Chapter Six – Moving Out
A week later, London got home from school. She had considered what Maddie had said and realized it might be a good thing if she moved in with her step-mom. While she didn't want to leave the hotel, she knew that it could be a change for the better if she moved in. It would give her a chance to get to know her step-mom better. She decided to call Brandi to ask her if she could move in.
"Hello, London," Brandi said answering her phone.
"Hi Brandi," London replied.
"Why are you calling me?"
"Maddie and I hung out last week. She and I talked about my father. She thought it might be a good idea if I moved in with you. I've considered it, and I think she might be right. As much as I love living at this hotel, I think it's time for a change. I don't really know you and I think that it would give me a chance to get to know you better. So can I move in with you?"
"This comes as quite a surprise, considering how mad you were when I wanted you to move in with your father and I, but if this is what you truly want, then yes, you can."
"Ok. So when should I start moving my stuff to your house?"
"That's up to you... If you don't want to move in for a few weeks, that's fine."
"Ok. Oh, and I just thought of something."
"I'm listening."
"If I move, will I still be able to go to my school?"
"Of course. My house is only about fifteen minutes away from the hotel, so it won't take you much longer to get to your school from my house than it does from the hotel."
"Oh. That's good. I didn't want to have to switch schools. I have quite a few good friends at my school."
"I completely understand. Anything else?"
"Uh, yeah. I was wondering if I'd be allowed to keep Ivana?"
"Your dog?"
"Yeah."
"I don't see why not..."
"Yay!"
"I mean it wouldn't be right of me to separate you from her. How long have you had Ivana?"
"Dad bought her for me for my twelfth birthday."
"Oh that must have been a great present!"
"Yeah. It was the best one I've ever gotten."
"So... You're 17 now, right?"
"Uh... yeah."
"Alright then. I also have one more condition. You need to take care of Ivana yourself, and not leave me to do it."
"I already do that."
"You take her on walks?"
"Yes. Well – except for the last few weeks. Since I can't leave the hotel, I've had one of the people who work here take her on walks."
"Oh. Ok. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye," London said. London then ordered dinner through room service and ate it when it arrived. She then went through some of her closets and took out stuff that she never wore. She then went downstairs and asked Arwin if he had a few empty cardboard boxes she could use. He gave her a few of them that had held appliances. She stacked them together, thanked Arwin, and went back up to her suite. She folded the clothes that she was getting rid of and put them into the boxes. She then put the boxes next to her dresser. She then got ready for bed. At 10:00, she fell asleep.
The next day was Friday. When she came back to the hotel, she went to her suite and did her homework. She then ate an early dinner. She then went through her closets (as she hadn't finished the night before). She finished completely at 9:30. She put the clothes she didn't want into the remaining of the boxes Arwin had given her. She then got ready for bed and watched television. At 11:00, she fell asleep.
"Hey Maddie, "London said walking over to the candy counter on the next Wednesday after school.
"Hi London," Maddie said.
"Any chance you want to hang out today?"
"Uh, yeah. That'd be cool. I get off work at 6:00. Do you want to hang out then?"
"Yeah. See you then," London said, walking to the elevator.
"Two and half hours later, London had finished her homework, taken a half-hour nap, fed Ivan and ordered dinner for herself and Maddie. At 6:10, Maddie arrived. Shortly afterwards, room service came with the food London had ordered.
"I'm moving in with Brandi," London said while they were eating.
"Oh?" Maddie said.
"I thought about what you said and figure you might be right."
"Oh. So are you excited or nervous or...?"
"Both. I'm sad to leave the hotel but I'm excited to find out what is going to happen. Moving in with Brandi could be a really good thing for me."
"Yeah. I can see why. Maybe she can even get you to not shop as much..."
"Why would she want or need to do that?"
"You shop a lot. Too much probably."
"Really? And that's a bad thing?"
"Uh yes. You shop more than anyone else I know! Most people would not be able to afford to shop as much as you do."
"Ahhh... But I'm rich!"
"Yes... That you are. But your father even knew that this is a problem."
"Huh?"
"Oh. That's right. You don't remember. A few months ago, your father had noticed how much you shop and had asked you to cut down on it. You asked me to help you and I did."
"And then I got a call from my father, and took your purse with my credit cards. I guess I remember now."
"That also showed that you shop for the wrong reasons. Whenever you're hurting or upset you try to cover it up by shopping."
"Ok then."
"So when are you moving in with Brandi?"
"She didn't specify when I should move in. She said I could move in when I wanted to."
"Oh."
"So I'm going to move in when I am ungrounded."
"Alrighty then."
"I've already started preparing to move though."
"Really?"
"Yup. And I took another one of your suggestions... I have gone through my closets and I have picked out the stuff I don't want."
"Oh."
"And, you can look through the stuff I don't want to see if there's anything you want."
"Yay. When?"
"Tonight. Actually, in my room, next to the TV, there is a large pile of boxes. Go get them. Those are the clothes I don't want anymore."
