Brent, 22-year-old man with no direction, steps out on the front lawn. It's 1:30pm, mostly cloudy, but over 74 degrees. He looks around and doesn't see any of the neighbors outside, as if it's a ghost town. Brent's parents are out, hanging with friends at some stuck-up country club at the outskirts of town. He sits in the patio, on a bench. He still doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. Shall he go full time with his job, bartending in downtown or continue seeking a degree from college?
As he's on the bench brainstorming, a voice of an angel gets Brent's attention.
"Brent are you busy?"
Brent turns to his right, seeing his neighbor Lisa with her head pop out of her front door. Her brown hair is untied like always, skin is pale and hazel eyes shine like wax.
"No Lisa. What's wrong?" Replied Brent.
"Nothing serious, just need some extra hands." Says Lisa.
She vanishes, leaving the front door open for me. Brent enters, closing the door behind me.
"I'm in the kitchen Brent." Says Lisa.
He follows her voice to the kitchen. As He enter, Brent sees a room full of packaged goods all over the counter and kitchen table.
"What's the occasion Lisa?" He asks.
She pulls a sheet of fresh cookies from the oven and places them on the cooling rack.
"Bake sale. I have to get the goodies into the trunk of my car." Replied Lisa.
Lisa is part of the PTA for an elementary school that's 10 blocks down from our homes. She's 40 years old, working part time as a VP for a respectable cable company. She's divorced and has a 17-year-old daughter that's away at college. You could say that she's some sort of philanthropist when it comes to helping kids stay in school. Sometimes, Lisa would mentor some troubled children, especially teens.
She's wearing a white blouse with a light grey blazer, light grey skirt with dark nylon stockings and stiletto heels.
"So where would you like me to start with Lisa?" Brent asks. "
Start with loading the cupcakes into the trunk. Doors are unlocked." Says Lisa.
Brent carries a few boxes of devil's food cupcakes gently to the driveway. He finds a dark Mercedes parked and opens the trunk. Brent gently places the boxes into the left side of the trunk and returns to the kitchen. Lisa is finishing boxing up the cookies as Brent continues loading the trunk with other goodies like blueberry muffins, assorted donuts, some pies, and a small carrot cake. He arranges the goodies in the trunk and returns to grab the boxed cookies. Brent places the cookies on the boxed cupcakes and closes the trunk gently. Brent returns to the kitchen and finds Lisa leaning on the counter.
"So, I guess it's going to be one heck of a bake sale hmmm?" He asks. Lisa smiles, folding her hands.
"Yup, and it's going to be sweet."
She takes her index finger and takes some batter from making devil's food and gives it a taste. Her eyes were deadlocked on his brown eyes.
"Come here." She speaks.
He walks towards her as she draws more batter, putting her finger in his mouth. Brent feels that finger surfing on his tongue. Lisa pulls her finger back.
"This does taste good Lisa." Says Brent.
"Yes, it does Brent." Replied Lisa. "Help me clean up this mess. I have to drive to the school, sell some goodies."
She heads out the back door and he hears the engine roaring. The sound of the car fades and Brent starts to clean the counter. Two hours later, Brent wipes the sweat from his forehead. He browses the kitchen once more, checking to be sure everything is cleaned. No sign of batter, icing or dust. His striped collared shirt is drenched in sweat from the hard work. Brent heads out back, sitting on a chair in the shades. Brent couldn't stop thinking about Lisa giving him that look when she tasted the batter. Was she teasing or being serious with him? Brent closes his eyes, taking a short nap. 30 minutes later, a voice of an angel once again, gets his attention.
"Nice work on the kitchen Brent." He opens his eyes and sees Lisa standing next to him.
"How was it?" He asks.
"Crazy but, sold a lot of goodies." She responds. "Made about a couple hundred dollars. The kids were running around the hallways wild with the parents. The rest of the goodies were given to the parents as snacks for the children later."
She sits next to Brent, letting out a sigh. "You know Brent, I got wet as you sucked the batter from my finger."
Brent raises his eyebrows. "Excuse me?" He replies.
"You heard me." Says Lisa. "I haven't been wet since my divorce."
"But Lisa, you're good friends with my parents. They will go ballistic if they hear you talk like that." Replied Brent.
"And they're not going to know about this chat, are they Brent?" Says Lisa.
"No, I don't sell out friends Lisa." Says Brent.
Lisa opens a few buttons, revealing some cleavage. "Good. I could use a shower after all that hard work." Says Lisa.
She stands up and enters the house. Brent follows her in and waits in the living room. He watches her walking up the stairs and vanishes. He hears a door close and walks up a few flights of stairs. Few minutes later, the sound of water is falling to the ground. Brent heads up towards a closed door which shows that it's the bathroom. He leans on a wall across from the door as the shower continues running.
