Brian tossed his keys on a small table set against the wall by the front door, that had a beautiful mirror hanging above it. He dropped his bags momentarily and looked around. "TYKE!" he called, "Here boy!" he said, whistling. I head Tyke barking excitedly from upstairs, and he came bolting down the staircase. I smiled as I watched him: yip, yip, yip! he called! "Awwwe, there's my boy! Come see daddy! Come on!" Brian called, stretching his arms out. Tyke came running down the tile, and straight to me, jumping all over my legs.

Brian's arms dropped to his sides. "Oh SURE!" he exclaimed. "NOW I see where your loyalty lies! I'm gone for 2 whole weeks, and do you even care?!?!? Noooooo!" I laughed as Brian picked up his bags with a 'hurumph!' and carried them to the staircase.

"Hey puppy!" I cooed as I knelt down and scratched Tyke. He panted and wagged his tail excitedly. "Oh, you are so cute!" I exclaimed, as he fell to his back and I rubbed his belly. I laughed as he continued to scurry about.

"Wow, Tyke sure likes you!" Brian exclaimed, walking back over to me. "He usually doesn't take up with strangers so quickly... it's amazing he's so friendly!" he said, kneeling beside me and scratching Tyke's ear. "It took him a few months to even get used to Sarah!"

"Really? Wow... he's such a cutie! I can't believe how adorable he is!" I said, watching Brian play with him. I laughed slightly, and stood up, looking around again. "Brian, your house is absolutely beautiful!" I exclaimed. Brian stood up.

"Awe, thanks! I'll give you the grand tour once we carry your bags upstairs," he said. I looked over at him, "Upstairs?" I asked. Brain looked at me, "Yeah! You can't commute all the way down to your parents house... that's 45 minuets away! You can stay up in one of the guest bedrooms," Brian answered.

"Oh Brian, I don't know. I don't want to be any trouble-" I started.

"Don't worry about it! It's no trouble at all; I had planned on you staying here anyway. Besides, I think Tyke likes you!" Brian said, grinning. I smiled at him, "But-" I began. "No but's about it! You're staying!" he said, grabbing my suitcases and carrying them to the stairs.

I smiled. I looked over at the table where Brian had thrown his keys earlier. There were some pictures standing on the table, and I could only assume they were his family. "Is this your family?" I asked.

Brian turned around and looked at me. "Yeah, the first picture is me, my parents, and my brother Harold," he said. He set the suitcases down, and walked back over to me. "And the other one is Kevin's parents- before, you know... his dad died... and my other 2 cousins, Harold, my mom, Kevin and me." He looked rather sad at the mention of his uncle, but he noticed out of the corner of his eye his coat rack knocked over. "What's that doing on the ground?" he said, standing it back upright. He looked over at the table again, and noticed an envelope to which he immediately picked up. "Hmm..." he said, arching his eyebrow and putting on a goofy expression as he opened it.

I laughed at his face, and turned around. While he read the note, I picked up the picture of Kevin's family, and looked at it a little closer as I wandered around. I eventually ended up in Brian's living room, and after I raised my eyes from the picture again, almost choked at what I saw.

Meanwhile, Brian had opened the envelope, and inside was his extra house key and a letter. "Uh-oh," he mumbled to himself- he knew who the letter was from. He read it to himself, and mouthed the words as he read:

Dear Brian,                         5/14

Here's your spare key back.  I figured I wouldn't
be making much use out of it anymore.  Hey,
maybe you can give it to your little skank; I'm 
sure she'd appreciate that!  The rest of your 
stuff is in the mail.  See you around.

Sarah

PS.  Hope you enjoyed your little gift!

Brian couldn't believe it. "Sounds like someone's a little bitter," he exclaimed to himself. "I wonder what she meant by, 'my little gift'?" he wondered, examining the message.

"Brian?" I called from the living room, a little scared. Brian immediately looked up from the note and rushed to the room, worried something was wrong. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the room. I turned and looked at him, as his eyes widened. "Oh my God," he just barely moaned. The entire room was trashed. Things were thrown in every which direction, knocked over, and mutilated. Brian turned the corner and looked in the kitchen, and it was the exact same thing. The entire floor was ruined.