Laurie

The afternoon breeze rustled the trees.
"Oh," I thought for a minute as my eyes followed a robin to the nearest tree. I turned back to him as he quickly shifted his eyes away from mine. He turned back to me.

"I'm Luke," he extended his hand. "You're..."

"Laurie," I smiled at him, slightly embarrassed for acting so unfriendly. "Did you just move in?"

He nodded and looked back toward his house as a woman with short black hair carried a large box into their house.

"I better go help my mom some more," he said. I blinked a few times before nodding.

"I'm sorry I'm just upset right now." I told him. He nodded.

"If I come by later to chat will it be okay? Maybe you could give me a tour of this area." He suggested. My face broke into a small smile.

"Sure."

"Nice to meet you." He took a few steps away from me before pivoting back around to his house.

After he left I sat there thinking about my new neighbor. He was very good looking. His dark brown, short hair was no longer than an inch. He looked at me with such sincerity in his green eyes. After pondering his looks for a moment, I decided to go back into the house and choose something different to wear to distract me. The inside of the house rang with a deafening silence. I felt like tiptoeing as I made my way through the house. When I reached the landing, I heard my mother speaking, but nobody else was with her. 'She must be on the phone,' I thought. Passing her room I heard her mention the words dinner and reservation. Who was she going out with?

When I got to my room I decided I would wear one of my summer dresses. I chose my light yellow with a pink and blue plaid design that tied around the back of my neck. After applying some make-up and slipping on my matching flip-flops, I decided to see Momma. Her bedroom door was open. A quick glance of her room let me think she already left. I checked the clock. It was not even dinner time.

"Just come in and I'll pour you a glass." I heard Momma say from the kitchen area. Walking in, I saw Momma and the black-haired woman I saw next door.

"Hello," She said. Looking closer I saw she had brown eyes, a dainty nose, and a light complexion. She looked to be about in her early 40s, if she was even that old.

"Sweetie, this is Ella. She is our new neighbor." Momma explained as she handed Ella a glass of her lemonade.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Laurie." I smiled at her.

"So I've heard," She smiled at Momma. "I see you have met my son already. I saw him leave, but I didn't know where he went. When he came back he had a tiny grin set on his face. Don't tell him I told you." She laughed. I felt my face blush. 'He was thinking about me already?' I thought.

"Oh?" I glanced at Momma who gave me a curious look.

"I didn't know you met our neighbor, Laurie," Momma tilted her head and sipped her lemonade, a questioning look in her eyes.

"I should get back, but after moving boxes all day I am not looking forward to unpacking them all." Ella exclaimed with a sigh.

"Did your son say anything about going out tonight?" I finally asked her. She turned to me.

"Yes, I believe he said you were going to show him around the town." She smiled. "He seems fond of you already. I'm glad. He was so upset about our moving. My husband, you see, was promoted to an office out here on the east coast." She explained to Momma who nodded and put her empty glass on the counter.

"He was so down, and I'm glad to see him not brooding for once." Ella stood.

"I should get back. Your daughter is very pretty, Janaya." She turned to me. "I'll send Luke over. He could use a break." I smiled and butterflies began dancing all up and down my stomach.

"Okay," I replied. I let a sigh escape as Momma walked Ella outside. When Momma returned she grinned at me and placed her hand on her hip.

"So, what's he look like?" She put her hands on her hips.

"I don't know, cute." I shifted my eyes. "Very cute." I looked back up at her and sighed. "Okay! He's extremely handsome! He's got gorgeous eyes and the kindest voice. I don't know much else." Momma kept grinning. Suddenly she looked at the clock.

"Oh my, he's going to be here any minute." She began walking out of the room.

"Who is, Momma?" I followed her out of the room as she began jogging up the stairs.

"Your Uncle Seth is taking me out to dinner." She walked into her room. I followed her. She walked to her closet and brought out a strapless, crimson dress. I walked to her vanity mirror as she slipped into the dress.

