Unbreakable
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: ER no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
"All I'm saying is maybe you're being a little hard on him" Abby said, throwing a box of ceral into Ria's cart.She saw ice peaking through her amazing violet/green eyes. Ria was very young, barely 27 now, but Abby knew not to take her for granted. Ria was one of the strongest women, strongest person, she'd ever known.
"Perhaps" the young mother said, taking a box from Ailleen's waving hands, "But I can't stand it anymore. Not that the house isn't beautiful, and not that I don't sincerly appreciate Carter's generosity, but I want my own house for goodness sakes! Do you think the kids would like this?" Abby glanced over and saw Ria was holding a can of "unsweetened condensed yams" and laughed.
"I don't think so!" she chuckled and Ria put the can back with a smile of her own.
"Anyway, is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask that I see my husband more than an hour a night before bed, or that he take some time to come see his own kids acomplishments at school?" The whole conversation had started with the arts fair that both Caroline and Frederic had placed in at school, which Luka had been unable to attend because he'd been at work.
"The ER is demanding work. It's not a nine to five job, Ria" Abby tried to defend her friend's husband, "Does Ailleen prefer peas or carrots?"
"Peas" the child's mother answered, as she purused the jarred baby food,"I know that. It's just...well....frustrating is all. I don't know, maybe it's me"
"Maybe" Abby said, and felt the brunt of the cold glare in Ria's eyes for a second before her friend realized that she was joking, then she laughed. Abby wondered for just a second, if maybe, it really was just Ria.
*In a different part of the city...*
"It's huge!" Luka exclaimed as they climbed the steps to the old house. Carter grinned back at him and pulled out the keys.
"I'm sorry I couldn't bring you last week" he said, "We got that car crash in the ER, and things didn't slow down till Sunday" Luka only nodded his understanding. He' d been somewhat dissapointed, and had had to face another week of coldness from his beloved wife. They reached the top of the stairs and Carter opened the door. The house was situated in the middle of a busy commercial area, the only house on the block, and it was snuggled in between two office buildings. It was an old house, looking like it had probably been the height of fashion in the mid 1800's, but it was impressive. As they entered, Luka noted that it was just as impressive inside as out. The foyer alone was the size of his old apartment's entire downstairs area. Huge mirrors hung on either wall between two sets of heavy wooden doors with ornate carvings depicting a garden. A single unlit chandelier hung from the slightly domed cealing, which Carter flicked on. He pushed the first set of doors on the left open and led Luka into the first room. It had probably been a sitting room at one time, with a large window seat that looked out onto the busy street and victorian sette's lining the walls. It opened up into another room, much larger, which the second left hand doors opened into. They moved into that room and Luka noticed it seemed a bit more modern. A fireplace sat in the middle of the left hand wall, while the back wall seemed to be made entirely of a sliding glass door. A bar type counter seperated a large modern kitchen from the empty room, and Luka noticed a spiraling staircase in the back corner of the kitchen.
"Come on, I'll show you the rest" Carter said (and his voice seemed to echo in the enormity) and Luka followed him through the wooden doors, across the foyer, and into the right part of the house. In this room, Luka could see how aged the house really was. The carpet was thin and holed in places, and the wall paper was faded and peeling. A wall was on his direct left with a door on the left and a staircase leading up on the right. The room extended to the front of the building where another window seat looked out into the daylight.
"The door goes out into a laundry room, which opens into the garage" Carter indicated the door, then started up the steps.
"There's two more floors. The second has three bedrooms and a full bathroom, and the third has four smaller bedrooms and another full bathroom. There's a half bath down behind the kitchen too." he told Luka as he guided him up the stairs. They looked into each room, and Luka found more evidence of age, but all in all everything seemed perfect. As they decended the stairs, Luka realized it was pretty centralized as well, close to Caroline and Frederic's school and not to far from work. Plus, it was big enough that Ria could run her own practice out of it.
"It's almost too good to be true" he said aloud to his friend who was locking the door again.
"It's about to get better" Carter answered, "I own it. I didn't know it until just recently. Gamma's lawyer found the deed under a stack of papers. It needs some work, but I bet the rent wouldn't be too high" Luka was literally reeling with the good news, "I'll even let it go towards buying it" Now all Luka could do was shake his head at his good fortune.
"I don't know what to say" he said. Carter clapped him on the back.
"Say, 'Ria, I found us a house!'"
The following story is under the sole ownership and copyright of J.L. Scott. Unauthorized copying and/or use is actionable in a court of law.
