke with a playful tone as he dragged me to the chair and made me sit down.  “Now are you going to be a good girl or am I going to have to tie you down to that chair?”

          I couldn’t help but laugh.  It was obvious that he was flirting with me and I was enjoying the moment.  “I’ll be good and stay right here.”

          “Please no inappropriate behavior you two,” Carmen laughed as she spoke.

          “Don’t worry; we’re keeping it pg.,” Louis answered as he smiled at me.

          “You better…. Samantha, I’ve made some eggs, toast, and bacon is that okay with you?”

          “That’s fine.”

          “Alright then.”

 

          Carmen drove a few miles into town, searching for a clothing store.  I sat in the passenger seat and looked around the town.  It looked kind of like an old part of downtown to the cities back in America with old buildings and houses.  There weren’t that many people who were walking the streets.  Most of the people where in cars.  “So tell me about the dream you had last night,” Carmen spoke breaking the silence.

          I felt myself blush at the thought of the dream.  “Well,” I sighed, “I was at a diner and Louis was there too.”

          “Interesting,” Carmen replied with a voice that told me she was smiling.

          “He got down on one knee, pulled out a box with a diamond ring, and proposed.”

          “Ooo.”

          “Annie came out of nowhere, followed by you and Ron…. She was telling me to say yes,” I told her kind of laughing.

          “What did you say?”

          I felt the blush coming back but even deeper than before.  “I told him yes…. You guys were so happy for us…. We were about to kiss when you woke me up.”

          “Awe…. If I had known that then I would have let you finish the dream,” Carmen replied, kind of laughing.  “Honestly, I could see that happening…. Not any time soon of course but sometime in the future after you two have been dating for a little while…. You two make a cute couple.”

          I bit my bottom lip, smiling.  “Thank you.”

          “No problem….”

          “You think that he’ll be willing to remarry after what happened with his first wife.”

          Carmen nodded as she kept her eyes on the road.  “Believe me when you get to know him more than what you know now…. You’ll know that he’s willing to remarry…. It’ll be a little while though because he’s still not quit over her…. So you’ll have to be patient with him…. I couldn’t imagine what he’s going through…. I mean if I were to loose Eric so soon…. I don’t know if I’d be able to take it…. But God knows what the future’s going to hold and he’s preparing everyone for that time…. I believe that He has a reason for bringing you here and I think that reason has to deal with Louis honestly…. It makes prefect since when you think about it…. Sure you two had a rough first couple of days but look at the two of you know…. Flirting and you two had your first kiss…. I can see you two ending up married.”  She kind of laughed.  “Louis is happy again…. For the first time in the last couple of years…. I haven’t seen him that happy since when Christy was alive…. You’re changing him in a good way.”

          I sat in silence as I thought about what Carmen said.  I couldn’t say much about Louis but her words meant a lot to me.  I had to admit that he was changing from the day he picked me up from the airport to that morning.  I thought he was a jerk but he was showing me another side of him that was the sweet soft and caring side that I wanted in a good man.

 

          The clothing store was filled with verities of different clothes from men’s to women’s to children’s.  There were a few sections of shoes from high heels to boots to sneakers.  The boots and sneakers ranged from men to women to children.

          Carmen had me follow her to a huge wide section filled with all kinds of outfits for women.  By the look of it, I figured that it had to be the largest section in the entire store, seeing that most women had to have more of a verity where as men didn’t mind what the wore and children could care less.  “Do you wear dresses?” Carmen asked.

“Not typically,” I replied as I looked around the place.  “For special occasions but not just because.”

“Okay?  What about skirts?”

“Same for skirts.”

“Okay…. So you must not dress up much then huh?”

“No.”

Carmen turned to face me and looked me up and down while she tried to figure out what would be suitable.  “Well, will you wear one for tonight?”

I shrugged.

“Shrugging’s not an answer…. Yes or no?”

“I guess…. I don’t know…. Maybe….”

“Can’t think?” Carmen kind of laughed.  “Well come with me then.”

“Okay.”  I followed Carmen into a section filled with dresses from all over the place.

“Oh and don’t worry about the cost…. I have it covered…. Which one would you be willing to be seen in tonight?”

I looked around and kind of bit my lip.  I remembered how Louis told me that I could wear red because his wife didn’t like the color the day of the incident with the taxicab driver.  “I don’t know….”  All of the dresses were beautiful but being more of a pants and t-shirt kind of girl the idea of even being seen in a dress was ridiculous to me.  “Louis told me that red would be a good color because his wife never liked…. That’s not exactly how he worded it but that’s what I got from it….”

Carmen kind of smiled.  “Don’t pick it out for him…. Pick it out for yourself…. If he likes it, he likes it…. If he don’t, then it’s no big deal he’ll just have to deal with it.”

I looked around, walking over to a rack of dresses and skimmed through them.  “It doesn’t have to be too fancy does it?”

“No…. Just something that makes my brother stutter….” She kind of laughed.  “I’d like to see him at a loss of words.”

I kind of laughed as well as I searched through the dresses when I came across an aqua blue colored dress.  It was long and looked as if it would cover my feet.  It looked causal but yet somewhat sophisticated.  The top of the dress had an opening around the collar but it wasn’t opened enough to reveal anything underneath.  The sleeves barely left the shoulders and it just seemed prefect.  I grabbed it and held it up to see what Carmen would think.

She smiled and nodded.  “Do you want to try it on?”

“Of course,” I replied.  I looked around.  “Where are the dressing rooms?”

“Follow me.”

I followed Carmen to an opening with a small light brown desk and a woman with short wavy brown hair stood behind the desk and smiled at us.  “How may I help you?” the woman asked.

“I would like to try this on,” I replied, holding up the dress.

The woman looked at the dress and nodded.  “Just that one dress?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay.”  She took out a long white plastic tag which was used to hang on the door knobs to the room with the number 1 written on it.  “Here you go,” she said as she handed it to me.

“Thank you.”

 

          After I had some outfits, Carmen dragged me over to the shoes.  “Okay since you don’t wear dresses or skirts often I’m guessing you don’t really where high heels either?”

          “No,” I replied, shaking my head.  “I hate high heels…. They make my feet so sore.”

          Carmen started laughing.  “Well, will you be willing to were a pair for tonight just to go with the dress then when you two get back you can soak your feet in the bathtub?”

          I thought for a moment then nodded.  “As long as I don’t have to wear them too long I think I’ll be fine.”

          “Good.”

          I walked around, picking up boxes of high heels but none of them seem to be comfortable.  I knew I was going to hate myself later for making the decision to wear them it was just for one night…. Hopefully only a few hours.  I found a pair which had flat heels.  They were still high heels but didn’t have the split on the bottom like most of them.  They were a blue color but almost matched the dress.  I checked the size on them and luckily they were my size.  I took the box from the row of shoes and walked over to a little bench which sat in front of a mirror.  I took off my left shoe and sock so I could place the left high heel on my foot.  The high heel fit perfectly.  I stood up to get a feel of it and then turned to Carmen, kind of smiling.  “I like it.”

          “Good…. Make up….”

          “Look I don’t mind wearing a dress and heels but I’m not big on make up.”

          “That’s okay we can use the basic…. You’ll still look like you…. Nothing to bright and broad that will make you look or feel ridiculous.”

          I sighed.  “Okay."

 

          When Carmen pulled up to the house, I noticed a small red car.  It looked big enough to fit at least five people but it wasn’t huge.  I looked at Carmen, figuring she knew who the car belonged to.  A huge smile grew on her face as she seen it.  “Eric’s home,” she told me.  There was a hint of excitement in her tone.

          I kind of smiled.

          As she placed the car in park, Louis walked out of the house followed by a tall man with short brown hair.  He was dressed like a fisherman with a tacky brown vest filled with fishing hooks of all kinds.  Under his vest was what I guessed to be a white and red stripped t-shirt and brown long shorts which stopped at his knees.  He wore black and white sneakers with long white socks underneath.  I figured the man was Eric, Carmen’s beloved husband.  I kind of recognized him from the pictures I had seen inside of the house.

          Louis walked over to my side of the car and opened the door for me as I unbuckled.  “Thank you,” I told him as I smiled.

          “Not a problem,” he replied.  “What did you get?”

          “You’ll have to wait and find out,” I answered as I climbed out of the car and closed the door behind me.

          “Oh fun…. The guessing game…. Well, I’m not going to go through your clothes anyways it’s personal stuff and I respect that.”

          “Who’s this your friend, Louis?” the man asked as he walked over to us with his arm around Carmen.

          “This is Samantha, the girl I told you about,” Louis replied as he took my hand.  “Sam, this is Eric, Carmen’s husband, as you might have already figured.”

          “Oh yea.  It’s nice to meet you,” I told the newcomer.

          “Nice to meet you too.  So Carmen’s making the two of you go out on a nice date tonight?”

          I kind of laughed and nodded at Eric’s question.

          “I see.”

          “So, Carmen, seeing that you picked tonight as our date night what are Sam and I going to do?  When are we to leave?” Louis asked with a joking tone.

          “That’s up to you two but I’m only going to make enough dinner for Eric, Lainie, and I so you two will have to fend for yourselves.”  It was obvious what she was hinting and the smile that grew on her face was kind of teasing and giving off a tip for Louis.

          “Dinner then,” Louis replied as he locked eyes with me.  “How’s dinner sound?”

          “Dinner sounds good,” I answered with a smile.

          “Good…. Now would you like any help with your bags?”

          “Sure.”  I slid the door to the middle seat open to reveal the bags filled with clothes.

          “Wow,” Louis replied as he counted the bags in his head.  “That’s quite a bit, don’t you think?”

          “Carmen forced me to get it,” I answered as I laughed.

          Louis smirked and shook his head.  “Should have known.”  He picked up the bags, two at a time till there were no more.

          “Need any help?”

          “Clothes and…. Shoes?” he asked as he looked at the box.  “I think I’ll be fine.”

          I followed him into the house and up to the room where Lainie and I were staying in.

          “Must have been quite a shopping spree, huh?”

          I nodded as I watched him place the bags on the bed then turned to look at me.

          “Can’t wait to see what you got for tonight…. Which reminds me…. How long is it going to take you to get ready?”

          “I don’t know…. I think Carmen wants to help me with my hair and makeup.”

          Louis nodded with a slight smile on his face then he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me.  They felt so strong and protective that I didn’t want him to leave me alone.  I felt so safe around him.  “If Carmen’s got anything to do with it, then I guess she’s going to take a while preparing you for the night…. She loves dressing people up and prepping them anything from dates to proms to weddings…. She’s into that kind of stuff so I have a feeling she’s going to be in here any minute to prepare you for tonight.”  He kissed my forehead then released me from his grip.  “I guess I better go because she’ll be up here and kick me out of the room.”  He left as he winked at me, making me blush a little.

 

          I sat on the bed all dressed up as Carmen fixed my hair.  Lainie was at the door, making sure that Louis didn’t walk in.  Carmen made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t a loud to see me until I was ready to leave the house.

          “I thought that you hated Uncle Louis,” Lainie said as she looked over at me.  “If you hate him then why are you going out with him?”

          I kind of smiled at the child’s question.  “It’s complicated…. When you’re older, you’ll understand.”

          “Oh…. Okay.”

          “And hate is such a strong word, Lainie,” Carmen replied with a smile.  “There your hair is all done…. Want to take a look?”

          I thought about it but decided against it.  I’ll wait to see what it looks like with the make up on.”

          “Okay then.”  I watched as she dipped a small round brush into the base of the blush which was the color of my skin tone and then as she lifted it up to touch my face with it.  The bristles of the brush felt ragged but soft.  I sat patiently as she moved the brush against my cheek and then did the same when she moved to the other one.  When she was done with the blush, she placed eye-shadow on my eyes.  I had to keep my eyes closed but it was kind of hard to do because I wanted to blink so badly.

Once she was finished with the eye-shadow, she turned toward the make-up and looked at it.  “Want eye-liner?”

“No thank you,” I replied, shaking my head.

“Okay then…. Mascara?”

“Okay.”  I watched as she took the mascara and unscrewed the lid, bringing it over to my eye.  She had me blink a few times against the brush which made my eyes tingle as I did so.  Then she had me repeat with the other eye.

“Okay, time for lipstick.”

She had me purse my lips as she applied the light pink lipstick on them.  The lipstick was about the same color as my lips; it was only used to make my lips stand out, pretty much like the other make-up items.

“And you’re done.... Would you like to see now?”

          “Yes please.”

          “Okay.”  She handed me a round small hand held mirror and I looked into it.  The make-up wasn’t noticeable which was what I had wanted.  No one would be able to tell that I was even wearing anything.  My hair was placed in a half bun with curls from the curling iron which looked amazing and even my small bangs fell off to the left side of my face with little curls.  I smiled at the sight, wondering what Louis was going to think when he seen me.  “Well?”

          “I like it…. Thank you…. You did an excellent job…. Thank you so much.”

          “No problem always glad to help.”  Carmen returned the smile then picked up the high heels and handed them to me.  “Don’t want to forget these.”

          “Of course, thank you.”  I placed the high heels on my feet then stood up slowly so I didn’t fall.

          “You look pretty, Auntie Samantha, Uncle Louis is going to flip,” Lainie spoke with that cute adorable voice only a child could have.

          I smiled at her.  “Thank you, Lainie.”

          “Ready to go meet your prince charming?” Carmen asked with a grin growing on her face.

          “Yea, but I think I could use some help walking.”

          Carmen laughed.

 

          Carmen helped me walk down the stairs so I didn’t trip on the steps as I made my way down.  When we got down stairs, Louis and Eric stood there, waiting for us.  Eric smiled at us while Louis just stared with amazement on his face.  I kind of thought that he was in shock.  I noticed that he held a beautiful bouquet of all kinds of flowers.  It was mixed with red and white roses with a few yellow lilies and I believed a few small sunflowers.  I couldn’t help but notice that he was wearing a nice white dress shirt with long black dress pants and shiny black shoes.  His hair was brushed back nicely with a few pieces hanging in front of his face.  He was so handsome and dreamy.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

          As I worked my way to the ground I stopped kind of in front of him.  I had no idea what I should say.  He was so attractive.  I felt if I were to say anything it would have been unintelligible and idiotic.  I just stood there, checking him out in awe.

          “You look handsome, Uncle Louis,” Lainie’s little voice broke me out of my little daze.

          I kind of shook my head and looked down at her.

          “Thank you, Lainie,” Louis replied with a smile.  I watched as he took a sunflower out of the bouquet and handed it to the child.  “This is for you, kiddo.”

          “Thank you, Uncle Louis,” Lainie replied with a wide smile as she took the little flower.

          “And these are for you,” Louis replied as he handed the rest of the bouquet to me.  “I figured that there was plenty of flowers already so I hope you don’t mind me giving one to Lainie.”

          I smiled as I looked at the bouquet in my hands and then locked eyes with him.  “I don’t mind.”

          “What about me?” Carmen joked behind me.

          Louis sighed.  “You’re my sister…. Besides, you’re making us leave while you make dinner for the three of you.”  He couldn’t hold in his laughter.

          “Still it would have been nice.”                    

          Louis shook his head and turned toward me.  “Is it okay if I take one to give to Carmen?”

          “It’s okay,” I replied as I kind of closed my eyes with a shy smile.

          Louis reached in and took a lily out and handed it to Carmen.  “I know you like roses but because you’re my sister and not my date I figured that you’d be okay with a lily.”

          Carmen kind of laughed as she took the lily from Louis.  “Well, thank you.”

          “Shouldn’t you two be heading off now?” Eric replied as he smiled at the both of us.

          “Of course,” Louis nodded as he spoke.  He took my hand and walked me toward the door then stopped.  “Carmen, can you take the bouquet and put up in the room for Sam so she doesn’t have to carry it all night?”

          “Sure.”  Carmen walked over to me and I handed her the bouquet with my free hand.  “You two have fun now.”

          “Oh and you kids remember to be back by 10,” Eric joked as he laughed.

          “We’ll be fine,” Louis replied as he led me out of the door.

Date Night

          Louis held my hand as we walked into a  building with walls with openings in them, kind of like windows.  The lights were dimmed to give it the romantic atmosphere feeling.  There were small round tables which sat two chairs at each.  The place was almost full of couples which the exception of a few empty tables.  There were a couple of spiral staircases on each side of the building.  We worked our way over to the maître d’ who kind of reminded me of Alfred from the old Batman cartoons those different stations would show for children.  He was tall and bout in his sixties with grey hair but bald from the forehead to the middle of his head.  He wore a black dress suit which included long black dress pants, black polished dress shoes, a white long sleeves dress shirt, and a long black coat which had a split tail in the back.  He had slightly grey mustache under his nose which was barely noticeable.  He fit the criteria for the role of a butler.  He wore a friendly and pleasant smile on his barely wrinkled face.  “Good evening, how may I help you?”

          “I made reservations earlier,” Louis replied.

          “Okay…. And what is the name, sir?” the man asked as he turned his attention to a long list on the podium and placed a pair of small silver reading glasses on his face.

          “Matthews.”

          “Okay let me see if I can find it.”  I watched as the man took his skinny long pointer finger on the list and searched for the name while he mumbled it to remind himself what he was looking for.  “Here we go Mr. Louis Matthews right?

          Louis smiled.  “Yes, sir.”

          The man looked up at us and smiled.  “Reservation for two…. Right this way.”

          “Thank you.”  Louis gestured for me to walk ahead of him.  “Ladies first.”

          I followed the man while Louis followed behind me.  We followed the maître d’ up the left staircase and over to a small rounded table covered with a long white table cloth.  Sitting on top of the cloth was a couple of small round lit candles and a vase with a few flowers.  We had the view of the town next to the wide window which covered majority of the room.  It was so beautiful.  The city lights lit the dark street up from below.  I was amazed by the captivating beauty of the town’s lights.

          Louis pulled a chair out from under the table.  “Sam,” he spoke with a sweet calming voice.

          I looked at him as he gestured for me to sit down.  I smiled and sat in the chair he had pulled out for me.  “Thank you.”

          He smiled as he sat in the chair across from me.

          The maître d’ handed us each a menu.  “A waiter will be here shortly to take your orders for food and drinks.”

          “Thanks,” Louis told the man.

          The man nodded with a smile then left.

          Louis turned his attention toward me.  He looked me up and down as we sat there in silence.  I could tell that he was trying to think of a conversation so I waited for him to speak.  “You look lovely tonight, Sam,” he finally said after a moment.

          “Thank you.  You look good too,” I replied.  I looked around the room, noticing a few other couples.  A couple of them were about our age while the others were older couples who were middle aged or older.  “This is a nice little place.”

