Memories & Dreams

Chapter 52 - Seeing Manhattan

"Forest, go away!" Zack pushed the wet muzzle with the licking tongue away from his face.

"Zack, Kelly is here. It's time for you to get up," Jessie called from the doorway to the guestroom.

Zack rolled towards the sound and opened one eye. "Oh," he said.

He stretched, closing his eyes again as the images from his dream slipped away.

"Do I have time for a shower?" Zack wondered.

"I dun know. I'll ask Mama," Jessie said.

Optimistically, Zack gathered his things for a shower and was heading towards the doorway when Susan rather than Jessie rapped on his door.

"Oh, hi Mom. Do I have time for a shower?" Zack asked.

"I think that would be a very good idea," Susan said.

"Jessie said Kelly is here?"

"Kevin, Shelly, Bert, and Kelly are all downstairs. Come join us as soon as you are ready," Susan said.

"Thanks Mom," Zack said, and he bent to kiss her cheek as he walked by.

c

Susan rejoined their guests in the living room reporting, "Zack's in the shower. He should be down relatively soon."

"Good," Kelly declared.

Shelly looked at her daughter in surprise.

"He needed one," Kelly assured her. "Besides, it's much better to start a new day clean. Otherwise it feels like a continuation of the old one."

"That's what I always say," Kevin agreed.

"Yes, you do," Shelly recognized

"Did you take a shower?" Jessie asked Kelly curiously.

"Yes. It really helped," Kelly assured her.

"Susan, I love what you've done to the place. I was just telling Greg, I think these two rooms have come out really well," Shelly remarked to Susan.

"It's really a big improvement over when Brian's folks had this place," Kevin added.

"Brian Epstein's family?" Greg asked curiously.

"Yes," Kevin said. "He and I have worked together on projects from time to time."

"When were you ever here?" Shelly asked doubtfully.

"I think it was about four years ago, when we were here for the premiere of your Tropical Dream movie," Kevin told her. "You were with me."

"I was?" Shelly said in surprise.

"The local Cameramen's Guild had their Christmas Party here," Kevin reminded her. "We got to go because we were already here."

"Oh! Yes of course! That party in the high rise not far from Central Park, just before Thanksgiving that year. That was here?" Shelly asked her husband doubtfully.

"I'm sure it was. Greg, didn't you say it was Brian and his sister who sold this place to you?" Kevin asked.

"It was sold through a realtor, but yes it was," Greg confirmed.

Kevin grinned. "Brian would be so impressed to see what you've done. It's really come out nicely."

"It definitely has. On that much, we are agreed," Shelly added.

"Thank you," Greg said. "We'll have to be sure to extend an invitation to Brian if we ever host a suitable sort of event here."

"Yes, thank you," Susan told both their guests. "It's been a bit of a challenge to find artwork for the walls so quickly. I was always under the impression that when it comes to art, selecting the right piece takes time. But we needed something on the walls in these two rooms to make them look more finished."