Holt - Connections

It was almost Karl's birthday. He was just growing so fast. It wasn't in their budget to throw a huge party, but Lorelle still wanted to give him something nice. She opted for clothes. No son of hers was going to be caught in hideous rags. So she wandered down to the local salon. She was pleased to find it was a male-owned shop. All the stylists were single men who were giving her the eye. After flirting with the cashier to lower her price down, she made sure to get all their numbers.

Karl grew up well and was an active child. He would run from room to room, despite his aunt's warnings. He'd wait for her to turn her back, then he'd continue on his way. He loved his aunt dearly but really, she was so prim and proper sometimes. She wasn't like Mama at all.

But she was helpful. Whenever Karl had homework, he always went to his aunt. His mother was often too busy on the internet and even when she wasn't, she wasn't much help. She couldn't answer his questions at all, and was amazed when he answered them.

Uncle Owen was nice too. Karl loved reading with him. The two made time every evening to just relax and read. It was the only time they had together. Owen worked long hours and Karl, of course, had school. Owen tried to be in Karl's life as much as he could. The boy needed a postivie male role model.

He knew for a fact that none of Lorelle's boyfriends fit that mold. They were all the same: shallow dogs. Yet she kept falling for them, one after the other. But it wasn't nothing serious for her, Owen knew that. Men were a game to her, a game she loved to play.

But sometimes, they played her. She had been talking to this one guy for a while and thought it was ready to advance the relationship. However, the man was merely fooling her and left her in a puddle of embarressment.

To make things worse, he rubbed it in. He sent her letters that reaked of a mix between deer urine and rotten radishes. It was horrible, reaching into the mailbox and never knowing if you'd grab the bills or a stink bomb.

Lorelle really needed a night out to get herself back into the groove. She figured Eumelia would enjoy it as well, so the two girls got dressed in their best gowns and went to South Lanshire to check out the clubs and bars.

Eumelia immediately gravitated towards the piano. She had taken lessons in her youth but she knew she was rusty. Still, she sat down and started playing a few keys. To her surprise, a bar patron came by and left her a tip. "I really enjoy that sort of music...keep playing!" She urged. And Eumelia did, with a wide grin on her face.

She eventually did stop when her fingers began to hurt, though. So she joined her sister at a poker table. Lorelle had hooked two men into playing with them. The men thought, "What beautiful women...probably dumb, though." But they were taken for a loop when Eumelia walked away with most of their cash.

Owen was glad his sisters had a nice time. But he wasn't happy when they returned and left him with a difficult task: fixing the computer. Eumelia went straight to bed but Lorelle decided to surf the net a bit and somehow, with her wonderful luck, managed to send the modem into a flury of smoke. "Can you handle that for me, Owie? Thaaanks!" Lorelle called girlishly as she went off to take a bath. Owen grumbled but pulled out his screw driver and began to work.

With Owen at work and free from his complaining, the girls arranged for a little tea time with their neighbor, Teresita Loyola. Lorelle found her pretty but utterly plain, but Eumelia made sure to keep Lorelle in line. Eumelia didn't have many friends and she wasn't going to let her sister ruin her chances.

Unfortunately, as nice as Teresita was, she had a few problems. She was sick. Eumelia was usually good at fighting off illness but this particular flu was strong and in no time, she was coughing and sneezing. Needless to say, she was not happy whatsoever. She hated having to sit in bed and do nothing.

She refused to be a victim to her illness and through her adamant requests, the family took a trip to the local culinary club. Eumelia had been wanting to enter the cooking contest. Owen and Lorelle just joined out of spite. They were expecting Eumelia to win but to all their surprise, it was Lorelle's dish of grilled cheese that impressed the judges. Eumelia was horrified.

Karl was tired of the adults. He wanted to have friends his own age. Luckily, the male friend of his mother and aunt had a son. His name was Hayate and though he was more low matienence, he and Karl got along.

They got along quite well, in fact. They were fast friends. Hayate really balanced Karl out. He kept him on track in school and began rubbing off on him. Eumelia was glad. Hayate was a polite little boy. Karl could really benefit from him.

Eumelia had to applaud Ryouichi's parenting. And she did, just without her hands. Ryouichi was such an amazing man. The way he touched her and spoke to her was irresistable. No man made her feel this way before. He was like a romance novel, come to life. And he was all hers.

And Lorelle's. It was just a fling, the two knew. Eumelia wouldn't understand. Lorelle knew that Ryouichi wasn't the type of guy who settled down, despite his role as a father. That had been a mere fluke. She knew what he wanted and she was sure to give it to him, as long as he kept wanting it.