The Rest of Forever

Chapter 3

On Saturday morning we were all sitting around the massive granite island in the cute homey kitchen eating homemade Belgian waffles with whipped cream.

I also discovered that Carter is a surprisingly good chef.

Laura thought it would be fun if we all spent some time together and welcome me in, a fun family bonding activity.  Naturally at the thought of family time everyone clutched for any excuse they could find.

Everyone stuffed the last pieces of waffle into their mouth, wiped their faces, and then the excuses began.

“Sorry Mom, I told Sadie I would help her find an outfit for next Monday” Mckayla muttered. Gage shot her a glare and she added “So I need Gage to give me a ride.” They both booked it out the door and into his waiting car.

Alec suddenly remembered a football practice. Jacob and Joey had to do a recon mission to get info about a girl Jacob liked, didn’t want to know anything about that, and Dylan had to spend time with his girlfriend.

So that left me and Carter. I could almost see Carter’s gears turning for a handy excuse. But too late Laura cut in

“Well,” she huffs. For a moment, she seems discouraged that all of her kids ran out on her, but then she smiles at me and says: “I’m glad you two can come, this will be awesome! You can see where I work, Caitlyn!” she says in an annoyingly peppy manner. No one should talk that way on a Saturday morning this early.

“Great, that means she wants us to move heavy bolts of fabric up to the 34th floor.” Carter mumbles over to me. I laugh, and Carter leans into my shoulder, bumping my playfully.

“Don’t they have people to do that for you?” I whisper back.

“Character building,” he replies. His arms crossed over his abs with a scowl on his face. “She thinks that people can bond when they all have sweat running down their faces and sharp box corners and cylinders of ten pound fabric in their arms while jogging up two flights of stairs. Maybe in her book, but not in mine.”

“So, why don’t you two get all ready and I’ll see you down here.” Laura says, strolling off to change her outfit. Guess you can afford to do that when you design your own line.

I stomp up the narrow staircase that leads you from the kitchen to the second floor. I head into the bathroom, looking at my pale skin. No breakouts, recently, praise the lord, and I smile at myself. I see that my two, thin front teeth are white as always, a little over lapping in the front. Once I am content with my face, I head into my room, all the while trying to decide what one should wear to the office of a fashion magazine. After much consideration I decide on a gray skirt with a neon pink tank top, and studded combat boots. Thank god Laura went shopping for me before I got here. I usually just carry around 2 pairs of jeans, some shirts, underwear, a little bit of makeup, and my jewelry. Laura must have assumed this because when I arrived at the Emerson’s house the walk-in closet was packed full of expensive brand name clothes, shoes, makeup, and accessories all in my size.

“Time to go kids,” she hollered up the stairs, just as I finished with my basic makeup. Carter and I thundered down the stairs. I checked my outfit one more time before hopping into Laura’s BMW.

~*~*~*~*~

After slogging through 2 hours of grueling traffic we finally make it into New York City and Laura’s office. I love this city, because after all I have been through, it can make me forget about all of my problems. Everything going on in my life always seems less significant in a huge city filled with bigger problems and things going wrong. In a weird, pessimistic way, the ability to look around and see lives crashing and burning makes me feel like my life isn’t the messed up freak show it feels like back home in the small town.