It was nine in the morning when the alarm went on in Sarah and Kevin's room. Sarah groaned and slammed her hand on the snooze button. She snuggled under the covers and wrapped her arms around Kevin. Kevin jerked awake and looked around.
"Did the alarm go off yet?" Kevin asked in a groggy voice.
"No," Sarah grinned as she traced her finger down his chest.
"Oh okay," Kevin said as he laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.
Sarah smiled and ran her fingers through his tousled hair. She chuckled at how his hair always looked the same messy or neat. She studied his facial features carefully. His long, dark lashes lay softly on his cheek. Sarah brushed her hand on his cheekbone and glazed his lips with her thumb. She planted a soft kiss on the tip of his nose. Kevin smiled and opened his eyes.
"You're not going to let me go back to sleep are you?"
Sarah grinned. "Nope."
"Aww baby it's my day off. I wanna sleep in. It's not nine yet I wanna sleep," Kevin whined.
"But I don't wanna sleep, I wanna cuddle," Sarah said with a laugh.
"Well, you cuddle and I'll sleep," Kevin said as she wrapped his arms around her and shut his eyes.
"Party pooper," Sarah said in a pouty voice.
Kevin grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "Wake me up at nine," he said.
"Why do you want to get up so early Kevy? Don't you want to sleep in much longer?" Sarah asked innocently.
"I would love to, but I promised D I'd be up and ready by 9:30 so we can go snow boarding."
Sarah wrinkled her nose. "Snow boarding? Kev why do you have to go snow boarding? Can't we just spend time together?"
Kevin kissed her forehead. "We'll spend time together tonight I promise. Make sure I'm up by nine," he said then shut his eyes.
Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine," she muttered then cuddled closer to him.
Fifteen minutes later Kevin opened his eyes in frustration. "Damn I can't get back to sleep," he mumbled to himself. He looked down at Sarah who was sound asleep. Kevin sat up a little and squinted to see the clock through the morning glare. The clock read 9:15 AM. Kevin grinned and let out a soft chuckle. "Sarah, you little stinker," he whispered to himself then carefully slid out of bed. After taking a shower and changing his clothes, he wrote a note to Sarah and left to go snow boarding.
An hour later Sarah woke up to find Kevin already gone. She noticed the note sitting on the night stand next to the bed with her name on it. She picked it up and read it.
Sarah, I went out snow boarding with Howie. I'll be back around five. I love you and I can't wait to be with you tonight. Love Always, Boo
Sarah snickered at the letter and set it down. She got up out of bed and took a shower. When she finished getting ready she heard a knock on the door. Sarah look through the peep hole to see Nikki standing there. She opened the door and smiled. "Hey Nikki. What's up?"
"I was gonna go to the mall and I wanted to know if you wanted to join me. I figured you wouldn't have anything to do since Kevin went with Howie for the afternoon."
"Sure, I'll go with you. Let me get my purse and coat," she said as she quickly gathered them up. "All right lets go."
Nikki and Sarah walked down the hallway to the limo. "Have you been up long?" Nikki asked.
Sarah shook her head. "I fell back asleep after I failed to persuade Kevin to stay at the hotel rather than go snow boarding."
Nikki laughed. "You have to learn that when Kevin has his mind made up, he sticks to it. No one can make him change his mind."
"I think I figured that out," Sarah said as she got into the limo.
The girls arrived at the mall and told the driver what time to be back. They stepped inside the building and contemplated on where to go first. "Anything in particular you want to shop for?" Nikki asked.
Sarah shook her head. "I just came to get out of the hotel. I'll go wherever you want to go," she stated.
"Cool, then lets go to Abercrombie and Fitch. They have cool clothes there," Nikki said as she headed in the store's direction. Sarah followed closely behind as Nikki skimmed through the racks. She spotted a navy blue sweater and picked it up. "Hmmm this is cute," she said.
Sarah smiled. "That's a guy's sweater."
"I know. Wouldn't it look just adorable on Howie?" Sarah nodded in agreement. "It's his size too. Great I'll buy it," she said as she went to the cashier.