"Ok then," said Maddie, happily. For then next half-hour Maddie went through the boxes. She used two of the boxes that London had used to hold the unwanted clothing.
"S what should I do with the rest of it?" London asked.
"If I were you I'd take it to a consignment store," replied Maddie.
"A what?"
"A consignment store. They will resell the clothing, and give you a portion of the price they are going to sell it at."
"Oh. I see."
"Some stores send the money to you once they have sold the clothing. Others give you the money for the clothing when you bring it to them."
"Ok. So where is one of these stores?"
"There's one about fifteen minutes from here. It's called Resail Retale. They give the money up front."
"Oh."
"Do you want me to drive you to the store?"
"Yeah. That might be a good idea. I do tend to get lost easily! When I'm not grounded, we can go on a day when your free."
"Alright then. I have to go soon, because I have to take care of my pest of a little brother. Thank you for the clothes!"
"You're welcome. See ya later!"
"Bye," Maddie said, walking out of the suite, carrying the two boxes of clothing she had gotten earlier that night.
"Hello Maddie," greeted Mr. Moseby as she walked into the lobby.
"Hello, Mr. Moseby," Maddie replied.
"What's in those boxes?" Mr. Moseby inquired.
"Clothes. London was getting rid of some clothes she didn't want and she let me look through them to see if there was anything I wanted."
"Hmm... That doesn't sound like London..."
"I suggested it to her a couple of weeks ago, and she took my suggestion."
"Oh. So where'd you get the boxes from?"
"London. She had put the clothes she didn't want in them. I only took enough clothing to fill two boxes... There was five boxes of clothing I didn't take."
"Oh. What's she going to do with those?"
"When she's not grounded anymore, we're going to take them to Resail and Retale."
"What is that?"
"It's a consignment store. It's about fifteen minutes from here."
"Oh. How is London, anyways? Is she frustrated that she can't go shopping?"
"Yah, but I think she's taking it pretty well. She seems pretty happy and content."
"Oh. Well, that's good. I've been kind of surprised she hasn't tried to sneak out of the hotel."
"Yeah. I guess you could expect that, but London can surprise you sometimes. I didn't expect her to take my suggestion to go through her closets."
"Has she talked to you at all about her father?"
"Uh, yeah actually."
"What'd she say? Did she tell you why she didn't go to the funeral?"
"In a roundabout way. She said that she didn't 'feel' like going. I knew this wasn't the entire reason."
"You thought she was avoiding her father's death."
"Yeah. She said that she didn't really care about her father. She talked about how she wasn't very close to him; How he married and divorced women without considering her feelings; And how she never met any of his wives, except for Brandi and her mother, who she rarely sees anyways. She eventually admitted that she does miss her father, despite everything that had happened."
"Oh."
"Well I'll see you later. I have to babysit my annoying little brother."
"Alright then. See you tomorrow!" Mr. Moseby said as Maddie walked away.
"Hello Maddie," Esteban said to Maddie, as she walked by.
"Hi Esteban," Maddie replied, quickly.
"What's in those boxes?"
"Some clothes London gave me."
"Oh."
"Bye! I have to get home to babysit my brother," Maddie said walking out. Maddie then went to her car and drove home.
"Grandma, I'm home!" Maddie yelled entering her house, and putting the boxes of clothes in her room.
"Madeline, you were supposed to be home ten minutes ago!" her grandma scolded.
"I'm sorry!" Maddie replied. "I got held up at the hotel. Mr. Moseby wanted to talk to me."
"And before that?"
"After work, I decided to hang out with London."
"Oh. Well I'm late to Bridge. Good-bye! Have fun babysitting Liam," Maddie's grandma said, walking out the door.
Fun? Yeah right, thought Maddie. I could swear that Liam's only purpose for being on this planet is to bug me.
"Liam! Bedtime!" Maddie yelled at her pest of a little brother, who was watching television. Maddie was sitting at the dining room table doing her homework.
"I don't want to!" Liam replied, defiantly.
"Go to bed, Liam!" Maddie repeated.
"No!"
"If you don't go to bed right now, I'm telling grandma about this."
"She isn't going to do anything about it."
"If I were you, I'd want to avoid even the possibility of getting grounded."
"Fine! I'll go to bed! I wasn't interested in my TV show, anyways!" he said, stomping off to his room.
"Hello, grandma!" Maddie said when her grandma walked in an hour later. "How was Bridge?"
"Eh... I won one round and lost two rounds," her grandma replied. "How did babysitting Liam go?"
"He watched TV until 9:30, when I told him it was bedtime. He was defiant until I threatened to tell you. He then went to bed."
"Oh. Well, I'm going to bed. Don't stay up too late, okay?"
"Uh yeah. I just have to finish my math homework. Then I'm going to bed."
"Alright then. Goodnight," Maddie's grandmother replied, walking off to her bedroom. Maddie then finished her math homework and went to bed.