13
Intention And Purpose
“Let’s see here. Three, four, six.” Kevin counted the luggage boxes strewn in front of the rooms, with their top lid leaning against the parts of the wall close to the door. “One for the lovebirds, the other for the redhead, one for me, and— um—“
Kayla was busy sinking the green 6-ball and watching the display indicate the next ball to sink.
“She’s sweeping me over here.” Irene leaned on the railing with her own cue in hand.
“Keep playing,” Kevin put his hands among his own belongings as he scuffled to find his own dispenser. “I just wanna know if those two brought their own stuff.”
“They, uh, flew in.” Angel’s voice projected from the couch. The entire hall stopped to notice her wrapped in the arms of her boyfriend.
“Flew in?” Kevin was back to messing with his stuff. “From where? New Jersey? They have their luggage then. Was it lost?”
“Well, um, no. They came in a few days ago for, uh, sightseeing.” She noticed Luna trying to throw a glance at her. “We asked. They never found it.”
The butler nodded behind his back.
“Ah, okay.” A virtual sigh of relief came over both of them. “Did they buy anything from the store? Scabby has plaid shirts if that’s what Kayla likes.”
“We’ll take her there.” Alex looked outside into the darkening sky.
“Let them deliver it. They’re tired.” Irene sat down at the soft chair placed next to the table.
Everyone’s films buzzed all at once. Meal time! Arriving in fifteen seconds.
“Oh god. The truck’s coming.” Kevin ran down the stairs to flag down the vehicle that just touched down. The fingerprint went and the hatch opened. He tapped on his film and his mic routed to everyone’s headsets. “East Asian, apparently.”
Kayla tapped the side of the headset and continued shooting.
The craft rose into the air as the main door shut to let the figure and his five bags of food in. The waft of chicken, pork, rice, spices, and sauces filled the room.
The lights that hung above them came on. The coffee table was taken by a pair of hands that pulled apart its center hinge into a larger tabletop, with its legs tripling in height. Strings unraveled the entire set of bags and it opened into a giant center plate of sourced rice.
“We should totally have Eric over.” Irene unboxed the chicken and the dipping sauces unfolded its own enclave.
“Absolutely.”
“Good idea.”
Angel started a call for herself, and it routed itself for Alex as well.
“You coming?”
“Nah. I’m busy. Maybe, next time, Angel, and everyone.” An aw washed over the group, leaving Kayla and Luna on the outside looking in. “New house I heard.”
“Yeah,” Irene interjected. “Visiting friend.”
Kevin shared their location.
“I’ll see if I can stop by sometime. You guys made it.”
Kayla pursed her lips together, and leaned forward to take a few strips of chicken and lettuce wrap for herself. The pocket inside her shirt was almost parallel while she figured out which piece to retrieve. The cubes were hanging over the edge.
“I’ll help you pick, Kayla. Sauce?” Luna came forward and sorted the fractions for everyone. Kayla looked at her as the butler carried her trade to divide portions with knives and forks and stirred the sauce for everyone.
“Oh, thanks, Luna.” Alex took another plateful of rice.
The cubes fell from her pocket onto the rice, then it rolled off the table onto the carpet beneath. Kayla felt some movement near her chest, and she looked down to search for it.
“Did you soil the shirt? Kayla?” The rich girl froze with a thousand-yard stare through the table, which thawed after a few seconds. “Nah, no. Nothing.”
Kayla sat back down as everyone toasted their teas and sodas. Luna took the pitcher from the center and poured the lemonade for two of them.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Irene almost held her hand to stop her. “We can do it ourselves.”
“Sorry.” Luna placed the pitcher after filling the cups with a giggle. “I’ll too used to it.”
“Let her do it if she wants.”
“Was it like that back home?” Irene turned to the butler, only recently relieved of her uniform. “All formal, all the time?”
“Well, she likes having me around.” Luna leaned her head to Kayla’s direction. “I’m professionally trained and, it’s fun. Um.”
“How did you get into that line of work? We never asked.” Angel looked at her boyfriend sorting through the chicken and mumbling.
“Hotel management and I saw a position open during my freshman year. Eight weeks, no commitment, good credit points. But they liked me enough, so, um, I stayed.” That yielded a small smile from Kayla.
“It’s funny because I’ve had friends that wanted to get into that field. They weren’t as lucky as you.” The rice amusingly fell through Kevin’s fork.
“I learned to appreciate it over time. Allow me.” The lemonade filled up his own mug. He raised it in acknowledgment.
“Anyway.” Irene wrapped up the plates.
“For anyone that’s done with their food put up their hand.” A forest of hands shot up, and Alex stood up to gather the plates. Irene joined him.
“You guys need snacks?” Angel checked the flight paths. “Might be a fun night.”
“Anyone would like to shoot pool?” Alex moved to pick up a few sticks to share the table with Kevin.
The black cube with a pulsating light sat on the edge of the rug, under the now-collapsed coffee table. Irene bent down and picked it up. It shook violently in her hand.
“Oh wow,” She cupped it with both her hands. “Luna.”
The butler walked over to the couch.
“I don’t know if it’s yours, but I found it from the ground.” Irene opened the bottom of her palm and let the struggling cube fall into another pair of hands. The cube kept shaking and glowing in a yellow light.
“It’s probably some toy.” Luna pinched the cube and it moved her hand. She looked behind her to see Kayla enter the yellow room, second door from the left. She stored it in her pocket, and it stopped moving. “I’ll ask around.”
Irene sat down with Angel for the food catalog.