"Next stop, the GAP," Nikki said as she walked out of the store. Nikki walked in as if she owned the place and took her pick of the merchandise. "Hey this is cute!" Nikki exclaimed as she held up a purple T-shirt for Sarah to see. "That would look so good on you. You should buy it." Sarah reached over and took a look at the price tag. It read fifteen dollars. "Fifteen dollars for a T-shirt?" Sarah said in shock.
"Only fifteen dollars!?! Wow they're on sale! I gotta find a pink one!" Nikki exclaimed as she look through the pile of T-shirts.
After a couple of hours of shopping Nikki and Sarah walked down to the food court. "Man I'm hungry," Nikki said as she scanned the menu. "What are you getting?"
Sarah looked through her wallet to check her money. "Uhhh...I think I'll just get a crispy chicken sandwich and a small lemonade."
"That's all you're gonna get?" Nikki questioned.
"Yeah, I'm not really all that hungry," Sarah lied.
"Okay, whatever you want," Nikki said as she went up the cashier to order. When the two had ordered their food, they chose a place to sit. Sarah quietly ate her food as Nikki went through her many bags of clothes.
"Wow I bought a lot today," she said with a laugh. "Howie's gonna wish he hadn't handed me his credit card."
Sarah snickered. "This is all from Howie's credit card?"
Nikki nodded. "We got a joint credit account before we left for the tour. That way we can both use the same credit card."
"Oh," Sarah said softly.
"You know what, I bought all this stuff and you haven't gotten anything but that sandwich."
"I know," Sarah replied quietly.
"How come? I mean this place is full of sales. I figured you'd find at least one thing you liked." Sarah remained quiet and nibbled on her sandwich. "Sarah what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Sarah replied.
"I know something's wrong. I may not know you all that well, but you aren't as bubbly as you usually are. You can tell me if something's wrong."
"It's not a big deal really," Sarah insisted.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah...I think I'd like to go back to the hotel if you don't mind."
"Oh yeah of course. I'll call the hotel and have the limo come pick us up," Nikki said as she pulled out her cell phone.
A few minutes later the limo pulled up to the front of the mall and the girls got in. They sat in silence on the way back to the hotel. When they arrived back at the hotel Sarah didn't speak a word and hastily walked back to her room. Nikki caught up with her before she shut the door.
"Sarah wait!" she shouted. Sarah paused a moment and looked over at Nikki. "Please talk to me. I'm concerned."
Sarah sighed and let Nikki into her room. Sarah plopped down on the bed and blinked back her tears. "It's not really that big of a deal. I promise."
"Well, tell me anyway. It's obviously a big deal to you if you're getting upset about it."
"No one knows this, but I'm broke. My last five dollars was spent on McDonalds today."
"You mean you don't have any more money left?" Sarah shook her head. "Aw hon I'm so sorry! I didn't know. Now I feel bad for asking you to come to the mall with me."
"No, it's okay. You didn't know."
Nikki sat down next to Sarah. "Have you told Kevin about this?" Sarah shook her head. "Why not?"
"I don't wanna bother him with my problems," Sarah mumbled.
"Sarah he's your boyfriend. You wouldn't be bothering him at all. I've known Kevin for years. He's a sweetheart, he'll help you in any way he can. But if he doesn't know what's going on, then he can't help you."
"I guess you're right," Sarah said.
"If you don't tell him...I will," Nikki said firmly. "I mean it. I don't think you should be hiding something like this from Kev."
"Okay, I'll tell him," Sarah said. "But you won't tell anyone else about this right?"
"Of course not. I don't gossip about this stuff. This is between you, me, and Kev I promise."
Sarah smiled and hugged Nikki. "Thank you," she said. "I feel much better now."
"Good," Nikki said with a smiled. "Well, I better get back to my room. Howie should be back with Kev soon. Talk to you later."
Nikki left the room leaving Sarah alone. I'll tell him tonight, she thought to herself. She glanced at the clock. It was almost 5 PM. He should be back soon. Sarah picked up a book and patiently for Kevin.