| Éibhleann sighed as she ran a wide-toothed comb through her wet, long, black hair. She wished every morning she had straight hair, but she never woke to find that her dream had come true. Not that she didn’t like the tight spirals framing her face - she just wanted something different. She scrunched some gel into her curly locks and smeared some moisturizer on her face. “Good enough,” she said to herself, walking down the hall. She ducked into her room and grabbed her keys and purse, locking her door on the way out. She hopped into her Jeep and peeled out of the driveway, speeding down the curvy roads of the country. She was glad she finally had a good enough job to get her out here. She smiled to herself, adjusting her sunglasses as she neared town, turning onto the freeway to head toward the airport. She parked the Jeep and hurried into the airport, hoping his plane hadn’t arrived early. Luckily she got to the gate just as he stepped off the plane. “Eibhleann!” She smiled and embraced him. “Sean. How was your flight?” He shrugged. “Long and boring, but I’m all better now.” He kissed her cheek and she smiled. “You look great.” She smiled and blushed slightly. “Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself. But just because I live in Kentucky doesn’t mean it’s okay to date family. Especially not first cousins.” Sean laughed and threw his bag over his shoulder. “Did you check anything in?” He shook his head. “Nope. I’m a light packer. Plus, I figured I’d end up taking you shopping and getting something for myself while I was at it.” She laughed and nodded toward the parking garage, leading him out to her Jeep. “Nice wheels,” he said, looking over her vehicle. She smiled. She was proud of her car - it had taken a lot of hard work, but it was worth it. “I bet they come in pretty handy with all that property you have.” She shrugged. “It’s only seven acres. Plus, that’s what the four-wheeler is for.” He laughed and tossed his bag into the back of the Jeep and hopped in. She popped in a cd and tore out of the parking lot, nodding her head to the music. Twenty minutes later, they pulled into her driveway, a narrow dirt road about a half mile long. “When you say out in the country, you really mean out in the country, don’t you?” She smiled and took his bag from him. “This is nice,” he commented quietly, wrapping an arm around her in a big-brotherly hug. She leaned into him and followed his gaze to her house. It was a small place - two story, but small. It had a partial attic, which she was in the middle of turning into a bedroom, and a tiny basement. “How did you afford this?” “It actually wasn’t much. When I bought it, it was pretty run-down, but I’ve done some renovating and it’s turning out pretty nice. C’mon. I’ll show you to your room.” “Oooo... I get my own room.” She smacked him and smiled, a light laugh escaping her lips. He chuckled and followed her into the house, complimenting her on the work she had done as she took him on a tour of the house. *** Scottie sighed and collapsed onto his couch, popping open a bottle of beer. He sighed and took a sip, leaning his head back against the wall. Mark shook his head and sat next to him, groaning as he lowered himself to the cushions. “I think I’m getting too old for this,” he moaned, letting his head fall backward. “You all are just a bunch of wusses,” Stapp said, leaning against the doorframe of the adjoining kitchen. “You’d think we had just done a concert.” “Hey, golf is a very stressful sport,” Mark insisted. Stapp laughed and sat in a chair across from Scottie, taking a swig of his own beer. He sighed. “I don’t know if I’m looking forward to this tour,” he started. Stapp’s eyebrow rose. “I mean, we just got done not too long ago, and the new cd hasn’t even come out yet.” He scratched his forehead. “I just want something new to do.” Stapp nodded. “Well,” he started, “This is going to be a different tour. We can rework the set, add some older songs, change the order around. And from what Sean said, the lighting and pyro is gonna be pretty awesome.” Mark nodded. “He said something about bringing his cousin along for the ride,” he commented, unsure of why the thought had crossed his mind. “Said she’s got some time off work for something. Vacation. I don’t know. But she’s coming, supposedly.” Stapp nodded. “Yeah, he said something to me too.” “Seems like they’re really close,” Scottie said. Mark nodded. “What was her name? Evelyn?” Stapp shrugged. “Something like that. Look, I gotta go pick up Jagger and Hillaree. We’re going to dinner for Mother’s day. Ya’ll want to come?” Mark and Scottie nodded vigorously. “Well, let’s go.” Mark and Scottie both attempted to rise from their seats, and after much effort and groaning, they finally followed Stapp out the front door. *** Éibhleann sighed and ran a hand through her hair, smiling slightly at her cousin, who was lying on the floor in front of the television, snoring lightly. She chuckled to herself and left the room, leaving the tv on. She crawled into bed and turned the light off, glancing at the clock. She groaned to herself. It was nearly four in the morning. Getting up to go to work in three hours was not going to be an easy task. She made sure the alarm was set and rolled over, sleep settling in quickly. She awoke the next morning to the alarm’s annoying ring. Groaning, she stretched to hit the snooze button. She rolled back over and went back to sleep quickly, hearing the alarm go off again nine minutes later. She swore and turned it off, stumbling out of bed and into the shower. She finished getting ready for work and peeked in on Sean, who was still asleep in front of the blaring television. She laughed and left for the office. The day didn’t seem to go by fast enough for Éibhleann. Cranky clients called all day complaining about things out of her control. Everything was her fault to them. But what really annoyed her was that no one seemed to remember how to pronounce her name. True, it was an unusual name, and oddly spelled, but these people came into contact with her at least twice a week. At four o’clock, she excused herself for a cigarette break. She stood outside and watched the cars go by, sitting on the curb right outside the office. She heard someone clear their throat behind her and turned. “Hey you.” She smiled. “I didn’t think you were coming in today.” “Well, I decided I should at least come by to see you or you’d get mad at me again.” Éibhleann laughed. “Now, you know the last time I got mad at you was just joking, right?” she asked, winking. “Of course. Who do you think I am?” “You, my friend, are Mr. Bradley Armstrong, the weirdest man I know.” He laughed. “So has John said anything about my going on vacation?” “Just that he doesn’t know what he’s going to do without you for two months.” Éibhleann smiled. “But he and I both know you need a vacation. You haven’t taken a single day off since you started here, and that was, what? Three years ago?” “Yeah.” “I don’t know how you pulled it off. I mean, even after your twenty-first birthday party and we got you trashed, you still came in the next day and worked your ass off.” She smiled. “I had a house and a Jeep to pay for. And my bonus was the four-wheeler.” Brad smiled. “We still haven’t gone four-wheeling yet.” She shook her head. “We need to do that sometime.” She nodded and smiled. “Well,” she said, standing and smoothing her pants, “I need to get back to work. My cousin’s in town for a while before he whisks me off on tour with him.” |