Color

Ninety Four

Scott landed himself a job in a restaurant, by the end of the week.

He'd been told that he'd start as a dishwasher, but apparently they were in pretty desperate need of waiters, because Scott was promoted pretty quickly. 

Mitch was extremely proud of him; took him out for a celebratory dinner and all. 

Avi was quick to follow, getting a job in the same establishment, because he figured that would make the whole job situation easier on both of them.

With Scott and Avi both being able to find themselves jobs, nobody was home during the day until Mitch got home from class. 

Alex always stayed a little later for soccer practice, Avi and Scott didn't get home from work until around 6 or 7, and Kirstie was usually at Kyle's house after class. 

Mitch came home to an empty place for the fourth time that week, and didn't bother calling out to see if anyone was around. 

He just set his backpack on the dining room table, and walked toward the kitchen to get a snack. 

As he searched the refrigerator, he sent a quick text to Scott to let him know that Mitch had returned home okay. 

Scott often got grumpy if Mitch forgot to do so. 

Mitch was enjoying the silence of the empty house, so he frowned when he heard a knock at the front door. 

He pouted, but walked over to answer it anyway. 

Avi's mom smiled up at him. "Oh, good. I was hoping this was the right house."

"Hi, Mrs. K. How are you?" Mitch stepped out of the way quickly. "Actually, why don't you come in? Sorry, I didn't know you were coming by today."

She followed him inside the house, immediately looking around the front rooms. "This is such a nice place, wow... I'm so proud of all of you."

"Aw, thanks." Mitch grinned. "Scott's the one who bought it for us, but Avi's got a job now and he's planning on helping out a little more."

"I heard about that..." She turned to smile at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your day. I was in the area to look at apartments, and I thought it would be silly of me to come all this way and not stop by my son's house."

"No, no, don't apologize, it's no trouble at all. I just... Scott and Avi usually don't get off work until a little later, and Alex won't be back from practice for another hour."

"Oh, I see. Well, that's alright. You and I can just hang out a little." She offered with a smile. 

Mitch nodded, and gestured toward the couch. "Sounds good to me."

*

Alex arrived home, sweaty and exhausted but still happy nonetheless. 

He tossed his keys onto the table beside Mitch's bag, and then headed toward the living room. He grinned widely when he saw their visitor. "Oh, hi! It's so nice to see you again!"

Mrs. Kaplan stood from the couch to hug him, a smile on her face as well. "My goodness, look at you! You're in such great shape, how impressive."

Alex blushed a little. "Oh, stop."

"I hope you're doing well? Is my son treating you well?"

Alex nodded emphatically. "Oh absolutely. He's better than I deserve, that's for sure."

"Aw, what a sweet thing to say. I hope you know that you can call me if anything ever comes up? I'm more than willing to talk sense into him if he does anything stupid."