"Yeah, babe, I'm finishing up with my dock series, some last minute touch-ups," I called back, over my shoulder, "come on up, I'll be through in a minute."
"Well, don't rush, sweetie, I've got some invoices to punch into the system, and that'll take about 15 minutes or so," her voice closer; glancing over towards the stairwell, she had walked about halfway up, high enough that we could see each other.
"Wanna' grab a po-boy at Mother's, after we're done?" She asked, her chin leaning on her arm on the banister.
"Sounds good to me, baby-doll, I'll be down in a flash," I answered, turning back to my computer screen.
She turned to go back downstairs, and then stopped for a second, and called back to me, "Oh, you told me to remind you to check your date-book for possible Hawaii dates."
Shit! I completely forgot about that.
With Thanksgiving behind us, and Christmas looming large ahead of us, we had been very, very busy at the Gallery, and with Sami's graduation surprise-we already ordered her a car-and Ali's several different boards she served on.
In the middle of all of that, she had asked if I'd made my plans for Hawaii yet; I hadn't and wasn't sure I should this year, with the Gallery opened now, my photo projects, having Sami take over the Gallery managership, yada, yada, yada.
She called me on it.
Ali said, "Bullshit, you're just making excuses, Lynn; you've been able to do this for several years now, so now you're not going to? Bullshit!"
She was right, of course; I was just making excuses, I just don't know why. It had already been determined that Ali could only join me for a week, and while in the past that wouldn't have bothered me, now it did and I don't know why.
"What's the matter, are you afraid that you can't survive a week without my sweet pussy," she chided me one evening, right after we had returned from the Thanksgiving trip to the Twin Cities.
"No, I mean, maybe; Shit, Ali, I don't know," I said in frustration at my own state of confusion.
"I've got an idea that can solve your problem for you," she said to me, her voice full of suspense.
"Okay, lay it on me, Brainiac," I said in reply.
"Seriously?" she questioned.
"Yeah, seriously, I can't seem to make up my mind," I answered, the tone of my voice belying my frustration.
"Okay, here it is, stay with me on this, okay?" she said quickly.
Taking in a deep breath, she said it all very quickly.
"You take Sami with you for the first week, I fill in here at the Gallery, I fly out and she returns for the second week while I'm out there with you; see, I told you I solved your problem."
"Take Sami with me," I said, not believing what I had heard.
"Yes, take Sami with you," she repeated, slowly as if I were slightly less smart than a certified moron.
"And, you'd be okay with that?" I asked her.
"Sweetie, we're both fucking her already, so what is there for me to be okay with?"
What, indeed?
So it was decided that, on top of giving her a car as a graduation present, we were going to send her to Hawaii for a week with me.
Now, all we had to do was to tell Sami.
~
Sami was seriously busy herself in early December with final exams, packing for the move to the manse with us, finding time to return home for Christmas with her family in Jackson, Mississippi; all of those things and also keeping her schedule at the Gallery. Justine and Tiff were working more hours also as we were busy with Christmas season, as well.
Ali and I borrowed a van when it was time for Sami to move out of the dorm, and the three of us had her stuff quickly loaded, and were driving away, back towards the big house.
The plan was for Sami to stay with us for a few months while Sharon found her an affordable apartment for her to move into.
Driving under the portico, I parked the van, shut it off, saying to Ali and Sami, "Screw it, girls, we'll unload in the morning."
"Works for me," they said in unison.
We all quickly showered, settling into the den, one by one, after we finished cleaning up. Ali offered to fix us all Szarac Cocktails, with no argument from either of us.
Cocktails in hand, we air-toasted each other, pulling deeply at the drink.
"So Sami, when do you want to start fulltime at the Gallery?" Ali asked.
"I was thinking the first day after New Year that we're open," she replied.
"How about making in on January fifteenth, instead?" Ali retorted.
Looking at us both with her face scrunched up with confusion, she asked, "Why, is there something wrong?"
"Yeah, there is; you're going to be in Hawaii, with Lynn, for the first ten days of January," Ali said, very matter-of-factly.
The look of confusion spread across her face but before she could say anything, I jumped into the conversation.
"Sami, I go to Hawaii for two weeks every January and have been doing so for several years; Ali can only come out to be with me for the second week and we thought you'd like to join me for the first week," I said, adding, "But, if you don't want to.....", letting my voice trail off.
"Don't want to! Are you out of your fucking mind? I'd love to go to Hawaii with you, but the Gallery, the ...." Her voice cut short by Ali.
"Got the Gallery covered, and the rest of it can wait, okay?"
"You guys are just too fucking good to me; how can I ever repay your kindness?" she finally said, her face smiling at us both.
"Just stay the sweet Sami that we both love so much," Ali finally said in answer.
~
Christmas came and went quickly. We celebrated quietly, at home, just the two of us, exchanging small, personal gifts of deep meaning to us both.
The week before Christmas, however, was busy as hell with last minute buyers, shipments, and all; it was a good season for us at the Gallery.
Driving home from the Gallery, one evening, a couple of days before Christmas, Sami and I shared a joint, both getting fairly stoned, fairly quickly. Driving into the driveway, there was a new import sedan parked under the portico, causing Sami to wonder who was visiting. Stopping behind the sedan, I didn't say anything.
Walking in from the side door, Ali was waiting with glasses of champagne for us all.
"What's the celebration for?" Sami asked, taking the flute from Ali, then accepting Ali's kiss.
"Your graduation present," Ali said, simply, holding up the keys to the sedan in her hand.
Sami just stared, the flute of champagne frozen in mid-air, looking to the both of us as if we were joking.