Sera walked outside. It was a pleasant morning. The sun beamed on her. It was an excellent day for swimming. All of her plans were interrupted as Henry asked, “Can't tell your right from your left?”
She looked to the side of the pool. Henry hadn’t moved from his position earlier. “I have no idea what you're talking about.” She headed towards him. She didn’t want to have a conversation the neighbors could hear.
He took his sunglasses off. He turned his chair towards her as well. This would be an interesting talk. “I've never seen you act like this before. What brought about this sudden bout of jealousy?”
“It wasn't jealousy,” she defended herself. She dangled her feet in the water. “I told her to take the right. Jules' room is to the right.” She held up her left hand.
“It's your other hand,” he told her, laughing.
She changed hands. She dropped both of them in frustration. It was embarrassing for Henry to correct her. “I guess I told her wrong. I can't tell my left from my right. Are you happy? I'll correct that next time.”
“I don't know. Quick, is this right or left?” He held up his left hand.
“Ha ha,” she sarcastically told him. She saw the sun directly above her. “What are you out here for, anyway? Shouldn't you be inside helping them?”
“Crispin told me not to interfere. I think he wanted special time with her. I needed sun anyway. I have to keep this body looking handsome."
“You will be out here for a long time. I thought by now you'd be surrounded by throngs of admirers.”
“I'm planning something. Crispin told us months ago we weren’t allowed to bring people here. He broke his own rule by bringing Annabel along. He has no option now but to let us have fun,” he said, putting his glasses back on his face and leaning back. “I'm going out tonight. I heard of some interesting places nearby.”
Sera kicked the water. She would be stuck inside of the house again doing nothing. She watched television all the time. She had seen most of the shows on there. She was losing her patience and sanity. “Can I go with you?”
“What?” He lowered his glasses. He gauged whether she was serious or not. He wasn’t sure.
“Let me go with you tonight. I’ve been stuck in this house every day for two months. I've seen every show on television. I can recite them by heart. All I want is one night.”
There was a drawback to this plan of hers. “Crispin'll be mad. He doesn't like you going out.”
“He doesn't have to know. I'll say I'm going shop for food or something and he'll never find out. I've done it before. Please, Henry. Save my sanity.” She batted her eyes at him. She hoped she was convincing him to take her along.
“No,” he said, shaking his head to reinforce the fact. “I'm not going with you. It would be weird flirting with a woman if I have one standing next to me.”
“You can say I'm your sister. People bring their sisters with them.”
“And that's not weird?”
“You don't have a choice.”
He grinned. She had nothing. “Explain.”
Sera told him, “If you don't take me, I'm telling Crispin about this before you go out. He’s going to tell you that you can't bring anyone back. He may even stop you from going. There's lots of work to do around here. I'll block you before you go out.” She grinned now.
“You're quite crafty. I hope you learned that from me. Fine, I'll let you come along tonight. If I give you the signal, I want you to go somewhere else. I can't have you ruining my evening.”
“Deal. The same goes for me.”
“Really?”
“It's possible. I was told that I do look pretty.”
“Who told you that?”
“Why does it matter?”
He looked at her suspiciously.
“It was a guy at one of your parties. He said that to me. Then Crispin came and told him to leave.”
He stifled a laugh. “That's his personality. How are you getting out without Crispin noticing you're gone?”
She rolled her eyes. “That's going to be easy. He's googly eyed for that human girl. He's concerned with saving her. I doubt he notices who's in the house now. I'll say I'm sleeping and sneak out the house. I'm prepared.”
Henry resumed his sunning. “Meet me outside at ten. I'll wait around a few minutes but if you're late, I'll leave without you.”
“I won't be late. It's my first chance out of here and I’m not missing it.” She jumped into the pool. She was excited about leaving. Now she needed to wait until ten to experience the new city. Things were finally becoming interesting for her.