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<<Five-Step-Plan - 1st step: enter the stairs>>

"Heyyyyy, so nice, to see you two", Karen greets us, with a bright smile on her face. She hugs first Mum and then me. "I really love your curls, Mandy, you look so pretty."
I can't, but smile back. Even though, I am extremly excited now (my heart makes a bump while listening to the possible sound of Shawns steps), I am really happy about Karens compliments too. "Thank you, Karen. I thought, they'd look like they exploded. Somehow, the weather always has the effect on my hair that it does look like I touched into a plug socket."

"Well, if I have such great hair afterwards, I'm gonna touch a plug socket, right now", Karen jokes, and we laugh. I'm glad, that she's so chilled and relaxed, trying to make this whole situation as unstressful as it can be. I'm listening again to steps and wether I hear someone, Shawn or Aaliyah. And really: It endures only some moments, where my Mum and I get out of our jackets and put out our shoes, when there are steps on the stairs. They are really bumpy, kinda as if someone would jump down the stairs. It's Aaliyah. "Hey Mandy, how are you?! Long time no see", she jokes grinning and then smiles brightly – just as her mum – and greets my mother. "Hi Ms. Riverdale, how are you? It's nice to meet you again!"

"I already told you, it's Jillian", my Mum smiles at her and hugs her. "And it's really nice, to meet you again, too."

"Do you wanna come in?", Karen says.

We follow her into a living room, that is bordered to the kitchen, I guess. I look around with a lot of strain. I expect Shawn sitting on the couch on the chair in the corner, but nothing. He's also not standing in front of the book shelter at the wall, neither is he sitting on the high floored carped of the living room. "Where is he?", I ask Aaliyah with my eyes, and she answers loud: "Shawn's in the kitchen, I guess. Or in his room. I don't know to be honest. Since he's not coming that much home, he uses most of the time, to eat or to sleep, cause touring is really stressful and empowering."

"It really has to be very empowering to be all the time on the street, isn't it?", my mum says - more to Karen than to us. "I must say, I was really surprised that you didn't tell me about your son. - But at least, I really do understand, that you didn't do it. Probably I wouldn't have believed you."

Karen smiles apologetically. "I'm sorry Jilian. But we've become very careful the last years of Shawn's Success, you know?"

"I totally get it", my Mum answers. "It's just that I was the more surprised, that your son took the time yesterday to accompany Mandy home. I mean, she never was a fan of ‚the great Shawn Mendes', at least as far as I know - it was more her friend that", "Mum, that's enough", I interrupt her, getting red. "Really. And please, never call him ‚the great Shawn Mendes' again. That's really akward."

"Ah, my girl, it's so funny, when you're thinking, that I'm embarassing."

"My daughter always reminds me, to stay in the public one and a half metre behind her", Karen laughs, too. Now, it's Aaliyah, getting a bit red. "Mum, that's not fair. It was just one time. And I was fourteen."

"I got my hair styled in a ... bit experimenting way, and there was this skirt in a flashing green, ... I just loved it. But a teenager may not be loving this outfit when she's possibly meeting one of her friends", Karen grins a bit. "I got over it."

"Mum, that's not the whole truth", Aaliyah answers, now really seeming to feel uncomfortable. "It was just at the time where everyone was photographing us when we're going out in public, and I wasn't feeling that good with all the attention..." "You don't have to explain, everything's fine", Karen says, and as a confirmation she goes to Aaliyah to give her a warm hug. I look at them both, and my mum and I smile at each other. "It's really lovely, to see such a good mother-daughter-bond", my Mother says, and Karen smiles back. "Yes, it is. But now please let me be a good host and let me ask you, if you wanna drink something. Wine – red or white, a hot punch, water, lemon or something else?"

"Wine", my mum says.

"A water would be great", I answer and then don't listen anymore to polite flowers of speech. Instead I go to Aaliyah and repeat my question from earlier, now being really stressed. "Where the hell is your brother?!"

"I don't know. Maybe, you could go upstairs, looking up if he's there?" Aaliyah twinkles. "That could be number 1 of our five-step-plan."

"Oh no, I'm not going to walk through Shawn Mendes' house, as if I was in any kind familiar there, and if I was searching for something. Do you know, what he's gonna say when he sees me sneaking around in your house?!"

"First of all, it's not his house, it's mine, too", Aaliyah says and frowns. "And second, I don't think, that there's something suspicious on going upstairs and saying hello, asking whether he will come downstairs. That's just not polite, staying up there. He knows, that you're here."

"And that's exactly the reason why he's staying up there", I answer, but somehow I give in. Maybe, I could at least give Shawn and me the try to act like civilized strangers. "Okay. I'm going. – But why aren't you going?"

"I'm helping my mum in the kitchen. And now go! Give our plan a start!"

"We never made a real plan", I try to protest and roll my eyes. Us talking yesterday wasn't a lot about Shawn and me - more about studying and life in general. And our five-step-plan remained (as already mentioned) on one or two steps only - first talking to Shawn (without fighting) and second clarifying this mess. But now it's just as in the label when it came to entering the elevator. Aaliayh's very strong-minded when it comes to her wanting to let something happen. And now she wants me to talk to her brother and put things right.
She shows me the way up. "Just go up there - the second door is the right door. It's the door with the wooden ‚Shawn'-name on it."

Okay, that sounds not that complicated.
I breath in, I breath out, and then I enter the stairs.