This is the seventh part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI before continuing.
3 Years Later…
Sandra dropped her bags in her bedroom and then decided to head to her brother’s home office before unpacking. Sometimes he worked from home when he knew she was coming home from business school, and she had something she wanted to discuss with him.
If she was being honest, she was also hoping to find Chris. He was never far from Hugh these days, and after three long months from home, she needed some action.
Sandra couldn’t believe her luck when she opened the door to her brother’s office and found Chris there. Alone.
Quickly scanning the room to make sure her brother wasn’t around, she shut the door behind her, and without wasting time on words, crossed the room in a few quick strides, grabbed his head with both hands and pulled him down for a kiss meant to demonstrate just how much she had missed him.
He responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her up against him. She wrapped both arms around his neck and they stood like that, getting reacquainted with each other’s mouths until Sandra started to feel something pressing against her thigh that hadn’t been there a moment ago. She pulled away just in time to hear the door open behind her.
Chris dropped to the floor, and for a moment, Sandra thought he had fainted. But then he started crawling around on his hands and knees and Sandra understood that he was pretending to be looking for something. “Clumsy me,” she said, playing along. “I should have known better than to play with it.”
“What are you playing with now, Sandra?”
“Found it!” Chris popped back up from the floor holding out one of Hugh’s fountain pens. “It had rolled under the desk.”
He held it out to Hugh, who took it with a chiding look at Sandra. “How many times have I told you these are not toys?”
“At least as many times as I have told you cars are not toys.”
“I don’t treat my cars like toys.”
Sandra made a sound in the back of her throat that was not technically a disagreement, but was definitely not an agreement.
Hugh shot her another look, but appeared to think better of arguing the matter any further. Instead, he put the pen back in its designated drawer and said, “I was thinking we would go out to dinner tonight to celebrate your triumphant return. But now I’m not so sure.” He pretended to be thinking the matter over, but Sandra knew it was all for show.
“Triumphant? What’s so triumphant about my return?”
“I hear you aced all your classes and your finals.”
“Oh, that. Who cares? I could have done that in my sleep.” She thought about admitting that she had slept through a few classes, but decided against it.
“Mom and Dad always said results matter and should be rewarded. So I made reservations at your favorite Indian restaurant for dinner.”
Sandra’s eyes lit up. “Really? But you hate Indian food.”
“Yes, and when I get the results I want, then I’ll be able to eat where I want. But tonight is your celebration, so we’re eating your favorite food. I just have to finish up some work here and then we can go. Sound good?”
“I’ll start unpacking.”
To be continued…