°°° Jerk °°° Sean’s place was too far from the turn he took. And in less than five minutes, he could already make out his front porch. He quickly took his phone out of his pocket. They’d closed up shop late today, with the last customer leaving almost twenty-five minutes past five in the evening. After arrangements and the after-work cleaning as well as the "Saturday Shares," as they called them, they’d only been able to leave the auto shop a couple minutes past six, and since he’d decided to walk home from the shop, another thirty to forty minutes had passed. He was wondering just how many times his mom would have tried to reach him. If she stopped calling, it was going to be because she’d contacted Carlos, and he explained. He had the phone on mute, so there was no way he would have been distracted while working. Quickly going through his messages, he had a message from his mom at just past four, asking what he wanted for dinner. He was stumped that he’d lost t
°°° Safety First °°° Stepping out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and another hanging over his shoulders, the blue-eyed lad walked to his phone and opened it. He had just returned from his morning run, but he wasn’t able to run with himself feeling sore from Carl’s Auto Shop's "Saturday Rush Hour" and trying to pacify himself to stop his thoughts from raging, constantly reminding himself of his promise to himself and his mother. Even now, he was still having thoughts about going back on his words. "How can a grown man be so... juvenile?" Sean couldn’t help but grumble with a frown as he thought about Boris’ actions the previous night. "I mean, even though Sarah can be playful, this guy is just darn stupid." Making fun of a kid at work... "I'm getting revenge by getting my mom to arrive late—even Sarah wouldn’t," he said suddenly, freezing as he realized something. "Oh shit… "I haven’t called her back," his eyes widened. He had just remembered that Sarah was also
°°° Surprise °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • -Walker Residence- Sitting in his swivel chair with a can of soda in his hands and a bowl of potato chips sitting beside his laptop, Sean read through the page displayed on his screen. He had returned from church a couple hours ago, and after spending over an hour with Karen on the phone, he decided to take his friend’s suggestion. He decided to start the registration process. On his way home, he had stopped at Carl’s place after grabbing the money he’d stashed away at the auto shop. He was quite surprised to have met cars that weren't there the previous night. Malone, Marco, and two of the other guys had come to complete the left-over jobs from the previous night and had accepted a couple other jobs off the books, and the profit from them was going to be theirs. Upon getting to Carl’s, Sean found out that Carl was actually aware of it and, to some extent, had promoted it. Sean’s main reason for visiting wasn’t to
°°° Seeds of Doubt °°° The streets were quiet and peaceful. The leaves in the trees rustled every now and then as the wind directed them. Sean walked down the street, his hands in his pockets, and a smile plastered across his face. It was almost eight o’clock, and although he had left Karen’s at about six thirty after his mom called, he was still a turn away from his block. He stared dreamily into the starless night sky; his mind had nothing but bliss in it. He felt a feeling he couldn’t describe, a feeling he believed was what people in the movies meant when they said, "I feel as though there are butterflies in my stomach." After getting to the airport, he sat with Karen, both of them staring into each other’s eyes for a while and saying nothing. These were experiences he had before and thought were silly, but now he was experiencing them. They had chatted about her trip, talked about the screaming kids on her flight, and the pervert on the plane who h
°°° Stalker °°° • Louisville, Kentucky • - Whites Residence- Sitting at the kitchen island, Dan White in his gray nightrobe stared blankly at the wall in front of him. It was already nine forty-nine at night, and he was still feeling down from what happened in the afternoon. He looked down at the glass of whiskey in his hands and gulped down what was left of it. "You know that’s bad for your health, right?" Ann’s voice came from behind him as she walked towards him. He turned to look at her, then turned back to the drink and poured himself another glass. "What’s the use of preserving my life when it could be taken away from me one day?" he chuckled drunkenly. Ann stood beside him and exhaled loudly. "Wanna join me?" he offered her the bottle. "I still love my life, Dan." "I still have kids to raise, so no thank you," she hissed and walked to the sink to do the dishes. Dan watched her silently for a while before taking another mouthful from his cup. "How are they?"
°°° Heart Break in an Instant °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania• -Colonel William’s Residence- "Morning, old man," Karen greeted her granddad, Colonel William, with a smile as she walked to the back of the house. The Colonel put down the magazine in his hands to take a look at the person greeting him. This old-timer had almost forgotten that his grandson was in Philadelphia. Not because he was suffering from any form of amnesia due to old age, but because he was a man of schedule, and his schedule for the entire week didn’t have her on it, so her presence had managed to skip his mind as he focused on every other thing. "Oh… "I almost forgot you were here," the old man chuckled as he stood up from the black outdoor chaise pool chair, stepping out from under the cover of the beige colored umbrella, and his features became much more pronounced. This grandfather didn’t look as old as he claimed to be. With his completely black hair, save for a cluster of silver hair strands
°°° First Kiss °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania• -Colonel William’s Residence- "Hey, sweet face, I’m at the gate." Standing in front of the PVC white-picket-fenced building, Sean, in black baggy joggers and a silver hoodie sweatshirt, strained his eyes to try to confirm movement within the house. In a minute, the front door opened, and Karen stepped out. She was clad in a black quilted jacket over a milky-brown cropped cami top, with blue ripped jeans and black combat boots. "Are we still walking a dog?" Sean asked as she got to the gate. She was looking outstanding. "A bit too much for you?" She smiled and pulled open the swing gate. "Well… "Not really," Sean laughed with a shrug. "You look perfect no matter the occasion," he smiled and stepped in. Karen smiled as she stared at him for a while, neither of them moving, both smiling foolishly at themselves. "You know at this point, you should be kissing me," Karen suddenly said while nodding. Sean was taken aback and lite
°°° Mutual Feelings °°° •Roxborough Dog Park• The walk to the dog park took them roughly thirty-three minutes. Although the walking distance from Karen’s house on Kingsley Street to the Roxborough dog park typically takes just about eight minutes, Nuke was playful, and Karen wasn’t making the situation any easier with her encouragement for Nuke to "misbehave." On the bright side, they were able to make a couple bucks after Karen made the dog perform tricks on the road. Passersby who were impressed gave what little they could squeeze out. Karen made them stop at three different spots so Nuke would perform tricks, and at each spot, they spent almost eight minutes. "I am never helping you walk Nuke, never again," Sean stretched as they released the hybrid German Shepherd into the off-leash area after taking off her leash. "What?" Karen laughed as she stuffed her mouth with cheeseballs. "What do you mean by "what"?" "You made almost seventy dollars busking with Nuke,