| "Hi, Lace! How ya doin' this morning?" I asked when she answered the phone. "I'm okay, Jess. Just overwhelmed by all the planning I've been left to do without much help from my fiancee..." she sighed. "C'mon, Lace..it's more than that.." I urged. "No, Jess, really, it's not." she insisted. "If you insist." I said, not wanting to upset her. "I do. Ike just called by the way. I'll see you at lunch. You and Jake better get going and find yourselves a place to live, can't live in hotels all your life you know." she giggled and seemed more like herself. I laughed. "You're certainly right about that, but Jake is already on it. I do need to go guzzle my gallon of coffee so I can face this day. I'll see you at lunch, Lace. But call my cell or Jake's if you need me before then." I told her. "Okay, Jess. See you later." "Bye, Lace." I hung up as Jake was back at the door. I let him in and guzzled the last of the coffee he had brought me, tosswing the cup in the small wastebasket in the bathroom. "Ready to go Jess?" he asked and handed me a fresh cup of coffee. "Bless you" I grinned. "Yeah, let's go.." |
| We walked down the street and Jake rented a nice car for us to drive until we could get mine out of storage, or he bought a new truck. I figured the latter would happen immediately after we found our apartment, Jake did NOT waste time. Then we started on our quest. We looked at alot of places, but Jake wasn't happy. I could have lived in a shoebox and it wouldn't have mattered, but I was discovering that my brother had slightly expensive tastes. Finally, the last place we looked at met with his approval. It was on an upper floor with a nice, big balcony. The kitchen was decent sized for an apartment and had a counter top that doubled as an eating area. The dining area was average sized and the living area was huge, with a small half bath near the front door. The bedrooms were located at opposite ends of the place, with a full bath in each. It would be extremely comfortable, but there was more space in there than I was used to. "Well, I think this is it." Jake said. "I like it, there's plenty of room for you to stay here as long as you need to, Jess. And I'll have a nice guest room when you find a place of your own, miss stubborn." "Jake, my favorite brother, I love you and thank you. But you need your own space too." I said. "Yeah, whatever..you're still welcome to stay here as long as you need to, brat." he laughed and ruffled my hair. "I swear, Jacob," I threatened, "If you do that one more time today, I will not be your favorite sister anymore." "You're my only sister, you dork..." he grinned. "But what do you think you're gonna do about it? You can't kill your manager. Besisdes, my name's not Zac. I can take ya..." I gave him a raspberry and poked him in the ribs. "Sure ya can.." He put me in a semi-headlock and pretended to pummel me as I giggled, trying to squirm out of his grip. The only thing that saved me was the fact that one of our phones was ringing, so we raced to see whose it was. It was Jake's. "Hello?" There was a pause. Jake grinned at me eyes sparkling. "Hey, Tay. What's up?" I stuck my tongue out at my smart-assed brother, which only made him smile more brightly at me. |
| "Okay...yeah, I can find it..yep..see you in a few...later." he flipped the phone shut. "Okay, smart-ass..do you want me to take you to have lunch with your fiancee? Or do I have to continue to kick your butt right here?" he grinned. "Oh give it a rest Jake," I said and poked him in the ribs again. "I'm hungry anyway.." "Yeah, right. You're HUNGRY.." he said sarcastically. "Oh shut up and let's go.." I giggled. |
| We went down to the office to take care of the paperwork and get keys to our new place. I was relieved that we had that taken care of so quickly. Jake led me out of the building and to our rented car. As I rode with him in silence, I realized that I had NO idea where we were going. "Jake, where are we meeting Taylor? If I tried to do this on my own I'd be nervous or get lost.." I rolled my eyes. "I better learn my way around." "We are meeting him at his manager's office. He said their meeting was taking longer than he expected. I guess Sabec's late. Lacey will meet us out front. He did say to come up, that they should be finished by the time we get there." Jake answered. I sat back in my seat and took in my surroundings. I wanted to be able to remember where I was and how to get around. I couldn't expect Jake or Taylor to drive me everywhere I went ad that would drive me absolutley insane anyway. Jake pulled into the parking lot and as we got out of the car I spotted Lacey. She did not look too cheerful, and I wondered what was up. I went to her and gave her a hug. "You sure you're okay?" I asked. "Yeah, but I really need you to sit down with me and help me with organizing some of this mess. I don't even know where to start.." she said despairingly. "Oh, come on, Lace.." I patted her shoulder, "We'll get it straightened out and planned. It'll be perfect.." "I hope so, Jess." she said. "Come on. I'll show you guys how to get up there." We went inside the building and Lacey introduced Jake and me to the receptionist. "They're expecting us.." Lacey said as the woman looked Jake and me over. "Go on in then.." she said. |
| Lacey led us down a hallway and I could hear Taylor's voice coming from behind a closed door. I heard another voice, equally adamant, but I didn't recognize it. I looked at Lacey, who winced and stopped in her tracks. "I hate going in there when they are like this..." Jake put his arm around her shoulder and I tried to get her to meet my eyes. "Lacey, whatever is going on in there is what has you so upset, huh?" I asked. She only nodded. I steeled myself and then tapped on the door, before swinging it open. "Sorry to interrupt," I began with a smile, looking at Taylor who returned it with one of his warm and blinding ones. My heart skipped a beat. "Ms. Sourface out there sent us in...you want me to wait out here?" I asked. Taylor rose and took my hand, "NO I do not want you to wait outside.." he said and waved Jake and Lacey in. Lacey looked like she was about to be ill. I surveyed the room, scanning the faces which were mostly familair. Ike took Lacey from Jake, keeping her hand in his. I noticed Walker and Zac standing together on the other side of the room. They smiled as I met their eyes. The other man in the room didn't look a whole lot like a man. He looked more like a pinch-faced weasel, I felt an intense distaste for him immediately. I looked back at taylor who smiled down at me and kissed my cheek. "You might as well be here considering the conversation concerns you.." he grinned. "Really? And why, may I ask, would that be?" I asked sweetly. He turned to the weasel, my gaze followed Taylor's in time to see the little rat roll his eyes. Ratboy groaned and muttered, "Great! Now I gotta deal with the girlfriends..." "Pardon?" I asked, staring icily at him. |