Stepping
into the massive entry, Carrie looked up in awe. There was an extravagant
chandelier hanging in the open entry. The staircase curved up to the second
floor and at the bottom sat a table with a vase of colorful flowers. The walls
were an earthy tan, and she could hear the continued shouting from
Jay.
“What the hell Steven? I called your name like ten times! I can’t find
the boat keys, and I’m late,” said Jay, waltzing into the entry where Carrie and
Steven stood.
“Whoa, who is this?” Jay
asked
“This is Carrie Moore, and
she is my guest. She’ll be staying
with us for a while. She’s new to town,” Steven explained. Jay cocked his head
to the side and made eye contact with Carrie, while giving her an award-winning
smile. Steven’s brother looked like quite the character. He was wearing a blue
leopard silk button up shirt, with a casual purple suit. He also wore multiple
necklaces and bracelets, in addition to a hat. His skin was tanned and he had a
twitch in his left hand.
“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Carrie,” she said, extending her hand.
“Yes, hello,” he replied, kissing her hand instead of shaking it.
Maintaining eye contact with her for just a moment longer, she smiled at him. He
was charming.
“Well, baby brother, will you please help me find the keys so I can
be on my way?” Jay asked his brother, raising an eyebrow.
“I have the keys. It is my boat. Here,” he said handing them
to Jay, “are you coming home tonight?”
“Probably not. I’ll be back in the morning. Tomorrow you
and I should get more acquainted,” he replied pointing at Carrie. Jay turned on
his heel and walked out of the entry. Carrie heard a door shut soon after he
exited the room, and assumed he had gone outside.
“Well, he sure seems interesting,” she commented.
“Yeah, I know. He can be a bit to handle at first,” Steven said,
chuckling. He led her up the grand staircase and down a hallway, stopping right
outside a door.
“This is the room you’ll be staying in it’s one of the best guest rooms,”
Steven explained. Setting the suitcase down on the floor right outside the room,
he turned to her and said,
“But it’s still pretty early, so how about I make dinner and give you the
grand tour?” he offered.
“Sure!” she replied. Carrie opened the door to her room, and quickly
slipped the suitcase and backpack into the room. Then, she followed Steven back
downstairs and into the kitchen. They had a really nice kitchen, a lot fancier
than the one back home. The granite counters and expensive looking appliances
made Carrie feel slightly out of place. She wasn’t sure if she even knew how to
operate the stove, much less the coffee maker.
“How does chicken parmesan sound?” Steven asked, looking into the
refrigerator.
“That sounds delicious. I love Italian food. Do you need any help?” she
offered.
“Nonsense. You are a guest in my home. And
I’m a pretty amazing cook,” he bragged. Carrie smirked, and nodded her head. As
Steven was preparing dinner, she found a bottle of wine in the fridge. After
pouring two glasses, they started talking about places Steven might be able to
get her a job.
“Relax a little. You’ve got a place to stay now, and you really haven’t
had a proper orientation to Stonessa, my dear,” Steven commented. He was
prepared to show her the world. This girl traveled all the way from Michigan
with no plans, and he wanted to step in and show her what was out there. She probably hasn’t even been to a proper
party. They enjoyed the chicken parmesan that Steven successfully made, and
Carrie was really impressed.
After
dinner, he showed her around the house. There were so many rooms, all decorated
beautifully with artwork and fancy lighting. However, her favorite part was
outside. Walking through the main living room there was a set of patio doors
that led outside. Once outside the beach was visible, complete with a dock
where the boat must belong. As if living on the beach was not enough, he also
had a pool that was surrounded by lawn chairs and lights. Towards her left she
could see a giant gazebo with chairs and tables. It looked like the place to
have an outdoor party. It was all so much to take in, how dramatically her life
changed in a matter of weeks. Looking out at the big blue she smiled to
herself.
