Sarah and Kevin 9

About an hour later, Peter stopped singing and inhaled deeply through his nose. "Man, do you smell that? Think it's done?"

They walked up the stairs.

The table was set and Sarah was taking the pizzas from the oven. They were two, huge, rectangular pizzas, one pepperoni and cheese and one green pepper, onion and cheese.

"Nice timing," said Sarah as she cut the pizzas into squares.

They sat down and ate in silence, but it did not feel as uncomfortable as it had that morning.

"So, why are you doing this for us?" asked Scott.

"Still suspicious, huh?" Sara smiled at him.

"Kind of." he answered.

Sarah took a sip of her iced tea and shrugged.

"I've thought of mentoring a band for a long time. I talked to Jimmy two years ago and asked him to keep an eye out for a promising band who could use the kind of help that I could offer. He brought you to my attention and here you are."

"You still haven't told us why," Tom pointed out.

Sarah looked at him and blinked a couple of times.

"You're right. I guess I just enjoy cooking and cleaning and the like and you are the ones at the receiving end."

"Why not just find a man to take care of?" Peter asked.

"I did. Four of them."

"That's not..."

"That's not what you meant." Sarah cut him off. "I know. I'm not ready to share my life story with you just yet, Mr. Tansara. Sometimes it's better not to question every gift you receive. You might not like the answers you get." She stood up and started clearing the table.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Kevin stood up and headed downstairs. The rest of them followed.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Peter turned to Kevin. "What did I tell you? I'll have her eating out of my hand in less than a month."

"Are you deaf? She told you to shut up. Again. That's twice in one afternoon. I'm thinking you should take her advice."

"And I'm thinking that she's no different than any other woman. Her needs will need to be fulfilled eventually, and I'll be there for her when she's ready."

"I'm thinking that she is different than other women and you should respect that." Kevin said and picked up his bass.

Peter looked at him for a moment and then smiled. "Really? You think she's different, huh? Did I detect a note of admiration there?"

Kevin tuned his guitar with his back to Peter. He was not going to answer that question.

"Wanna lay bets on who sleeps with her first?" Kevin's chest tightened. He put his guitar down gently and then turned and grabbed the front of Peter's shirt, shoving him into the support post at the bottom of the stairs.

"This isn't about competition. Jimmy told us that she was a lady, remember? And you'd better start treating her like one. You got it?"

"It's a little early for you to be feeling jealous, ain't it?" Peter shoved Kevin away.

Tom grabbed Kevin's arm. "C'mon, dude. It ain't worth it."

Kevin took a deep breath and turned away to pick up his guitar again.

"Let's just practice, OK?" said Scott.

They played well into the night, only quitting when Peter could not stop yawning long enough to carry a tune.