Disclaimer: Nope the Labyrinth isn't mine neither are it's
characters. I lay claim to my originals only. That's why I'm not making
any money off this story hehehe
Chapter 3: Sarah and Elaine
Sarah entered the bookstore ready for the day. It was Friday so she had a couple days off to look forward to. Daire and Darien followed close behind her backpacks in tow. Sarah was an accountant for a large Christian bookstore. She was also the top of the seniority chain having started working as a volunteer when she was fourteen. Then it had just been for community service, but now she enjoyed her job because the store had meaning for her. She'd been a paid employee since sixteen and had managed a college degree through her Aunts help and despite being a single mother. She could provide for herself and her boys fairly well on her own now. Sarah smiled at the thought. Even though she was back on her feet, she highly doubted she could tear her boys away from their Auntie Cat who was more like a Grandmother to them and visa versa. Her employer was very lenient with her because she'd been there so many years and knew the in's and out's of nearly ever job in the store. Because of her job skills and because they were so well behaved, she was allowed to bring her sons in to work with her. For the first few hours they did their schoolwork then, since they seemed to have inherited their mother's love of books, they were allowed to quietly read a book. Sarah home-schooled her boys for a few reasons. She'd grown up in a small town environment, and she didn't want her sons to be tormented because of the circumstances surrounding their birth. She and her Aunt had also wanted to spare the boys from controversial issues the biggest being evolution until the boys were old enough to make informed decisions. She and Auntie Cat had discussed at great length the possibility of allowing the boys to make the choice of whether or not to continue when they reach high school age. As it was, Daire and Darien were not suffering for it and had even started schooling early. The boys were now two grades ahead of where other children their age were. Sarah's boss, Mrs. Rowan, had fallen in love with the twins, as had the rest of the staff including Elaine, her best friend. Sarah would be the first to admit her sons had their moments, but in public their manners were flawless. Mrs. Rowan constantly commented on how much that spoke for Sarah's parenting skills. Sarah simply passed all praise to God and her Aunt. She'd lost count over the years of how many people threatened to adopt the boys.
When they were still very small, Sarah had discovered that Daire and Darien had beautiful soft blond hair. It was like spun gold in the sunlight. She could never bring herself to cut it, and Auntie Cat could never do more than trim it. By now, both boys had blond hair long enough to be pulled back in a ponytail after the fashion of an English gentleman. She'd noticed the color about the same time she noticed one other thing. Both boys had been born with eyes so black the line between the iris and pupil was indistinguishable. As they had grown, however, their right eyes had lightened to a stormy gray. This bothered Sarah a bit. She'd taken the boys to eye specialists, but they all told her the boys' eyes were fine. In fact the boys had exceptional vision beyond most other people to the point of nearly cat-like perception. Most people simply remarked that it added to their charm. She remembered in her dream how the Goblin King had possessed two enchanting yet mismatched eyes. His had been blue though. She shook her head to dispel the thoughts of the Goblin King. He was a fictitious character from a book that was all!
Sarah also loved to allow her boys to do things she'd never been allowed to do. She'd enrolled them both in dance school where they excelled in ballroom and Irish step dance. They were enrolled in a couple of Martial Arts forms where again they excelled. Daire and Darien were also bilingual. While English, with an Irish accent due to their Aunt's accented voice, was their native language, the boys were also fairly fluent in American Sign Language. Their next door neighbor was a prelingually Deaf woman with no one to talk to during the day. Her relationship with the boys was mutually advantageous. While she taught the boys her language, the boys were slowly improving her English writing. Sarah was even learning ASL through her sons since the boys held regular ASL conversations with each other. She knew Daire and Darien sounded like wonder boys, but they were! She herself often couldn't figure out where the boys got all their brainpower.
Elaine saw Sarah enter and waved from the register. Sarah and her boys waved back. As soon as she was in her office, Daire and Darien set to work on their schoolwork. It took the boys only about three hours to complete their work, a fact they loved to remind their public schooled friends of.
"Mommy, is Miss Elaine coming over after work?" Daire asked. People who knew them well knew Daire was the one full of questions. Daire was a people person while Darien preferred to keep to himself.
"Yes, she is, Daire. Now do your schoolwork." Sarah smiled. Both boys were sharp as tacks, but Darien was the studious one.
"Mommy, am I handsome?"
The question caught Sarah off guard. "Why do you ask, Daire?"
"Cause people always tell me that, but I'm not sure whether they mean it or whether they just want me to stop asking them questions." Sarah chuckled quietly.
"Well, don't you worry, Daire. You are very handsome!"
"More handsome than the Goblin King?"
Sarah was dazed. Where had the boys learned about him? The question reminded her of how close the boys were to Jareth. The blond hair, mismatched eyes, sharp masculine features, thin but muscular build...