The
next day she woke up in her new room. The décor suited her, which made it feel
more like a home. The walls were light blue, with a gold rug in the middle of
the room. Her big four post bed was the main piece of the room, and it had a
blue and white comforter with modern designs on it. There was various artwork
on the walls, and she even had her own deck. The deck was only big enough for
one chair and a small table, but it was perfect. Also, the room she was staying
in had a rather large walk in closet. The bathroom attached to her room was
decent sized, and had its own vanity. When she was looking at the closet, she
realized that her suitcase full of clothes would only occupy a small section.
She also desperately needed to do laundry, so grabbed her clothes in her arms
and went downstairs to find the laundry room.
Once downstairs, she spotted Jay at the kitchen island. He was still
wearing the same clothes from the previous night, and even had sunglasses on
inside. Considering it was 9am, she wasn’t sure if that was really early for him
or not. She knew that Steven would already be up, most likely working.
“Morning,” she said to Jay, who looked up. He seemed surprised.
“Well mornin’ to you too. What are you doing?” he asked, cradling his cup
of coffee.
“Trying to find the laundry room. Am I headed in the right
direction?”
“Nope,” he laughed, “here I’ll show you.” Jay showed her where the
laundry room was, and helped her figure out how to use the washer.
“You going to get dressed so we can leave?” he asked.
“What? Where?” she replied, really confused.
“Oh, well you see the only reason I’m awake at this god awful time of day
is because Steven wants me to take you shopping. Says you need more clothes and
wants you to have everything you need here,” he answered her, smiling. Now
he wants to pay for my stuff?
“I don’t know if I can accept that, I’m already staying here rent
free,” she said.
“Oh please don’t fight it, just say yes. It will be fun, girls like
shopping right? Shouldn’t you be jumping up and down all excited and whatnot?”
he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Well I can’t go,” she protested.
“Why not?” he challenged.
“All of my clothes besides these PJ’s I’m wearing are in the washing
machine now,” she commented.
“I can fix that,” he said, “come with me.” Jay then led her to his own
room. She had pictured his room much different than what she saw in front of
her. Scarves and banners of all different patterns hung around his room, draped
from the bed, dressers, and light fixture. There were three guitars scattered
throughout the room, along with a record player that sat in the corner along
with stacks of records. At the foot of the bed there was a fuzzy white bench,
and Jay pointed towards it and said,
“Take a seat and give me one second.” Carrie sat down, and he disappeared
into what she guessed was his closet. About five minutes later, he came back
holding a black shirt and shorts.
“Why do you have girl shorts?” she asked, noticing that those were
definitely not his or his brother’s shorts.
“I have a lot of friends,” he replied, smirking. “The shirt is mine, so
don’t spill on it or anything.” She laughed and took the clothes gratefully.
“Thanks Jay,” she replied.
“Welcome. Now, get dressed so we can get you some clothes and stuff,” he
said. Carrie exited his room and went into the bathroom right across the hall,
changing into the jean shorts and his shirt. He decided to borrow her a black
tank top that read “Jack Daniels
Whiskey” on the front. How
classy.
They left in Jay’s truck and headed downtown. Jay took her to a lot of
different stores and shops. First, they went to Soul
Brother, which was mainly filled with surfing supplies, and beach attire.
She spotted a sundress there, and got a pair of sunglasses. Jay simply whipped
out his credit card and handed it to the man at the register. He took her to Terry’s where she bought jeans, shorts,
swim suits, tank tops, and the regular day to day outfits. Jay’s stomach started
growling, and he asked,
“You like seafood?”
“Of course,” she replied.
“Good, let’s get some lunch then,” he said, leading her down a different
road off the main drag where they were shopping.
Steven hung up the phone, frustrated once again with his father. He had
business to deal with today, and was getting hungry for lunch. With that
thought, he got up from behind his desk, and went to the kitchen. Then house was
completely quiet, and he assumed Jay had taken Carrie shopping like he asked him
to. Steven would have loved to take her, but he had so much to do today. Feeling
stressed, he decided he would go visit Ashley. Ashley Langen was his best
friend. She and her father owned the Marina in town, and Ashley would talk with
Steven during lunch sometimes while they would go fishing together. Steven’s
life was very different compared to Ashley’s. He was brought up in a wealthy
family, who flaunted their money. Was Steven rich also? Yes, but that didn’t
mean he thought he was better than anyone else, unlike his mother. This was why
it didn’t mean anything to him that his best friend was not exactly wealthy. She
was a great friend who was always there for him, and money didn’t matter to her.