          Louis nodded as he looked around as well.

          “Did you ever bring your wife here?”

          He looked at me and shook his head.  “No…. A true gentleman doesn’t bring his girlfriend to places that he brought his deceased wife too, not including family and friends’ homes…. Too many memories and his girlfriend isn’t his wife…. The two women are different therefore it’s better to keep them separated….” I could see sadness in his eyes as he spoke.  I could only imagine the pain that he was filling.  “I figured that it would be better to bring you to a place where I have no memories with any other woman…. And it was actually Eric who had suggested it…. This was about the only place I hadn’t had a chance to bring her too before she past so I agreed that it was a good choice to bring you.”  His eyes moved to toward the table cloth.  “I kind of feel like I’m cheating on Christy…. I know I’m not because she’s gone but it still feels like I am…. I know that she’d want me to move on but after having spent so much time getting to know her and even though she’s been dead for two years it still feels horrible for me to be with another women….”

          I intertwined my fingers with his to let him.  “If you don’t want to move into a relationship yet then take your time….”

          “It’s not that.”  Louis locked his eyes with mine.  “I feel like I’m not the guy you need…. I feel like you need someone better…. Even now….”

          I shook my head.  “I don’t want anyone else…. I admit that at first I hated you because of the fact that you were such a jerk to me but now I see that you’re not the person I thought you…. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine being here with another guy…. You rescued me from danger…. Out of all of the jerks I have ever met in my life…. I don’t think any of them would have been willing to fight that evil man to keep him away from me and…. Lainie…. I see how much you love her as if she’s your own child….” I kind of smiled.  “I find that to be cute and sweet when a man loves children and watches out for them…. I’m glad that I met you so please don’t ruin our first date because you’re worried about how I’m going to think of you.”  I suddenly leaned forward as I closed my eyes and kissed him.  The feeling was as sweet and breathtaking as when he had kissed me.  I had never felt anything like the amazing feeling I was feeling with him.  I slowly pulled myself away from him and locked eyes with him.  “And Christy would understand that you need to move on with your life…. It’d be one thing if she were still alive but because she’s not here anymore…. She’d want you to move on…. I know that you’ll probably never get over her completely but you don’t need to keep living in the past…. I’m here for you.”

          “Thanks, Sam.”

          A man about in his early thirties walked over to us.  He wore nice dress pants and shoes with a long sleeves white dress shirt.  The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he wore a rectangular white apron with pockets.  He pulled out a small pad and a pen, flipping through the pad.  “Ready to order?” the man spoke in a French accent.

          Louis kind of smiled.  “Sorry we’ve been kind of talking…. Can we go ahead and order our drinks though?”

          “Of course, monsieur.”

          “I’ll have water and, Sam, do you happen to drink any alcoholic beverages?  I mean occasionally,” he asked, fixing his words so he didn’t sound like he was assuming that I was an alcoholic.

          I smiled.  “Occasionally, if it’s there.”

          “Have you ever had wine before?”

          “No.”

          “Would you like to try some?  I mean you don’t have to get drunk…. I mean if you like it you can have….” He sighed, kind of frustrated with himself.

          I kind of laughed, knowing that he wasn’t trying to sound like a jerk on purpose.  I could tell that he was actually trying to be polite but didn’t know what to say that didn’t sound offensive.  “I like to try some.”

          Louis smiled with relief.  “Okay then…. Can you bring out your finest bottle of wine?”

          “Of course, monsieur.”  The waiter left, leaving Louis and I alone.

          “I’m sorry if I sounded rude…. I’m kind of rusty in dating because it’s been so long.”

          “It’s alright.  I don’t have much experience with dating either.”

          “Really?  But I was sure that you had men graveling at your feet…. I mean you’re beautiful….”

          “No…. I’ve only had one real boyfriend and I’ve met a lot of jerks who really could care less about me unless they want to make other girls jealous….” I sighed, kind of tearing up at the thought.  “I’m not beautiful…. I’m just me….”

          “You are beautiful…. Even when you’re not wearing make-up…. And those other guys don’t know what they’re missing out on.”  Louis took his right hand and placed his fingers on against my cheek.  He wiped away the tears that fell from my eyes.  “You don’t deserve a guy who’s going to break your heart…. I won’t do that to you…. I can’t tell you to trust me or believe me but I will show you…. I will not let you suffer.”  That time he was the one leaning closer toward me and he kissed me.  When he pulled away from me, he kind of smiled.  “That seems to be our third kiss.”  He kind of laughed.

          I looked up at him and slightly smiled.

          “Have you ever tried ratatouille?” Louis asked, changing the subject as he opened up his menu and started searching for something to eat.

          I gave him a funny and confused look at his question.  “Isn’t that a French meal?”

          Louis smiled at my response and nodded.  “This restaurant is owned by a French man and if you look at the menu you’ll realize that this is a French restaurant.”

          “Oh,” I sighed.

          Louis kind of laughed at me.  “It’s okay…. I didn’t actually expect you to know that.”

          “No I haven’t tried ratatouille before,” I replied answering his original question.

          “Oh then you should…. It’s worth trying.”

          “Okay then I will…. Do I remind you of your wife?” I asked, biting my lip.  It was something that was kind of bothering me to know and I didn’t want to upset him but it was something that I needed to know.

          Louis took a deep breath and locked eyes with me.  “No…. You two are completely two different people…. She was a blonde when she actually had a head full of hair before chemo and even then she wore blonde wigs…. You’re a brunette with dark brown hair almost black….  She had beautiful blue-green hazel eyes which changed color from day to day…. You have beautiful dark brown eyes that stay the same….”  He smiled slightly.  “She listened where as you’re stubborn…. The only similarity you two have is that neither of you realize how beautiful you are from the inside out…. Your personalities are different but I have a feeling that as time goes by I’ll love you the same way I was in love with her but in so many different ways…. So no you do not remind me of her…. If you did then I’d feel like the only reason why I’d be with you was because I was in rebound as you Americans call it…. That’s the same as using you I believe…. I couldn’t do that to you…. You have nothing to worry about.”

          I kind of felt a smile grow a little on my face as I looked down at the table.

          “Here are two wine glasses and a glass of water, monsieur,” the waiter said as he placed the two round tall wine glasses on the table alongside with the glass of water.  I hadn’t even realized that he was there until he spoke.  I looked up at the guy.  “And here’s the bottle of wine,” he replied as he took the bottle of wine and placed it next to the vase on our table.  “Would you two like to order now or do you still need time?”

          “Ratatouille,” Louis replied.

          “Okay,” the waiter said as he quickly wrote it down in the small note pad and turned his attention toward me.  “And for you, mademoiselle?”

          “Ratatouille as well please.”

          “Two dishes of Ratatouille.... I will be back with your orders.”  The waiter left us alone again.

          Louis noticed that the waiter had forgot to remove the cork from wine bottle.  “Now that’s a problem.”  He looked around but the waiter was already out of sight.  He waited until another waiter walked past us carrying on of the things they used to remove the cork from the bottle.  “Excuse me, sir…. Our waiter didn’t remove the cork from the wine bottle is it alright if you could?”

          “Of course,” the man replied as he took the bottle and placed the cork screw in it.  Once he was done, he placed the bottle back on the table and smiled.  “Anything else, monsieur?”

          “No that would be all.  Thank you,” Louis replied.

          The waiter nodded and walked off.

          I reached for the wine bottle but Louis stopped me as he shook his head.

          “Let it breath first.”

          “Huh?”

          Louis smiled.  “Of course you’ve never had wine before.  It converts the oxygen into the tannins in the wine.”

          I gave him a funny look, still confused.

          He kind of laughed.  “Just let it sit for a few minutes before drinking it,” he replied as he poured a little bit in my glass.  “It’ll be worth it.”

          “Aren’t you going to have any?”

          “No I’m driving and I don’t feel like leaving my brand new car here because I already had to leave my old car at the hotel…. Besides, it’s not a good idea to drink and drive.”

          I kind of smiled.

          “Otherwise I would.”

 

          After dinner, we sat and talked as we waited for the dessert.  Louis was so charming and funny.  I wished he would have shown that side the day at the airport instead of acting like a jerk.  He told me stories from when he was a kid and how him and his brothers would pull pranks on one another and even on Carmen when she unexpected target for the pranks.  “Carmen had started dating this one guy after she had turned seventeen…. He was a real idiot okay…. Well, one night Ron was over at the house when Carmen’s boyfriend came over and well Carmen was in the room fixing her hair and make-up…. You know she’s the kind of girl who has to dress up when she goes out…. Well, anyways Ron, Jessie, Isaac and I plan this prank…. We had agreed that one of us would go hide out in the guy’s old pick truck and wait for them to get out…. So I volunteered…. I loved pulling pranks…. Anyways, Jessie and Isaac hung out with the guy, talked to him and stuff to distract him while Ron helped me sneak into the back of the truck…. The idiot forgot to lock the doors but it was okay it worked for the plan…. You see his pick up actually had a small back seat in it and a black blanket in the black seat so Ron helped me get into the back and helped me fix the blanket so I could be hidden…. Once we were done, Ron closed the door and snuck back to the house…. About an hour goes by when Carmen and her boyfriend are leaving the house…. They had agreed on going to the drive-in to see a movie…. And because they both decided on a horror film, I decided that I was going to have my fun…. Keep in mind neither of them knew that I was there…. Well, they were watching the movie and in the movie there were a couple of teenagers who were in a car making out…. You know the whole horror film plot pretty much…. Well, anyways the characters heard some scratching coming from the woods and as it turns out the scratching came from the villain…. The whole dramatic scene in horror films…. Well after the movie ended, the guy sat there for a moment before actually starting the car so I found a tool box in his back seat and pulled out some small nails…. I took the nails and worked them against the side of the car, scratching…. I kept myself from laughing as I made the scratching sound from the movie…. ‘Do you hear that?’ Carmen’s date asked, kind of freaked out.  ‘Yea,’ Carmen replied.  I bit my lip because I felt the laughter coming up.  ‘You think that’s a consequence?’ the guy asked.  ‘I hope so,’ Carmen replied.  Oh and the best part before I finish the horror film was based off a true story….”

          I dropped my mouth with a smile.  I wanted to laugh so badly but I waited for Louis to finish because I didn’t want to miss anything.

          “Anyways all the way back to the house I continued to do that…. They were both freaked out…. I wounded up getting busted because I started laughing so loudly that they both heard me…. Carmen started beating the crap out of me with her purse…. When she realized that it was me, she was furious.  ‘Why would you do something like that?  You know had mean that was,’ she yelled, that didn’t stop her from hitting me with that damn purse though…. It felt like she had a ton of bricks in that thing…. I couldn’t stop laughing though…. It was a fun night.”

          “How could you do that to your own sister?” I asked, laughing.

          “Simple she’s my sister,” Louis answered with a wide smile on his face.  “She never pulled pranks on us; she just would hit us when we did that kind of stuff to her…. That’s one reason why we never really did anything to her when it involved pranks although every now and then we would just because.”

          “I am so glad that my brothers left me alone,” I replied.

          Louis smiled and shook his head.

 

          I sat in the passenger side of the car and buckled up as Louis started the car.  He looked at me and smiled.  He had a beautiful smile one that would make me fall for him even more than I would have thought.

          “Before we head back to the house, would you like to go for a moon lit walk around the lake?” he asked as he stared into my eyes.

          “I would love that,” I replied with a small pleasant smile.

          He held my hand for a brief moment then released as he began to drive.

 

          We sat in silence for a while, but unlike before the silence was a peaceful one instead of awkward as the others we had had.  It was nice to sit in the silence with neither of us having to say anything.  It was a prefect little moment.  All the sound was from the car and even as Louis parked in a small parking lot surrounded by trees and in the distance was the beautiful moonlit lake with the reflection of the stars dancing on it.  I felt myself unbuckle as I stared at the dark blue water.  It wasn’t something that I was familiar with but it was worth just staring at the lake.

          “Are you going to just sit there or come out?” I looked up at Louis.  I hadn’t even realized that he had worked his way out of the car and over to my side to open the door for me.  He smiled a little and held out his right hand.

          “I’m sorry I was just admiring the water,” I replied as I took his hand.

          He pulled me out of the car and made sure that I was away from the door so he could close it.  “It is lovely…. Would you like to see it up close?”

          I nodded.

          He took his keychain out and pressed a button.  Click, we heard as the doors locked automatically.  He placed the keychain back into his pocket and held onto my hand tightly as he pulled me toward the lake.

          “Are we aloud to be here?”

          He laughed at my question.  “Of course…. It’s not exactly a park although there are some restrooms out here for people to use…. Actually this is where guys bring their dates for a romantic evening…. I figured you might enjoy it.”

          I kind of smiled while I bit my bottom lip and looked around.  “This is a lovely choice.  So is this where princes marry princesses or what?  Romeo….”

          “Romeo?  Why do women look for a guy to be Romeo?  Him and Juliet died at the end…. Why would anyone want that?”

          I kind of laughed.  “But they were in love….”

          “In love?  Aww yes and look where that got them…. I don’t think that was a good love story…. I mean yes they loved each other so much that they were willing to die for the other but they were both so young and never really experienced life…. For me, a good choice for love would to be to grow old with the one you want to spend the rest of your life with and to go through life together…. It doesn’t always happen but when it does it’s one of the most beautiful things that there could ever be…. I lost my first love due to something that only God really had control of not man…. And I don’t blame Him for it but it doesn’t mean that I don’t miss her…. Things happen for a reason and He brought you here for me so in time love will be what brings us together and keeps us from having to worry about what’s going to happen next or if we’re going to die or anything from that moment on.”  Louis stood in front of me, still holding my left hand with his right as he placed his left hand on my cheek and stared deeply into my eyes.  “Sam, I know that we’ve only just began to get to know each other but I feel that I’m falling for you already…. Does that make me crazy?”

          “No,” I replied as I placed my left hand over his right hand and wrapped my fingers with his.  I kind of smiled.  “I like this side of you…. You’re sensitive and caring…. That’s more than I thought you would ever show…. And I’m kind of falling for you too.”

          He smiled slightly.  He placed his forehead down against mine.  “I thought so.”  We shared another kiss.  That time though the kiss was longer than the others were.  It filled with more excitement than the last three times.  I felt him wrap his arms around my waist as I wrapped my arm his neck.  It felt like a scene from a movie and we were leading couple.  He kind of lifted me up in the air as he kind of spun me around then placed me back on my feet as we broke out of the longest kiss we had.  “Our first date and we’ve already kissed four times,” he kind of laughed as he spoke.

          “Yep.”  I pulled away from him as I felt a sharp pain in both of my feet.

          “What’s wrong?”

          “These stupid heels,” I answered.

          He started laughing as I looked up at him, kind of eyeing him.

          “It’s not funny…. They hurt.”

          “I’m sorry,” he replied as he tried to stop laughing.  “Here,” he said as he picked me up, placing one arm under my knees and the other arm around my back.  He carried me over to a small stone bench and sat me down.  “Take off your shoes.”

          “But I don’t want to walk barefooted.”

          “I’ll carry you and you can carry your shoes…. You don’t seem to weigh that much anyways.”

          “Are you sure?”

          “Yes I’m sure…. Unless you want to walk around in those shoes that seem to cause you pain anyways.”

          “Okay.”  I removed both shoes from my feet and looked at Louis.  “Can we sit for a little while?”

          “Sure.”  He sat next to me on the bench.

          “I don’t know if I’ve told you this already or not but thank you for saving me and Lainie that night at the hotel…. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for you.”

          “Not a problem…. And you should know that when I told you I wasn’t just worried about Lainie I meant it…. Whether she had been in the room at the time or not I was still worried about you…. I was kind of slowly starting to like you then and I just didn’t want to lose you right away…. I was also kind of jealous the first night that we had stopped at the first hotel and I knew that guy was flirting with you and you were obviously attracted to him as well that kind of bothered me…. And I’m sorry about that by the way what I said to him…. I don’t get jealous easily but for some reason that night I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut…. That also reminds me of the waitress at the dinner…. I didn’t want her flirting with me because I didn’t know if that would have made you jealous….” He kind of laughed.  “I don’t know why I would have thought that you practically hated me at the time anyways for being such a jerk…. I kind of have a hard time showing my emotions…. Kind of because I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t feel like it’s emasculate and it’s a sign of weakness…. The other part was that after I lost Christy I felt as someone had torn out my heart…. So I’ve kind of hardened it so that when I met other women I wouldn’t let my feelings get in the way and that’s why at first I was a jerk…. But then I started to get to know and I was fighting myself…. My guard is down completely now because I don’t want to lose you and I’m doing what I can to keep you out of harm’s way…. Sam, this is me opening up to you.”

          I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him, wanting to cry because of his words.  I was surprised by everything that he was willing share with me.  “Louis,” I whispered into his ear.  “I don’t want to lose you either.  My heart about dropped yesterday when you ran into that burning building and if you do anything like that ever again…. I don’t know what I’ll do but I will find a way to punish you for it.”

          He kind of laughed into my ear as he hugged me.  “I guess we both fear for each other then.”  Louis tightened his hold around me.  “Don’t worry I’ll do my best not to be that stupid…. And you better not become friends with anymore strange taxicab drivers.”

          I pulled back, using his arms to keep me from falling back words and I smiled.  “Good we’re at an agreement then,” I said as I smiled.

          He nodded.  “There’s just one thing.”

          “What?”

          “We live in two different countries.”  His smile grew.  “We can make that work though…. I’ll visit you and you visit me…. I know that some people don’t believe in long distance relationships because of the hard work to keep them together but I have a good feeling that we’ll do just fine and I don’t know about you but I could actually see us getting married…. Not any time soon but in the future….”

          I kind of blushed at the thought as I thought about my dream I had had earlier that day.  “Anything is possible,” I replied with a smile slowly forming on my face.

          Louis looked up at the sky then turned his attention back toward me.  “I think we should be heading back to Carmen’s.”

          “But we haven’t walked around.”

          He smiled.  “I know but I want to do that when you have comfortable shoes on…. When you have heels, you’re clumsy and I don’t want to worry about you breaking your sweet little bones.  Besides,” he said as he brushed my bangs out of my face, “I know Carmen will be waiting up along with Eric to see how things went and I don’t want to keep them up too late.  We can have more time after you’re out of this mess and Lainie’s safely with Ron and Annie.  I can’t forget about that…. I think that we’ll leave tomorrow….”

          “I don’t want to leave yet,” I replied, talking about leaving Carmen’s and not the park.  “I’m enjoying it here.”  I moved myself over toward the bench, kind of removing myself from Louis.

