Colors Part II

Everything is Gray: VII

It was a nice day out, even if I didn't want it to be. I wished it would have rained this morning so it would be too cold to go out on my day off from work and school, otherwise I'd get sick — even though I already felt severely ill. But the sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky, birds were going to continue to chirp until well after noon and my mom would have been devastated if I'd have told her I wouldn't be able to make it today. We planned for it to be the day I was going to meet Sal and his daughter, Gemma. She raved to me over the phone all week about today, planning everything out and assuring me how much I would "Just absolutely love Sal," and I'm sure I will. But what happened with Valerie was still on my mind and I'm not sure I want to do much of anything. Actually, I'm completely sure I don't want to do anything.

But I didn't want to disappoint my mom since I knew she'd probably been awake since early this morning to start her homemade spaghetti, and I'm just waking up to my alarm that I set for 9:30am, the alarm that I also snoozed about several times. So with it now being at least almost eleven, I walked out the door and drove myself to my moms house, stopping at the store along the way to pick up a case of pre-made sugar cookies that I wasn't sure Sal or Gemma would like, but they're my favorite so I got them anyway. When I was around the corner from the house, I mentally prepared myself like I did before any situation in which I'd be meeting people and decided on what I was going to say.

"I'm Lou, would you like some sugar cookies?" I practiced, speaking to the little girl image I had in my mind of Gemma, munching on a cookie of my own. I dusted off the crumbs that landed on my black leggings when I pulled into the driveway. "Shit."

I cleaned myself the best I could, straightening out the black and white stripped T-Shirt styled dress I was wearing as best I could with my bag and the cookies in my hands. I stood at the front door after I knocked twice, looking down at my coral Tom slip ons. My mother answered the door and a gust of the familiar smell of her spaghetti surrounded me. She held the door open for me to come in and I entered with not only the warmness coming from the vents, but the warmness that came with being home. She hugged me around my shoulders and almost knocked off the round, black fedora hat I was wearing. "Hi mom," I greeted.

"Hi Lou," she said and let me go. "You brought treats!" she exclaimed before letting her excitement fade. "Already eaten treats."

"They're new, I just got hungry on the way over," I explained and she took them from me.

"I figured," she laughed and we walked into the kitchen. "They always have been your favorite. Sal and Gemma are outside. I bought the cutest little table and chair set with an umbrella this weekend just for today!"

"Is it going to go well with the new patio?" I bumped her shoulder because I knew how excited she was for it.

"Oh, I'm sure it will. And don't worry about the garden, I'm taking care of that this week," she excused as we made our way out the back door.

The first thing I noticed was that Sal was fairly tall. Taller then my dad. Tall next to my mom. He had dark hair and dark eyes but with the expression he used through them, I could tell he was a very caring and genuine person. My mom ran up to him and leaned into his side. He smiled down at her and I can't remember my mom ever looking at someone like she was at Sal right now. It was hard to look away from the beautiful couple standing before me, but my eyes wandered to the female who was standing from the new chair mom had bought.

The second thing I noticed, Gemma was not a young girl. From appearance, I could tell she wasn't much younger than me at all. When she stood up fully and I could get a good look at her, I had to stop my jaw from falling all the way open. If her mom wasn't tall, then she had to get that gene from her dad because she stood confidently, at least five foot nine or ten. Even though this was almost five inches taller than me, it wasn't all that blew me away. Her features her stunning. Her eyes were ocean blue, her hair a dirty blond and chin held high as she looked at me underneath her baseball cap. She rubbed her arm over the loose knit gray sweater that matched her gray jeans and high top Vans. She was gorgeous and I wasn't sure if I was jealous or wanted run my fingers through her wavy beach hair that was clearly natural.