That’s what he loved about her.
Putting his Mercedes into drive, he went over to Langen’s Marina, hoping
that Ashley wouldn’t be busy. He was in luck, as he pulled up and saw her
sitting at the end of a dock with her dog, Rissy.
“Hey stranger,” Steven said, walking to the end of the dock. Rissy turned
at started sniffing him.
“Hey! Come to drown your sorrows?” she asked.
“What?” he replied, slightly confused. She pulled a bottle from in front
of her that he hadn’t been able to see. Smirking, he sat down next to her,
occupying Rissy’s spot as she trotted away.
“Don’t mind if I do” he drawled. She smiled back at him, with her
strawberry blonde hair blowing in front of her face. Ashley was a few years
older than him, twenty-nine, and thought she always had such fabulous advice to
give Steven.
“Carrie moved in,” he spat out, taking a pull from the bottle.
“What?! You guys have only been seeing each other for a couple weeks! You
just let her move in? Are you happy? When did she move in? Why are you just
telling me now?” she rambled, knowing that she was bombarding him with
questions. Steven laughed in response, and then said,
“Hey calm down! I didn’t marry the girl! She just moved in yesterday.
Yeah I’m happy because I really like her, and I’m just trying to help her out. I
sent her out with Jay today to get her some more clothes and stuff because I had
to work all morning,” he explained, passing her the bottle.
“I see. Well, I’d say you better show her a good time or some other
handsome, wealthy bastard will pick her up,” Ashley teased, “and if you have
work to do, what are you doing drinking on the dock with me?”
“I got frustrated with Richard.”
“See that’s just weird. I know you and your dad have a really weird
relationship, but calling him by his first name is just odd to me,” she replied.
All Steven did was smile and take the bottle back, looking out at the bay
getting lost in his thoughts.
“Here you guys go, and can I get you another refill on the Brandy sir?”
the waiter asked us.
“Please,” Jay replied. Carrie raised an eyebrow, knowing that it was only
1:30pm. Jay just started eating his fish sandwich, glancing up at her and
asked,
“So what do you think of The
Octopus’ Garden?”
“It’s nice, they have a really big menu,” she said. Grabbing a piece of
her sandwich, she looked out over the deck and stared at the ocean. It was then
that she realized she hadn’t done much in the ocean yet, besides swim at the
beach.
“Hey, Jay, can we go on the boat tonight? With Steven?” she asked,
between bites. He smiled, still wearing those obnoxiously big sunglasses.
“Sure,” was all he said. Soon they finished lunch, and Carrie was about
ready to go home and shower when he said they had to go into one more store. Mayfield’s Riche was printed on the
sign above a door they stood in front of. It looked really fancy. Of course, it
was. To Carrie’s surprise it was all formal clothing though.
“Why are we here?” she asked
Jay, who was already touching dresses and moving around looking for something in
particular.
“Well, I don’t know how well you know my brother, but he will most likely
drag you along to some fancy party where you will need an evening dress. To save
time, I figured we’d get you one now,” he said, grabbing an orange, red, pink,
and yellow mix dress. It was beautiful, simple and strapless. He grabbed it,
held it up to her, and said,
“Sure,” more to himself than her. He didn’t seem that interested in
fashion. He seemed more concerned on making sure she got enough clothes to wear.
Once again he went up to the counter, and Carrie had quickly grabbed a pair of
gold heals to be rung up with the dress. Jay smirked, pulled out his credit card
again, and they made their purchases.
Once in the truck on the way home, Carrie felt so grateful that he had
taken the day to take her shopping. He had told her that Steven wanted to take
her, but he had work to do, and Carrie understood.
“Thank you Jay, for everything today,” she said, looking over at
him.
