"And I waste my time on no one. And you really think I care." - silverchair, "Satin Sheets"
She tried to ignore it. The shrill of the phone woke her up from her very pleasant dream. She rolled over and put a pillow over her head. Still, the noise did not let up. Frustrated, she flung her sheets in the floor. She sat up, wiped the sleep out of her eyes, and trudged down the hallway in her silky animal print pajamas.
"Hullo?" She said sleepily into the phone. She looked at the grandfather clock and noticed it was 8 o'clock AM.
"Child, I thought you would never get out of the bed. You've got to learn how to wake up early if you want to be a teacher this fall." Teresa said.
"Ugh, Mom? Why are you calling this early?"
"Early, honey? I'm at work already." The woman replied.
"Good for you." Haley mumbled.
"Now listen here, I have found the perfect guy for you. He's just turned 23. He just started working here at the bank today. Anyway, I was talking to him about you and he seemed real interested. I told him that you would go out to dinner with him tomorrow night." Teresa rambled.
"Mom, I don't need you picking out my dates." Haley whined. Her mother was always setting her up with the "perfect" guys. They always turned out to be not her type.
"Now, don't back talk me. He's a perfect gentleman." Teresa scolded. "His name is John Bates."
Haley sighed. There was no backing out of this one.
"Fine, mother. I will go to dinner with him." She said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, great Hal. I need some grandkids." She said.
"Mom, you do. You have Katie." Haley said.
"Yes, I know I have Katie, but your brother doesn't plan on having anymore kids. I need a grandson, now." She said.
"Mom, I'm just going to dinner. I'm not marrying the guy." Haley argued.
"Well, I don't know about that." Mrs.Webb said in a sing-song voice and hung up.
Haley placed the phone back in the cradle and trudged back into the kitchen. She poured a huge bowl of Fruity Pebbles and planted herself in front of the TV. She channel surfed for a while before stopping on an A&E biography of Martin Luther King JR. She always liked watching the biographies, something she picked up from her dad. After she finished her cereal, she rinsed the bowl out and set it in the sink. Then, deciding that she was still sleepy, she curled up in bed.
Haley woke up at 10:00 am and decided to run out to Home Depot and find some more stuff to fix up the cottage with. She slipped on her loose Levi's and an old T-shirt she got from 97.5FM, KMOD. She didn't bother fixing her hair anymore than running a brush through it.
Although she hated Fords, Haley owned a Ford Escort. It got her where she needed to go.
She searched the paint aisles in Home Depot for a can antique white to re-paint the walls of the guest bedroom.
"Haley! Haley! Haley!" An 11 year old blond headed girl came running full force down the aisle. Haley looked up from some paint samples.
"Well, hi there Katie." Haley said as the kid crashed into her and threw her arms around her.
"You're my favoritest aunt." The girl gushed, looking for brownie points.
"And I'm you're only aunt." Haley said as she recovered from the collision. "Now, what are you buttering me up for. What could Katie possibly want?"
Katie laughed. "Well, since you got your new house and everything..."
"Where's your dad?" Haley asked.
Katie grinned. "Oh father!" She yelled running back down the aisle.
A few minutes later, her tall blonde-headed brother came walking down the aisle, with Katie hopping around him.
"Is it all right if I take Munchkin home with me?" Haley asked.
"Please, oh please, oh please?!" Katie added, crossing her fingers.
Brad looked at both girls and broke into a smile.
"Yes, please, take her. Never bring her back either." He joked.
"Yes!!!!!!!!" Katie jumped up.
"All right then, c'mon kid. I've got to hurry up and get outta here." Haley said picking up to cans of antique white paint. "I'll stop by later and pick her up some clothes."
Brad nodded. "Okay, I'm gonna go see if Sheila needs help now. Katie, you be good to Aunt Haley."
"I will. I promise." Katie said, quickly. Haley gave Brad a look that said everything would be fine.
Haley put the paint cans in the back seat as Katie quickly buckled up.
"Are you hungry?" Haley asked her. Katie nodded her head. "Okay, wanna go to Pizza Hut?"
"Can we go to the Tulsa one?" She asked.
"Why's that?" Haley asked pulling out of the Home Depot parking lot.
"Because that's where Jeff works." Katie said.
"Who's Jeff?"
"My cousin." She said, "He can give us a discount. He does for Mama and Daddy."
"Alright then, Tulsa it is." She laughed.
Tulsa was just a 15 minute drive so it wasn't hurting anything to meet the kid's request.
