Sarah and Kevin 11

Sarah stopped and turned to look at him. She had a can in each hand. Kevin looked into her eyes and for a minute he felt like he was drowning and he didn't want to come up for air. Then, suddenly, the gates came down in her eyes and he was shut out. She turned back to her groceries. "If you think of it, you could put me in the "Thank You" section of your multi-platinum CD," she said with a little laugh. Kevin thought her cheeks were a little pinker than before.

Kevin heard footsteps on the basement stairs. Soon, Peter was standing in the kitchen leaning against the kitchen sink so that Kevin and she were separated from each other.

"What kind of good stuff are you cooking up for us tonight?"

"Sloppy Joe's, beans, and potato salad."

"Sounds good. I thought about you a lot today."

Sarah turned and looked at him. Kevin could see her expression. At first she squinted at Peter. Then her eyes opened wide and her cheeks reddened. She quickly turned back to putting her groceries away. When she finally finished, she began pulling out pots and pans. She put a large pot on the stove and she put some hamburger on to brown. Peter watched her, looking her up and down the entire time. Kevin felt his heart thudding in his chest. After breaking up the hamburger with a spatula, Sarah turned around and looked Peter in the eye.

"You know, Mr. Tansara, that I invited you here to help resurrect your musical career, right? I expect you to treat me with respect and to stop acting like I owe you sexual favors as well as financial ones." Her voice was very quiet, clipped and cold. There was no mistaking the anger in her eyes. Kevin watched in delight as Peter seemed taken aback for a moment. He just stood and blinked at her like he was not sure of what he was seeing. "Have I made myself clear?" she asked.

Unfortunately, Peter regained his bravado pretty quickly. He gave her a slow smile and walked toward her. Kevin stood up, alarmed.

"Actually, I was hoping to grant you some sexual favors." He was so close to her that she tried to take a step back, but the oven was behind her. "But, I'll ease up for now, as a favor to you."

Without touching her, he turned and walked toward the bedrooms. Sarah pressed her lips together and shook her head. She took a deep breath and went back to her ground beef. Kevin sat back down in the chair and echoed her sigh.