“No problem, it was my pleasure.” He sure could be charming. Just like
Steven. Suddenly she realized she missed Steven, and was looking forward to
spending time with him tonight.
into the massive entry, Carrie looked up in awe. There was an extravagant
chandelier hanging in the open entry. The staircase curved up to the second
floor and at the bottom sat a table with a vase of colorful flowers. The walls
were an earthy tan, and she could hear the continued shouting from
Jay.
“What the hell Steven? I called your name like ten times! I can’t find
the boat keys, and I’m late,” said Jay, waltzing into the entry where Carrie and
Steven stood.
“Whoa, who is this?” Jay
asked
“This is Carrie Moore, and
she is my guest. She’ll be staying
with us for a while. She’s new to town,” Steven explained. Jay cocked his head
to the side and made eye contact with Carrie, while giving her an award-winning
smile. Steven’s brother looked like quite the character. He was wearing a blue
leopard silk button up shirt, with a casual purple suit. He also wore multiple
necklaces and bracelets, in addition to a hat. His skin was tanned and he had a
twitch in his left hand.
“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Carrie,” she said, extending her hand.
“Yes, hello,” he replied, kissing her hand instead of shaking it.
Maintaining eye contact with her for just a moment longer, she smiled at him. He
was charming.
“Well, baby brother, will you please help me find the keys so I can
be on my way?” Jay asked his brother, raising an eyebrow.
“I have the keys. It is my boat. Here,” he said handing them
to Jay, “are you coming home tonight?”
“Probably not. I’ll be back in the morning. Tomorrow you
and I should get more acquainted,” he replied pointing at Carrie. Jay turned on
his heel and walked out of the entry. Carrie heard a door shut soon after he
exited the room, and assumed he had gone outside.
“Well, he sure seems interesting,” she commented.
“Yeah, I know. He can be a bit to handle at first,” Steven said,
chuckling. He led her up the grand staircase and down a hallway, stopping right
outside a door.
“This is the room you’ll be staying in it’s one of the best guest rooms,”
Steven explained. Setting the suitcase down on the floor right outside the room,
he turned to her and said,
“But it’s still pretty early, so how about I make dinner and give you the
grand tour?” he offered.
“Sure!” she replied. Carrie opened the door to her room, and quickly
slipped the suitcase and backpack into the room. Then, she followed Steven back
downstairs and into the kitchen. They had a really nice kitchen, a lot fancier
than the one back home. The granite counters and expensive looking appliances
made Carrie feel slightly out of place. She wasn’t sure if she even knew how to
operate the stove, much less the coffee maker.
“How does chicken parmesan sound?” Steven asked, looking into the
refrigerator.
“That sounds delicious. I love Italian food. Do you need any help?” she
offered.
“Nonsense. You are a guest in my home. And
I’m a pretty amazing cook,” he bragged. Carrie smirked, and nodded her head. As
Steven was preparing dinner, she found a bottle of wine in the fridge. After
pouring two glasses, they started talking about places Steven might be able to
get her a job.
“Relax a little. You’ve got a place to stay now, and you really haven’t
had a proper orientation to Stonessa, my dear,” Steven commented. He was
prepared to show her the world. This girl traveled all the way from Michigan
with no plans, and he wanted to step in and show her what was out there. She probably hasn’t even been to a proper
party. They enjoyed the chicken parmesan that Steven successfully made, and
Carrie was really impressed.
After
dinner, he showed her around the house. There were so many rooms, all decorated
beautifully with artwork and fancy lighting. However, her favorite part was
outside. Walking through the main living room there was a set of patio doors
that led outside. Once outside the beach was visible, complete with a dock
where the boat must belong. As if living on the beach was not enough, he also
had a pool that was surrounded by lawn chairs and lights. Towards her left she
could see a giant gazebo with chairs and tables. It looked like the place to
have an outdoor party. It was all so much to take in, how dramatically her life
changed in a matter of weeks. Looking out at the big blue she smiled to
herself.
