Post by Annabel Lee on Aug 2, 2016 23:09:39 GMT
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee
• • •
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee
• • •
After the intense training session and slightly awkward but heartfelt conversation afterward, Annabel and Kelsey had decided on a day where Kelsey would come over to the house in Portland and just… be part of the family? Annabel wasn’t sure how to describe it. All she knew was that today was the day and she felt as though she had not done enough preparing!
She had vacuumed and dusted, cleaned the kitchen, raked up the leaves in the back yard and made sure the lawn chairs were clean, and washed and put away the laundry. She hadn’t often had friends over, but she knew your house was supposed to be clean when you did. She couldn’t help feeling like she was missing something, but she went over the checklist again and again in her head and couldn’t put her finger on it.
The coleslaw and macaroni salad was made and in the fridge. She had just finished slicing up the potatoes nice and fine so Kelsey could show them out to make grilled potatoes like in Australia. There were even supplies for Reese’s cup s’mores. Maybe it was the cocoa she had with her late breakfast or maybe it was just her own natural excitement, but she felt positively jittery as she waited for Kelsey to arrive.
Every car that came down the street had her looking out the front window to see if there was someone in the driveway. Finally, as she peeked through the curtains for what felt like the hundredth time, she wasn’t disappointed. “Daddy, she’s here!” Annabel shouted toward the screen door to the back yard. Her father was out getting the grill fired up.
She dashed to the front door, pulling it open before Kelsey even had the chance to ring the doorbell. As the redhead gave her a slightly startled look, Annabel just beamed a smile back. “Hi! I’m glad you found the house!”
“Hey,” she greeted her, appearing a little uneasy. She folded her arms, gazing at Annabel’s shoes. “Have you, uhh… been waiting long..?”
“Oh no, not really!” Annabel fibbed as she stepped back from the door to let Kelsey in. “I just did a few things around the house and got some of the food ready. I hope you didn’t get lost, Portland can be kind of confusing.”
“I’ll admit, I got a little--” she went to step inside, but paused and removed her sneakers. Leaving them by the front door, she slowly strolled inside. “I got a little lost in the back streets, but I found it pretty alright.” She glanced around the room, actually sniffing the room like an animal to inspect her surroundings.
Noticing, Annabel hoped that she hadn’t used too much air freshener and made it unbearable in the room. At least if she had they would be going out to the back yard soon. The house was tidy, and not just because she had spent the morning cleaning. It was generally always that way. The biggest mess that got made was a pile of laundry on the floor on laundry day or perhaps the newspaper left on the coffee table when her father was finished with it.
The curtains were a little dated with a faded floral design that seemed to indicate they had been up for quite some time. The Lay-Z-Boy was well-worn but the TV was practically brand new. The dining set was notched and faded and had some water rings that would never go away, but there was a high end stand mixer and espresso machine on the counter. It was a blend of old and new.
The walls told the story of Annabel and her father. There seemed to be collage of pictures everywhere. The newest ones were above the fireplace. There were frames of the day she had finished wrestling school and even one of her first victory in PAW already. As one went counter-clockwise around the living room, they went back in time through pictures, and out into the hall until Annabel was four and her father didn’t have gray hair or laugh lines.
After giving Kelsey a moment to look around, Annabel smiled again. “Would you like a drink? There’s strawberry lemonade and iced tea. I could make you some coffee, and there are some beers out in the cooler too.”
“Strawberry lemonade sounds delicious, thank you.” Her attention was captured by the photographs scattered around the home - her house certainly didn't resemble this. It was similar to a child seeing Christmas lights for the first time, opening up a whole new world she'd yet to experience.
At least Annabel could recognize the look on Kelsey’s face. She had worn it herself a time or two when she had seen places like this before her father finally bought the house. She left Kelsey there to keep looking while she went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of the lemonade. She even garnished both with a slice of fresh strawberry to make it pretty. When she returned, she offered the glass wordlessly, not wanting to interrupt Kelsey’s thoughts. Kelsey had a photo frame in her hand as she accepted the drink from Annabel.
“The little girl in this picture…” She started, after taking a sip from the sweet beverage. She handed the frame over, before concluding, “That's you, right?”
A little reverent look crossed Annabel’s face as she took the picture and looked down at it. She was absent her usual ponytail, seeing as it was so many years ago, but there she was, her little self. “Yep, that’s me!”
A weak, faint smile crossed Kelsey’s face. “You were a cute kid,” she whispered, taking another sip of her drink. She scanned the room. “Is your dad here?”
With a nod, she put the picture back in place. “He’s out in the back getting the grill all warmed up. Did you want to meet him, or look around some more first?” Kelsey was her guest, after all, and Annabel was going to do as good a job as she could at being a hostess for this first (but hopefully not last) visit from her tag team partner.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Kelsey downed the remainder of her drink. Her own personal history of dealing with her own father had given her a subconscious sense of hesitation when it came to anything to do with the word. With a slight nod of her head, she was ready to face her unusual phobia. “I'd love to meet your dad.”
