Rollercoaster (The Circle Series - Part 3)

Chapter 3

The intercom rang and jumped Leesha. She rushed over to it and saw Julie's profile on the camera monitor, pressing the button to open the gates for her with a quick "Door's open honey."

"Who's that?" Came David's voice from the other room.

"It's just Julie. Are you two almost done in there?" Leesha called out, cracking open the door for her business partner. She couldn't make out what David's reply was and shrugged, poking her head into the room. Ethan and David were cracking jokes and she visibly relaxed.

Julie bumped open the door with her hip, her arms full with a large box and a small suitcase. "I'm here!" she yelled and kicked the door gently closed. Leaving the suitcase in the foyer, she made her way to the kitchen, dumping the heavy box on the countertop.

"Holy shit, sis!" Leesha exclaimed, hugging her friend from behind. "Did everything arrive on time?"

"Every piece," she said with a flourish, pulling boxes of sugary confections in various hues of pink, "But wait till you see the best part. I got these specially made." Julie opened one box and pulled out large black, white and pink lollipops each with 'Janelle' hand painted on one side and 'Bat Mitzvah' on the other. "There's one for each guest. Do you like them?"

"These are amazing, girl! She's gonna love them," Leesha replied, examining one up close.

"I got a few extras too," Julie said, "just in case."

The girls were startled when David's voice rang out, telling Janelle in Hebrew to get in the shower. She called back to her Dad, also in Hebrew. "That girl is gonna be the death of me," David chuckled, kissing his wife and grabbing one of the lollipops.

Leesha immediately grabbed it from him. "Sweetie, we have her ceremony at the synagogue and need to stand up with her in front of everyone. Don't need you bouncing around from sugar."

Julie chuckled at the look David had on his face. A little boy who'd lost his lollipop. "It'll be bad enough later with all those kids with this amount of candy," Julie chimed in.

David half limped towards the tea drawer, deliberating on which he felt in the mood for. Here and there, he made small whimpers and groans of pain. Leesha looked from him to Julie and attempted to hold in her giggle. "Poor thing can barely walk," she whispered.

"It was that bad, huh?" Julie looked slightly worried, "Do you want to tell me?"

"Put it this way...he won't be taking his clothes off in front of anyone other than me," Leesha grinned. "Tico would be proud. Janelle! The hell are you throwing clothes over the banister for?!" She took off upstairs after her daughter slammed her door.

Ethan appeared a few minutes later, holding leftover or popped balloons. "Hey, Dad? We had a few casualties, but all the centerpieces and decorations are up." David nodded and limped from the room, more than likely to hide in his office until he needed to get ready. Ethan hugged his Aunt and smiled. "Getting a little short, Auntie J."

"Watch it, you," Julie grinned up at the young man, "How're things, kiddo?"

"Strange as always," he replied. "Maybe more so. Where's Scooby?"

"They'll be by later. Ari's getting her hair done. Why strange, kiddo?" Julie cocked her hip against the counter so she could pay full attention to him, "Wanna talk about anything?"

Ethan looked over his shoulder to ensure his parents were still busy. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs and chewed on his lower lip, looking so much like his Father. "Well...Dad and I had a big blow up last night..." Julie nodded for him to continue, "Mom's voice got weird. Deeper and even. Firm like a mom's voice but...not a mom's voice. Dad called her something and his face went completely blank. I feel awkward asking them about it...you know...coz parents."