The
next day she woke up in her new room. The décor suited her, which made it feel
more like a home. The walls were light blue, with a gold rug in the middle of
the room. Her big four post bed was the main piece of the room, and it had a
blue and white comforter with modern designs on it. There was various artwork
on the walls, and she even had her own deck. The deck was only big enough for
one chair and a small table, but it was perfect. Also, the room she was staying
in had a rather large walk in closet. The bathroom attached to her room was
decent sized, and had its own vanity. When she was looking at the closet, she
realized that her suitcase full of clothes would only occupy a small section.
She also desperately needed to do laundry, so grabbed her clothes in her arms
and went downstairs to find the laundry room.
Once downstairs, she spotted Jay at the kitchen island. He was still
wearing the same clothes from the previous night, and even had sunglasses on
inside. Considering it was 9am, she wasn’t sure if that was really early for him
or not. She knew that Steven would already be up, most likely working.
“Morning,” she said to Jay, who looked up. He seemed surprised.
“Well mornin’ to you too. What are you doing?” he asked, cradling his cup
of coffee.
“Trying to find the laundry room. Am I headed in the right
direction?”
“Nope,” he laughed, “here I’ll show you.” Jay showed her where the
laundry room was, and helped her figure out how to use the washer.
“You going to get dressed so we can leave?” he asked.
“What? Where?” she replied, really confused.
“Oh, well you see the only reason I’m awake at this god awful time of day
is because Steven wants me to take you shopping. Says you need more clothes and
wants you to have everything you need here,” he answered her, smiling. Now
he wants to pay for my stuff?
“I don’t know if I can accept that, I’m already staying here rent
free,” she said.
“Oh please don’t fight it, just say yes. It will be fun, girls like
shopping right? Shouldn’t you be jumping up and down all excited and whatnot?”
he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Well I can’t go,” she protested.
“Why not?” he challenged.
“All of my clothes besides these PJ’s I’m wearing are in the washing
machine now,” she commented.
“I can fix that,” he said, “come with me.” Jay then led her to his own
room. She had pictured his room much different than what she saw in front of
her. Scarves and banners of all different patterns hung around his room, draped
from the bed, dressers, and light fixture. There were three guitars scattered
throughout the room, along with a record player that sat in the corner along
with stacks of records. At the foot of the bed there was a fuzzy white bench,
and Jay pointed towards it and said,
“Take a seat and give me one second.” Carrie sat down, and he disappeared
into what she guessed was his closet. About five minutes later, he came back
holding a black shirt and shorts.
“Why do you have girl shorts?” she asked, noticing that those were
definitely not his or his brother’s shorts.
“I have a lot of friends,” he replied, smirking. “The shirt is mine, so
don’t spill on it or anything.” She laughed and took the clothes gratefully.
“Thanks Jay,” she replied.
“Welcome. Now, get dressed so we can get you some clothes and stuff,” he
said. Carrie exited his room and went into the bathroom right across the hall,
changing into the jean shorts and his shirt. He decided to borrow her a black
tank top that read “Jack Daniels
Whiskey” on the front. How
classy.
They left in Jay’s truck and headed downtown. Jay took her to a lot of
different stores and shops. First, they went to Soul
Brother, which was mainly filled with surfing supplies, and beach attire.
She spotted a sundress there, and got a pair of sunglasses. Jay simply whipped
out his credit card and handed it to the man at the register. He took her to Terry’s where she bought jeans, shorts,
swim suits, tank tops, and the regular day to day outfits. Jay’s stomach started
growling, and he asked,
“You like seafood?”
“Of course,” she replied.
“Good, let’s get some lunch then,” he said, leading her down a different
road off the main drag where they were shopping.
Steven hung up the phone, frustrated once again with his father. He had
business to deal with today, and was getting hungry for lunch. With that
thought, he got up from behind his desk, and went to the kitchen. Then house was
completely quiet, and he assumed Jay had taken Carrie shopping like he asked him
to. Steven would have loved to take her, but he had so much to do today. Feeling
stressed, he decided he would go visit Ashley. Ashley Langen was his best
friend. She and her father owned the Marina in town, and Ashley would talk with
Steven during lunch sometimes while they would go fishing together. Steven’s
life was very different compared to Ashley’s. He was brought up in a wealthy
family, who flaunted their money. Was Steven rich also? Yes, but that didn’t
mean he thought he was better than anyone else, unlike his mother. This was why
it didn’t mean anything to him that his best friend was not exactly wealthy. She
was a great friend who was always there for him, and money didn’t matter to her.