Annabel gave a nod and led the way back out of the hall and through the kitchen to the screen door. Knowing Kelsey’s hesitation, she stepped out first. Her father was there at the grill, some meat already going, but he looked toward the house as they stepped out.
He was tall, near six and a half feet, a little more than lean but not quite built like a tank. His dark hair had been gray at the temples for years and while he looked rather good for his age he had more than a few laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. He offered that same smile as Annabel always wore as he looked at the two.
“Dad,” Annabel began, remembering not to call him Daddy in front of Kelsey, “This is my tag partner for the next show, Kelsey Spencer. Kelsey, this is my dad.”
“It’s... nice to meet you, sir…” Kelsey respectfully declared as she extended her hand to Annabel’s father with slight hesitation.
He was left handed, and so didn’t have to stop tending to the grill as he extended his right to accept the handshake with a firm grip of his own. “Nice to meet you Kelsey. You can call me Houston, or Huey if you prefer.”
Kelsey winced slightly at his tightened grip, shaking her hand out after the greeting. His warm demeanor put her at ease almost instantaneously. “Annabel’s told me so much about you already, sir. She speaks very highly of you.”
“Far more highly than I deserve, I’m sure,” he replied with a wink to go along with the joke. “She’s told me a lot about you too.”
“Good things, I hope!” Her folded arms loosened a little as she began to relax; slowly but surely, she was feeling at ease. As the wind changed direction, she caught the scent of the grilling meat - her mouth began to involuntarily salivate at the smell. “That smells delicious!” She commented, wiping the drool from her mouth with her forearm.
“Well someone mentioned that you said something about chicken, so I’ve got a few pieces here. Steaks, burgers, take your pick.” He gestured to each cut of meat with the fork as though Kelsey couldn’t spot them on her own.
Kelsey glanced at Annabel for affirmation, and then helped herself to a rather large portion of chicken and burger patties. Seating herself at the table, she waited patiently as everyone else prepared their food. Annabel disappeared into the house just long enough to grab the macaroni salad and coleslaw before taking the other piece of chicken and a small portion of steak. She had also sneakily refilled the lemonade before sitting down.
“Oh, I just thought of something!” Annabel said excitedly as she put a few spoonfuls of each side on her plate. “Have you been in the United States for very long?”
“Uhh…” Kelsey’s gaze found the blue sky above as she escaped into thought. Brushing the bright orange hair out of her eyes, she glanced back at Annabel. “About eight months, I’d say..?”
“Oh, so not very long! If I had known I would have come and got you instead of making you drive all over Portland.” Annabel laughed a bit and shook her head at herself before having some more of her lemonade.
“I hear that you two had a good training session the other day,” her father said thoughtfully as he sat down, directing his attention to Kelsey.
“She's an amazing wrestler, I was shocked at how great she was!” Kelsey shoveled a big hunk of chicken into her mouth; clearly lacking a good set of table manners, she attempted to continue her thoughts - with a mouth full of food. It was just a jumbled, muffled mess filled with projectile chicken bits.
If either of them noticed, they didn’t say anything. Annabel even blushed a bit, cutting off a piece of her steak so she didn’t have to reply. The compliment obviously made her father proud, however. “Well she said that there was a lot she wanted to learn from you. Sounds like you girls had a good time.”
“I wanna teach her all I can, pass my knowledge onto her… I find it fun!” Kelsey announced, making sure her mouth of clear of poultry this time. “I learned quite a lot from her too, actually. You trained her well, sir.”
“I can’t take too much credit,” he replied modestly. “She learned most of it at wrestling school. I just tried to teach her what’s important outside of a few moves.”
Annabel leaned in conspiratorially, as though it would make her words inaudible to her father sitting just beside her. “He taught me loads, he just doesn’t think so.”
Kelsey’s reaction was a simple smile, which became hidden behind her burger as she devoured its deliciousness. She was finally relaxed and settled in enough to the point where she could eat comfortably - not that it was a difficult feat to accomplish.
A short moment passed as everyone quietly had a few bites of their food. Annabel spoke first as she suddenly remembered something, “I hope you like Reese’s s’mores!”
Kelsey’s eyes widened and she hurriedly finished her bite so she could reply, “Reese’s s’mores?”
The smile on Annabel’s face brightened even more. “Yes! After dinner we’ll start a fire in the pit and tell stories! They’re going to change your life.”
As the awkwardness of first meetings began to fade away over a nice home-grilled meal. With the sunset not far off and the promise of roasting marshmallows to come Annabel was sure that she couldn’t have felt happier about having her tag partner and new best friend over for a cookout. Her father really liked Kelsey, she could tell. The evening was going to be perfect.
• • •
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee
(Huge thanks to Kelsey for writing this piece with me! I hope everyone enjoys it!)
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee
(Huge thanks to Kelsey for writing this piece with me! I hope everyone enjoys it!)