"Help me zip up, honey?" I placed a blue eye shadow down and helped her zip her dress. "Thank you, sweetie."
She walked over to the vanity and began applying her foundation, eye shadows, eye-liner, mascara, blush, and lipstick. As she dabbed her lips on a tissue the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." I hurried out of the room and down the stairs. When I opened the door I was taken aback. My Uncle Seth was dressed in a black suit with a crimson tie. His hair was gelled neatly, and I could faintly smell his cologne, which smelled very good. I almost glared at him.

"Hey, Laurie. How are you? Is your mother ready?" He asked as he stepped inside.

"You're taking my mother out for dinner? Does my daddy know?" I nearly shot at him.

He nodded, "Yes I'm taking her out to cheer her up. I'm sure she's told him." We both looked up as Momma walked to the landing of the stairs.

"Wow," I heard Uncle Seth mutter under his breath. I spun around and glared at him, but he kept watching Momma.
She was stunning. I knew one day I wished I looked at beautiful as she did. Everyone always said I looked just like her at my age, especially Daddy.

"Why isn't Daddy going?" I asked them when Momma approached us.

"He had to do some work at the office, Laurie." Momma turned in a circle. "How do I look?"

"Absolutely stunning." He held out his arm for Momma, and she hesitantly took it.

"Don't be home too late, sweetie. I might not be home for a while, but I will call." She kissed me on the forehead as Uncle Seth opened the front door.

"I love you. Have fun." She told me.

"Okay, I love you, too." I told her. I wanted to be angry at them for going out and at Momma for seeming happy without Daddy, but I thought she deserved it from all she was going through.

As soon as they left, Luke approached the front porch.

"Hey," He said looking at Momma and Uncle Seth as they waved and drove away.

"Hi, you can come in while I get my purse if you want." I smiled at him, those butterflies dancing around again.

"Nice house you have here," He stated as he walked into the foyer and looked up at the chandelier. "We don't even have one of those in our foyer, yet."

As he began looking around the front living room, I scurried up the stairs and into my room. I walked straight ahead, past the doorway to my bathroom, past my closet and to the right where my queen-sized bed was. Hung over my left bedpost was my clutch bag. Downstairs, I found Luke walking around the dining room table toward the kitchen. He was running his left hand over the glass on the table. I took a second to notice his appearance before he noticed I had returned. His emerald polo accented his eyes, and even his dark brown hair. He wore a navy pair of slacks, and navy Birkenstock shoes. My eyes rose back up to his face as my eyes met his. I smiled and turned away slightly embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to stare," I began.

"No, it's fine, really." He grinned. "Like what you see?"

My mouth almost fell agape. "We just met, and I mean..." I hit my knee against the side of a dining room chair. I felt my nostrils flair in frustration. He raised his hands.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that."

I looked up, and both of us grinned at each other. I felt those butterflies again, only by this time I had grown accustomed to this new feeling. There was just something about...

"So tell me, why were you so upset when I first met you?" I snapped away from my thoughts and glanced back up at him. He walked over to me with his arms crossed, but such a gentle expression on his face.

"I was upset because my parents aren't doing so well, I think." I confessed. I walked over to the table in the kitchen and rolled out a seat for me to sit on. I sighed.

"Oh, I see." He came over and leaned against the counter adjacent to where I was sitting. Suddenly the door to the rear entrance slammed shut. A small screech escaped from me, and Luke and I looked at each other.

"Anyone here?" Daddy walked into the kitchen and set down his briefcase on the table.

"Hi, Daddy. This is our new neighbor Luke." I said nodding at Luke. Luke walked over to him and shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Luke stood next to me. Daddy gave us a curious expression.

"What is it, Daddy?" I didn't like the way he was looking at us, but not really at us. He turned back to me with a sad smile.

"I told you your mother and I were next door neighbors when we were younger, didn't I?"

I shook my head. I didn't know this. I looked at Luke and my face flushed. Were the butterflies in my stomach trying to tell me Luke was part of my destiny, or is this an overreaction?