That’s what he loved about her.
Putting his Mercedes into drive, he went over to Langen’s Marina, hoping
that Ashley wouldn’t be busy. He was in luck, as he pulled up and saw her
sitting at the end of a dock with her dog, Rissy.
“Hey stranger,” Steven said, walking to the end of the dock. Rissy turned
at started sniffing him.
“Hey! Come to drown your sorrows?” she asked.
“What?” he replied, slightly confused. She pulled a bottle from in front
of her that he hadn’t been able to see. Smirking, he sat down next to her,
occupying Rissy’s spot as she trotted away.
“Don’t mind if I do” he drawled. She smiled back at him, with her
strawberry blonde hair blowing in front of her face. Ashley was a few years
older than him, twenty-nine, and thought she always had such fabulous advice to
give Steven.
“Carrie moved in,” he spat out, taking a pull from the bottle.
“What?! You guys have only been seeing each other for a couple weeks! You
just let her move in? Are you happy? When did she move in? Why are you just
telling me now?” she rambled, knowing that she was bombarding him with
questions. Steven laughed in response, and then said,
“Hey calm down! I didn’t marry the girl! She just moved in yesterday.
Yeah I’m happy because I really like her, and I’m just trying to help her out. I
sent her out with Jay today to get her some more clothes and stuff because I had
to work all morning,” he explained, passing her the bottle.
“I see. Well, I’d say you better show her a good time or some other
handsome, wealthy bastard will pick her up,” Ashley teased, “and if you have
work to do, what are you doing drinking on the dock with me?”
“I got frustrated with Richard.”
“See that’s just weird. I know you and your dad have a really weird
relationship, but calling him by his first name is just odd to me,” she replied.
All Steven did was smile and take the bottle back, looking out at the bay
getting lost in his thoughts.
“Here you guys go, and can I get you another refill on the Brandy sir?”
the waiter asked us.
“Please,” Jay replied. Carrie raised an eyebrow, knowing that it was only
1:30pm. Jay just started eating his fish sandwich, glancing up at her and
asked,
“So what do you think of The
Octopus’ Garden?”
“It’s nice, they have a really big menu,” she said. Grabbing a piece of
her sandwich, she looked out over the deck and stared at the ocean. It was then
that she realized she hadn’t done much in the ocean yet, besides swim at the
beach.
“Hey, Jay, can we go on the boat tonight? With Steven?” she asked,
between bites. He smiled, still wearing those obnoxiously big sunglasses.
“Sure,” was all he said. Soon they finished lunch, and Carrie was about
ready to go home and shower when he said they had to go into one more store. Mayfield’s Riche was printed on the
sign above a door they stood in front of. It looked really fancy. Of course, it
was. To Carrie’s surprise it was all formal clothing though.
“Why are we here?” she asked
Jay, who was already touching dresses and moving around looking for something in
particular.
“Well, I don’t know how well you know my brother, but he will most likely
drag you along to some fancy party where you will need an evening dress. To save
time, I figured we’d get you one now,” he said, grabbing an orange, red, pink,
and yellow mix dress. It was beautiful, simple and strapless. He grabbed it,
held it up to her, and said,
“Sure,” more to himself than her. He didn’t seem that interested in
fashion. He seemed more concerned on making sure she got enough clothes to wear.
Once again he went up to the counter, and Carrie had quickly grabbed a pair of
gold heals to be rung up with the dress. Jay smirked, pulled out his credit card
again, and they made their purchases.
Once in the truck on the way home, Carrie felt so grateful that he had
taken the day to take her shopping. He had told her that Steven wanted to take
her, but he had work to do, and Carrie understood.
“Thank you Jay, for everything today,” she said, looking over at
him.
“No problem, it was my pleasure.” He sure could be charming. Just like
Steven. Suddenly she realized she missed Steven, and was looking forward to
spending time with him tonight.
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