          Louis sighed as he looked at me.  “I know but I’ve promised Ron and I’m not the kind of guy who likes to go back on my word…. Besides, the sooner I get you and Lainie to Ron and Annie, the sooner I can join my boss and coworkers to figure out who’s behind all of this…. It’s my job and I can’t let that go…. I have a job to do and I want to make sure that nothing happens to you during that time…. We need to leave as soon as possible…. When things settle down, I’ll give you all the time in the world…. Right now your protection is all I’m worried about…. Sam, I’m not trying to hurt you but I need to do this.”

          I understood what he was telling me but it kind of hurt knowing that we didn’t really have much time for anything.  There was no telling when we would have our next date or if the mystery of the men breaking into the mansion would ever be solved.  I was feeling more like a project than anything else at the moment and tears kind of filled my eyes as I thought about what the following days would be like.

          Louis wiped my tears as they fell.  “I’ve done this many times before and believe me everything’s going to be alright…. I just haven’t felt this way about any of the women I had to protect so I’m kind of in an awkward position.”  He kissed my cheek to reassure me that everything would be alright.  He picked me up the same way he had earlier and carried me after checking to make sure I had the high heels in my hands.  He carried me to the car, opening the door with one hand, trying not to drop me.  He helped me into the car then closed the door and walked around to the other side.

Back on the Road

          Before I stepped out of the car, I placed the high heels back on my feet and took Louis’s hand to keep me from falling as I stood up.  I waited for him as he closed the door then we worked out way up the steps, holding each other’s hands as we walked to the door.  He opened it and let me walk in first.  Once we were both inside, I used Louis’s shoulder to keep me up as I removed the high heels again from my sore feet.  We noticed that the kitchen light and the living room light were the only two lights on indicating that someone was still up.  “You go get ready for bed,” he said as he kissed my forehead.  “You can come down when you’re done.  I have a feeling Carmen and Eric are waiting for us.”  He kind of smiled.

          I nodded and headed up the steps.

 

          I snuck into the room that me and Lainie were sharing and walked over to the little nightstand, turning the lamp on.

          “Did you have fun?” Lainie asked, sleepily.

          I smiled.  “Yes I did,” I replied in a whisper.  “Now go back to bed.  Okay?”

          “Okay,” Lainie sighed and within minutes the only noise coming from her was her precious breathing as she slept.

          I quietly placed the heels on the ground, next to the nightstand and worked my way over to the dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants.

 

          I walked into the bathroom and closed the door.  I took my extra change of clothes and placed them on the toilet and looked into the square mirror which hung over the small slim sink.  Louis was a gentleman all night, I thought as I smiled.  I turned on the water and started splashing water on my face to wipe away the make-up.  When I had finished, I turned off the facet and watched in the mirror as I pulled the hair tie out of my hair, letting my dark brown almost black hair fall past my shoulders.  I’m afraid that I’m going to lose him.  I don’t want to lose him, I just started to get to know him and I feel that I’m slowly falling in love with him.  I know it’s too soon to really tell but I feel he’s the one.  I looked up at the ceiling.  Lord, is he the one?  Or is he just going to leave me like the rest of them?  Is he really the man you’ve created for me?  Am I just jumping to conclusions?  Lord, please somehow let me know that he is the man for me?

 

          I walked down the stairs and stuck my head in the living room to find Carmen sitting on one end of the couch and Louis sitting at the end which was closest toward me.  Eric sat in an old wooden chair.  “Ah, Sam, come on in,” Carmen replied with a smile.

          I walked in and before I could really move Louis took my hand and pulled me into his lap.

          “Behave you two,” Eric spoke with laughter in his voice.

          “Don’t worry, Eric,” Louis replied as he slid me off of his lap and next to him on the couch.  “You have nothing to worry about.”  He tried not to laugh but I could tell that it was hard for him.

          Eric raised an eyebrow but he wore a smile that meant he didn’t really believe Louis’s words as he nodded.  “Huh?”

          “So how was the date?” Carmen asked as her eyes landed on me and Louis.

          “It was marvelous,” I replied.

          Louis nodded in agreement.  “I wouldn’t have asked for a better night.  And thank you, Eric, for the suggesting the restaurant.  It was a good choice for us.”

          “No problem.  I bring Carmen there every chance I get.  As a matter of fact that was the same place I proposed to her.”  He locked eyes with his wife who was smiling at the memory.

          “Yes, but this is their night.  Not ours, honey.”

          “I know but maybe we could double date sometime…. After the situation…. Carmen explained it to me already…. I have a feeling that George will be calling me soon about it…. Now anyways I don’t want to go into that cruel topic till some other time though right now let’s just stay on the happy subject about your date.”

          “Did you two kiss?” Carmen asked as she bit her lip as if holding back excitement.

          I kind closed my right eye, smiling and thinking about the three kisses we had shared.

          “Carmen?” Eric asked.  “You two don’t have to answer that….”

          “But, Eric, they told me about the kiss they had yesterday.”

          Eric’s eyes kind of grew in surprise but then he smiled.  “Wow…. Working fast, aren’t we, Louis?”

          Louis kind of laughed and shook his.  “Actually, in my defense your wife wasn’t supposed to know….”  He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my right temple.  “Sam, here kind of blurted it out.”

          “Ah.”  Eric nodded.  “Anything you like to add, Sam?”

          I kind of smiled, biting my lip.  I kind of glanced at Louis then over to the couple who were having their fun interrogating us.  “I---Ah---I….”

          “Well?”

          “Yes, we did kiss, Carmen…. Three times actually,” Louis replied with a sigh of giving in.  “She was going to get it out of us one way or another,” he whispered quietly in my ear.

          “Aww…. That’s so sweet.  So did you two go anywhere else after leaving the restaurant?” Carmen replied.

          “Yea, I took Sam to the lake for a little bit and we had a nice peaceful moment of just the two of us.”

          “Ooo the lake?  What did you two do there?  Anything romantic?” Carmen was quite interested in our date and I imagined that if Annie had been there she would have been asking a mess of questions as well.

          “Well, I carried Sam when the shoes had bothered her feet.  We sat on a bench and talked for a little bit then came back here.  Look, Carmen, we’re going to get up early tomorrow because we’re going to be leaving.  It’s about time we get back on the road.”

          Carmen frowned at Louis’s words.  I could tell that she wasn’t expecting us to leave anytime soon.

          “Carmen, Annie and Ron are going to want to see Lainie…. We can’t just forget about them and I’m sure that she wants to see them as well.”

          Carmen sighed with disappointment.  “I know…. I just like having company….”

          “I know, Carmen, but we can’t stay here…. And you know that…. We’ve spent enough time here and it’s about time for us to leave but it’s not like we’re going to another planet or something like that…. We’ll be back to visit….”

          Carmen nodded.  I could tell that she was hoping for us to stay rather than leave but we had no choice.  We had to go and Lainie did need to see Annie and Ron soon as well.  Louis was right about that and we all knew.

          “If you guys want me to, I’ll escort you three out of town,” Eric offered.

          “No thanks, man.  We’ll be fine.”

          Eric nodded.  “Alright.  I’m sure that George will be calling me soon to let me know what’s going on and to help you out.”

          “Yep.”  Louis stood up and pulled me to my feet as well.  “I expect you to get up early, missy.”  He smiled.

          I kind of rolled my eyes, playfully.

 

          Louis walked me to the bedroom again and held onto both of my hands.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

          “I’ll see you in the morning as well,” I replied, feeling butterflies in my stomach and kind of school-girlish as he held my hands, rubbing my skin with his thumbs.  “I had an amazing night.”

          He smiled at my words.  “I did too.”  He leaned in closer toward me.  “Is it alright to steal a fifth kiss?” he whispered into my ear.

          I smiled, kind of blushing at the question.  “Why not?” I whispered in return.

          The next thing I knew our lips were pressed up against each other.  The kiss hadn’t lasted as long as the fourth one but it was as amazing and thrilling like the others had been.

          “Awe now isn’t that sweet?” Carmen’s voice asked from behind Louis.

          Louis pulled himself away from me and threw his head back.  “What do you want now?”

          “I was going to get Imhotep so Eric could bring out and I guess I must have come at the right time,” she said as she smiled.

          “It’s a good night kiss, Carmen.”

          “I can see that…. Good night, Sam…. Good night, Lou.”

          “Why do you insist on calling me that?” Louis asked there was a hint of annoyance a long side some playful tone in his question.

          “It’s fun.”  Carmen headed down the hall and vanished into the room at the far end of room.

          Louis shook his head and locked eyes with me.  “Good night, Sam.”

          “Good night, my knight in shining armor.”

          “I told you…. I’m not a knight in shining armor.”  He kind of smirked.  He kissed my cheek before we both went into our separate rooms.

 

          That night I didn’t dream or get much sleep.  I was too busy thinking about the amazing date I had with Louis.  It was crazy how I had hated him at first because I thought he was a total jerk but then I was falling in love with.  I knew that God was working on bringing us together.  Things happen for a reason, I thought as I stared at the ceiling with a smile on my face.

 

          The next morning, I woke up tired because of the fact I had barely gotten any sleep.  I looked over at the empty side where Lainie had been and kind of figured that she must have woken up and headed downstairs.  I sat up and looked around for a few minutes before actually climbing out of bed.  Knock, knock, knock.  The noise was barely audible but I heard it.  “Come in,” I replied.

          The door opened and Louis walked in and worked his way over to the bed, sitting in front of me.  “Good morning, Sam.”  He kissed my forehead and smiled at me.

          “Good morning,” I replied kind of whispering.

          “Carmen has breakfast prepared so try to hurry and get ready to leave so you can eat before we go.”

          I nodded.  I kind of kissed him then shifted my feet toward the floor.  “Do I have time for a shower?”

          His smile grew.  “Yes, you have time for a shower as long as you don’t take forever.”

          “I won’t.”

          He kissed me then stood up and left the room before I could say anything else.

 

          After I was showered and completely dressed, I worked my way to the kitchen where I found Carmen, Eric, Lainie, Louis, and even Imhotep waiting for me.  “Good morning, Sam,” Carmen told me.

          “Good morning, everyone,” I replied.

          Imhotep walked over to me and nudged my hand with his snout so I could rub his soft furry head.

          “Good morning to you too.”  I smiled as the dog looked up at me with his mouth slightly open and his long pink tongue hanging out on the left side of his face.  It looked as he was smiling in return.

 

          Louis drove for hours.  I hoped that we were almost to our destination because I was tired of driving places and then having to leave.  I kind of had the feeling that Louis was about ready for us to finally be with Ron and Annie again as well.  There was no telling what Lainie was going through.

          “When do I get to see my mummy and daddy?” Lainie asked with a voice that cut through me like a knife.  I could tell that Louis had felt the same emotion.  He took my right hand in his and kind of tightened the grip as if to reassure me.

          “Soon, Lainie,” he replied.  Then I figured he took my hand for support.  “We should be there soon.”

          “Today soon?”

          Louis bit his upper lip.  I knew whatever he was about to say wasn’t what Lainie wanted to hear.  “No…. We have a few more days of being on the road…. But don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

          “Lainie, did you have fun while we were at Aunty Carmen’s house?” I asked, changing the subject for Louis’s benefit.

          “Yea.”

          I glanced back toward her to see her smile.  “Good.  What did you do while Uncle Louis and I were out last night?”

          “Eat dinner….” She started laughing.  “Uncle Eric took a couple of spoons and placed them over his eyes…. It was funny then Aunty Carmen gave him that stare that my mummy gives my daddy when he does or says something that gets him into trouble.”

          I felt Louis’s grip loosen as he kind of laughed.

          I smiled as well.  “That must funny then…. Did you do anything else?”

          “I got to help Aunty Carmen give Imhotep a bath…. He was so dirty that the water was nothing but mud when we had finished…. Then when he jumped out he shook water all over us and Aunty Carmen wrapped and old towel around his neck to help him dry.  What do you two do while you were gone?”

          My smile grew at the child’s question.

          “We had dinner and then went to see the lake,” Louis answered.

          “Did you two kiss?”

          I kind of covered my mouth as I started laughing.

          “You’re too young to ask that kind of question,” Louis replied with a half-smile as he glanced into the rearview mirror.  “You shouldn’t be thinking of such things, young lady.  I’ll tell your parents,” he joked.

          “But every time my parents get back from a date, they always kiss and the princess always kisses prince charming after he saves her from the bad people in the fairy tales.”

          “Princesses kissing princes are in stories.  And you’re parents should know better than to kiss in front of a young child,” Louis replied, trying not to laugh but failing at the attempt.

          “Did you?” Lainie asked.

          “None of your business, kiddo.”

          I shook my head as I looked at Louis with a smile.  “Come on, Lou,” I whispered.  “It’s okay it’s not like anything else happened.”

          Louis kept his eyes on the road as he tried to figure out what he was going to say.  “You’ve been hanging out with my sister for too long…. I will get you back for calling me Lou…. Just you wait and see…. And besides, I don’t think she should know about that stuff…. Kissing and stuff…. She’s only four.”

          “Okay, Lou, if you say so.”

          I watched as Louis rolled his shoulders with irritation.  “Just wait….” He smiled evilly as he glanced at me for a moment.  “I know what I’m going to do.”

          “Ooo I’m so scared.”

          “Just wait, missy,” he said as he waved a finger around.

 

          The sky was dark blue with a few stars hanging in it but no moon was out or visible to me at least.  Lainie was out cold in the back seat.  Louis pulled off to a side road and drove to a small pleasant little hotel.

          “I thought you said that we weren’t going to be stopping at any hotels,” I told him, remembering the conversation we had when we were on our way to Carmen’s.

          He sighed.  “I’m tired and need to rest…. And I’m only going to get one room this time…. I know I told you that I would get two rooms because I don’t agree with an unmarried couple sharing a room but after what happened at the last hotel I’d feel better if I’m in the room with you and Lainie for safety reasons…. Any other reason it’d be different but this is for both of your protection.”

          I nodded.  I understood his reasoning, who wouldn’t have?  It was to keep us safe and I didn’t blame him for after the incident.

 

          I stood with Louis as we waited for the hotel clerk to arrive.  Louis carried Lainie as he had before.  The room was large with a few couches and chairs filling the spaces along with small round brown coffee tables.

          A woman about in her mid-twenties walked out and over to the desk.  She had brown hair which was up in a ponytail and dark but tanned skin.  She looked at Louis with a flirtatious stare that kind of bothered me.  “Hello there, handsome,” she spoke as she completely ignored the fact that I was there, eyeing her.

          Louis obviously wasn’t paying her any mind which to my relief was a good thing.

          “Is that child yours?” she asked.

          “No she’s one of my friend’s children…. I’m more of an uncle to her,” Louis replied, clearly he wasn’t amused by the woman’s flirty behavior.

          “I like it when men are great with children…. It kind of turns me on.”

          “Look,” Louis replied, he gestured toward, “my girlfriend here probably isn’t comfortable with you flirting with me and just so you know if I wasn’t taken you wouldn’t be on my list of favorites…. I like women who are shy than someone who likes to just flirt with men just to tease ‘m or let ‘m take advantage of them…. Yea I don’t find you attractive…. And don’t expect me to flirt with you especially in front of my girlfriend…. How stupid do you think I am?  Now look I’m here for a room and that’s it.”

          I kind of smiled at Louis’s comment toward the girl.

          The clerk was in shock as if she had never heard those words before and in her case most likely hadn’t heard them.  She looked at me then back to Louis and kind of nodded with shame.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.  She looked like she was about to burst into tears like it was the end of the world because Louis had told her how he had felt toward her flirtatious attitude.  She then looked at me with tears in her eyes.  “I’m sorry to be disrespectful.”

          I didn’t know how to respond to her words.  They had surprised me.

          She pulled out a keycard and handed it to Louis.  “That’ll be about sixty pounds.”

          Louis carefully took the card and reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.  He had done it so fast that he hadn’t even struggled to keep Lainie in his arms without dropping her.  He worked his wallet opened and pulled out some money and handed it to the girl.  “Keep the change I don’t need it and find a guy who is single instead of flirting with costumers who may or may not be taken.  Now what room are we in?”

          “Room 8b…. It’s upstairs and down at the end on the left,” the girl answered as she gestured behind her.

          Louis nodded.  “Thank you.”

 

          Louis laid Lainie on the bed which was closest toward the bathroom and sink.  He turned toward me and smiled.

          “What?” I asked.  His smile kind of worried me.

          “You’re still in trouble for calling me Lou…. Twice.”

          I thought about that and kind of laughed.  “What are you going to do about it?” I asked.

          He slowly worked his way toward me and I went to run toward the bathroom but he grabbed my wrist, playfully and pulled me back toward him.  “Let’s see,” he replied as he smiled.  “I would try to find where you’re ticklish but if you laugh to loudly you’ll wake up Lainie and believe me we don’t want that to happen,” he said as he shook his head.  “I have a good idea.”  He locked his arms around me, tapping me in his muscles.  “You have to give me at least two kisses and if you don’t then you’re going to be stuck here all night until you do.”

          “Two kisses?” I asked.

          “Yep two kisses and you can go free….”

          I kind of tilted my head, looking around, thinking.  “I don’t know,” I sighed.

          “I’ll keep my arms wrapped tightly around you if you don’t.”

          I sighed.  “Alright, two kisses.”

          We leant in and kissed for a moment then pulled away.  “Okay, one more, missy.”

          I smiled at his words and shook my head and we kissed again.

          “Aww…. Are you two going to get married?” Lainie’s little voice asked.

          We pulled away from each other and turned our attention toward the child.  “You’re supposed to be sleeping, young lady,” Louis told Lainie as he released me from his grip.

          “But I’m thirsty,” Lainie replied.  “And you didn’t answer my question, Uncle Louis.”

          Louis kind of laughed.  “As of right now no we’re not going to get married but there is a possibly that we will…. It’ll take some time though.”

          Lainie sighed.  “Okay.”

          I shook my head.  I walked over to the sink and picked up on of the paper cups which was left sitting on it.  I turned on the facet and filled the cup with a little bit of water then turned toward Lainie after I turned the facet off.  “Here you go.”

          Lainie climbed off of the bed and walked over to me.  She took the cup and drank.  When she was finished, she placed the cup back on the bed and looked up at me.  “Thank you, Auntie Samantha.”

          “You welcome…. Now, go back to bed.”

          “Okay but I have to go to the bathroom first.”

          Louis sat on the bed which was closest toward the window and removed his shoes.  “I figured that it would be better if you and Lainie got that bed just in case someone broke in or something.”

          I nodded as I walked over to the other bed and sat down in front of Louis and removed my shoes as well.

