Keelin Banks is looking for balance (beyondheryears) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2012-08-26 02:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | #solo, 2009-09-15, keelin |
Don't let your life wrap up around you
Who: Keelin & Reggie’s girls (NPCs)
Where: Keelin’s place
When: Early Evening
Last night had been... unexpected. Totally not what she had imagined happening when she originally invited Reggie and the girls over for dinner. Keelin was usually one for sticking to plans, but when Reggie brought his lips to hers without a single warning, she realized that some things were better when they were spontaneous and unplanned. And the fact that she had reciprocated his actions and placed a small one on his cheek was a testament to how much she had enjoyed the first one. Sarah eventually stopped her sulking and Bess seemed to have properly forgiven Reggie for his flaming trespass against her cactus, so the night ended on an extremely high note. So yes, last night had been unexpected, but it had also been wonderful.
So it was really no surprise that she had spent most of the day thinking about Reggie. She had rolled out of the bed, half amused by a still sleeping Pugsley that was curled up on her other pillow, smiling softly to herself because of a dream that she couldn’t even remember all the details of. The only thing she really knew was that Reggie had a starring role in the dream. As she showered, she was incredibly thankful that Pugsley was still sleeping; no matter how innocent the dream had been, the fact that she had dreamt about Reggie would earn her no end of teasing from her familiar.
‘Sleep well?’ When Pugsley finally stirred, Keelin was slipping into her shoes. “Mhm,” she answered with a smile, not looking at her familiar. “And you? I don’t think I’ve ever had to carry you to bed before.” She glanced at him with a sly smile. ‘Last night was fun,’ his tail was wagging furiously. ‘We should have Reggie and the girls over more often. I like it when they’re here. And so do you. Maybe if Reggie was here more often, he could kiss you more.’ There should be a law against blushing so early in the morning. Keelin just didn’t say anything in response and took him out for his walk before she left for work.
The day was passing quickly enough and after lunch, Keelin found that she had a spare minute that she could use to text Reggie. She was genuinely concerned with his current state of being. She didn’t know what could make him suddenly switch from being an earth elemental to a fire elemental nor did she know what his dreams were about, but things were becoming increasingly dire. Reggie needed to find the girl, but how was he supposed to do that when he couldn’t set foot outside of his own apartment? She wanted to help him and whether that meant going out and looking for a distressed red head or keeping his daughters out of his hair for an evening, Keelin was willing to do whatever it took. She could only imagine how terrible it must feel to be ripped out of normalcy in such a violent way. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Her life had been turned upside down right in front of her, but she couldn’t remember what had happened. Part of her hated that she didn’t remember, but mostly Keelin was thankful that the memory of her father’s murder was repressed deep in the dark corners of her mind. Plus, those were dark thoughts that she really didn’t want to have in her mind. Especially when Reggie’s problems seemed so much worse than her past.
As the last bell chimed, Keelin finished packing the work she needed into her bag. Normally, she would stay for a little while after school ended to tie up a few loose ends and such, but today she needed to get home as soon as possible. With the horde of students stomping outside of her door, she didn’t hear someone enter the classroom.
“So we’re going to stay at your place?” Sarah asked, grinning.
Keelin looked up and smiled pleasantly at Reggie’s eldest. “Yes. Your dad seems like he’s having a rough day. Plus, it could be fun with just us girls. And Pugsley. Not that he’s a girl, but he hardly counts as a boy.” Oh, if only he’d been there. Sarah laughed and Keelin wasn’t entirely sure that it was because of her joke.
“That’s cool. So can I just ride home with you, then? Bess rides the bus, but we should get there before she does.”
“Sure. We can leave now.” Keelin finished packing her bag and pulled it onto her shoulder with her purse.
Sarah seemed amused during the ride home, but she didn’t say exactly what was so funny. It was like she knew a secret that Keelin was not privy to. She asked Sarah how the rest of her day had been and if she was enjoying her other classes so far during the semester. She tried not to be too flattered when Sarah claimed that none of them were as interesting as her history class. The trip home took a little longer than Keelin was used to because of all of the after school traffic that she usually missed.
They had just parked and started to get out of the car when a bus slowed down and opened its doors, letting Bess disembark. “Hey Bess!” Sarah shouted before running over to her sister. Keelin wasn’t far behind, and she waved at the youngest Shaddeau. “Hello Bess.”
Bess smiled up at them, tugging at the straps of her book bag. “Hi Ms. Banks.”
“We’re going to stay at Ms. Banks’ place for a while. Isn’t that cool? We’re going to have a girl’s night with Pugsley.”
Bess looked sheepishly from her sister to Keelin, who was only beaming down at her before she nodded. “Sure. What will we do?”
“Tell you what,” Keelin placed a hand on Bess’ shoulder. “Let’s get in out of the rain and we can decide once we’re upstairs. I’m sure Pugsley would love to see you both.”
The girls ran ahead of her into the complex and were at her door in hardly no time at all. Sarah leaned next to their own door and shouted against the wood. “Dad! We’re home. Just letting you knooow.” Keelin unlocked her door and opened it so the girls could go in first. She glanced over at Reggie’s door, wondering if he was home or even how he was doing. I should probably text him. She closed the door behind her.
‘SARAH! BESS! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE COMING!’ Pugsley’s voice was accompanied by the sound of claws on linoleum as he skittered through the kitchen.
