Shall We Dance?

Chapter 1 - Iced Coffee

MADISON

As I plop the shopping bags on the counter, I quickly check that I didn't crush the eggs. Luckily the rattling cans made more noise than damage. I sigh at the mountain of boxes in the living room that we still need to unpack, plus all the ones containing materials for the studios. I'm tempted to shove the boxes in a storage as putting everything away will take forever. So far I have hunted for the things we need in the labelled boxes my sister Cadence, and her organized soul, prepared.

"Please, tell me you brought iced coffee or ice cream. I swear I can even settle for ice cubes."

I smile at Cadence's appearance. Her hair is in a wild bun at the top of her head, kinky curls springing everywhere. Tiny dots of light pink paint freckle her face and large sweat marks are present on the chest and arm pit areas of her tank top.

"I did get you an iced coffee," I hand her a cup from a take away tray. "Hopefully it isn't too watered down. It took me ages to get out of the parking lot at the mall."

Cadence takes a large sip with her eyes closed, then places the cup on her forehead and stands under the air conditioning unit.

"It's the perfect day to paint, crazy hot and good wind. The only annoying thing is the music on the radio singing about chestnuts roasting and white Christmases. The holidays ended two weeks ago and for all I know we jumped straight into June."

"I agree. It's too hot for only the second week of January. The blessing and curse of living in the south," I fetch some milk cartons and place them in the fridge.

"The backyard studio is almost dry, and I can't wait until we can turn on the airco," Cadence says.

"A few more days and we will be done," I look at the disarray of boxes around us and sigh once more. "I'm sorry it took me longer than I planned. The mall was so busy with an event, some sort of celebrities were spot in the middle. But I managed to get to the insurance office and everything for the house and the business is arranged."

"Good news then! I was worried," my sister says. "This is our biggest grown up step and without that it-"

Cadence's gaze moves behind my back and she frowns. My brother Maurice enters the room; his forehead has a few drops of sweat, but otherwise, he looks clean. He heads to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water.

"What's for dinner?" He reclines against the kitchen counter and chugs loudly, the plastic making a crackling sound.

"Whatever I cook. Jeez, you stink," I scrunch my nose at his unpleasant scent. "Did you even put deodorant this morning?"

"I rather call the scent musky," he shrugs.

"Musky?" Cadence asks. "Like a deer?"

"Don't know about that. I saw this tv show and the guy was all sweaty and the girl said he smelled musky. He was probably sprayed with water drops, but it sounded cool so I thought 'that's something I can use'," he shrugs.

Cadence rolls her eyes at Maurice, making me laugh. My baby brother just turned 22 years old and is quite an amusing fella.

"Is the garage done?" I ask him.

"Yeah," he replies. "Also lacquered the doors."

"But how come your clothes are clean?" Cadence asks annoyed while stretching her top to show the splatters on her clothes.

"Sorry that I know how to paint walls without getting paint on me," he gives her a bored look while Cadence glares at him. "I'm going to shower. Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow to help with the floor."