          Louis sighed.  “This has been an interesting week for you huh?”

          I nodded.  “It sure has but I like how it’s turning out.”  I couldn’t help but smile.

          Louis nodded, returning the smile.  “I’m glad to hear that.”  He leant forward and grabbed my hands, rubbing them with his thumbs.  “I’m sorry your vacation is ruined.”

          I smiled.  “I don’t think it’s ruined.  I mean I get to tell my friends and family back in America that my sister’s house was broken into…. I almost had a bad night because of that taxicab driver…. My sister’s house was burnt down…. But out of all the bad that’s happened, I get to spend time with Lainie who I only get to see so often…. And I got to know you…. I know that things happen for a reason and I think that the one match maker we weren’t counting on was using all of this bad stuff to bring us closer, and I thank Him for that,” I told Louis as tears filled my eyes.  “This was God’s way of bringing us together.”

          Louis took a hand and brushed back hair that was falling in front of my face.  We kissed.  When he pulled away from me, he smiled.  “Eight.”

          “I’ll see you in the morning, Louis.”

          “I’ll see you in the morning too, Sam.  Good night.”

          “Good night.”

          Lainie walked back into the room and climbed on the bed with me and lied down.  “Good night, Auntie Samantha and Uncle Louis.”

          “Good night, Lainie,” I replied as I curled up next to the child.

          “Good night, kiddo,” Louis said as he moved the covers from his bed and lay down, pulling the blankets over himself.  “See you two ladies in the morning.”

          I drifted off to sleep.  I felt safe, knowing that Louis was in the room with Lainie and me.  It probably would have bothered me but under the circumstances it was better that he was there.  There was a calm which had fell in the room and I liked knowing that if for any reason I needed Louis all I had to do was to go to his bed and wake him up instead of having to go out and knock on another door.

 

          The next morning I sat up and looked around.  I noticed that Louis was missing.  Lainie was still asleep next to me on the bed.  I figured he probably went out to the car to grab us each a new pair of clothes to change into.  I stood up and walked around the room for a bit to walk up mentally.  The room, like most hotel rooms, was small with two beds a long dress and a good size TV sitting on the top.  The morning sunlight had fought its way into the room with the long wide dark blue curtain hanging down on the floor blocking its rays.

          The door opened and Louis walked in with a couple of bags.  One had some clothes and the other was smaller which from the smell had been food.  Freshly baked food.  He also carried a tray with three cups on it.  Two were long and slim while the third one was small and round.  “Good morning, Sam.”

          “Good morning, Louis.”

          Louis looked at Lainie and kind of smiled.  “Still sleeping I see.”

          “Yep,” I replied with a nod.

          “Here,” he said as he placed the bag with the clothes on his bed and the bag of food on the table along with the tray which held the cups.  “I decided to go ahead and get some breakfast.  I didn’t want to wake you and Lainie up because Lainie looks adorable when she sleeps….”

          I nodded in agreement as I looked over at her and smiled.

          “And you’re cute when you sleep…. I thought that it’d be rude of me just to wake the both of you up.”  He sat down at the table and opened up the bag of food.  “I just got doughnuts.  I’m not all that hungry and I figured that if we eat a small breakfast now then maybe for dinner we could stop somewhere and have a feast.  That is if we have a small lunch as well.”

          I sat down across from him and smiled.  “I like that idea.”

          “Good.”  He handed me a round glazed doughnut and one of the two tall cups.  “I got us coffee and Lainie some orange juice.”

          “That’s cool.”

 

          We sat in the car and Louis drove a while.  It was another long drive.  “How long till we get to where we’re supposed to be?” I asked.

          Louis kind of pursed his lips as he thought.  “About another day or so…. Not tonight but maybe by tomorrow night or the next morning we should be there.  We’re really not that far from where we need to be but I don’t know any shortcuts because where we’re headed I’ve only been there a few times and that was by taking this road…. The interstate.”

          “Oh.”

          “But we’ll be there soon though.”

More Trouble

          We stopped at a small little restaurant for lunch.  We didn’t have a big meal because Louis wanted us to go somewhere nice and have a feast for dinner.  Lunch consisted of us each eating sandwiches and some fries which was filling at the time but by the time we had to stop for dinner we would have digested the food in our stomachs.

          “Thank you, Uncle Louis,” Lainie said as she started to take a sip of her drink.

          “You welcome, Lainie,” Louis replied.

          “Thank you, Louis,” I said as I had finished eating.

          “You welcome,” he told me with his charming smile that made me fall in love with him.  He took my hand and we intertwined our fingers as we just stared into the other’s eyes.

          “Are you two going to kiss again?” Lainie asked.

          “Not with you watching,” Louis answered as he moved his eyes away from mine and locked them with Lainie.  “Oh and I’m sure your father’s already told you this but if I catch you kissing any boys their going to have to deal with me and I’m pretty sure your father will be there to help.”

          Lainie laughed as she rolled her eyes.  “Don’t worry, Uncle Louis, my boyfriend doesn’t kiss me.”

          Louis raised both eyebrows in questioning.  I had to laugh at the sight as he stared at Lainie.  “You have a boyfriend?”

          Lainie laughed.

          “You’re too young to have a boyfriend…. Do your parents know that you have a boyfriend?  Who is this kid anyways?”

          “He lives a couple of houses down from us.”

          “It sounds like this kid is going to need a good talking to.”

          “Louis, they’re just kids…. Like really what will they do?” I asked, trying to keep myself from laughing.

          Louis turned his attention back to me.  “Just kids?  That’s the problem.  She’s too young to have a boyfriend and this kid lives down the street too.  I’m sure if Ron knows he won’t let her out of the house.”

          “My mummy brings me to visit him for play dates,” Lainie replied, laughing.

          “Oh so your mummy knows?  Sounds like she hasn’t told your father then.”

          Lainie stuck her small little pink tongue at Louis.

          Louis dropped his mouth in disbelief.  “How are you going to do that to me?  I’m your uncle…. I’m aloud to be protective…. When we get to your parents, I’m going to tell your father that you have a boyfriend and I know that he will agree with me.”

          I shook my head as I locked eyes with Louis.

          “She’s your niece and you’re going to let her get away with having a boyfriend at such a young age.”

          “I think it’s cute,” I replied.

          “Ah of course…. Women stick together no matter how young or old they are,” Louis said as he laughed.  He stopped laughing and his face turned serious as he seen something behind me that didn’t seem to please him.

          “What is it?” I asked, worried.

          “Those two guys over there,” he replied as he made it seem like he was looking at me but I could tell that he wasn’t.  “There’s something off about them but I can’t figure out what.”

          I turned my attention toward the guys he was referring two and I had seen what had him worried.  They were big guys not too big but not what I would have considered small either.  One guy had tattoos going down his left arm and wore a shirt that had torn sleeves.  His long black pants were baggy and looked almost what a biker would wear.  He wore dark boots which had mud on them.

          The other guy wore a black biker type jacket and had a long evil looking scare which had marked most of the left side of his face.  He wore long black pants as well but they weren’t as baggy as the other guys.  I could see his shoes from where he was standing but both men did look scary and creepy.  They didn’t seem as creepy as the taxicab driver had but they were close enough.

          I turned my attention back toward Louis because I didn’t want them to see me staring at them.  “Are they bikers?” I asked, whispering.  I had known bikers who looked big and bad but they were really like giant teddy bears.  I was hoping that they were like that and only looked mean and tough.

          “I don’t know,” Louis replied.  “They could be but what would they be doing here?  There’s something off about them.  I think that we should leave just in case.  Stay with me.  Okay?”

          I nodded as I took Lainie’s hand.  I stood along with Lainie and we followed Louis over to the cashier.  I pulled Lainie off to the side and we sat down on a little sofa which had seem more like a footrest which sat against the wall for people to wait and be seated.

          The biker with the scar on his face walked over to me and Lainie and sat down next to us.

          Louis kept glancing back to make sure that we were safe.

          “Hello there,” the biker spoke to me with a strong British accent.

          I didn’t reply.  I just wrapped my arms, tightly around Lainie as fear crept in.

          “You’re pretty cute.”

          Why do all the creepy guys have to find me? I thought to myself.

          “Hey don’t you know how to talk to people, lady?”

          I didn’t answer.  I did what I could to ignore the guy.

          The man placed a finger on my cheek and brushed the side of my face.  “You should are a pretty little thing.  I’d like to take you home with me.”

          I slowly slid away from the man, pushing Lainie as I moved.  The man didn’t seem to get it because he just moved closer toward me.  Hurry up, Louis, I thought.

          “Do you have a name?”

          Louis, hurry please.

          “Oh come on…. You’re not even going to tell me your name…. How rude is that?”

          How creepy are you?  Louis, please hurry up.

          “Hey, you talk to me,” the guy sounded ticked off as he spoke.  He grabbed my arm and that was when Louis punched the man in the jaw.

          “Leave her alone,” Louis replied as he removed the man’s hand from my arm.

          I stood up with Lainie and we moved behind Louis.

          “Who are you?” the man asked as he rubbed his jaw.

          “The women’s boyfriend,” Louis answered.

          “Oh crap.”

          “Yea and believe I could do more damage than that.”  Louis turned toward me and Lainie.  “Are you two alright?”

          I nodded.

          “Okay then come on…. We better leave before his friend decides to do something.”  Louis picked up Lainie and then grabbed my right hand with his left hand as he kind of dragged me out of the door.  He looked back to make sure that the two guys weren’t following us.

 

       Once we were at the car, he sat Lainie on her feet and opened the door to the back to let her in.  He closed after she was all buckled up then opened the door for me and waited as I buckled myself up before closing the door as well.  “I’m sorry about that,” he said as he looked down at me.

          “It’s not your fault.”

          “Yea but still I shouldn’t have---”

          I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to where our faces where close to each other’s.  “It’s not your fault…. Okay?”

          He moved his mouth as if he was going to say something but didn’t.

          I kissed him on his cheek then released his shirt.  “Thank you.”

          Louis kind of smiled and I could have sworn that for the first time he was actually the one blushing.  It was so cute and I smiled at his moment of shyness.  He closed the door and I watched as he walked around.

          “Boy for two people who don’t like each other you two do kiss a lot,” Lainie said from the backseat.

          I started laughing.  “We didn’t kiss that time.  I just kissed him on the cheek.”

          “Still you kissed him.”

          Louis opened the door on his side and climbed in.  “What’s so funny?”

          “Nothing,” I replied.  “It’s just something that Lainie said.”

          “Ah,” he sighed as he closed the door then made a face that revealed he was thinking as he turned to look at Lainie.  “And what did Lainie say?” he asked, suspiciously.

          “Nothing,” Lainie replied.  I watched her smile as I looked through the rearview mirror.

          Louis reached back and started tickling Lainie, making her laugh.  “It’s nothing?  Really?  Nothing that you can’t tell me?”

          Lainie’s little laugh filled the car as he kept tickling her.

          “Um…. Louis,” I asked, “don’t you want to leave before those two big tough guys come out here?”

          “Of course,” he replied as he stopped tickling Lainie and turned his attention toward the wheel.  “I do want to know what she said by the way…. I’ll get it out of one you…. Somehow,” he said as he pulled out his key and placed it into the ignition.  He started the car and began driving.

 

          Louis drove for hours.  The sky was starting to change colors from a light sky blue to the beautiful pink, orange, and purple colors before the moon and stars came out to play in the night sky.  “You think that when we get out of this mess that maybe you could bring me to the beach and we could watch the sunset?” I asked Louis as I turned my attention toward him.

          He smiled and nodded.  “Honey, I’ll bring you wherever you want to go to see whatever you want to see.”  He kept his eyes on the road.  “Anything to make you happy.”

          “I just think that it’ll be romantic.”

          “Ah yes romance…. Please don’t tell anyone I’m kind of a romantic…. Compared to all the other things that I have to do that’s not on my list for anyone but you.”  He grabbed my hand.  “It’s actually been a while since I’ve shown a woman how a real man is supposed to treat her compared to the guys that are nothing but boys…. The difference between a man and a boy is a boy takes advantage of women…. A man treats a woman with respect…. A boy lies to women only to get what he wants…. A man tells a woman the truth whether it’s good or bad…. A boy sees a woman cry and he laughs at her…. A man sees a woman cry and he wipes her tears away and will ask her what’s wrong…. A boy makes in fun of what the hobbies or likes a woman has…. A man will smile whether or not he likes the same things and lets the woman have a fun time doing them…. A boy will leave one girl for someone pretty and who wears too much revealing clothes…. A man stays with a woman and doesn’t care how pretty she is or if she wears concealing outfits…. It doesn’t matter how young or old the guy is if he does or has any of the horrible qualities that I mentioned then he is considered a boy…. Now, it also doesn’t matter how young or old the guy is if he does or has any of the good qualities that I mentioned then he is considered a man…. See you could have a forty-five year old man take his wife or girlfriend for advantage but he’s still considered to be a boy…. Whereas you could have a four year old boy treat a little girl with respect and he’s still considered to be a man…. In my book, that’s how you can tell the different between a man who doesn’t really care about women to a man who does care about women…. Although, I’m still not sure about Lainie having a boyfriend at her age,” he spoke loudly for Lainie to start cracking up in the back seat.

          “Whatever, Uncle Louis.”

          Louis shook his head.  “I can’t believe that.  Boys are nothing but trouble for girls.”

          “So your trouble for me?” I asked with a smile on my face as I looked at him.

          He laughed.  “I meant for girls Lainie’s age…. Believe me, I’m not trouble for you…. Although for a girl, you’re enough trouble for me…. I had to fight one guy for you and punch another guy because of you…. You’re the one whose trouble but I think I like that.”

          I kind of smacked him for his comment out of playfulness.

          “Hey, don’t beat up the driver.”  He turned off of the interstate and on to a road which led to some hotels and restaurants.  “Okay…. Like I said earlier I’m going to bring us somewhere nice to eat so we can feast and I think that I’ll go ahead and get us a hotel to stay at again for the night as well…. Then hopefully tomorrow night or maybe the next morning we should be pulling up to where we need to be…. That means you’ll get to see your parents soon, Lainie.”

          “Really?” she asked with hidden excitement.

          “Really,” Louis replied.  He looked at me with a worried look.  “But we still have to figure out who broke into their house and who burnt down there mansion,” he spoke to where only I could hear, “so even when we get to Ron and Annie…. We’re not completely out of the woods.  Okay?”

          I nodded.

          He parked the car in a parking lot next to a small little inn.  It wasn’t really much to look at, at least not on the outside.  It looked like it was old and even though it wasn’t falling apart it should did seem like it would start eventually.  It didn’t seem as nice as the others had but I figured that it was better than nothing.

          “You and Lainie stay here I’ll go get the key to the room and then we’ll go eat.”  He unbuckled then leaned over and kissed me.  “Please stay away from any creepy strange men while I’m gone,” he whispered as he smiled at me, “I’m tried and I really don’t feel like fighting anyone right now.”

          I smiled as he started to climb out of the car.  “Don’t worry I’ll do my best.”

          He laughed then closed the door and walked away from the car.

          “You two need to get married,” Lainie replied from the back.

          I looked at her and shook my head with a smile.  “Why do you say that?”

          “Because you two keep kissing and I figured that was something that only people do when they’re married.”

          I kind of grinned at Lainie’s words.  “No…. It’s hard to explain but when you’re older you’ll understand.”

          “That’s another thing everything I ask a question why do adults tell me that I’ll understand when I’m older?  What do I have to wait for to know what you mean?”

          “You’re so full of questions for one so young, aren’t you?”

          Lainie didn’t answer.  She just gave me a look that meant I shouldn’t have answered her questions with a question.

          I couldn’t help but laugh at her expression.  It was cute to see.

          Louis walked back and opened the door.

          “That was quick,” I told him.

          “Yep…. The guy gave me a room for cheap because this place is old and barely anyone ever comes here because of the big name hotels,” Louis replied.

          “Oh.”        

          “You two hungry?”

          “Yea,” Lainie replied.

          “I know I am,” I answered.

          “Good.”

 

          The feast was filling and I didn’t have dessert because my stomach would have me running into the restroom covering my mouth.  Louis and Lainie had some though.  They each had some cookies and ice cream.  “Are you sure you don’t want any dessert, Sam?” Louis asked, trying to entice me with a chocolate chip cookie which he held up in front of my mouth.

          “I’m sure,” I replied with a smile as I kind of moved my head away from the dessert.

          “Oh come on,” he said in a soft flirty voice as he stood up and walked behind my chair.  He kept the cookie up in my face as he wrapped his arms around the chair and me.  He kind of squatted down sticking his head over the back of the chair so he could see my face.

          I kind of laughed as I moved my head in the opposite direction.

          “Just one little bite.”

          “No I told you I’m full.  I had enough to eat.”

          “Come on just one little bite.”

          I turned my head back to see him with part of my eyes and I noticed that his expression was kind of like a puppy and he had his lower lip sticking out.  His beautiful eyes stared at me with a begging twinkle in his eyes.

          “Please?  For me?”

          I smiled and rolled my eyes.  “Fine, one little bite,” I sighed.

          “Good,” he replied as he stepped away from me with a wide smile on his face.  He handed the cookie to me and to please him I took a bite.

          “Happy now?” I asked.

          His smile grew and he nodded as he took the cookie away from me.  “Yep.”  He finished off the cookie and went back to his seat.  “Now….”

          Riiing…. Riiing…. Riiing.

          “Hold on.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.  He placed it to his ear and answered it.  “Hello?” He listened for a moment.  “Did you--- What?” His expression become one of worry and panic as he listened to the words.  “No…. That’s horrible…. Thanks for the news, George…. Huh?  Really?  Interesting look I’ll take to you when more when we get back to hotel right now we’re at a restaurant and I might have some information about two of those guys but it’ll have to wait…. Can you hold till I can get to a place where there’s not a lot of people around?” He waited again and sighed.  “Alright.  I’ll talk to ya later then.”  He hung up the phone and placed it back into his pocket.

          “Is everything alright?” I asked, worried about him.

          He looked at me with a sad expression which meant whatever he had to tell me.  He didn’t need Lainie to hear it.  “I’ll tell you outside,” he replied.

          “How bad is it?”

          “On a scale from one to ten…. It’s a ten.”

          I kind of opened my mouth wondering what it was or could have been about.  My thoughts had jumped to Annie and Ron and I was really hoping that it didn’t have to deal with either of them.

          “I’m going to go ahead and pay.  Take Lainie outside…. Scratch that every time you’re left alone some strange man takes an interest in you so come with me both of you and stay in the crowd…. You don’t have to stick with me just stay close enough so that way I can see if anyone strange shows up…. Got it?”

