> Julia looked at him for a moment but remained quiet as she stepped aside
to
> let him pass, hanging back as he took the lead and rubbing her forehead
when
> he left the room. Something wasn't right and damned if she could figure
out
> what it was. She had refused to be baited by Samantha Owen's verbal jabs,
> had even found it funny and now...... now she was ready to shrug and say
to
> hell with it.
>
> She heard the others out in the foyer and sighed before going out to join
> them. There was Derek being the gracious host and of course.. Sam hanging
> on his every word.
>
> Well Derek was a big boy, she thought, but it still annoyed her for some
> reason, seeing Sam acting the way she was. Maybe she was overly tired and
> it was finally getting to her?
>
> Maybe she should just part the group when they reached the second floor
and
> go do something. She was tired but too..... something to sleep at the
> moment.
>
> Jonathon at the door drew her attention for a moment but the group had
> started forward so she moved with them, taking up the rear, almost feeling
> like that was where others might have wanted her to be for whatever
reason.
>
> She sighed inwardly as her feet took one step after the other up the
stairs.
>
Derek:
Derek led the way through the house doing something he could do very well,
talking of the architcchture and the art work with great relish. He did
like his house, and enjoyed showing it off on occassion. He stopped and
pointed out Milo's room to both him and Reese. Sam moved up beside him
again, though she did actually give him a little more space this time and
had been relatively quiet up until that point. Derek kept a careful eye
onJulia as he was worried about her. She was wearing herself out and that
concerned him. He wished that he'd put up a bigger fight about all this, at
then she wouldn't have been doing so much so soon. He led them down to the
garden, after the complete tour, a truly inspired idea he realized. Now
they could leave, though he did tap Milo on the shoulder. "If you want
Reese to stay we can get her back home," he told his old friend. He bid
them all farewell, stating that he had some work to get done. This was
actually the truth. He needed to fins out what was going on with Rachel and
where Alex and Nick were and he needed to make sure Julia got her rest. It
also occured to hm that he should find something to occupy Kat, because she
became adventurous and decided to "create" something to do on her own.
Sam:
Sam smiled at him and thanked him for his hospitality. Derek was a little
surprised that she had backed off some, though she was still being herself,
just not quite the way she had been earlier.
DereK and Sam
