His Inspiration (Book 2)

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

       When the clock read seven am, Thomas rolled out of the bed to go get ready for breakfast. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth. It was already Friday, and he hadn't seen Natalie in two days. She had texted him at the beginning of the week saying that she was feeling a little under the weather and that it would be best to just close the shop for the rest of the week.

Thomas squeezed some toothpaste onto his tooth brush. He was sure that she was just avoiding him and the thought made him angry at himself. He should've never opened his big mouth. It wasn't like they could've had a real relationship anyways. He would be heading back on tour in a couple of months and a long distance relationship would never work out, he tried convincing himself, but it only added to his anger.

After he finished brushing his teeth, he slipped on his clothes and headed downstairs where the smell of bacon and eggs filled the living room. He stepped into the kitchen giving his mom a kiss on the side of her head before sitting at the table.

        "Morning." He said as he took his seat.

His mom stopped cooking and grabbed a plate. "Good morning, love." She replied, sitting a plate filled with eggs, bacon, and a few pancakes in front of him. "Go ahead and eat, I'll go get started on some more pancakes before the two sleeping beauties upstairs wake up. It's almost eight, they should be up any minute now." She patted his back and went back to the stove.

Thomas grabbed a piece of bacon, shoving it into his mouth. "If that's the case, then let me hurry up and eat before I lose my appetite." He mumbled, bringing another piece of bacon to his mouth when a hand inclosed around his ear and pulled upwards. "Ouch." He said, hitting at the hand.

Penelope stood behind him, yanking him by the ear until he was leaning backwards in his seat. "I bet you won't say that to my face." She muttered darkly, twisting his ear slightly.

       "Penelope," their mom called over her shoulder, "Leave your brother alone."

"But mom-" She started.

      "Penelope." She said sternly. Penelope sighed and dropped her hand from around Thomas's ear.

"Fine." She replied stubbornly, taking a seat across from Thomas.

    A few minutes later, Sara came stumbling down the stairs, typing something on her phone. Her blonde hair was tied up in a high bun and she sported a light pink dress with tiny yellow flowers printed all over. As she finished typing, she put her phone into her purse as she entered the kitchen. "Yo." She greeted casually, walking over to take a seat by Thomas.

Penelope and Thomas watched her silently before Penelope spoke up. "Why are you so dressed up?" She asked.

Sara took a bite of the pancakes that sat in front of her. "I'm going to visit Natalie after breakfast."

Penelope sat straighter in her chair. "Wait..how do you know Natalie and why are you going to visit her?" She asked suspiciously.

Sara took another bite of her pancake, not noticing the look of panic that Thomas was sending her way.  "Your brother introduced me to her when I first arrived here, and now i'm sorta working for her." She said dismissively, sipping some of her orange juice before adding. "Thomas is too."

Thomas wanted to die at that moment. He already knew what was coming next when Penelope dropped her fork back onto her plate, and narrowed her dark brown eyes in his direction. "I can not believe you." She stated in disbelief, "Why don't you ever listen to a word I say? I thought I told you to stay away from Natalie, Thomas. You're just going to end up hurting her."

Thomas continued to eat without meeting his little sister's killer gaze. "I'm a grown man Penelope, I can do whatever I want. I don't need your permission on who I can and can't be friends with."

      She laughed dryly. "Friends? You couldn't be friends with a girl if you tried. All you know how to do is flirt and break hearts."

Thomas shot her an annoyed look. "I can make friends with women. I'm friends with Sara, aren't I?" He said pointing to his friend, "and i've never tried to hit on her."

Penelope crossed her arms. "That's because she's basically a man, no offense," she said to Sara, before continuing, "but Sara is basically the male version of you. So of course you wouldn't hit on her."

     "She has a point." Their mom spoke up, sipping some of her coffee.

Thomas shook his head, growing tired of the conversation. "Look, Penelope, Natalie isn't even interested in me so you don't have to worry about anyone getting hurt, we're just friends." He finished, throwing the rest of his food away. Sara followed, grabbing her purse.

      "Well, thanks for the breakfast, and Penelope have fun at school and try not to get bullied," she clapped her hands together, "but now i'm gonna head over to Natalie's." She concluded, stopping as she remembered something important. She held her hand out to Thomas. "Oh yeah, i'm gonna need the keys to your rental car." Sara added and Thomas took a few steps back.

      "Yeah," Thomas drew out,"I don't think so. You're a horrible driver. You'd probably end up in a ditch somewhere."

Sara tilted her head to the side. "Aw, you care about me."

       "I don't," he deadpanned, "i'm just worried about the car."

Sara sighed. "Come on, Thomas, Natalie wants me to bring her some medicine since she's got no one else to do it, and her place and the store are too far away from here."

Thomas snapped his fingers together. "Well, that decides it then, I'll drive you." He said, grabbing his keys and heading towards the door.

Sara immediately held her hands up. "Never mind, I'll walk." She said walking past Thomas.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me, it's just probably going to be a forty minute walk to the nearest supermarket though."

He watched as her hand stilled on the door knob before continuing. "If you run you'd probably be able to shave two minutes off your journey."

Sara's hand tightened against the door knob as she slowly turned around to face Thomas. She smiled so hard that her left eye twitched. "Fine, Fine, you can drive me, but when we get to Natalie's place you're staying in the car."

He did a mock solute. "Aye Aye, Captain." He replied, heading out of the door as Sara trailed behind him, a satisfied smirk plastered across her lips.

This was going to be easier than she expected.