          I nodded.  I didn’t think that questioning him would have been a good thing to do seeing that he was right about strange men who have been taking a strange liking to me.  I wasn’t going to like the idea of leaving Louis after this when I had to go home back to America.

 

          “Lainie,” Louis told the child, “go ahead over to the car seeing its right where I can see it and it’s not too far away…. Okay?”

          “Okay, Uncle Louis.”  Lainie didn’t bother to stick around for another minute.  We watched her run to the car and stand there, waiting for us.

          Louis looked at me then turned his attention toward Lainie.  His expression was sad and even though he had looked at me long enough I had seen pain in his eyes.

          “What’s wrong?” I asked.

          “It’s Kathleen,” he replied.  “She had been fighting for a couple of days after the incident with the fire…. She died about an hour ago.”

          I covered my mouth with my hands as I began to cry.  I hadn’t known the woman for long but she was kind and the fact that she was gone just like that.  I could only imagine what Louis had been feeling or what Annie and Ron would be feeling when they found out.  Lainie was too young to understand so I could see why Louis didn’t want her around when he told me.

          “It’s okay, Sam.”  He took me in his arms and hugged.  “She’s in a better place now.”

          I buried my face in his shirt as I cried.  The tears just kept falling when I thought about her.  I wondered if she had been alone or if she had family there when she had left this world.

          “It’s okay.”  I had no idea how Louis was being so strong when the whole situation was one that made people feel so lost and weak.

          “What’s wrong, Auntie Samantha?” I heard Lainie’s little worried voice ask.  I figured she had noticed that I was crying and had to find out why.

          “She just got some sad news, Lainie,” Louis replied, staying strong.

          “What news?”

          I felt Louis’s chest puff up as he took a deep breath and swallowed.  “You know Miss Kathleen?”

          “Yea…. What about Miss Kathleen?”

          “She’s with God now,” Louis replied.

          “In heaven?”

          “Yes, Lainie, in heaven.”

          I managed to look down at Lainie and watched as her head moved up toward the sky.

          “You think she’s dancing with angels?”

          Louis kind of smiled.  “I bet she is.”

          I looked up at the sky as well.  Lainie may not have completely understood what had happened but her little words and questions made me smile a little.

          “Wow,” Lainie replied.  “If that’s a good thing, then why is Auntie Samantha crying about it?”

          Louis looked at me and then toward his attention toward Lainie.  “Because in a way it’s like Miss Kathleen moved and neither of us know when we’ll see her again.”

          “Oh…. Okay.”  Lainie looked up at me and kind of smiled.  “It’s okay, Auntie Samantha, she’s in heaven with God and dancing with angels.”

          More tears fell from my eyes because of Lainie’s innocence and her young mind which hadn’t been able to understand the point of death but I smiled because of her words.

          “We need to get back to the hotel…. I need to call George.”  Louis looked at me and placed both of his hands against my face, wiping the tears from my cheeks and my eyes.  “It’s okay, Sam.  It’s only a part of life.  People are born…. People live…. People die…. That’s how it works and hopefully our loved ones will be in Heaven with God, waiting for us to arrive.”

          I nodded.

          Louis leaned in and kissed me.  “Nine.”  He smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back.  “That should do you some good for now.”  He took my hand and walked me back to the car.  He unlocked the back door for Lainie, opened it, and helped her buckled up.  Once she was in he closed the car door and before he opened the front door for me he took my hands.  “Now, here’s something else that you need to know…. That taxicab driver ratted out on the guys who he gave a lift to at the mansion the day of the break in…. He was weak and obviously not the mastermind because he wouldn’t have giving in so easily if he had been…. Now the guys who broke in there were three of them…. The three who are still on the loose and once the three of them are captured everything will go back to normal well not including the fact that the mansion is destroyed…. Now of those three guys when George described them to me two of them were the same description as the two bikers we seen earlier today…. It could be a coincidence but I have a feeling that it’s not…. I’m kind of a detective and I’m not an idiot when it comes to placing pieces together…. That’s why I didn’t tell George while we were inside…. He’s waiting for me to call him so I can go into more detail…. Sam, this is getting close to where I’m….” He bit his lip as he thought about what he was going to say.  “Going to…. Please don’t be mad….”

          I narrowed my eyebrows in confusion at his words which were kind of starting to worry me.

          “But I’m going to have to place myself in danger….”

          “WHAT?!”

          Louis jumped back at my outburst.

          I began crying again.  “Why?  Why would you do that?”

          “Sam, it’s my job….”

          “I don’t care if it’s your job…. You’re willing to put yourself at risk?”

          “Sam, please calm down.”

          “Calm down?” I asked as more tears began to fall from my eyes.  “Why should I?  I’m going to have to worry about you now.  Why would you even consider that?  I’m afraid for you…. I don’t want to lose you…. How could you please yourself in harm’s way?”

          “Sam,” Louis replied as he grabbed my hands.  “I have to…. It’s my job and it’s the only way I know that I can keep you safe along with everyone else.”

          “Keep me safe?  You could die and you’re worried about me?”

          Louis released my hands and hugged me.

          I tried to pull away from him but his hold was more powerful and stronger than me.  Why?  Why does he have to do that?

          Louis held me in his arms as he moved his right hand into my ponytail and began playing with my hair.  “I wouldn’t do place myself in danger unless I had a good reason and my main reason is you…. I lost my first wife to an enemy which I couldn’t stop…. I can at least do everything in my power to keep you from harm’s way…. I know you’re going to be angry with me but it’s for you.”  He pulled away from and locked eyes with me.  “Please calm down and don’t be mad.”

          I nodded.  “I’m not mad…. I’m just not use to having a guy who’s willing to put himself in danger not just for me but for others…. This is something that I’m going to need to get used to.”

          “I know and don’t worry…. I will be safe….” He opened the door for me and then looked back into my eyes.  “Please get into the car so we can go.”

          I nodded but before I climbed in I gave him another hug and kissed him.

          “Ten,” he said.

          I didn’t know why but I liked how he counted our kisses each time we would share then.  I slid into the car and he closed the door for me.  I was in the process of buckling myself up when he climbed into the driver seat.

 

          I sat in the room with Lainie while Louis walked outside on the phone to talk to his boss and give him information about the guys that we had seen at the dinner.  My mind had wondered to what he had told me about him placing himself in danger and I was worried but I knew that it was something I was going to have to get used to.  I wondered how Carmen had done it when Eric had to go and place himself in danger for others.  I remembered she had told me that Eric and Louis had the same job which Louis later told me how worried her about both Louis and Eric or something like that.  My thoughts were so tangled that I wasn’t sure which had come first but I remembered both of them had told me pretty much the same thing.

          Lainie had taken off her shoes and lay down in bed.  “Auntie Samantha, can you tell me a story?” she asked as she yawned.

          I looked at her and smiled.  I turned myself to face her on the bed and sat crisscross as I looked at her.  “Sure…. Tell me what you want to hear?”

          “A princess story.”

          “Okay and what is the princesses name?”

          Lainie smiled as she looked at me.  “Samantha….”

          “Samantha…. Ok-ay….” I raised an eyebrow as I looked at her wondering where the story was going.  “Okay is there anyone else.”

          “A prince name Louis,” she answered as her smile grew.

          Of course.  “Okay…. And what’s the problem?”

          “A fire breathing dragon is keeping the princess locked in a tower.”

          I didn’t have to ask to know what else was going to happen in the story, seeing I figured that I was the princess and Louis was the prince.  “Once upon a time there was this princess, she was beautiful with dark brown hair which fell past her shoulders and curled when it was wet.  She was a kind hearted soul who loved anyone and everyone.  The princess’s name was Samantha,” I began.  “You see like in most fairy tales there was this wicked witch was jealous of the princess and had her locked high up in a tower where a fire breathing dragon lived and kept all who dared to come save the princess away.  One day, a charming attractive prince with short brown hair and beautiful sea blue eyes had heard about the princess who was trapped by the dragon and had decided that he wanted to save this princess.  The name of this prince charming was Louis and might I say he was quite a looker to all of the young maidens in the land so for him to be willing to save the princess he had never met was an amazing choice for him.”  I would have worded that differently if I had thought it through but I figured that it was for Lainie and to her it didn’t matter what was said or how it was said as long as the story went on.  “He worked his way around the tower and searched for the dragon because be it as it may to save the princess one must first fight the evil dragon.  When he locked eyes with the beast which had two giant serpent like heads and diamond shaped eyes with a round giant body and long scaly necks, he knew that he had to fight the monster and so he pulled out his long sword with a silver blade and a golden handle and began swinging at the monster.  One of the two heads of the giant lizard went to snap its sharp fangs at the prince but the prince was too quick for it and as he moved he took his sword and chopped the first head off from the body.  This had angered the other head and the prince was in trouble.  The second head of the creature went to snap at him with its fangs but the prince dived out of the way.  This went on for several moments until finally the prince took his blade and chopped the second head off from the body.  He ran as the head and the body fell to the ground.  Once the creature had been destroyed he knew that it was time to go and get the princess.  He hurried his way up to the tower and he came to a closed door.  He ran over to the door and tried rattling the handle but the door was locked so he had to take it into his own hands.  He ran into the door several times until he finally fell to the ground inside of the small room where he found the princess sitting on her bed.  He quickly stood up and smiled at her.  ‘Hello, fair princess I am Prince Louis.’  The princess smiled as she stood up and walked over to him.  ‘I am Princess Samantha.’  ‘You are now free, Princess Samantha, for I have defeated the evil dragon and saved you.’  The princess walked over to the prince and kissed his cheek.  ‘Thank you,’ she told him with a smile.  After they arrived at her kingdom, they got married and lived happily ever after.  The end.”

          “I’m prince charming?” I heard Louis’s voice from behind me.

          I smiled as I turned to face him and smiled.  “Lainie wanted me to tell her a bed time story and I let her choose the names.”

          Louis kind of nodded then looked at Lainie.  “She looks like she enjoyed,” he said as he nodded toward her.

          I turned my hand and noticed that she had fallen asleep.  “I guess so.”

          Louis walked over to the bed he was going to sleep on and sat across from me.  “I enjoyed it…. I kind of heard it from when the prince came in to rescue you I mean her…. The princess….” He kind of laughed as he leaned closer toward me and grabbed my hands.   “I told George the description of the two guys and he said that it sounded like them but when we get to our destination he’s going to have us look at pictures because he believes those two guys were in jail already for some other crimes…. So we have a lot to do.”

          I nodded.

          “Now we need to get to bed because we have a long day tomorrow.”  He pulled me closer to him and we kissed.  “Eleven.  Now good night, Princess Samantha,” he said as he kind of laughed.

          “Hahaha,” I kind of mocked as I stuck my tongue out at him, playfully.

          “I win.” 

Ron & Annie

          I sat on the cold icy floor of an old room when one of the two biker looking men walked in and over to me.  It was the same one with the scare on his face.  As I looked into his evil stare he moved down closer to me and touched my face with his right hand.  “Hey there, beautiful,” he spoke with an evil grin as he leaned in to kiss me.

          I turned my head away like I had with the creepy taxicab driver.  I felt as my heart began to pound.  It felt like it was racing and at some point I thought that it would burst through my skin and onto the floor.

          “Look at me,” the guy said as he pulled my face toward his to stare into my eyes.  “You are something, aren’t you?  Why don’t you give me a kiss?”

          I shook my head as tears filled my eyes.

          “No well then it looks like I’m going to have to force you.  One way or another I’m going to get what I want from you, sweetheart, and there’s nothing that you can do about it.”

          The tears began to fall from my eyes to my cheeks as I sat there.

          The man leaned forward and started kissing my left cheek and I felt as his hands moved down my arms and onto my legs.

          I tried to kick him away but he wouldn’t budge.  I didn’t like where it was leaning.

          I jerked up and looked around the moonlit room.  Lainie was sleeping in the middle of the bed with her right arm around my waist.

          I felt kind of bad as I moved her arm away from me as I stood up and lightly shook Louis with tears falling from my eyes.

          “Huh?” he asked as he looked up at me with sleepy eyes.  He slowly sat up on the bed.  “Sam?  What’s wrong?” he asked, whispering in a low sleepy voice.

          “I had a nightmare,” I replied, feeling like a hopeless small child wanting to climb into bed with my mommy and daddy from the horrible dream I had.

          Louis looked around for a moment then patted the empty space next to him on the bed.

          I sat down next to him and wrapped my arms around him.  My left arm hung around his back while my right arm hung around his chest.  They were locked together by my fingers.  I felt as he placed his right arm around my waist and locked eyes with him.

          “It’s okay,” he whispered to me, letting me rest my head against his shoulder.  “What was it about?”

          “I don’t want to talk about it right now…. Not with Lainie in the room at least.”

          Louis nodded and helped me lay back on the bed as he kept his arms around me.  “Look this is only because you had a nightmare…. Any other reason this wouldn’t be happening,” he told me with a small smile.

          I kind of smiled as well at his words.  “Understood.”

          He pulled me closer to him to where we were cuddling and I felt safe in his arms as he held me.  “Good night, honey.”  He kissed my left temple and we both drifted off to sleep.

 

          I woke up to the bright morning sun shining onto the bed through the curtain.  Louis was still asleep on the bed with his right arm under my waist.  I kind of smiled as I leaned over him and kissed him.

          “What are you doing up so early?” he asked with his eyes still closed.

          “I just woke up,” I replied.

          “And that was twelve.”  He sat up on the bed and looked over at Lainie who was still sleeping.  “Good we don’t to explain anything to her.”

          I shook my head as I watched him smile.  He pulled me up in a sitting position next to him on the bed.

          “Any other nightmares last night?”

          “No…. I was safe.”

          He nodded.  “Good.”  He climbed out of bed and walked over to the window and sat in the chair next to it.  “We should be there tonight or tomorrow morning…. I’m thinking that I can get us there tonight though…. It’ll be a few hours longer than it’s been but I can do it.”

          “That sounds good…. I’m kind of ready to see Annie and Ron again….”

          “I wonder why?” he asked with a laugh.

          I kind of made a playful face at his question as I kind of laughed as well.  “I’m sure that Lainie wants to see them as well.”

          “Yea…. If we hadn’t stopped at Carmen’s for a couple of days, we’d actually be there by now…. I’m not saying that was a bad thing just I wouldn’t have had to drive for as long.”

          “I know what you mean.”

          “I kind of want to go now so I’m probably just going to pick up Lainie and carry her out to the car…. Mind carrying her shoes for me?”

          “No I don’t mind.”

          “Good.”

 

          We were on the road again for about the seventh time already but this time Louis was certain that he was going make it to our destination in one day.  Of course we’d stop for food when it was time to eat but he wasn’t going to stop anywhere else for the night.  “Those nightmares you keep having,” Louis spoke softly.  “I don’t know if they’ll ever stop but if you continue to have them just tell me…. When we’re separated like when you go back to America, call me if you have them…. Most likely I’ll be up to talk to you seeing that our time frames are off unless I’m working but most of the time I don’t really have anything to do…. So I’ll be there and if I don’t answer the phone right away don’t panic I’ll get ahold of you…. We could even do video chatting as well…. Then when we are together, I’ll be there for you…. Believe it or not, I’m the kind of guy who might not date much but when it comes to a woman who I care about…. I’m devoted…. So I’m devoted to you and only you…. I’m going to miss you when you go back to America.”

          I grabbed his left hand and squeezed it tightly.  “I’m going to miss you too…. And thank you…. I’ve never had a man who’s been willing to do so much for me…. It really means a lot.”

          I watched as a smile grew on Louis’s face.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that he was driving then I would have kissed him.

 

          It was late when we pulled up to a little house which was surrounded by woods.  A light was still on in one of the rooms on the left which had indicated that someone was still up.  Louis sighed as he placed the car in park and looked at me with a smile.  “We’re finally here.”

          “This is it?” I asked, relieved that we didn’t have to stay in the car any longer.

          Louis nodded as he looked at Lainie who was out cold.  He kind of laughed.  “Go ahead up to the door and I’ll get Lainie…. We’ll bring out clothes in tomorrow…. Right now…. We need time for rest.”

          I nodded as I unbuckled myself and opened the door.  I climbed out of the car and closed the door then turned my attention toward the house.  I couldn’t believe we had finally made it.  I started walking toward the house and worked my way up the small steps of the porch and found my way to the door.  I noticed that there was a screen door in front of the main door so I moved it and knocked, trying to be quiet enough to where if anyone was sleeping I wouldn’t wake them up but loud enough for the person who was up could actually hear the knock.  

          The door opened and I saw Annie standing in front of me.  Her eyes were dark and seemed to have bags under them.  As she looked at me her worried and tearful face brightened as she smiled.  “Sam,” she said as she hugged me and we both started crying with tears of joy.  “Oh my gosh…. You’re okay…. I’m so glad to see you…. Elaina?”

          “She’s sleeping…. Louis is getting her out of the car right now…. She’s fine.”

          “Good good good…. I knew that you two were going to be alright with Louis around but I was still so worried….”

          “I was worried about you and Ron too.”

          “We’re both fine…. Just shaking from the scene…. These masked men just came into the mansion…. It was terrifying….”

          I nodded as tears crawled down my face.  I didn’t know if she knew about the mansion catching on fire or even if she had heard about Kathleen but I figured that it would probably be best for Louis to inform her and Ron just in case.

          “So was Louis a jerk to you the whole time?” she asked.  Her tone wasn’t hopeful the way it had been before everything had happened just telling me that she didn’t want to talk about the tragedy which had occurred recently.

          I kind of smiled as I bit my lip.  “At first he was but then he turned out to be a real gentleman,” I replied as my smile grew.

          I think Annie could tell from just my words and smile that things had changed during the past week.  I watched as her frown turned into a smile.  “Did you two finally hit it off?”

          I kind of laughed at her words and shook my head.  “Yes we did and well…. We’re kind of dating.”

          “Awe…. Yay,” she spoke softly as she clapped her hands.  “That’s good.”

          “Delivery,” Louis said as he carried Lainie over to us, “the unharmed child along with your sister…. I got them both here safely even though there were a few bumps in the road but that’s another story.”

          Annie smiled as she looked at Lainie and tears began falling from her eyes again.  “Thank you, Louis.”

          “No problem…. Is Ron up or is he in bed already too?”

          “He’s still up…. He’s in the living room, sitting on the couch…. Worried but once he knows that everyone’s here and unharmed he’ll be relieved.”  Annie worked her arms around Lainie as she took the child away from Louis.  “Thank you again.”  She started carried Lainie down the hall as Louis had me walk into the house before him and then he closed the door and locked it.  “Louis, you know where the living room is why don’t you take Sam in there while I bring Lainie to her room?”

