CHAPTER SEVEN

What's Mint To Be

- not yet edited -

Her calves threatened to fail, the burning sensation nearly intolerable if it wasn't for the fact that she was so close to reaching the top of the stairs.

Chantal was ahead of her and taking two steps at a time. She didn't know how anyone could have the energy to run up four flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. The plastic shopping bags dragged along the metal staircase, her arms heavy and too weak to the raise the bags beyond the height of her ankles.

Damn the manager and damn this building.

When they walked into the grotty apartment building, an orange notice slip was taped to the elevator doors. OUT OF SERVICE, it said. Tori thought of it as a final "screw you" from the management before her two month departure.

The frustration of the defeated elevator and the pain in her legs kept her moving. She climbed another three stairs, huffing and groaning with every step.

She thought about the leftover pizza waiting in the fridge and the soft pillows on the couch. The comforts of her apartment were calling for her. She would sprint up the stairs if she had the strength, but the weight of the day was dragging her down. The last time she checked her watch, the time said eight o'clock.

"Let's go, Tori." Chantal called from the top of the stairs.

"You're not the one carrying fifteen pounds." She tasted the sweat on her lip and continued climbing until she reached the top.

Chantal relieved her friend of the bags. "Are you okay?"

She stretched her spine, moving her body from side-to-side to flex the aching muscles. A warm breath escaped her lips. "I'm fine. I just need to hit the gym is all." She stretched her arms into the air and pulled at her spine. The movement felt good. Maybe if she couldn't make time for the gym, then yoga would be the next best thing. Her back was feeling better already.

Chantal bobbed her head in agreement and opened a door. It lead them into a hallway with beige carpet and dull walls.

They walked along the hallway and turned a corner to get to the west wing of the building. Tori was ready to kick off her shoes and lay on the couch with Cashew. Her feet moved faster as she neared her apartment.

She reached the white, paint-peeled door to apartment 78B. Chantal appeared beside her, the scent of her coconut shampoo reminding Tori that she felt hungry again. She reached into the pocket of her purse and searched for the key to her apartment.

"I can't wait to see how these outfits look on you." Chantal said, her voice ear-piercing in the stillness of the hallway.

"Shhh. People are trying to sleep, you know." She found the key and wiggled it away from the keychains on the long blue lanyard.

"At eight o'clock? It's still early. I'm sure there's a party happening somewhere." Her mouth twitched, and her hand came up to cover her lips. It was like Chantal was trying to hide a smile, but Tori didn't know the reason for it.

She didn't ask either. The key glided through the hole in the brass doorknob, the mechanisms clicking into place as it turned. Chantal watched as her friend pressed her hand against the knob.

Tori pushed open the door to a pitch-black room. She felt for the light switch on the wall, her hand coming into contact with something smooth. Her finger flipped the switch and light flooded the room.

A cheer erupted and familiar faces appeared in the living room. Lucas and Sheri stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the couch with wide smiles. Beside them, sitting together on the duel armchairs, was her parents.

"Surprise." Lucas said, spreading his arms at his sides in an attempt to hug his sister.

"What are you doing here?" Tori dropped her purse and keys onto the floor, jogging past Lucas to meet her parents at the center of the room. She embraced them in a group hug, taking in the scent of her dad's musky cologne and her mother's floral soap.

"We wanted to send you off." Her dad pulled away first, stepping back to look his daughter.

It had been months since Tori had seen the both of them together. She remembered her dad dropping her off at Orlando International Airport, and saying goodbye to her mother on the porch of their beach house. Lucas had left home years earlier, and saying goodbye to their youngest child was hard on them. She called her mom every day in the first month, but their connection died down to almost nothing when she signed the ownership papers for the shop. Since then, her days have been long and exhausting. She didn't bother her parents with the details, but now she wished that she had.

Seeing their wrinkled faces and her mother's gray hair brought a sting to her eye. Her mother always kept her hair dyed, but now her gray and blonde hair laid over her shoulders in thin layers.

"We are so proud of you, honey. I can't wait to see you on the TV." Mrs. Lynn said, breaking away from her daughter's grasp.

"Who did this?" She looked around the room. Chantal stood in the kitchen with Cashew, petting his white fur and avoiding eye contact with Tori. Lucas leaned against the back of the couch, hiding his face behind his wife.

"Lucas called us, and Chantal planned this party" It was her dad that spilled the beans.

"Party?"

"I brought cupcakes." Sheri said, motioning to the platter of Sprinkles cupcakes on the coffee table. Little blue letters topped the chocolate icing on the cakes. They said, WIN BIG!

"And we stocked the fridge with soda." Lucas made his way to the fridge, Cashew mewing at him as he passed. "And uh-beer. There's lots of beer in here." He grabbed a six pack and ripped one away from the plastic seal. "Should we toast?" 

"Yes, please." Chantal took the beer from Lucas' grasp and popped open the cap with the hem of her shirt.