To borrow a phrase: ER no mine, no permission, no money, no sue...please?
"All I'm saying is maybe you're being a little hard on him" Abby said, throwing a box of ceral into Ria's cart.She saw ice peaking through her amazing violet/green eyes. Ria was very young, barely 27 now, but Abby knew not to take her for granted. Ria was one of the strongest women, strongest person, she'd ever known.
"Perhaps" the young mother said, taking a box from Ailleen's waving hands, "But I can't stand it anymore. Not that the house isn't beautiful, and not that I don't sincerly appreciate Carter's generosity, but I want my own house for goodness sakes! Do you think the kids would like this?" Abby glanced over and saw Ria was holding a can of "unsweetened condensed yams" and laughed.
"I don't think so!" she chuckled and Ria put the can back with a smile of her own.
"Anyway, is that too much to ask? Is it too much to ask that I see my husband more than an hour a night before bed, or that he take some time to come see his own kids acomplishments at school?" The whole conversation had started with the arts fair that both Caroline and Frederic had placed in at school, which Luka had been unable to attend because he'd been at work.
"The ER is demanding work. It's not a nine to five job, Ria" Abby tried to defend her friend's husband, "Does Ailleen prefer peas or carrots?"
"Peas" the child's mother answered, as she purused the jarred baby food,"I know that. It's just...well....frustrating is all. I don't know, maybe it's me"
"Maybe" Abby said, and felt the brunt of the cold glare in Ria's eyes for a second before her friend realized that she was joking, then she laughed. Abby wondered for just a second, if maybe, it really was just Ria.
*In a different part of the city...*
"It's huge!" Luka exclaimed as they climbed the steps to the old house. Carter grinned back at him and pulled out the keys.
"I'm sorry I couldn't bring you last week" he said, "We got that car crash in the ER, and things didn't slow down till Sunday" Luka only nodded his understanding. He' d been somewhat dissapointed, and had had to face another week of coldness from his beloved wife. They reached the top of the stairs and Carter opened the door. The house was situated in the middle of a busy commercial area, the only house on the block, and it was snuggled in between two office buildings. It was an old house, looking like it had probably been the height of fashion in the mid 1800's, but it was impressive. As they entered, Luka noted that it was just as impressive inside as out. The foyer alone was the size of his old apartment's entire downstairs area. Huge mirrors hung on either wall between two sets of heavy wooden doors with ornate carvings depicting a garden. A single unlit chandelier hung from the slightly domed cealing, which Carter flicked on. He pushed the first set of doors on the left open and led Luka into the first room. It had probably been a sitting room at one time, with a large window seat that looked out onto the busy street and victorian sette's lining the walls. It opened up into another room, much larger, which the second left hand doors opened into. They moved into that room and Luka noticed it seemed a bit more modern. A fireplace sat in the middle of the left hand wall, while the back wall seemed to be made entirely of a sliding glass door. A bar type counter seperated a large modern kitchen from the empty room, and Luka noticed a spiraling staircase in the back corner of the kitchen.
"Come on, I'll show you the rest" Carter said (and his voice seemed to echo in the enormity) and Luka followed him through the wooden doors, across the foyer, and into the right part of the house. In this room, Luka could see how aged the house really was. The carpet was thin and holed in places, and the wall paper was faded and peeling. A wall was on his direct left with a door on the left and a staircase leading up on the right. The room extended to the front of the building where another window seat looked out into the daylight.
"The door goes out into a laundry room, which opens into the garage" Carter indicated the door, then started up the steps.
"There's two more floors. The second has three bedrooms and a full bathroom, and the third has four smaller bedrooms and another full bathroom. There's a half bath down behind the kitchen too." he told Luka as he guided him up the stairs. They looked into each room, and Luka found more evidence of age, but all in all everything seemed perfect. As they decended the stairs, Luka realized it was pretty centralized as well, close to Caroline and Frederic's school and not to far from work. Plus, it was big enough that Ria could run her own practice out of it.
"It's almost too good to be true" he said aloud to his friend who was locking the door again.
"It's about to get better" Carter answered, "I own it. I didn't know it until just recently. Gamma's lawyer found the deed under a stack of papers. It needs some work, but I bet the rent wouldn't be too high" Luka was literally reeling with the good news, "I'll even let it go towards buying it" Now all Luka could do was shake his head at his good fortune.
"I don't know what to say" he said. Carter clapped him on the back.
"Say, 'Ria, I found us a house!'"