Free Love in the Afternoon by Yvette Hines Page B

residence felt more like a museum than a home. The place seemed to come alive when all the family was in attendance with their rambunctious children, all of which were with baby sitters tonight. Kalan didn’t want to chance the little ones making noise and giving away their surprise.
    Lenny and Darrell, the twenty-three year old twin sons of one of the uncles, walked out of the dining room where they had randomly taped balloons and streamers on the wall. Passing them, I entered and allowed a low laugh to come out as I saw in the moonlight coming in through the window how crazy the room looked now. The decorations had no rhythm or reason or understanding of people’s height which said a lot since the twins themselves were six two. However, I knew Chase wouldn’t care. He’d be too excited that his family was around him.
    Kalan entered the dining room behind me carrying a stack of dessert plates and forks as she moved close to me.
    “ So, where do you think Leeza is tonight?” I whispered.
    Kalan shrugged. Keeping her tone as low as mine she said, “Who in the hell knows. Chase mentioned something to me about an animal rescue benefit one of her clients was putting on that he thought she’d said something about attending tonight.” Setting down the dishes carefully on the table, she continued, “I tell you, Oriana, I don’t know how Chase could let that viper into his life.”
    “ She's vivacious, pretty and succe—”
    “ A wild card is more like it. Why can’t anyone get a hold of her?” Kalan placed her hands on her hips and stared at me. “And her ass isn’t any prettier than any other eligible woman…especially not you.”
    Wow. Where the hell did that come from? That ship had sailed and I knew better than to entertain my friend’s fanciful ideas. Kalan had known about my past attraction to Chase, but that was over. All the time Kalan had invited me to the gatherings, we both knew it was in hopes that Chase would not only get used to having me around but that maybe he’d start to see me as more than just the fifth wheel in the family unit. That never happened. Kalan was just as smart and single as I was. I told her many times that it was best for her to concentrate on her own life status. My best friend was a corporate finance major in college and had a successful career in her field. I knew, just like me, she found it a lot easier to focus on other people’s problems than her own. At least weekly, I reminded her to step up and talk to a guy she’d been crushing on at work, but Kalan refused. I knew my friend was afraid that if the man turned her down, the workplace would be awkward for her.
    Shaking my head, I said, “Girl, I’m not even going to try and figure out the mind of a—”
    There was a sound from overhead, a thump as if something dropped on the floor or hit the wall.
    “ Shh.” Kalan placed a finger to her lips as we both stared toward the ceiling.
    Before we could investigate, there came the sound of footsteps on the front tile and keys being tossed into the chrome dish we all knew was by the door in the main hallway. “Leeza, you home?”
    It was Chase’s voice coming from the front room.
    Kalan’s face lit up with excitement as she waved me back into the kitchen where the rest of the family had set up the food and drinks on the counter. All low murmurs of conversation had immediately halted as we all listened to Chase’s footsteps on his hardwood floor as he went up the stairs.
    “ Okay, everyone. We’re going into the family room, so we can surprise Chase as he comes down the stairs. He won’t see us from that side until we yell surprise.” Kalan was doing more mouthing of the words than she was actually speaking, but her hand gestures as she pointed toward the dining room exit made it clear what she wanted us to do.
    I watched all of my friend’s family faces glow with the thrill of the moment. There were soft giggles as we all moved out, tiptoeing through the house with