Sarah and Kevin 5

The door opened and a blast of frozen wind cut their laughter short. A woman walked in with an armload of groceries. Her face was covered by a black hood and scarf. She kicked the door closed with her foot and walked into the kitchen saying "Good morning, gentlemen." They mumbled a greeting to her and watched in silence as she set her groceries on the counter and removed her wrappings. Her black cloak came off first, revealing a black dress and black boots beneath. The dress was very loose-fitting, but even so it was obvious that she was voluptuously built. She unwrapped her scarf to show cheeks rosy from the cold and warm, chestnut hair. Her brown eyes blinked over her gold-rimmed glasses which were steamed up. She smiled at them and her cheeks turned a little redder under their scrutiny.

She took a deep breath. "In case you didn't guess, I'm Sarah." she said and stood on tiptoe to take a coffee mug from the cabinet. She poured herself a cup of coffee and said, "I hope I'm not as scary as you imagined." She walked over to the table and held her hand out to Scott, a question on her face.

"Scott Littner," he said, shaking her hand.

"Good to meet you," she said.

Next to moved to Peter. "Peter Tansara," he said, but instead of shaking her hand, he pulled it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Kevin watched this with irritation. Peter always had to put on a show.

Sarah smiled and gently pulled her hand away, nodding at him.

"Tom Marco," he said quietly, smiling up into her face as he shook her hand.

She stepped around to where Kevin was sitting. He held out his hand. "Kevin McLeod." She smiled down into his eyes and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Nice to meet you all," she said. Walking to the corner of the kitchen away from then, she opened a drawer and pulled out some papers before returning to the table. She sat down in the empty seat between Peter and Scott. "Let's get the rough stuff over with." She handed out copies to each of them. "Go ahead and read this and sign it. Basically, it says that any one of us may terminate this lease at any time without notice. It also says that you agree to the rules that I set forth and that if you do not abide by them, I have the right to evict you with a police escort. Also, without notice."

"Aren't any of these rules negotiable?" asked Peter, smiling at her.