"Thanks for calling me, Brian. How is she?" Jenn asked, walking up to the window, watching Laura on the deck. She moved away from the window before Laura could see her. She saw Brian's basketball on the floor and kicked it lightly ahead of her as she walked.
"She's... confused, I guess," Brian said. "Come... sit down, we'll talk," he said, leading Jenn to his dining room table. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat down, kicking the basketball against the leg of the table. Brian continued as he walked to sit down in another chair. "She's got a big choice to make. She likes both Kevin and Nick. And I know for a fact Kevin likes her, he told me so. And Nick, well it's obvious with him. Hell, he may even love her. But now it's up to Laura, the, um, ball is in her court, so to speak," Brian smiled. Jenn sighed heavily, now rolling the basketball around on the floor with her foot. Eager to get her mind off of things, Brian changed the subject. "You play?"
"Play?"
"Yeah, play... as in, play basketball," Brian said, smiling.
Jenn looked up and smiled at him. "Yeah, I've been known to play a little. I haven't for a while, I might be a bit rusty."
Brian stood up and grabbed the basketball from under Jenn's foot. Tucking it under one arm, he extended his hand. "Care to resolve that? Or aren't you up for the challenge? I promise I'll go easy on ya."
Jenn pushed his hand away and knocked the ball out of his arm. "Go easy on me, huh? OK, fine... let's go so I can kick your butt!"
"Ladies first," Brian said smiling as he pointed Jenn in the direction of the back door.
"Now, we've agreed," Kevin said as he and Nick walked up to Brian's door, "that no matter what happens here, that we're ok... right?"
Nick cracked a half-smile. "Yeah, Kev, we're alright. I just want to get this done with, so let's go."
"Alright. Brian said that we should just go right in," Kevin said, opening the door and letting himself and Nick inside. "Brian?" Kevin said, walking into the foyer. "Brian?" he yelled a bit louder as Nick went into his living room. He saw the shadow of someone on the deck, so he took a closer look.
"Hey Kevin, I found Laura," Nick said in a hushed tone, pointing toward the direction of the deck. Kevin walked up as well, and they exchanged glances, took a deep breath, opened the door and walked outside.
"Laura?" Nick said, quietly, but she didn't turn. He walked up alongside her. Kevin did the same, standing on her left, as Nick was on her right. She was looking over the small lake that was behind Brian's house.
"So beautiful," Laura said, as a breeze blew a piece of her hair into her face. Both Kevin and Nick were tempted to brush it out of her eyes, but both refrained.
"Yes, yes it is," Kevin said, never taking his eyes off Laura.
Laura took a deep breath and turned to walk to a deck chair. "Well, let's have this out, come and sit with me," she said, motioning for Nick and Kevin to follow her to the other side of the deck. She took a drink from her glass and cleared her throat as she began.
"After a LONG talk with Brian, I decided that I had a LOT of thinking to do. I'm still not sure what I want, but I do know how I feel about both of you. I like you, both of you, a lot." Laura turned to Nick. "The few times we spent together, we had so much fun, and I appreciated everything you did for me." She then turned to Kevin. "As I did with you, Kevin. You've been there for me the past month, and it's been great. You both are such wonderful guys, and I just don't know how I'm going to make this decision. I--I can't give you decision today, that much I know. But, if it's ok with you, I'd like to continue spending time with you, both of you. What I can promise you is that, I don't want to drag this out any longer then I have to, but yet, I don't want to make a hasty decision."
"So tell us, is there anything that you want from us, anything that we can do to help you decide?" Nick asked, eager to win Laura's affection anyway he could.
Laura sat in silence for a moment, and her eyes got wide and she smiled shyly. "Well..."
"Yes, Laura?" Kevin asked, urging her to go on.
"Well," Laura echoed. "It may seem kinda silly, but... how would you feel about 'courting' me?"
"Courting you?" Nick asked, unsure of what she meant. Kevin had to admit to himself, he wasn't quite sure of what she meant either.
"Yes, 'court' me. Y'know, 'woo' me, and in a way, compete for me." Laura smiled. "Think about it. What's a better way to prove to me which of you I should choose then proving yourself 'worthy?'" Kevin and Nick looked at each other with an unsure look on their faces, but Laura assured them. "Look, I'm not asking you to jump over the moon for me, or shower me with gifts, because I'm not really into material things anyway. I just want you to show me just what I mean to you."
Nick and Kevin looked at each other again and nodded in agreement. "Ok, sounds fair to me. So how long do we 'woo' you?" Nick asked, smirking as he spoke.
"Good question... ummm, how about a month? Can you guys handle a month? Remember, you're not performing any life-threatening feats, so do you think this is fair?"
"I do," Kevin nodded, smiling. Nick nodded in agreement.
"Good. Then let's just let what's happened over the past couple months go, start with a clean slate, and go forward from here. No looking back, no regrets." Everyone agreed. "Great. Now, I'm getting sunburnt, so I'm going inside," Laura said, getting up and walking toward the door.
Kevin flew to his feet and opened the door for Laura. "After you," he said, smiling at Laura as she entered the house.
Nick slid in the door before Kevin could and pulled out a chair at Brian's table for her. "Care for something to drink?" he asked her. Laura shook her head.
"No, thanks." Laura smiled. This might be kinda fun, she thought as Brian and Jenn walked in.
"Hey Rok, how's it goin'?" Nick asked as he and Jenn sat down.
"I just got my ass kicked at basketball, but other then that, great. But nevermind me, how's it goin' in here? Are we straightened out?"
"For the time being," Kevin said, smiling at Laura.
Jenn looked at her sister. "Are we OK?"
Laura nodded. "Of course, you know I can't stay mad at you, baby sister," she said, smiling at Jenn. Jenn sighed, relieved.
Nick smiled. "So, you really kicked his ass, huh?" he asked Jenn, patting her on the shoulder.
"Oh yeah, creamed him," Jenn replied, smirking at Brian. Everyone looked at him, wondering why he was so off on his game.
"What?! She told me she was rusty, so I went easy on her." Brian said, shrugging his shoulders. For the rest of the afternoon, everyone stayed and talked about their eventful day.