          “Alright.”

          The hallway was long with about five doors on each of the side walls.  Pictures hung on the wall and I had a feeling that they were in their own little safe house.

          Louis grabbed my hand and led me into a room on our left.  The small lamp which sat on the small little table was on and Ron sat on the couch next to the little table and looked up at us.  His sad worried sleepless filled eyes had looked so much worse than Annie’s had when I first seen her.

          “Elaina?” he asked almost whispering with a worried tone.

          “She’s fine,” Louis replied as we sat on the small dark brown soft love seat which had sat off to the side of the couch.  “Annie brought her to her room.”

          Ron closed his eyes and I watched as he took a deep breath and released it.  “Good…. We were so worried.”  Ron looked at me.  “I’m sorry about your vacation, Sam…. It was ruined.”

          I looked at Louis and then back to Ron.  Louis kept my hand in his as we kept our attention on Ron.  “Actually it wasn’t all that bad,” I admitted.  “It was horrifying but Louis was a real gentleman,” I spoke with a smile.

          Ron looked at us and noticed that our hands were locked together and he smiled.  “Annie’s going to be happy.”

          Louis nodded.

          “Well I guess your vacation was completely ruined…. So I guessed this means that Lainie didn’t have to hear you two arguing then?”

          “Not really,” I agreed.

          “Good.”

          “We stopped at Carmen’s for a couple of days on the way up here.”

          “That’s good…. I kind of had a feeling you would stop by her house anyways.”

          Louis nodded.  He leaned back as he moved his hand away from mine and placed his arm around my shoulder, pulling me back with him.  “We stopped at a couple of hotels before but the second night some guy broke into Sam and Lainie’s room so I had to teach him a lesson…. I got ahold of George and it turns out that guy was part of the whole break into your house deal…. He ratted out the other guys so there’s three still out there….” He sighed.  I knew what he was going to tell Ron he didn’t really want to tell him but he knew he had to.  “Someone had set your mansion on fire…. We’ve a feeling that it was one of the guys who broke in but not quite sure…. Also Kathleen was in the mansion at the time of the fire….”

          “Kathleen?  Is she okay?”

          Louis looked at Ron and shook his head.  “She pasted away yesterday.”

          Ron rubbed his head and leaned back as he thought about it.  “That’s horrible…. I hope she didn’t have to die alone…. She was such a sweet and caring person.”

          “I’m sorry man.”

          Ron shook his head as Annie walked into the room.  “What’s going on?” she asked.

          “Just talking,” Ron replied.  “Um…. If you two don’t mind can we change the subject?” he asked Louis and me.

          I nodded.

          “Go head.”

          “Good…. Look at the two love birds, honey,” he said as he tilted his head toward us with a smile.

          Annie returned the smile as she looked at us.  “I know…. I’m so happy for them.”

          Ron nodded as he gestured for Annie to walk over to him.  She laughed and worked her way next to him as he pulled her down in his lap and kissed her cheek.  “When this is all said and done, I think the four of us should go on a double date…. What do you think, honey?”

          “I think that would be amazing.”  She looked over at us and kept her smile.  “Have you two had the chance to go out yet?  Just the two of---”

          “Yes,” Louis replied with a nod.  “We stopped by Carmen’s right before we actually started dating and well you know how Carmen…. She’s just like you…. The day after we told her she had planned for us to go out and even dressed Sam up for me….” He shook his head as he laughed.  “She kept an eye on Lainie for us.”

          “That sounds like Carmen,” Annie replied with a laugh.

          “Sounds like you, honey,” Ron replied.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if you and Carmen had them preparing a wedding….”

          Annie’s mouth dropped at the idea with a wide smile.

          “It’s too soon for a wedding, Annie,” Louis replied as he watched the excitement grow on her face.

          I shook my head and covered my face with my hand as I tried to keep myself from laughing.

          “I know but in the future…. Awe…. You two are so amazing together…. See I knew it but you two wouldn’t listen to me…. So when did it happen?”

          I looked over at Louis with a worried look.  We had told Ron that we would change the subject but the first kiss we had shared was at the mansion while it was on fire and that was when we had actually moved our relationship to the step.  How were we going to get out over?

          “You don’t want to know,” Louis replied.

          “Oh come on…. Tell me….”

          “You really don’t want to know, Annie.”

          “Oh come on just tell me…. I’m curious…. Please.”

          Louis sighed.  “Okay but you’re not going to like it.”  He locked eyes with me for a moment then turned his attention toward Annie who was waiting eagerly for an explanation.  “Well while we were at Carmen’s, Carmen had taken Lainie out to get some new clothes but that’s another story for another time though…. Anyways….”

          Annie nodded.

          “We talked for a little while but that’s not when we moved our relationship to the next level….” He sighed.

          Annie smiled as she bit her bottom lip.

          “Later that day I had gotten a call from my boss, he told me that the mansion…. The mansion was on fire….”

          Annie’s smile turned into the frown at the sound of what had happened to the place she had called home.

          “Anyways I was going to go alone but Sam talked me bringing her with me…. I’m going to jump through some parts because it’s horrifying and I don’t think you want to know everything right now…. Well, Sam had watched me run into the burning building…. When I came back she was covering her eyes because of whatever she had seen…. I let her know that I was there and of course she was crying and mad…. I wrapped her up in a hug to help her calm down but she wouldn’t shut up so we kissed and we’ve been together ever since….”

          “The mansion was on fire?” Annie’s eyes filled with tears as she looked up at us.  “Was anyone hurt?”

          Louis dropped his head.  “Kathleen was the only one…. At least the only one I know who was there at the time….”

          “Is she okay?”

          Louis shook his head.  “She didn’t make it…. She fought for two days but died yesterday.”

          “Oh my gosh…. I’m happy for the both of you but to know…. I’m sorry.”

          Ron wrapped both of his arms around Annie and pulled her toward him as he wiped tears from her eyes.  “It’s alright…. She’s in a better place now,” he spoke softly.  Those were the same words Louis had spoken to me when he told me the news or about the same words.

          I could only imagine what they were going through.  She probably had treated them like family.

          “I’m sorry, Ron, but she wanted to know and there was no way of getting around it like Carmen would.”

          Ron nodded.  “I know…. Hey it’s been a long day and now that everyone’s finally here why don’t we all just get some sleep…. How’s that sound for everyone?”

          Louis and I both nodded in agreement while Annie stood up and Ron followed her out of the room.

          “Good night you two,” he told us as the left.

          “Good night,” Louis and I replied.

          “Oh and, Louis, Sam’s room is next to the one that you usually sleep in can you show her where it is?”

          “Yea.”

 

          Louis held my hand as he walked me down the long dark hall and pointed to the doors telling me where each door led as we walked past them.  He had me stop when we come to two doors on the left.  “This is my room,” he said he opened the door to show me.  It was a deceit size room with a couple of dressers and a bed in front of the wall with a window at the opposite end of us.  He then had me move over as he opened the door next to it.  “This is your room.”

The room looked about the same as his room had although there was a window on the furthest side wall to us.

“If you need me for any reason, I’ll be in my room.”  He kissed my forehead.  “Good night, Sam.”

“Good night, Louis,” I replied as I walked into my room.  I closed the door behind and looked around.  It was dark except for the moonlight which shone in through the window.  I sighed and walked over to my bed and removed my shoes.  I climbed in bed and my tired eyes closed.

I sat in some kind of freezing cold small jail cell.  My hands were tied together by some kind of rope.  I looked around dazed and confused.  Fear was working its way into my heart as tears filled my eyes.  I had no clue where I was or how I had even found my way into the room.  The metal tall door opened and three grown men walked in.  Two of the men were the bikers from before and the third man was the taxicab driver.  My eyes looked around wildly as they circled around me.

          “Hey there, baby.  Did you miss me?” the taxicab driver asked in that evil eerie tone.  He began laughing.  “It looks like your boyfriend isn’t around to save you, baby.”  He sat next to me and touched my face with his dark dirt filled fingers as I tried to turn my head away from him.  “If he really cared, he wouldn’t have let you fall into our hands.”

          “What do you want with me?” I asked, tears crawling down my cheeks.

          “I just want you,” he said as he leaned in and kissed my cheek.  He placed a hand on my waist and slid it down to the opening of my shirt.  “This time he isn’t going to be able to stop me.  I’m going to get what I want, baby.”  He kissed me as he began to slide his hand up my shirt like he had the night at the hotel.

          I quickly sat up and looked around the room.  My heart was racing from the nightmare.  I closed my eyes for a brief moment and stood up.  I worked my way out of the room and walked over to the room Louis was in.  I knocked lightly so I didn’t wake anyone else up.

          “Come in, Sam,” I barely heard Louis’s voice from the other side of the door.

          I twisted the door nod and walked into the room.  I had closed the door behind me.

          Louis was just starting to sit up on the bed as he looked at me.  “Another nightmare?”

          “Yes,” I replied.

          “Come here.”

          I walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed.

          He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.  “You’ll be alright.  What happened?  And you still haven’t told me about the other nightmare you had last night as well.”

          “Well, the one from last night the biker with the scar on his face was going to try to force me into….”

          “Oh you don’t have to say any more,” he replied as he understood what I was going to continue to say.  “What about the one just now?”

          I sighed.  “Both of the bikers and the taxicab driver were in it…. I was their prisoner and the taxicab driver was going to pick up where he left off that night in the hotel…. It felt so really, Louis….”

          “I can tell…. You’re shaking from fear,” Louis replied.  “Lay back down and get some sleep…. But don’t get use to this too much now…. I’m not going to let this happen every night,” he said, kind of laughing.

          “I’ll try not to.”

          “Good.”  He had his left arm resting under my waist and I placed my right hand in his left hand.  “Good night, honey.”  I felt his soft lips kiss my right temple.  He placed the comforter and the sheet over us to keep us warm.  He wrapped his right arm around me and grabbed my left hand in his so that I was locked in his arms.

          I slowly drifted off as dreamland began to move me out of reality and into another world of the unbelievable.

 

          “Louis, Sam,” I heard Ron’s voice reach into my dream as I slowly opened my eyes.

          “Huh?” I barely spoke as my blurry vision became clear.  I sat up in the bed and looked over at Ron who was raising his left furry brown eyebrow.

          “Look…. I probably wouldn’t say this if it wasn’t for Lainie but I’d prefer if you two didn’t share a bed while you’re not married.”

          I opened my mouth to speak but Louis was up and began talking instead.

          “I understand…. We understand that, but Sam had a nightmare last night and I let her come in here to talk about it…. We must have fallen asleep in the process but I can reassure you that nothing happened because I am a gentleman and I respect Sam…. The most we did was cuddle…. That might not make me sound too manly but that’s the most that happened.”  Louis sighed and smiled.  “I won’t let it happen again…. My apologizes…. And don’t blame Sam either….”

          Ron smiled.  “Good, but Annie and Lainie are still sleeping and I would appreciate if the both of you aren’t in the same bed…. Annie will flip and Lainie will ask questions that she’s not old enough to understand the answers to.”

          “Don’t worry, Ron.”

          “Okay…. And if something did happen last night, I better not become an uncle in nine or ten months from now while you two aren’t married.”

          Louis shook his head.  “Nothing happened last night….”

          Ron laughed.  “I’m just joking, man.  Sorry, Sam…. It’s a guy thing…. We have to joke like that.”

          “I’ll tell Annie on you for that,” I replied, kind of smiling.

          “If you do then you’ll have to explain to her about you sleeping the same bed as Louis and believe me she’ll jump straight to conclusions.”  Ron left the room, closing the door behind him.

          “What are friends for huh?” Louis asked he locked eyes with me.  “Did you have another nightmare last night?”

          I shook my head.  “No this time I had some strange dream that’s kind of hard to explain and remember.”

          Louis laughed.  “Of course.”  We shared a long and exciting kiss as he pulled me closer to him and then pulled away.  “Good morning by the way, honey.”

          “Good morning to you too, sweetie.”  I smiled as I placed both of my hands on his rugged face as I noticed his facial hair was starting to grow but it was barely noticeable from far away.  “Someone needs to shave.”

          “No I thought I’d just grow my beard in,” he spoke as he laughed.  “I know…. I usually do but with everything that’s going on it’s been crazy or else I would have…. I think the last time that I actually shaved was while we were at Carmen’s….”

          I let my smile grow as I locked eyes with him and kind of laughed.  “You should let your beard grow in and fix it up like Tony Stark.”  I laughed a little bit louder as I watched him puff out his left cheek with his tongue.

          “Like Tony Stark?  No,” he replied.  “I will not fix myself up as Iron Man…. Besides, that kind of makes me jealous, knowing that you have a crush that guy…. The actor and apparently the character,” he joked as he shook his head.

          I couldn’t keep myself from laughing.  I almost fell out of the bed when his hands caught me and pulled me up, closer to him.

          “Be careful now, honey.”  He looked at me and sighed.  “You better get back to your room before Annie and Lainie come in here to see what’s going on.”

          I nodded and slid my feet on the floor as I moved away from him and began to walk toward the door.

          “See you later today.”

          “Okay, Louis.”  I worked my way out of the room and slightly closed the door behind.  I looked down the further end of the hall to make sure that no one else had been there.  I sighed in relief to see that it was empty of life.

 

          I sat on the couch which I realized had a mixture of dark colors which made crisscross markings over one another.  Annie sat in the room with me, explaining about the house which Ron had built just in case for some reason they needed a place to stay.  She explained that they would also visit on occasions just to escape and Ron could have free time to spend with her and Lainie without anyone interrupting.  “The police was telling everyone that we were in the witness protection program to throw off anyone who might seem suspicious.  Ron had called Louis to let him know what was going on so he could get you and Lainie out of there which he already knew our emergency plan anyways because of the fact it’s his job and Ron told him what this place was going to be used for anyways,” she continued.  “I’m so glad that you guys are finally here and safely I might add.”

          I nodded.  We finally had a chance for relaxation instead of being on a time limit for a change.  “At first, I thought Louis was going to be a total jerk which he was at the beginning of the trip but then I started to see what you were trying to tell me the whole.  He started opening up to me and explained to me about his wife he had lost to cancer.”

          Annie smiled.  “So he actually told you about her?”

          I nodded again as tears filled my eyes.  “That was kind of the beginning of everything.  I mean we had moments before that but that was the first time that I really got to see him open up…. And the night before we went to Carmen’s, this creepy man had broken into the hotel room I was staying in with Lainie…. This man climbed on my bed and if it wasn’t for Louis he probably would have done some terrifying things to me and Lainie…. We’d most likely be dead by now…. Louis was mad at me because in a way it was my fault for not listening to him but I grew mad at him because he wouldn’t leave me alone about it…. I felt horrible but he just made me feel worst….”

          Annie’s smile kind of grew.

          “But the next day he apologized for yelling at me and I apologized for going off on him as well…. When he was showing me his soft side, I thought it was because of Lainie but then at Carmen’s when Lainie wasn’t around he was starting to change his attitude toward me for the better….” The tears slowly began falling from my eyes and down my cheeks as I spoke.  “I had a nightmare the first night at Carmen’s and he actually comforted me and I thought that he was going to kiss me then but he didn’t…. Then the next day after he explained about his wife, I thought he would kiss me then but he still didn’t…. He actually told me that he was waiting for the right moment…. Then later that day at the mansion when he actually was stupid enough to run into that burning building,” I said as I kind of laughed, “I panicked…. When he appeared to reassure me that everything was alright…. I started crying and yelling at him and that was when he finally kissed me…. Kind of to shut me up….” I kind of smiled at the thought.  “The kiss…. Oh my gosh…. I have never felt anything like it…. It was unbelievably amazing…. And since then every kissed we shared seemed to grow with the amazement and excitement…. It went beyond fireworks like most people would describe…. The feeling…. I don’t even know how to describe how amazing they get each time.”

          Annie smile kind of turned into a giggle.  “My dear sister, you’re falling in love…. I know the feeling…. It’s the feeling I get when I kiss Ron…. Every time and it’s amazing how each time it seems to get better than the last…. It doesn’t matter if we kiss for a moment or if we kiss for what feels like forever…. Each kiss gets deeper…. That goes with learning about the guy as well and talking to him…. Getting to know each other…. Not just physically…. Intimacy…. Communication…. Sadly most people get married for the physical part; they could care less about anything else which is important in a marriage.... Believe it or not but when I first met Ron, I thought that he was the biggest nerd I have ever met but when I decided to give him a chance and when I did I felt that he was the one I wanted…. I didn’t want any other man…. I wanted Ron…. I just fell in love with him…. And I know that you and Louis are meant for each other…. I mean when Christy was alive I didn’t think that because he was happy with her but the past couple of years without her presence being there he started getting lonely and felt that he didn’t deserve to be with anyone else that’s when he started the whole thing about being a total jerk to every girl he met…. When I planned the vacation for you to come down, I figured he had enough time to mourn and you had enough heart breaks…. I hated seeing the both of you alone and this is going to sound ridiculous,” she kind of laughed as she spoke but I actually took a picture that I had with you and me and a picture I had of Louis and Ron…. I folded both pictures in half and placed the side of you next to the side with Louis from the other picture and….” Her smile grew.  “I could see it…. I could see the two of you together and you two looked so cute together…. The problem was when you two were together you two just kept arguing which disappointed me,” she said as she frowned.  “I felt that my dreams had been shattered….” Her frown quickly turned upside as she smiled with a gleam in her eyes which sparkled like stars in the pale moon light.  “But now you two are finally together and now I can be happy again.”

          I smiled as I shook my head.  I hadn’t realized all of the trouble we must have caused for her when Louis had first dropped me off at the mansion.

          “MUMMY!” Lainie screamed as she ran into the room and wrapped her small little arms around Annie’s neck.

          “Lainie,” Annie replied with a smile as she hugged Lainie back in return.

          “I missed you and daddy so much.”  Lainie began to cry into Annie’s shirt.

          “I know and we missed you too…. Did you have fun with Auntie Samantha and Uncle Louis?”

          Lainie locked eyes with Annie and smiled.  “Yes I did, mummy, and they kissed a lot after we left Auntie Carmen and Uncle Eric’s house.”

          Annie laughed.  “I’ll bet.”  She looked at me and winked.

Kidnapped

          Louis and Ron walked into the living room to join us.  They had been busy carrying the bags from the car and bringing them to the rooms.  Lainie’s eyes lit up as she seen Ron and ran over to him, hugging his knees.  “DADDY!”

          Ron smiled as he looked down at his beloved daughter.  “Good morning, Lainie.”

          “Good morning, daddy.”

