"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.