Mr. Lynn was next, and then Tori. Lucas passed Sheri and offered a drink to their mom. He sauntered back to the fridge and took a soda from the case. He popped the tab, a hisss escaped from the can and drops of carbonated drink flew into the air. Sheri took the drink and held it against her stomach. Then she turned her attention to Mr. Lynn.

"You sure you want a beer, old man?" Sheri patted his extruding belly. The plaid of his button-down shirt curved around his stomach and clung to it tightly.

Mr. Lynn chuckled and opened his beer. "This is all from tacos. This one doesn't feed me." He laughed, and jabbed his wife with an elbow.

Mrs. Lynn gasped at her husband's reply. "He's lying. That man goes out to eat with his buddies three times a week at some Mexican restaurant down the street. He refuses to eat my casseroles."

They smiled at each other, Mr. Lynn pulling his wife to his side.

"We toast to Tori and Chantal." Lucas began, holding his beer bottle in the air. Everyone followed and held their bottles above their heads, their eyes on Tori. Sheri watched, her hands folded over her chest with a bored expression on her face.

"We wish them a safe trip tomorrow. Tori, we are proud of how far you've come with your business. We've had an amazing first week and have successfully earned enough to make rent this month."

Chantal cheered at this, her holler causing Cashew to flinch beneath her fingers.

"We want you to give everything you've got to the competition. We know you can win this. If you can sell cookies out of a garage for five months in a completely new city and make enough money to put together your own business, then there's nothing you can't do. You've already done the hard work. Now, it's time for you to show it off. You deserve this, little sis'." Lucas brought the bottle down to his chest and closed his eyes as if he was starting a prayer. "And to Chantal, for being the greatest business partner and friend that my sister could have. You're going to kick ass in the competition too." 

Everyone laughed as Chantal took a bow in the kitchen. "Thank you." she said, bending her waist.

"To Tori and Chantal." Lucas raised his bottle and everyone cheered. He was the first to take a drink, chugging half the liquid in one gulp.

Tori sipped at the beer, watching as everyone took their drinks.

Her eyes danced over her family; her mother and her father standing with their arms around the other and smiling at her with pure merriment. A tear escaped from her eye and slid down her cheek. She wiped away the wetness with the back of her hand.

She couldn't have pictured a better ending to her last night in New York City. The trek up the staircase was worth it, and the episodes she planned to watch on the DVR could wait. There was nothing else she would rather be doing at this moment than being surrounded by her family and closest friend.

"Thank you for coming. This is more than I could have asked." She said, smiling at her audience.

Chantal had made her way into the living room, sitting on the floor beside the coffee table with her legs crossed. She peeled back the wrapping of a cupcake and bit into the chocolate cake. Cashew was at her side, rubbing his body against her leg.

"You didn't have to ask." Lucas was beside her now, leaning his mouth close to her ear. "Maybe if you win the money, you can bring them up here to stay." He motioned with his beer bottle to mom and dad, standing together at the other end of the room.

"Do you think they'd stay?"

She hadn't thought about it, but maybe her brother was right. It would be amazing to have the family together again. She hadn't realized how much she missed being close to them.

"They might. We won't know unless we try."

"What about the house? They wouldn't leave it. They've lived there for longer than we've been alive."

Her father had renovated the blue house at the end of Ocean Avenue in 1989 and again in 2005. He built the wrap-around porch with his own hands and the help of various construction books he rented from the library. The house on Ocean Avenue was where Tori and Lucas grew up, and where the family had all their memories. She didn't like the thought of the house being empty.

"I think they'll have a reason to stay." Lucas paused to take a drink.

"What reason?"

The look on her brother's face was unreadable. His lips were tight and his eyes looked forward, away from Tori. He looked distracted, like he was trying to say something but wasn't sure how to do it.

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Well, they're going to have a grandkid here and I don't know if they'd want to be in Florida for that." 

Tori could feel her mouth dropping open. "What? Sheri's pregnant? How long?"

"As of three hours ago. Well, that's when she took the test. It's probably been a few weeks."

"I'm so happy for you." Tori wrapped her brother in a hug, squeezing his back. "Do they know yet?"

"We're taking them to breakfast tomorrow after I drop you off at the airport."

She released Lucas from her grasp. "So, I'm the first to know?"

"The very first." he smiled.

She looked out at her guests again. Mom and Dad were seated on the couch now and eating cupcakes. Chantal was keeping them company by telling them the story about how this night came to be. She told them about Caiden, the phone call, and the contracts. Mr. and Mrs. Lynn listened with expressions of wonder on their pink faces. Sheri listened too as she tore apart the cupcake and licked icing off her fingers. 

She exhaled a breath and closed her eyes for a moment, letting the scene sink into her memory. She wanted to remember this night. Whether she wins or loses the competition, she would at least be coming home to her family. They would support her no matter what, and she felt that right now in her heart.