"Am I?" The question jolted her back to the present.
"Yes, you are more handsome than the Goblin King. How did you find out about him?" Sarah asked. Darien looked up from his books.
"We found a red book named Labyrinth."
"Auntie Cat read it to us a couple years ago. It's our favorite book now. Auntie Cat said you must've had a crush on the king cause there were always hearts around his name." As usual Daire had taken his brother's simple explanation and run with it.
"I see..." was all Sarah said but a blush had claimed her cheeks. She buried her nose in the account books she was balancing to hide it.
"Sarah, you about done slaving over those accounts?" a singsong voice called into her office.
Sarah laughed. "Yes, Elaine, I'm almost done. Why are you really looking forward to dinner?"
"For your Aunt's cooking? Definitely!" Elaine shared in Sarah's mirth. "Seriously though, Joe said he was inviting a friend. I hope you don't mind."
Elaine looked at her friend to gauge her response. Sarah sighed but nodded. "Sure that's fine..."
"Wonderful! So we see you there around six?" Elaine gushed.
"Yeah, that's the plan..." Elaine didn't seem to realize Sarah's sudden lack of enthusiasm.
Great! Another night of being forcibly polite! she thought to herself. She hated when Elaine did this! More than likely, Joe hardly knew the man, but Elaine was trying to play matchmaker again so it was a convenient excuse. Elaine just couldn't seem to understand that she wanted nothing to do with men. She could clearly remember the last time she'd tried to get Elaine to stop matching her up.
"Elaine, you have got to stop doing this!" Sarah had said holding her friend by the shoulders and staring her directly in the eyes.
"But, Sarah, you need to get attached! Your boys need a father figure or even a male role model!"
Sarah turned away in frustration. "Elaine, I am not ready to be attached to anyone! Do you remember why I have two boys who supposedly need a male role model?" Sarah's eyes welled up with tears. "The only men I've ever had in my life have scarred me..."
"You need a man, Sarah..." Elaine watched her friend leaving. "One who will prove to you there are still gentlemen in this world..."
Evidently Elaine still hadn't gotten the message. She wondered what the guy would be like this time!
Dinner was going horribly! Joe's friend was either the king of horrible pickup lines or brain dead extraordinare! She was grateful she had two sons because they had thankfully taken the seats on either side of her! She'd only managed to choke down most of her dinner through the grace of God! The worst thing though was that the man only tolerated Daire and Darien's presence. He wasn't warming up to them at all. After dinner, Sarah had to cut the night short. Joe wisely found a way to get his friend out of the house with the understanding that Sarah would see Elaine safely home. It was starting to storm out, but Sarah and Elaine were soon immersed in conversation.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," Elaine said sadly as they sat on the couch. Daire and Darien were both sprawled out on the floor reading books. "He's not normally like that. I don't know what got into him!"
"Elaine I thought I had been quite clear that there was to be no more matchmaking."
"But, Sarah, you have to at least try to change your perspective on men!"
"No, I do not."
"Oh, come on Sarah! You never had this problem in High School!"
"No, in High School I was simply the dweeb girl no one wanted to go out with because she always had to stay home and take care of her little brother."
"Well, someone captured your heart in High School."
"Oh Heavens! Not this again!"
"Yeah, you remember telling me about that Goblin King guy."
"And I've lived to regret it!"
"Really though you had it bad for him."
"Elaine..." Sarah made a point of looking at her boys.
"They're reading their books!"
The two women heard snickering coming from the general area of the floor.
"Now don't tell me we have to threaten a couple young gentlemen with bedtime!"
"We're reading our books!" Daire protested.
"Then stop listening to the grownups talk!"
The boys buried their noses in their books and Elaine smiled triumphantly at Sarah. Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her friend could be truly incorrigible sometimes.
"So I thought the guy I dreamed up was pretty good looking. I mean I had the book's description of him to work on and all..."
"Aha! I knew it! She is normal after all!"
"Elaine that was years before I got pregnant..." Sarah lowered her voice so the boys wouldn't overhear.
"Sarah, think of your boys though. They're going to eventually miss not having a father in their life just like you've missed having a mother in yours."
"I don't know Elaine. My father was no role model for me. He let my mother get away from him for her career then married a woman I absolutely despised. Finally the man simply didn't care at all that Karen threw me out! I just don't want to make any of those mistakes with Daire and Darien."
"But they aren't already attached to anyone. When your dad married Karen, you were still sore from the loss of your mother."
"I know that, Elaine..."
"Well... Maybe if I met this Goblin King guy, I would know what to look for when I was matchmaking!"
Sarah just laughed. Elaine would never change. What on earth would her friend do if the blue moon came around when she actually did find someone?
"What were those words you said brought him? Hunky guy take me away!"
"Umm I don't think that was it."
