Decode

“Now when we get out, there’s going to be a bunch of screaming. That’s normal so don’t freak out.” he said. I nodded to everything he told me. With one last deep breath, he opened the taxi door and got out. I followed quickly behind him.

“Oi Rob!” she screamed. As I got out of the car, I saw a woman mauling Rob. I wasn’t sure if I should help or not, so I just stood there, confused.

“Hey Mum.” he said. This took me by surprise at first, but then I realized it was appropriate for mothers to miss their children. Their very perverted children. I smiled as thoughts filled my head.

“Brooke,” Rob called. I was still smiling as I looked up, “This is my mother, Clare.” I stuck my hand out for a handshake, “Mum, this is a good friend of mine. Her name is Brooke.”

Before I knew it I was being mauled too. Rob’s mother put her arms around me and squealed, “Oh this is so wonderful. Robert, you’ve never brought a woman home.”

“Oh it’s not like that.” Rob and I said in unison. Clare released from the hug and eyed us, “Yes, well. It’s a pleasure to have you here.” she smiled.

“Thank you. It’s an honor to be here.” I replied. Rob and I took our bags in the house and up the stairs.

“Alright Brooke, you can sleep in my sister’s room. She’s off in Germany doing some sort of music thing.” Rob told me. He directed me to her room and smiled at me before he said, “My room is just down the corridor. If you need anything, feel free to just walk right in.”

I smiled, “I’ll knock first.”

He rolled his eyes and said, “That’s rubbish. I’m in my Mum’s house.” I laughed as he walked away. I turned around to work on my suitcase.

About an hour later, I had everything put away and situated. I didn’t want to barge in on some family greeting time, so I stayed up in Lizzy’s room and stared out the window. London was so beautiful. The smell was so heavenly. Trees below me were swaying in the slight breeze as the sun was heading down over the hills. It cast lovely colors of pink, purple, orange, and yellow. I contently sighed and lay my head against the window.

I heard a squeak in the floor and turned around, startled. It was Rob.

“Oh, hey.” I said, “You scared me.”

He let out a soft giggle, “Sorry.”

There was a moment of silence where we both enjoyed the scene.

“Did you have a nice greeting with your family?” I asked. He laughed, “Yeah. Reminds me of old times.”

“That’s good.” I smiled.

“I hated it.” he said. I made a face, “No, Brooke. They wouldn’t stop asking questions.”

“Well, they haven’t seen you in a while. I’m sure they just miss you. My parents do the same thing.”

“They want to talk to you.” he told me. I giggled, “Really?”

He nodded, “Yeah I’m pretty sure their exact words were ‘where’s your friend with that pretty little face.’.”

“Wow, well that’s nice of them.” I said, “I guess I should go down there. I wasn’t meaning on being anti-social, I figured you guys wanted some alone time.”

“That’s why you’re so amazing, Brooke.” he said, holding out his arms for me to go downstairs.