The place looked pretty crowded, but it usually was on Friday's anyway.
"Welcome to Pizza Hut. Party of two?" The waitress named Mary greeted.
"Yes, just two." Haley answered.
"Right this way." She said, grabbing two menus. She led them to a booth seat in the corner and laid their menus on the table. They sat down, reviewing the menu, deciding on what pizza to split.
"How about the Veggie pizza?" Katie suggested.
Haley looked at the picture. "Sure."
Mary came back through and put breadsticks and sauce on the table. She took her notepad from her apron.
"What would you like to drink?" She asked.
"Um, I want a sweet tea." Haley said.
"And I want a medium Dr Pepper." Katie said.
"All right. Do you have your order ready?" She asked, scribbling down the drinks.
"Small Veggie Lovers pizza." Katie answered.
Huge laughter erupted from a crowd across the room.
The waitress smiled. "There's a birthday girl in the bunch. They've kept me up and running." Mary said.
"I feel for you." Haley said. She once had a waitressing job.
"Thanks. I just hope with that many people, there's a big tip." She laughed and took their menus.
Katie broke off one of the breadsticks and swirled it in the sauce. She kept her eyes on the crowd of people.
"Katie- quit staring!" Haley hissed.
"Sorry. I'm just curious of whose birthday it is."
As if on cue, the crowd broke into a chorus of "Happy Birthday". A girl with long, pretty blond hair was the center of attention. Her face turned a light shade of red as people in the restaraunt turned their eyes on her.
"...happy birthday dear, Jessie. Happy birthday to you." The crowd sang.
A woman, who looked like an older version of the girl, bent over and kissed the girl.
"Happy Sweet Sixteen, baby girl." The woman said with tears in her eyes.
People in the restaraunt errupted in applause which made the Sweet Sixteen girl blush even more.
Katie and Haley polished off the pizza in no time. Mary brought them their ticket and rushed back to the birthday crowd to refill drinks.
"Well, kiddo, let's go." Haley said, getting up from the table. She threw a wadded up 5 dollar bill on the table and Katie added a dollar from her purse. Six dollars was a big tip, but the woman deserved it.
They walked up to the counter.
"Is Jeff here?" Katie asked the teen girl behind the counter.
"Um, yeah. Hang on." She said and disappeared into the kitchen.
A small boy, no more than 3 years old with a brown bowl cut, ran up to Katie, and tagged her legs.
"You're it!" He shrieked.
"Mikey, don't do that." An older guy came running up, picking up the kid and turning him upside down. The kid bursted out laughing.
"Sorry about that." The man said to Haley.
"That's fine." Haley said.
"Surely that's not your kid." He said. "You look too young to have a kid that old."
Haley laughed. "This is my niece, Katie. I'm not even married."
The man dropped the boy on his feet and he went running back to the "birthday crowd".
"Well, neither am I. That was my son Mikey."
"Divorce?" Haley asked. Then added, "No. I'm sorry, it's none of my business.
"No, it's all right." He said. "It wasn't divorce. His mother died during labor."
"I'm sorry." Haley said quickly.
"It's fine. So, I didn't catch your name." He said.
She smiled. "It's Haley. And you would be?"
"Isaac." He said. He waited to see if that rang a bell. Nothing.
"Nice meeting you, Isaac."
"Likewise. I better get back to the table before Mikey gets into something he shouldn't." Isaac smiled, and walked off.
"He's cute." Katie whispered.
"So, I've noticed." Haley whispered back, blushing.
"Hey, Jeff here." A red-headed guy came walking out of the kitchen. "How can I help you?"
"Hey Jeffie!" Katie said.
"K-rock. What's up?" He gave her a high-five.
"Well, I'm spending the night with my aunt Haley." She said.
"So, you're the infamous Aunt Haley?" He smiled taking their ticket and leaned up against the counter.
"That's me." Haley said.
"K-rock here's told a lot of good things about you." He said. He wadded up their ticket and threw it in the trash can.
"That's on the house." He winked.
"You sure?" Haley asked.
"Positively. It's what family discounts are for." He laughed.
"Well, thanks." Haley said.
"You're welcome." He said. "Have a good one."
"You too." She said, and grabbed Katie's hand. "Let's go."
It wasn't until they got to the car that Katie announced she left her purse inside.
"Run and go get it quickly." Haley said, starting the car.
Five minutes later, she came back out with a mischevious, cheesey grin upon her face.
Haley looked her over before pulling out, and heading home.
+more+
*back*
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