I Guess Id Better Get You Home, Malcolm Said With A Sigh.

“I guess I’d better get you home,” Malcolm said with a sigh.  

“I don’t have to work tomorrow,” Abby said.  “I could stay a bit later.  Maybe you could show me the rest of the house?”

dunne-ias replied to your photo: I see you, @dunne-ias! Thanks for all the likes!...

Get used to it! I’ve got a whole Bluewater Challenge to go through! ;)

Have fun! :)

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get into the movie,” Malcolm said over dinner.  “I should have bought the tickets online so we could get in.  I got kind of...distracted at work.”

“No worries,” Abby said.  “We can try another time. What happened to distract you?”

Malcolm picked at his food for a minute, uncertain if he really wanted to talk to her about this.  “I got a phone call from someone I didn’t really want to talk to,” he said at last.  “It kind of got my temper going.”

“You have a temper?” Abby joked.  “I mean, I know you have the eyebrows to have a temper, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry.  Even when that guy at the theater said it was sold out, you were pretty calm.”

Malcolm laughed.  “That wasn’t a big deal,” he said.  “This call, though...Let’s just say there’s someone who’s been pushing his nose into my personal business and I got tired of it a while ago.”

“Have you told him that?”

“I’d rather not talk about this, if that’s okay. It’s nothing you need to worry about, and it’ll just put me in a bad mood.  I don’t want to ruin the night.” 

“Okay.”  She reached across the table and laid her hand gently over his.  “I won’t push you, even if all my reporter instincts are telling me to keep digging and get the story.  But if you ever do want to tell me, you know I’ll listen.”

“I know.” He smiled and squeezed her hand.  

Malcolm led Abby into the den.  They flipped through his DVDs and found something to watch and sat together on the couch.  As the movie went on, they snuggled closer and closer. 

"Well, this is it," Malcolm said, putting the car in park.  

Abby stepped carefully out of the car, pausing to open her umbrella.  She looked up at Landgraab Manor.  "Holy crap," she murmured.  "I thought you said it was nothing special. You live here all by yourself?"

"Yeah," Malcolm said.  "Let's get in and I'll show you around."  He led the way up the walk and into the house.  Abby couldn't seem to stop staring.

"I'll take your umbrella," Malcolm said once they got into the front hall.

"Thanks," Abby said, closing the umbrella and handing it to him. She looked around.  “There really isn’t a butler or anything?”

"Nope."  Malcolm put the umbrella in the stand by the door. "The house was closed up for years while I was at college, and then it was just me here, so I didn't think a butler was necessary.  I hired a maid and a gardener, but they don't live here. Mostly it’s just me."

Electronics Super Store, First Day of Summer

“Mr. Landgraab? Can I get a bit of help, please? It’s not heavy, just kind of bulky.”

Malcolm hurried to help Raven Prescott with the large cardboard box she was trying to bring through the door.  He managed to take one side of it.  They moved awkwardly to the shelves in the center of the store and set it down.

“What’s in there?” Malcolm asked, trying to catch his breath.

“Those robots I ordered,” Raven said.  “Remember that red-headed geek who came in here a while back?  He’s the one who made them for me.  I don’t know why the box is so big. They’re just toy robots.” She opened the box, releasing hundreds of styrofoam packing peanuts into the air. “Oh geez...”

The “geek” had filled the box to overflowing with the pink peanuts.  Raven dug into the box and rummaged around, finally retrieving a small blue-gray robot toy.  “These things had better be worth this mess,” she muttered. 

“I’ll get the broom and dustpan,” Malcolm said, trying and failing to brush one of the peanuts off his pants.  “Get those things on the shelves, and let’s make sure your friend knows the robots don’t need quite that much packing next time.”

Raven grumbled and set to work fishing out the rest of the robots she’d ordered.