Samantha was enjoying her Friday evening flipping through fashion magazines and listening to her ipod as she sat on the living room couch but her great even was short-lived when her father came into the living room with his new girlfriend Kathleen. Samantha smirked and rolled her eyes before dropping the magazine on the table top and starting upstairs. She never poked into her father's personal affairs. She was mature enough to know that daughters shouldn't impose. She remembered how she hated it when his father meddled into her business, albeit it was for her own good, it only made her deaf to reason. So she knew if she stopped him from seeing Kathleen, like an adolescent kid, the more he would do it. And though she was tolerant of Kathleen's presence she was never amicable with the situation.
"Hey, Sam, where are you going? You haven't said hello to Kathleen. We'll be watching the Lakers Game. Why don't you join us," said Tony as he hung his coat on the rack.
Samantha stopped half-way on the stairs and turned back. "I'm kind of tired. I had a long day," she replied indifferently.
"But Sam we hardly saw each other this week," protested Tony.
"I wasn't the one who's preoccupied," she replied, unable to conceal her annoyance.
"Ay-oh! What's with the attitude?" asked Tony as she approached her daughter on the stairs.
"No attitude, dad. I'm sorry. Ughm.. just tired…" she said and kissed her father on the cheek which made Tony's face lit up with a pleased smile.
"I love you, dad," said Sam.
"I love you, too, honey," replied Tony as he pat his daughter's back.
"Uhm… just be careful with the popcorn crumbs… and use a coaster on your can of drinks. It took Angela four hours to clean the living room," explained Sam.
"Four hours!" exclaimed Tony incredulously.
Kathleen frowned and looked at Tony inquiringly. "Angela is cleaning the house?"
"Yeah. She'd be doing the house work while I finish my internship," replied Tony with a smile.
"But that's a whole semester…" said Kathleen.
"Yeah, isn't that nice of her? She knew I had to concentrate on my internship and won't be able to take care of the house so she volunteered to do it," said Tony as he switched on the television.
"What about her agency?" asked Kathleen, a bit apprehensive about the arrangement.
"It pays to be the owner. She has managers for the agency and her mother is there, and Sam helps out with some admin work when she's free, and Angela still drops by the office occasionally to sign papers and check on reports."
"Your boss agreed on menial tasks in order to support you?" said Kathleen suspiciously, emphasizing on the word boss.
"Well, she's an understanding boss. And a very good friend," explained Tony as he shove some popcorn in his mouth.
I don't like the sound of that, thought Kathleen as she watched Tony's amused expression.