          “I’m glad to see you.”

          “I’m glad to see you too.”

          Louis walked over to me and sat down as he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.  “What have you three lovely ladies been talking about?” he asked.

          “Well, Lainie just came in here not long before you two did,” Annie replied.  “Sam and I have been having girl talk.”

          “Ah girl talk….” Louis raised his left eyebrow as he looked at me.  “Were you talking about me?” he asked as his eyes met mine.

          I smiled as I bit my bottom lip.

          “Like I said we were having girl talk,” Annie interrupted.

          “They were talking about us,” Ron threw in.  “That’s one thing about women…. You leave them alone in the room together, you can bet that they’ll be talking about us men…. Knowing Annie, after what you two told us last night, she’s going to get her information from Sam about you…. Everything.”

          Louis kind of tilted his head as he looked at Ron with an odd smile on his face then turned his attention toward me again.  “And what were you saying about me?”

          “Nothing,” I replied, innocently.

          “Uh-huh…. I’ll get it out of you.”  He kissed my cheek briefly then turned his attention toward the others.

          Knock, knock, knock.

          “That’s most likely George,” Louis said as he looked out toward the opening which led to the hall.  “It’s important.”

          Ron nodded and left the room quickly.

          Lainie stood by herself as she watched her father walk away then turned toward us.  She looked like a lost and confused puppy as her eyes moved away from each other, questionably.

          “Here, Lainie, come with me and I’ll get you some breakfast,” Annie said as she stood up and had Lainie follow her out of the room.

          “Come on, Sam, we need to go over the pictures to see if we recognize the bikers,” Louis told me as he stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to my feet.

 

          Ron stood at the front door, half way on the porch and half way inside of the house, holding the screen door open.  George and Eric had been standing on the porch when Louis and I walked into the hallway and made our way over to the front door.  Ron moved out of the way from us as we wandered onto the porch.  I noticed that George was holding a thick black photo album in his right hand which sat next to his waist.

          “Glad to see that you made it,” George told us with a smile.

          “Hey, Louis, and Sam,” Eric replied with a grin.

          “Hey,” Louis replied.  “George, the pictures?” his expression had remained serious as he spoke.

          “Of course, of course,” George replied as he held up the photo album.  “I have them right here.”

          Eric shook his head as he kind of laughed.  “Of course, has to jump to business like always huh, Louis?”

          “Well, the sooner we catch the other three guys the faster we can go back to having normal lives,” Louis answered.

          Ron nodded.

 

          We sat at the kitchen table which was kind of wide and rectangular fit about six people to it.  The top of the table was a brown wooden color which grew darker along the four long legs.  I sat on the left side of the table with Louis while Eric and George sat across from us and Ron sat on the left end of the table.  George had the photo album lying out on the table facing Louis and I.  I flipped through the pages as the men talked.  I skimmed the faces of the men but none of them had been recognizable to me.  The faces of the criminals weren’t even close to the two bikers from the dinner.  I finished skimming one page and was about to flip it.

          “Wait,” Louis said as he grabbed my hand to stop me from turning the page.  “Those two,” he said as he pointed to two of the faces in two different pictures.

          I was confused.  How did he notice them when I simply missed the resemblance?  As I looked at the two pictures Louis had pointed at I recognized the evil looking nasty scar on the one biker but both of the men had seem a few years younger in the picture which must have meant that they had a record that was a few years old.  The age must have been the reason for me missing them.  “That’s them,” I agreed.

          George leaned over and watched as Louis placed two fingers to where they were pointing at each of the men.  “Ah the Baker boys…. Well men…. They’re brothers and they have a nasty record for crimes ranging from murder to bank robbery…. To arson…. I could go down the list but that would take a while.”

          Louis made a face which told everyone in the room that he was thinking.  He was in deep thought as if he were working on a puzzle.  “Arson?”

          George nodded.

          “Sounds like we have two suspects for the fire at the mansion and the death of Kathleen,” he replied.  “One of them was there when the mansion caught on fire.... When we get them into custody we’ll have to question them…. Both of them about the break in and the fire….”

          “But there’s no telling if either of them will crack,” Eric replied.

          “True…. We’ll just have to do everything possible till one of them break…. Maybe they could tell us who the third guy is,” George agreed.

          “You don’t know?” Louis asked.

          “Not yet,” George replied.  “The cab driver told us about the other three but for some reason would only give out two of the description.”

          “We need to find out who the last guy is then.”

          Ron shook his head.  “Why would anyone want to do this?”

          Eric looked at Ron sighed.  “Don’t know, man.”

          Riiing…. Riiing…. Riiing.  George pulled out his small black flip phone and placed it to his ear.  “Hello….?  What is it, Rebecca?”  He paused for a moment.  “Okay.  We’ll be right there,” he replied and without any questions he hung up the phone.  “The Baker Boys just decided to crash at a small store and highjack a car…. This is our chance.”

          Louis nodded as he stood up with George and Eric.  “Sam, I want you to stay here with Ron and Annie.”

          “No,” I replied jumping out of my chair.  “I want to go with you.”

          Louis rolled his eyes.  “It’s going to be dangerous….”

          “Dangerous?  It’s okay for you to put yourself in danger but I can’t?”

          “I want you to stay here where it’s safe….”

          “I want to go….”

          “Believe me…. You only think that…. You are not going and that’s final.”

          I felt steam burst through my ears as I watched Louis leave the room with Eric and George.

          “Don’t worry about Louis,” Ron replied.  “He’ll be fine.”

          I almost didn’t hear his words.  I felt like a princess who had to stay trapped while her prince worked his way to save her after fighting off the monsters.  I didn’t want to be a princess.  I didn’t want to feel objectified because I was a woman.  I wanted to know what was going on.  It was the only chance I had.

 

          I ran out to the car before Louis had a chance to get in and I ran up to him.  Tears filled my eyes.  “Please let me go with you,” I told him.  “I won’t do anything that could get me into any trouble…. I want to see this for myself…. Please.”

          Louis sighed as he rolled his eyes.  “Fine,” he replied, “but stay in the car at all times and keep the doors locked…. Especially if I’m not around…. Got it?”

          I nodded and hurried into the car.

 

          Louis followed George into the opening of some woods which sat next to a gas station which was filled with cop cars.  The police had the placed blocked and I guess George had to explain to them what was we were doing because one of the cops had seen us and walked over to his car.  Once they had finished the conversation, the cop stepped away from George’s car and motioned for Louis to continue down the road.

          “What was that about?” I asked as I looked back at the cop as Louis drove past him.

          “Making sure we’re not locals trying to take this path for any reason,” Louis answered as he kept his eyes on the road.

          We watched as George had pulled off to the side and climbed out of the car.  Eric had stepped out as well and walked over to our car.  George tapped on the window and Louis rolled down his window as well as mine.

“What’s going on?”

“The car the two high jacked was shot in two tires by a few cops…. The car should be around here somewhere and they should be running on foot by now.”

Louis nodded.  He looked at me as he unbuckled.  “Remember, stay in the car at all times and lock the doors…. Keep the windows rolled up and don’t let anyone inside unless you know them…. Stay down,” I felt like a child as he spoke.  He placed both of his hands on my cheeks and I placed both of my hands over his.  I felt tears fill my eyes as I locked them with his.  He leaned his face in toward me and we shared another kiss.

“Please be careful,” I whispered as he pulled away from me.

“I will…. Don’t worry about me,” he said as he rolled the two side windows up and locked the doors for me.  “I’ll be back.”  He closed the door and I watched as he joined George and Eric worked his way over to them.

          The three of them walked into the woods and vanished.

          I slid down in the chair as fear filled my body.  I unbuckled myself and climbed into the backseat and lay down.  I stared at the grey carpet looking ceiling of the car.  Lord, please keep him safe…. Please keep me safe…. I’m so worried about Louis.  Tears began crawling down my cheeks as I closed my eyes in fear, worrying about the one man I didn’t want to lose.

 

          Bang.  I sat up in the seat so quickly.  The sound was loud but far away.  I didn’t know what it was but I figured it was gun shot.  Louis and the other two weren’t back and my fear became stronger as I thought of the possibility that one of them might have been a victim.  Bang.  Bang.  “Oh my gosh,” I whispered as I moved my head around, wildly.  I was trying to figure out where the shot had come from.  I worked my way over the door which was closest to the car door and unlocked it.  I climbed out and closed the door as quickly as possible.  I ran for my life, trying to search for the man who I was falling in love with.  “LOUIS!  LOUIS!” I called as the fear grew stronger.  “LOUIS!  LOUIS!”  Tears had begun crawling out of my eyes and down my cheeks.  “LOUIS!  LOUIS!”  I tripped over a tree branch which had looped out of the ground.  I tried to push myself up when I noticed a couple of black boots standing in front of me.

          “Well, hello again, sweetheart,” the man’s voice spoke as I looked up at the biker with the nasty evil scar and crook smile on his face.  “Looks like your boyfriend wasn’t too smart leaving you alone in the woods now was he?” he kind of laughed as he pulled me up to his feet and pulled out a small black gun and held it up to my face.  “Don’t say a word and you’re safe…. You do then I’ll kill you right now, sweetheart.”

          My mouth trembled as I stared at the gun and the tears kept falling out of my eyes.

          “Come with me, sweetheart.”  The man grabbed my arm and dragged me over to a campsite where his brother had been waiting.  I noticed a dead deer lying on the ground which I was hoping had been the victim of the gun shots.

          “Bill, what took you so long?” the other man asked.

          “I found this pretty little lady wandering the woods.”  He pulled the hair tie out of my hair and played with my hair then for some strange reason he sniffed it.  “Smells good too,” he laughed evilly as he spoke.  “Probably out her on a date with her boyfriend who isn’t nowhere around.”

          “Ah…. We have dinner for the night…. It was a fighter so I had to shoot it a few times before it finally went down.”

          I felt myself sigh in relief as the man motioned for the deer.

          “Deer again, Andrew?  How come you never find anything different?”

          “Because I like deer meat…. And it’s about the only thing I can seem to find around here…. Unlike you, who just sits around picking up women all day and does nothing else,” Andrew replied then spit on the ground.

          Both men were disturbing to be around.  I could see why Louis had told me to stay in the car…. I didn’t even know why I didn’t just listen.  I had been trouble for the man and thinking about it made me wonder why he even wanted me in the first place.  I was always finding ways to get into trouble even though they weren’t intentional.

          “I do a lot and you know it.”  Bill, the man with the scar on his evil face, dragged me over to a log and wrapped a rope around my hands and forced me to sit down on the log which was filled with some kind of small green plant life growing on it.  It wasn’t moss but it was grass either.  I had no clue what it was.

          “Cover her mouth up too,” Andrew told him.  “I don’t want to hear her screaming for help.”

          Bill gave his brother and evil stare which worried me.

 

          Later on that night, I was still sitting on the log as I watched the two men sleep.  I didn’t want to close my eyes because I didn’t know what those two guys would do to me if I had.

          “SAM!”  I heard Louis’s voice call but it was faint.  I couldn’t respond but I wanted to scream to let him know I was there.  “SAM!” I heard again.  “SAM!”

          “SAM!” Eric and George’s voices echoed.

          I noticed a small slim but sturdy stick which lying next to me.  I stretched my right foot out and reached for it.  Once I had the stick next to me, I leaned forward and reached for it with both hands, seeing that they were both tied together and wrote in the dirt the best I could: Louis, help.  Somehow I knew if he seen me or for some reason didn’t see me, he would know that I was in trouble.

          “SAM!” Louis called for me again.

          “What is that bloody noise?” Andrew asked he slowly sat up and looked around.

          “SAM!”

          “Damn,” he said as he reached over and shook Bill.

          “What?”

          “SAM!  SAM!”  Louis continued to call.  Each time he yelled, his voiced sounded as if he were getting closer and closer.

          “It sounds like her boyfriend is searching for her, you idiot,” Andrew told his brother as he jumped out of bed and hurried over to me.

          “I’m not an idiot, you moron,” Bill replied.

          I rolled my eyes as I had to listen to the two brothers argue.

          “Why didn’t you just leave her?  He’s going to be ticked off when he finds out you had to add kidnapping to our job…. We were supposed to leave before the police got us and now thanks to you we have a guy looking for his girlfriend,” Andrew told Bill as he pulled me up to my feet and hurried me away from the campsite.

          “SAM!”

 

          I sat in a cold room which was almost empty.  I felt like I was trapped in some kind of dungeon or jail cell…. The kind of jail cell which they would place the insane people in.  It was dark and grey with only one door which locked from the outside of the room.  I had passed out somewhere when the two men dragged me to the woods and I didn’t know how I got here exactly or where I even was.  I’m sorry for not staying in the car, Louis, I thought as I looked around, afraid.  I’ve been kidnapped and it was my entire fault.

          Creek.

          I looked up and watched as the door opened and too my horror and shocked the mastermind walked in.  His face was recognizable and I couldn’t believe who the man was.  When I first met, I hadn’t thought of him to be a horrifying man and I thought about how he had worked for Ron and Annie in the kitchen.  He was the younger cook and had helped make my and Lainie’s breakfast the morning it had all started.  “Hello, Samantha,” he told me as he eyed me.  “I’m sorry about the two morons…. Kidnapping wasn’t part of the job I had them do….”  He looked around the room.  “I’m not going to kill you…. At least unless you give me a reason to kill you.”

          “Why would you do this?”

          “Why?  Let’s see working for a rich man…. Money…. I and my two goons were searching for Ron’s money…. Problem was he didn’t have any in the house the day of the robbery….”

          I stared at the man in disbelief.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

          “Then I decided that the mansion didn’t need to stand any longer so I had Bill set the place on fire.”  I listened as he laughed, evilly.

          “Kathleen died because of that fire,” I told him but it didn’t seem to faze the man.

          “I didn’t think anyone was there but hey it works.”

          I felt anger growing as I jumped up and stood face to face with the evil man.  “How could you be so calm?  She was a nice woman and didn’t deserve that…. How could you be that cold?”

          The man shrugged then moved my hair which sat on my shoulder.  “You are beautiful and apparently strong willed but stupid.”

          I kind of started to back away as I felt fear start to take over.

          The man stood still, just watching me.  “I’m not going to do anything to you, at least, not yet…. I hope you enjoy it here in this cell.”  I watched as he stepped out of the room and closed the door.  I heard as it locked on the outside.

          I fell back on the bed as tears filled my eyes.  Lord, how can man be so evil?  How can that guy not even care that he killed an innocent life?  Please let Louis find me and save me.  I feel safe when he’s around whereas now I feel alone and unsafe.  Lord, please keep me safe and please let justice come to those men who are here in this building.  I lay back down on the small little twin size bunk and curled up in a ball, crying myself to sleep.  I sat on a couch and Louis walked over to me.  He sat down and hugged me.  “Hey there, honey,” he whispered into my ear as he kissed me.

          “Hey,” I replied with a smile.  It was peaceful and it felt so real.

          He pulled me closer to him and let me use his shoulder as a pillow.  “The baby’s asleep,” he told me as I gave him a funny like then I frowned when I realized it was a dream.  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

          I smiled and kissed him.  “Nothing just been thinking about everything.”

          “Ah,” he sighed then smiled.  “I love you so much.”

          “I love you too.”  I sat up and looked around the cell and curled up with my arms around my legs, tears began falling from my eyes again.  Please let him come and save me.

The Damsel in Distress

          I sat there in the dark room as a hint of sunlight shone through the barred window which sat on the side of the room away from the door.  The window was too high for me to reach, nearly impossible but the sunlight gave me hope in a strange and odd way letting me know that help was on its way.  I didn’t know if it was my optimistic personality or if I was just wishing for someone, mainly Louis, to come and rescue me.  I felt like a princess or a damsel who was defenseless against the three men who were holding me hostage.  I never knew life could feel so much like a fairy tale.  The one thing that I knew was that unlike a fairy tale, my life may not have a happy ending.  Lord, please send help to me somehow.  Please don’t let those three men harm me or kill me.  Please let Louis come and find me before things grow dark and grey.  Before I lose myself or my life in this place, Lord God…. Please save me, I prayed with tears crawling down my cheeks.  I should have been back at the house with Ron and Annie, not in some cold cell.

          Creak.

          I looked up at the door as Bill walked in with a tray of food.  I looked at the tray which held a bowl of soup and a dinner roll.  In a small plastic cup was some water.

          “Here you go, sweetheart,” the guy said as he sat the tray on the floor and made his way over to me.  He leaned in and went to kiss me when I pulled myself away from him.  “That’s not a nice why to treat me now, sweetheart.”  He grabbed my wrist and pulled me closer to him, I fought to get free but he was overpowering me.  “I like a girl who fights,” he whispered as he laughed.

          I couldn’t take it.  I kneed the man below the belt, right where I knew it would do some damage.

          He backed way and fell on the ground in pain.  “Why you evil little---?”

          I darted out of the room before he could finish his sentence when I ran into the cook from the mansion who was the cause of everything.

          “How did you get out?” he asked, his tone had anger in it.

          I slowly backed away.

          “Bill’s down,” Andrew said as he came out of nowhere and I could feel his presence behind me.

          I looked around trapped.

          “What did you do to my brother?” he asked as he turned me to face him, pulling onto my sleeves.

          I didn’t speak.  I just stared into his dark brown eyes of evil.

          “What did you do?” he asked again, even more furiously than before.

          I still managed to keep my mouth shut.

          He smacked me on the left side of my face so hard that I was pretty sure I had a noticeable red hand print on my cheek.  He went to smack me again.

          “Andrew, leave her alone.  Bring her back to her cell and get Bill out of there…. Lock her up and leave her there.  We don’t need her escaping again.”

          “Yes, sir.”  Andrew had kept me in his hold as he dragged me to the cell, through me back in and made sure he helped his brother stand up on his feet.

          “She kicked me in a bad place,” Bill told Andrew as he eyed me with anger.

          They left, closing the door behind them, and I listened as the door locked from the other side.

          I curled up on the bed and pulled my knees up to my face as I began crying again.  I didn’t want to be stuck there any longer than I had been and I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

 

          I curled up into a ball and lay facing the wall on the other side of the room.  My pillow which didn’t really do anything was wet from my salty tears as I continued to cry.  I felt this sharp sheering pain in my head as a headache formed.  I didn’t know if it was from the crying or if the pillow was the caused but my head was sore from either one.

          “SAM!” Louis’s voice called to me.

          I wanted to answer but I figured it was a dream.

          “SAM!” I heard his sweet caring voice call to me again.  “SAM!”  Knock, knock, knock.

          I jolted up out of bed as I heard the noise again and this time I ran to the door.