"Oh, now I remember! I wish the goblins would come and take us away right now!"
Chapter 3: Sarah and Elaine
Sarah entered the bookstore ready for the day. It was Friday so she had a couple days off to look forward to. Daire and Darien followed close behind her backpacks in tow. Sarah was an accountant for a large Christian bookstore. She was also the top of the seniority chain having started working as a volunteer when she was fourteen. Then it had just been for community service, but now she enjoyed her job because the store had meaning for her. She'd been a paid employee since sixteen and had managed a college degree through her Aunts help and despite being a single mother. She could provide for herself and her boys fairly well on her own now. Sarah smiled at the thought. Even though she was back on her feet, she highly doubted she could tear her boys away from their Auntie Cat who was more like a Grandmother to them and visa versa. Her employer was very lenient with her because she'd been there so many years and knew the in's and out's of nearly ever job in the store. Because of her job skills and because they were so well behaved, she was allowed to bring her sons in to work with her. For the first few hours they did their schoolwork then, since they seemed to have inherited their mother's love of books, they were allowed to quietly read a book. Sarah home-schooled her boys for a few reasons. She'd grown up in a small town environment, and she didn't want her sons to be tormented because of the circumstances surrounding their birth. She and her Aunt had also wanted to spare the boys from controversial issues the biggest being evolution until the boys were old enough to make informed decisions. She and Auntie Cat had discussed at great length the possibility of allowing the boys to make the choice of whether or not to continue when they reach high school age. As it was, Daire and Darien were not suffering for it and had even started schooling early. The boys were now two grades ahead of where other children their age were. Sarah's boss, Mrs. Rowan, had fallen in love with the twins, as had the rest of the staff including Elaine, her best friend. Sarah would be the first to admit her sons had their moments, but in public their manners were flawless. Mrs. Rowan constantly commented on how much that spoke for Sarah's parenting skills. Sarah simply passed all praise to God and her Aunt. She'd lost count over the years of how many people threatened to adopt the boys.
When they were still very small, Sarah had discovered that Daire and Darien had beautiful soft blond hair. It was like spun gold in the sunlight. She could never bring herself to cut it, and Auntie Cat could never do more than trim it. By now, both boys had blond hair long enough to be pulled back in a ponytail after the fashion of an English gentleman. She'd noticed the color about the same time she noticed one other thing. Both boys had been born with eyes so black the line between the iris and pupil was indistinguishable. As they had grown, however, their right eyes had lightened to a stormy gray. This bothered Sarah a bit. She'd taken the boys to eye specialists, but they all told her the boys' eyes were fine. In fact the boys had exceptional vision beyond most other people to the point of nearly cat-like perception. Most people simply remarked that it added to their charm. She remembered in her dream how the Goblin King had possessed two enchanting yet mismatched eyes. His had been blue though. She shook her head to dispel the thoughts of the Goblin King. He was a fictitious character from a book that was all!
Sarah also loved to allow her boys to do things she'd never been allowed to do. She'd enrolled them both in dance school where they excelled in ballroom and Irish step dance. They were enrolled in a couple of Martial Arts forms where again they excelled. Daire and Darien were also bilingual. While English, with an Irish accent due to their Aunt's accented voice, was their native language, the boys were also fairly fluent in American Sign Language. Their next door neighbor was a prelingually Deaf woman with no one to talk to during the day. Her relationship with the boys was mutually advantageous. While she taught the boys her language, the boys were slowly improving her English writing. Sarah was even learning ASL through her sons since the boys held regular ASL conversations with each other. She knew Daire and Darien sounded like wonder boys, but they were! She herself often couldn't figure out where the boys got all their brainpower.
Elaine saw Sarah enter and waved from the register. Sarah and her boys waved back. As soon as she was in her office, Daire and Darien set to work on their schoolwork. It took the boys only about three hours to complete their work, a fact they loved to remind their public schooled friends of.
"Mommy, is Miss Elaine coming over after work?" Daire asked. People who knew them well knew Daire was the one full of questions. Daire was a people person while Darien preferred to keep to himself.
"Yes, she is, Daire. Now do your schoolwork." Sarah smiled. Both boys were sharp as tacks, but Darien was the studious one.
"Mommy, am I handsome?"
The question caught Sarah off guard. "Why do you ask, Daire?"
"Cause people always tell me that, but I'm not sure whether they mean it or whether they just want me to stop asking them questions." Sarah chuckled quietly.
"Well, don't you worry, Daire. You are very handsome!"
"More handsome than the Goblin King?"
Sarah was dazed. Where had the boys learned about him? The question reminded her of how close the boys were to Jareth. The blond hair, mismatched eyes, sharp masculine features, thin but muscular build...
"Am I?" The question jolted her back to the present.