Like a magnet against metal, the puppy collided with the girls and hopped around their feet until Sarah finally picked him up. “Heeeey Pugsley.” She cooed, pressing little kisses around his head while he tried to lick her face. ‘Are you here to play some more?’ He asked, bouncing in her arms.
“We’re having a girl’s night,” Bess announced, reaching up to scratch him behind his ears. “But you get to stay even though you’re not actually a girl.”
“We can order some take out and watch a movie,” Keelin suggested, sitting her purse on the counter. “What are you girls in the mood for?”
“Pizza!” Bess piped up almost immediately, surprising Keelin.
“Pizza’s good for me,” Sarah commented, far too focused on the small pug in her arms to really dispute Bess’ vote.
“Then pizza it is.” Keelin suddenly realized that she didn’t bring in her bag with all of the work that she needed to grade. “I’ll be right back. I left something in the car. We can order the pizza when I get back, if you guys are hungry.” She grabbed her keys and walked out of the door.
‘Let’s play hide and seek!’ Pugsley’s tail beat an unsteady pattern against Sarah’s arm. ‘You count and me and Bess will hide!’
“Sure, but you only get to the count of ten!” Sarah lowered the puppy down to the floor and flopped down onto the couch and closed her eyes. “Better get moving. Ooone. Twoooo.” Her voice carried the numbers throughout the apartment. Pugsley looked up at Bess and then took off running through the kitchen back into Keelin’s room. Pugsley being so small could fit perfectly underneath her bed without much struggle. Bess, on the other hand, couldn’t. She was nervous about being in Ms. Banks’ room, but she had padded after Pugsley without really thinking of anything else. She couldn’t hide under the bed, so she decided to hide in the closet. She pushed her way to the back, hiding behind the longer dresses and coats that were in plastic bags. She heard Sarah reach ten about the time that her foot bumped up against something hard.
Keelin had the unfortunate luck of realizing that the contents of her bag had spilled out in the car while she had been driving, so she was busy straightening the papers and putting them back in the bag. Thinking that Bess and Sarah would be so distracted by Pugsley to really do any damage in the apartment was her downfall. Yes, they were distracted, but now both girls were in her room and Bess’ attention was focused on a heavy wooden box in the back of the closet.
“Bess, I can hear you in there.” Sarah remarked, opening the closet and peering inside. She gently pushed the bagged garments out of the way and revealed her sister with an open box in front of her. A box that had a shoe on top of stained ivory material that looked like -- “Is that a wedding dress?” She asked, leaning forward to get a closer look.
“Was Ms. Banks married?” Bess asked, holding up a silver ring for her sister’s inspection. “This dress is all stained and burned.”
Pugsley heard their questions and wormed his way out from beneath Keelin’s bed. ‘She wasn’t married.’ he answered, his voice suddenly lacking that playfulness that he always possessed.
“Then why does she have this stuff?” Sarah asked, taking the ring from Bess so she could look at it better in the light.
“Because I didn’t want to throw it away.” Keelin answered from the door. Neither of the girls had heard her come in. When she had seen her living room empty, she had felt her stomach drop. Offer to watch Reggie’s girls and then lose them. Great. Thankfully, she had heard voices coming from her bedroom. Only, they were asking questions about things that Keelin had not wanted them to know about.
“S-Sorry!” Bess began scrambling out of the closet. “We were playing hide and seek! I’m sorry.” She looked terrified of what she and her sister had stumbled upon.
“We weren’t snooping,” Sarah carefully replaced the ring and pulled the lid back onto the box.
“It’s okay,” Keelin answered stiffly. “Let’s just go back into the living room.” She waited for the girls and Pugsley to file out of her room before she turned her light off and closed the door. She had not imagined either of the girls finding the remains of the wedding that had almost happened.
“Are you going to tell Dad?” Bess asked, her voice shaking. “We’re really sorry.”
Keelin watched the girls for a long moment before she let out a breath. “No, I won’t tell him.” She’d have to pull the dress out and refold it now, she knew. She could feel a fit tickling at the edge of her mind. She just hoped that she could put it off long enough until the girls went back home.
“Why do you have that stuff? Pugsley said you weren’t married.” Sarah asked. Her curiosity made her bolder than her sister, but her tone wasn’t annoying. She was sincere. Keelin looked down at her feet and then back up at the girls.
“Because a few years ago, I was almost married.” In the simplest of terms, that’s what it was. Something that almost happened.
“What happened?” Bess asked, her voice quiet.
“The man I was going to marry changed his mind. That’s all.” She kept her voice steady and didn’t let the hurt that she still felt seep through. “Now, let’s pick a movie and call in a pizza.” Change the subject. ‘I didn’t know they’d get into your box, Keely. I really didn’t.’ Pugsley’s apology was meant only for her, but his demeanor reflected that of the girls. Keelin just gave him a slight nod and walked into the living room. “I’ve got a few Disney films on the shelf.”
“Disney?” Bess almost giggled. “Disney’s for kids.”
“Says who?” Keelin winked. “Besides, you never know when you’ll need Disney.”
Sarah followed her sister into the living room, but stopped while they were still out of earshot from Keelin. “Don’t tell Dad about Ms. Banks being engaged.” She whispered. Bess gave her sister a confused look, but she nodded. She wasn’t about to tell Reggie anything that had happened for fear of being in trouble.
“So, girls. Finding Nemo or Wall-E?”