::~~:: SOAP OPERA ::~~::
Seven
The next week went on like the many before it. Jody woke up, took a shower, and ate breakfast. She drove Nick and Michelle to school, then came home. She'd take care of her mom, the dogs, and sometimes the shopping and cooking. Nick and Michelle rode the bus home, where Jody would be waiting. She'd drive them where ever they wanted to go, and then they had dinner. After dinner was when Jody usually did her dancing. Then she'd to go bed and do it all again the next day.
That Friday was Jody's 21st birthday. Mr. Sawyer insisted that Jody had the day to herself. Jody took the opportunity and went to see and movie and go shopping for herself. When she got home, she called Eva and talked to her for a few hours.
When Nick and Michelle got home, Jody took them out to rent some movies and get frozen ice cream for after dinner. Nick settled in the den on the first floor to watch his movie, while Michelle went to the small den on the 3rd floor to watch her movie. Jody checked on her mom, them went to watch her movie in her room.
Halfway through her movie, Jody heard the doorbell. Jody knew that no one else would bother to get it, so she stopped her movie and ran down the 2 flights of stairs. She swung open the front door.
Charlie was standing outside, holding a bouquet of pink thornless roses (I forgot what they are called). He offered the roses to Jody and said, "Happy Birthday Jody."
Jody took the bouquet and set the down quickly on a small table. She flung her arms around Charlie and hugged him tightly.
"What on Earth are you doing here?" Jody stepped back.
Charlie smiled and joked, "Are you going to let me in?"
"Oh, right, of course." Jody let Charlie in and shut the heavy door. "Now, what are you doing here? I can't believe you still remembered my birthday!"
"May 22nd- Jody Sawyer's birthday. How could I forget?"
Jody smiled and looked him over. "You look great, where'd you get that great tan?"
"ABC toured Hawaii about 2 weeks ago."
"Oh. Um, sorry I didn't do anything for your 21st birthday back in February. I just figured-"
"Don't explain, it's fine, really. I had enough birthday to last me until next year."
Jody smiled. "Oh really, why's that?"
"Erik, Eva, and a bunch of them threw my this huge party. And I swear, there must have been 50 cases of anything with alcohol. It was insane."
"Sounds fun. All I've gotten to do was see a movie, go shopping, and call Eva."
"Well, come on then. Even though I have no idea where anything is, I'm sure we can find something fun to do."
"Well, that does sound really great. But, I dunno. My mom… well, I really should stay here with Michelle and Nick. But, um, it'd probably be ok if we went to walk the dogs."
Charlie shrugged. "Ok, sounds great."
Jody smiled excitedly. "Ok! Just let me put these beautiful flowers in some water and get the dogs. Stay here!" Jody picked up the roses and ran into the kitchen.
Several minutes later Jody came back, pulling two dogs already on their leashes over to Charlie. She handed on of the leashes to Charlie.
"You can walk Nick and Michelle's corgi. His name is C.C."
"What does that stand for?"
"Uh, Captain Carpool. Don't ask, long story."
Charlie smiled and opened the front door. "Ok. And who do you have there?"
Jody walked outside and slammed the door shut behind her. "This is my dog, Rascal." Jody noticed a blue car in their driveway. "Oh, you drove he whole way here?"
"No, I flew. I just rented that car at the airport. By the way, whatever happened to Shoelace?"
"I brought her down here with me, but we quickly found out that both Nick and Michelle are allergic to cats. So I gave I gave her to my friend Abbey. Then Abbey moved away and took Shoelace with her. So, she's somewhere in London. Either that or dead."
"London? That's a long move."
"Yeah… Abbey's goal in life is to date a man from every continent."
Charlie laughed. "That's pretty interesting." Charlie sighed and glanced at Jody. "I-I've missed you Jody."
Jody looked at him and smiled. "I've missed you too Charlie, so much."
Charlie took her free hand and held it loosely as they walked around the block.