          “SAM, ARE YOU IN THERE?!”

          I felt relief consume me as I was sure I was dreaming.  “LOUIS?!”

          “SAM!  I GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF THERE!  IF YOUR NEAR THE DOOR, YOU MIGHT WANT TO BACK AWAY!”

          I did as he had demanded and moved under the window.

          BANG!  BANG!  BANG!  The door flew open and Louis stood in front of me.  He was covered in bruises and cuts.  I cried as I looked at him.

          “Louis?” I asked as the tears flew down my cheeks like waterfalls.

          Louis nodded and smiled.

          I ran over and hugged him, trying not to touch his sores or bruises.  “How did you find me?”

          “Long story….”

          I looked up at him as he smiled down at me.  “What did you do?”

          He kind of laughed.  “Let’s see I fought the dragon then came and rescued the princess.”

          I kind of laughed as I remembered the story I had created for Lainie.  “I’m so sorry I had to put you through this…. You shouldn’t have had to do this…. I’ve put you through so much already…. I don’t even know why you would even want to be with me after all of this?”

          Louis laughed again.  “I admit that I was ticked off when I didn’t see you in the car after I told you to stay there…. But you’re worth the trouble…. I’m always going to be willing to do whatever it takes to keep you safe even if I have to fight for you or go looking for you…. Now, I’m not saying that you should go looking for trouble out of stupidity but I’m always going to do what I need to so you could be safe.”

          I smiled as I locked eyes with him.  “You’re hurt because of me though.”

          “Worth it…. Besides, it’s only a few bruises and minor injuries…. Nothing major…. I’ll be fine…. Now we need to get out of here…. We’ve caught the Baker brother’s but the third guy escaped….”

          “The cook….”

          “Huh?”

          “The cook…. The younger cook who works for Ron and Annie….”

          Louis moved his eyes in all kinds of directions, thinking.  “Are you sure?”

          I nodded.  “I’ve seen him…. He’s the mastermind…. He explained everything to me.”

          “Of course…. It’s an inside job…. Why didn’t I think about that before?  The possibly of someone working inside of the house…. I should have at least thought about questioning everyone who worked there but for some reason it escaped my mind.”  He locked eyes with me.  His look had changed from happy to see me to a serious look which meant we needed to leave.  “Thanks for telling me, Sam.”  He kissed my cheek then pulled away from me as he realized that I had a bruise on my face.  “Who did that to you?”

          “Andrew…. The biker looking guy who didn’t have a scar on his face…. His brother tried to force himself on me when I kicked him in a bad place.”

          Louis raised both eyebrows and smiled.  “Good at least I know you can defend yourself.  Now come on you can explain the rest of the story to me some other time which I’m going to see if George will let me give both of the brothers a piece of my mind…. No one hits my girlfriend and gets away with…. Come on.”  He grabbed my hand and lead me down the hall as we met up with Eric and George along with a few other cops.

          “Good to see that you’re alive, Sam,” George told me with a sympathy look.

          “Yea sorry you had to go through this,” Eric replied.

          I kind of smiled.  “Thanks, guys.” 

Back in the Safety Zone

          Louis drove us back to the house.  I wondered what Annie and Ron would say when they had seen me.  I wondered how they were going to react when I told them about the cook who lied to them and only worked for them just to find a way into the house.  I knew that they’d probably be shocked but also ashamed that they had even thought to hire someone like him.  Louis grabbed my hand.  “It’s okay, Sam.  It’s going to be okay.”

          “But I can’t help it…. This whole thing…. The whole situation is crazy….” My tears had dried and my puffy red eyes where itchy from the dried tears I had cried.  “How could that guy do that?  When I told him that Kathleen had died because of that fire, he didn’t even care.  He just stood there as if her death meant nothing.  It didn’t even bother him.”

          Louis sighed.  “Sadly, evil doesn’t care about others…. That’s how it is…. People like him don’t care about anything else but getting what they want no matter what they have to do or how they have to do it…. They don’t care if innocent people get hurt or killed…. As long as they get what they want nothing else seems to matter.”  He shook his head.  “Thing is they don’t realize when they make bad choices then the coincidences grow…. If he doesn’t get what he deserves in this life, then he’ll get it when he dies…. Unless he asks for forgiveness from God but if he don’t, then he’ll suffer….”  He glanced at me then back toward the road.  “But don’t worry…. We’re not going to let him get away that easily…. He’s the last one we to place in prison and then everything will go back to normal as soon as possible…. Well, not exactly normal, but close enough…. Although, you’re not coming with me on the next trip….” He smiled as he locked eyes with me for a brief moment.  “Now you can see why we don’t have a bring your girlfriend to work day,” he said as he kind of laughed.

          I smiled and shook my head although I had to agree with him.

 

          We arrived back at the house and Annie ran out and hugged me after I climbed out of the car.  “I was so worried about you after Louis called and told me what had happened…. I panicked….”

          “I’m fine, Annie….” I replied.  “Although, I am kind of hungry.”

          Annie smiled and nodded.

          “But I think I’m going to shower first.”

          Annie nodded again and led me into the house.

          I looked back and smiled as Louis made his way behind us.

 

          Annie looked back at Louis as we entered into my room.  “Prince charming rescued the princess?” she asked with a warm smile in her tone.

          I felt myself smiling at the question.  “In a way….”

          “That’s all Lainie’s been talking about…. You being the princess and Louis being your prince charming after you were kidnapped although we didn’t word it to where it would be as scary for her to understand.”

          I nodded as I walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt then pulled out a pair of underwear.  I looked at Annie and I sighed.  “I have some horrible news,” I told her as she turned to face me.

          “What’s that?” she asked.

          I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment to prepare myself for what I was about to tell her.  “The young cook…. Well, younger cook who works for you and Ron….”

          “Yes,” she sighed as she kind of nodded for me to continue.

          “He was in on the break in and the fire…. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him myself but it was and he was so evil…. He didn’t even care when I told him about what had happened to Kathleen.”

          Annie fell into a sitting position on the bed as tears filled her eyes.  The shock and confusion where apparent in her eyes.  She shook her head with disbelief.  “Why?”

          “I don’t know…. He said he wanted Ron’s money but that gives him no reason to do what he has done to the two of you…. To Lainie…. I’m so sorry.”

          “It’s not your fault.”

 

          After I had showered, I had walked into the kitchen where I found Ron, Annie, Eric, George, and Louis waiting for me.  “Where’s Lainie?” I asked.

          “She already ate and is in her room, playing with her toys,” Annie answered.

          I nodded.

          “Annie and Louis told me about the cook,” Ron said.

          I sighed and walked over to Louis, sitting next to him.  “I’m sorry.”

          Ron shook his head.  “Nothing to apologize for…. Thank you for letting them know by the way…. It’s a good for the men working on our case to know…. So by you telling Louis is a good thing….”

          I nodded.

          “As for telling Annie it’s good that you let one of us know…. One of his employers…. Good job.”

          I kind of smiled.  Before I could say anything, Annie had a plate of food in front of me.  The smell was a sweet smelling scent which told me it was roasted honey glazed ham and mash potatoes along with some cream corn on top.  “Thanks, Annie.”

          “No problem,” she replied as she handed me a fork and a small butter knife.

          “We’re going out tomorrow to see if we can catch Fredrick,” George told everyone.  “We have a good feeling we know where he’ll be…. We’re going to have quite a few detectives along with the police and we’ll get him.”

          “Sam,” Louis whispered to me, “like I told you earlier…. I’m not going to let you go tomorrow…. Especially after what happened a couple of days ago.”

          A couple of days ago? I thought, confused.  Those guys kidnapped me for a couple of days?  It didn’t feel like that long.  I kept my thoughts to myself and nodded.  “I know…. But I want you to be careful out there.”

          Louis smiled and kissed my cheek.  “I’ll be fine…. I always am…. Besides, something you don’t know about me is that I pray before going into a job like this…. It comforts me, knowing that God’s on my side…. But no matter what happens, I’m not going to let myself get killed or injured too badly…. I’ll be fine.”

          I smiled at his answer as I took a bit from the honey roasted ham which melted in my mouth.  “Oh my gosh…. Annie, this is amazing.”

          “Thank you, Sam.”  She returned the smile.

 

          Later that night, I let Louis sit in my room before we decided to go to bed.  He had told me that him and the others were planning on leaving first thing in the morning and I didn’t want to miss the chance to see him in the morning.  I didn’t know if I would be able to sleep or not and if I did I wouldn’t know if I’d be up in time to watch him leave.  “Louis,” I told him, trying to choose my words carefully, “I really don’t want you to go knowing how danger it could get out there…. I know it’s just one guy but he’s dangerous and I’m worried about you.”

          Louis wrapped his strong arms around me and held me.  “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine…. I understand what could happen but I’m going to be fine, believe me…. I want you to know….” He sighed.  “I love you, Sam…. I know it might seem to soon but---”

          I placed a finger over his mouth and smiled.  “I love you too…. And I don’t think it’s too soon…. Honestly, I think the timings perfect…. That’s why I’m so worried about losing you.”

          “I’m worried about losing you too.”  He leaned in and we locked lips again.  There was something in the kiss that made me want more.  It had been the best kiss we had ever had.  “Twelve…. Thirteen….” He smiled.  “I forgot to count the kiss from a couple of days ago because I was kind of jealous of the fact that you wanted me to grow my beard out like a movie character,” he told me as he laughed.

          I couldn’t help but smile.  “You’d still be cute,” I replied with a laugh.

          Louis raised an eyebrow.  “Uh-huh.  Right.”  His face turned serious for a moment.  “Do you want me to stay in here with you for the night just in case you have another nightmare?  Especially after what just recently took place.”

          I thought about it but then I also considered what Ron and Annie might do after the talk we had with Ron a couple of days ago.  “What if they catch us in bed and just jump to conclusions?” I asked.

          Louis shrugged it off.  “It won’t bother me…. I’d rather know you were safe than to have you wake up in the middle of the night, screaming.”

          I thought about it and nodded.  “I think I’d feel better with you in here with me…. Especially after being alone for two days, wondering what those men were going to do to me….”

          “They weren’t men…. At least not real men…. Remember what I told you about how men are compared to boys?”

          I thought for a moment then nodded.

          “Good…. And men won’t keep a woman hostage like they had.”  He kissed my forehead and climbed under the covers with me.  He wrapped his arms around me and I felt safe.  I felt a thousand times better than I had when I was alone in the cell.

          “Thank you for saving me.”

          “You were worth it.”  He kissed the left side of my cheek and we both drifted off to sleep.

Watching Louis Leave

          I woke up and worked my way into a sitting position as I looked around the room.  Louis was gone and I figured that he must have left.  I quickly jumped out of the bed as the thought popped into my head, worried that I had missed the chance to see him before he left with George and Eric.  I ran out of my room and down the hall, knocking Lainie into a wall on accident.  “Sorry, Lainie,” I told her as I slowed myself down.  I hurried over to the small child and hugged her.  “I’m sorry.”

          “It’s okay, Auntie Samantha,” Lainie told me with a small childish laugh.

          I kind of smiled.  “Did Uncle Louis leave yet?” I asked, kind of biting into my bottom lip.

          “No he’s in the kitchen finishing eating his breakfast,” she replied.

          A sigh of relief filled my body as I kind of laughed, staring at the ceiling then turning my attention back down to my little niece.  “Okay.  Thank you.”

          “You welcome.”

 

          I walked into the kitchen where I found Louis sitting by himself, eating what I figured to be some hot oatmeal or cream of wheat.  He looked up at me and smiled with a pleasant look which told me that he was glad to see me.  I walked over and sat next to him.  “I thought I might have missed you,” I told him.

          “Not yet…. George and Eric are each taking their time getting ready to leave….”

          “Lainie didn’t see you walk out of my room, did she?”

          Louis kind of laughed.  “No…. She actually woke up not too long ago…. I was already in here, ready to go, when she came in here…. We’re good…. And Annie and Ron are still sleeping so we’re safe as far as they go.”

          I smiled as I stared into his beautiful blue eyes.  Tears began to fall from mine.  “Be careful today.”

          “Don’t worry.”  He brushed my hair back for me and kept his smile.  “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

          “Until your back here and I know for sure that you’re safe,” I answered.

          He laughed.  “I’ll be fine.”  I watched as he took a spoonful of hot cereal and placed it in front of my mouth.  “Want some?”

          “What is it?”

          “Cream of wheat.”

          I smiled.  “Sure.”  I opened my mouth as he stuck the spoon into my mouth and I took a bite.  “Ow that’s hot.”

          He started laughing and shook his head.  “Probably should have blown on it first….”

          I kind of smacked him for his comment, laughing.  “You jerk…. It was good though.”

          He shook his head, still laughing.

          Annie walked into the room.  Her hair was all over the place.  It was messy and a bad day for bedhead hair.  “Good morning, you two,” she said as she sat down in a chair across from us.  She yawned and shook her head.

          “Good morning, Annie,” I replied.

          “Bad night?” Louis asked.

          Annie shook her head.  “No…. Just was one long night of…. Never mind,” she stopped herself.

          “I don’t think we want to know,” Louis replied.

          Annie kind of laughed.  “Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything….”

          “Hey you and Ron are married whatever you two do is completely your business and not ours,” Louis said as he raised his hands, shaking them.

          Annie reached over and smacked one of Louis’s hands to get him to stop.

          “What was that for?  I didn’t do anything.”

          Annie raised an eyebrow as she stared at Louis.

 

          I stood on the porch and Annie and Louis.  George and Eric were out at the car, waiting for Louis to join them.  I wanted to cry, not knowing what would happen to him while he was gone.  He walked over and hugged me.  “I told you, I’ll be fine,” he said as he hugged me.

          “I know but I’m still worried…. This isn’t something I’m use too yet.”

          “I know, Sam, I know.”

          “Louis, I love you,” I whispered into his ear.

          “I love you too,” he replied also in a whisper.  He kissed my left cheek then broke out of the hug.  I watched him as he walked down to the car where George and Eric were waiting and climbed him.  He blew me a kiss as he went to close the door.

          Tears began falling from my eyes and moved their way down my cheeks as I watched the car drive off onto the endless road.

          Annie wrapped her arm around me and kind of rested her head on my shoulder.  “He’ll be fine…. Try not to worry about him…. Louis is good at what he does.”

          “I know but I can’t help but worry.  You’d do the same if it were Ron leaving,” I told her as the waterworks began, raining down my cheeks like waterfalls.

          “You’re right, I’d be worried if Ron was leaving to go do a dangerous job…. Come on, let’s go inside and get your mind off of things.

          I nodded.  Annie turned me toward the front door and we walked inside of the house.

Prince Charming Returns

          Tick tock.  Tick tock.  Tick tock.  I sat in the living room, a few long drooling hours had passed since Louis had left.  Fear and worry were my company as I sat there.  Please, Lord, let him come back safely.  I am so worried that something bad has happened to him.  Please let me know somehow that he’s still alive and that he’s okay.  Lord, I have never had to go through this before, please, let him be safe, I prayed as I began to rock myself back and forth as if I were sitting in an old wooden rocking chair or a soft comfortable recliner which rocked as well.

          “Sam,” Annie’s voice broke through the terrible dreading trans I had been stuck in.  I had no idea that she had even entered the room.  I thought I was alone.  “Sam.”  She walked over and sat next to me, wrapping me up in a hug.  “Louis is fine…. Don’t worry so much about him okay?  He knows what he’s doing.”

          “Then why isn’t he back by now?” I asked, tears streaming down my cheeks.

          “It’s not that simple, Sam.  He’s after a criminal, it takes a little while….”

          “A little while?  It’s been hours…. He should be back by now….”

          Annie shook her head as she looked at me.  “You have to give him…. Okay?”

          I nodded and slowly felt my eyes grow heavy from sleep.

 

          “Wake up, Auntie Samantha,” Lainie’s little voice spoke as she tapped my hand.

          I sat up and looked around, rubbing my right eye.  “What is it?”

          “It’s Uncle Louis,” Lainie spoke with excitement growing in her tone.

          I quickly jumped off of the couch and hurried out of the room.

 

          I tackled Louis on the porch.  He kept his ground as he wrapped his arms around me.  “Hey, honey,” he spoke softly.

          I looked up at him with tears still falling from my face.

          He placed his thumb on my left cheek and began wiping away the tears.  “I’m glad to see you too,” he said as he smiled.

          I looked up at him and then I noticed a bullet hole on the left side of his shirt.  “OH MY GOSH!  YOU WERE SHOT!” I shouted as I looked up at him.  My tears began forming in my eyes again.

          He kept the smile.  “Relax…. I’m wearing a bullet proof vest under my shirt.”

          “I don’t care,” I told him as I pulled myself out of his grip.  “I was worried about you and then you come back with a bullet hole in your shirt…. I could have lost you if you weren’t wearing anything to keep you safe….”

          He kissed me like he had the day at the mansion when we shared our first kiss.  “Better?”

          I was speechless.  How could he do that to me?  How was it that after he did something that could have gotten himself killed he would kiss me and shut me up?  How did that kiss reassure me after the worry and fear I had to go through?  I nodded as I smiled.  I didn’t know what it was but somehow when he kissed me, everything felt a thousand times better than it had before.

          “Fourteen.” 

Present Time

          It’s been nine years since then…. Eight since Louis and I got engaged…. Seven since we got married…. Six since we found out that I was pregnant with our first son…. Five years after our eldest was born and I’m now four months pregnant with our second child.

          “What are you doing, honey?” Louis asks as I close my journal and look up at him with a smile.

          “Writing,” I reply as I start to stand up and his arm wraps around me helping me to keep from falling.

          “Where’s LJ?”

          “In his room.”

          “Good…. Come here…. How’s our unborn child today?”

          “Just fine…. Started kicking today.”

          “Awe…. And I missed it?” Louis asks with a smile.

          “Sorry, honey…. You were at work.”

          Louis nods.  “Well, then I guess I know where I stand,” he laughs.

          I shake my head at my husband’s words.

          He pulls me close to him and we kiss.  “There, does that make up for not being able to be there?” he asks.

          I nod.  “You don’t count our kisses anymore…. Why not that was cute?”

          He laughs again.  “I do…. In my head but we’re usually doing other things….” He places his hand on my pregnant belly as I stare up at him and smile.  “This is an example of that…. Besides we’re at 1,458….”

          “Wow.”

          He nods.  “I love you, Sam.”

          “I love you too, Louis.”

          We share a long exciting kiss.

                                                            The End

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Texte: Amber Riel
Bildmaterialien: Amber Riel
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 03.09.2013

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For anyone who loves thrillers, mystery, or romance