Last night unfortunately did not end as I had originally hoped. Soon after the movie ended, Amber too noticed the flickering and went to inspect just what it was. By the time I tried to stop her it was already too late, as she had seen with an even more astonished face just how many paparazzi waited outside.
We all decided it would’ve been too chaotic to exit my house only to face countless awaiting photographers, so both Amber and Toby slept over that night. My house luckily accommodated three guest rooms, excluding Lea’s room, so all four of us were able to sleep in private.
I awoke to the buzzing of my cell phone just inches from my face. “Man, this thing must be broken or something…” I muttered at the phone’s sudden ability to vibrate even after I had made sure it was off. The screen blinked a new voice message which I was hesitant to open.
“Marshaaalll!” Frank’s voice yelled. “Where da hell are ya?! If my schedule is correct, I do believe we had another meeting with the big fella’s from Universal Studios on a co-assignment last night! Jeez another chance lost! Dammit, call me back when you get this.”
I chuckled softly, wondering why he still wanted to continue such a ridiculous project that I had never agreed on in the first place. And on top of everything, he was yelling at me for missing their little get-together? Nothing positive was going to come from that assignment even if I had agreed.
I closed my phone and tossed it onto my messy bed.
Knowing that there were now female guests at my house, I decided to put on a shirt before leaving my room. The hot California air constantly lingered even after the sun would take its leave, so I usually just kept my upper body bare when heading to my bed.
Gently, I opened the door in front of me as to not make a sound that could awake Amber or Lea. The hinges produced no sound whatsoever, but I ultimately failed at quieting down my staircase. With each wary step I took, a painful and obnoxious creaking sound would break the morning silence. I never noticed until today that the stairs needed some major looking at since they made so much noise; or maybe it was the quiet environment that made them seem so much louder.
After that arduous journey down the steps, I finally made it to my living room. I took notice of the digital clock underneath my TV that read “9:28 AM” which gave us almost two hours to do what we pleased until it was time to head to the airport.
It wasn’t long until I heard the first signs of disturbance in Lea’s room. I jumped off my couch and rushed up to see just what the noise was about. Surprisingly, I found Lea entangled around her blanket as she unconsciously kicked to be set free. With both arms, I lifted the little girl up and slid the bedding off. Her eyes began to open as I finally managed to release her from the blanket’s grip.