"Yes, you are more handsome than the Goblin King. How did you find out about him?" Sarah asked. Darien looked up from his books.
"We found a red book named Labyrinth."
"Auntie Cat read it to us a couple years ago. It's our favorite book now. Auntie Cat said you must've had a crush on the king cause there were always hearts around his name." As usual Daire had taken his brother's simple explanation and run with it.
"I see..." was all Sarah said but a blush had claimed her cheeks. She buried her nose in the account books she was balancing to hide it.
"Sarah, you about done slaving over those accounts?" a singsong voice called into her office.
Sarah laughed. "Yes, Elaine, I'm almost done. Why are you really looking forward to dinner?"
"For your Aunt's cooking? Definitely!" Elaine shared in Sarah's mirth. "Seriously though, Joe said he was inviting a friend. I hope you don't mind."
Elaine looked at her friend to gauge her response. Sarah sighed but nodded. "Sure that's fine..."
"Wonderful! So we see you there around six?" Elaine gushed.
"Yeah, that's the plan..." Elaine didn't seem to realize Sarah's sudden lack of enthusiasm.
Great! Another night of being forcibly polite! she thought to herself. She hated when Elaine did this! More than likely, Joe hardly knew the man, but Elaine was trying to play matchmaker again so it was a convenient excuse. Elaine just couldn't seem to understand that she wanted nothing to do with men. She could clearly remember the last time she'd tried to get Elaine to stop matching her up.
"Elaine, you have got to stop doing this!" Sarah had said holding her friend by the shoulders and staring her directly in the eyes.
"But, Sarah, you need to get attached! Your boys need a father figure or even a male role model!"
Sarah turned away in frustration. "Elaine, I am not ready to be attached to anyone! Do you remember why I have two boys who supposedly need a male role model?" Sarah's eyes welled up with tears. "The only men I've ever had in my life have scarred me..."
"You need a man, Sarah..." Elaine watched her friend leaving. "One who will prove to you there are still gentlemen in this world..."
Evidently Elaine still hadn't gotten the message. She wondered what the guy would be like this time!
Dinner was going horribly! Joe's friend was either the king of horrible pickup lines or brain dead extraordinare! She was grateful she had two sons because they had thankfully taken the seats on either side of her! She'd only managed to choke down most of her dinner through the grace of God! The worst thing though was that the man only tolerated Daire and Darien's presence. He wasn't warming up to them at all. After dinner, Sarah had to cut the night short. Joe wisely found a way to get his friend out of the house with the understanding that Sarah would see Elaine safely home. It was starting to storm out, but Sarah and Elaine were soon immersed in conversation.
"I'm sorry, Sarah," Elaine said sadly as they sat on the couch. Daire and Darien were both sprawled out on the floor reading books. "He's not normally like that. I don't know what got into him!"
"Elaine I thought I had been quite clear that there was to be no more matchmaking."
"But, Sarah, you have to at least try to change your perspective on men!"
"No, I do not."
"Oh, come on Sarah! You never had this problem in High School!"
"No, in High School I was simply the dweeb girl no one wanted to go out with because she always had to stay home and take care of her little brother."
"Well, someone captured your heart in High School."
"Oh Heavens! Not this again!"
"Yeah, you remember telling me about that Goblin King guy."
"And I've lived to regret it!"
"Really though you had it bad for him."
"Elaine..." Sarah made a point of looking at her boys.
"They're reading their books!"
The two women heard snickering coming from the general area of the floor.
"Now don't tell me we have to threaten a couple young gentlemen with bedtime!"
"We're reading our books!" Daire protested.
"Then stop listening to the grownups talk!"
The boys buried their noses in their books and Elaine smiled triumphantly at Sarah. Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her friend could be truly incorrigible sometimes.
"So I thought the guy I dreamed up was pretty good looking. I mean I had the book's description of him to work on and all..."
"Aha! I knew it! She is normal after all!"
"Elaine that was years before I got pregnant..." Sarah lowered her voice so the boys wouldn't overhear.
"Sarah, think of your boys though. They're going to eventually miss not having a father in their life just like you've missed having a mother in yours."
"I don't know Elaine. My father was no role model for me. He let my mother get away from him for her career then married a woman I absolutely despised. Finally the man simply didn't care at all that Karen threw me out! I just don't want to make any of those mistakes with Daire and Darien."
"But they aren't already attached to anyone. When your dad married Karen, you were still sore from the loss of your mother."
"I know that, Elaine..."
"Well... Maybe if I met this Goblin King guy, I would know what to look for when I was matchmaking!"
Sarah just laughed. Elaine would never change. What on earth would her friend do if the blue moon came around when she actually did find someone?
"What were those words you said brought him? Hunky guy take me away!"
"Umm I don't think that was it."
"Oh, now I remember! I wish the goblins would come and take us away right now!"