Life Of Laurie

chapter 2

At 9 in the morning Angie arrives at the doorstep of her friend's massive house. She rung the doorbell and took a step back again, soon after a few moments of waiting, a handsome, tall young man opened.

"Good morning miss, may I inquire the reason of your presence?"

"Good morning to you too, I'm here to see Arabella."

"Miss Green?"

"Laurie?"

"By all means do come in m'lady"

"You don't seem familiar Laurie, why have I never seen you round the house before?"

"I'm rather timid miss, not fond of new people, nothing personal miss and I mean you no disrespect"

"Its ok Laurie, I understand"

Her smile seemed to light up the entire house. Laurie was mesmerized by the 19 year old's beauty, her light brown, twinkling eyes, her brown hair, her straight posture, everything.

"Shall I call miss Smith?" asked Laurie to break the awkward yet wonderful silence

"Sure, I'll wait here"

 Laurie walked away and didn't return, Arabella came instead, all jumpy like her usual self.

"Got your book Arabella", she waved the book up in the air

"And I've got your boyfriend" said Arabella jokingly

"Hector's here?"

"You know what I mean Gigi"

 Angie glared at her friend,"That was nothing you jerk, he's just super sweet"

"Yeah, I would know"

"Why don't you introduce him to people, he seems lonely"

"He is lonely, no-one but me and the rest of the house hold to keep the poor brit company, he's just shy, respectful and oh so very shy, shouldn't expect less from the son of a gentleman"

"Son of a gentleman you say?"

"Oh yes, don't tell him I told you but I'll tell you"

 Angie edged nearer on the couch as if to hear better,

"You see Angie, Laurie's father, mister Kingsly, was from a rich family. Well brought up, wealthy, the true definition of the word gentleman. Laurie's mother, miss pricklebee, was quite poor, on the edge of starvation. When mister Kingsly met her by chance once upon a day in London, they instantly fell in love. He proposed to her against the wishes of his family,as they wished that he would marry a rich young lady, having proposed to her, they disinherited him, leaving him to depend on the money he made himself. The first ten years of Laurie's life were full of happiness and love, he went to school, he always had fun, just like any other boy of his position in society, but one stormy night, while he and his younger sister Sally were up playing games late at night, they heard their mother burst out crying from the kitchen, as a kid he understood nothing of it but learned later on that his father had died in a car crash. The small, unfortunate, was left to depend on a small sum of money the Kingslys allowed them to keep, taking the rest for themselves. Laurie stopped going to school,are you ok?"

Angie, being a sensitive person, started to tear up

"Go on" she said covering her mouth

"If you say so. Where was I?" Arabella adjusted her position on the couch "Ok, so, he stopped going to school and stayed home with his sister taking care of their mother and relying on that small sum to keep them alive. Laurie worked at gas stations, wiping car windows as a boy, but that didn't pay much to keep them alive. After six years of struggling after his father's death, Laurie left his mother in the care of his sister and set out to find a proper job. He worked at a fast food restaurant here in Cambridge, someplace near the university I recall. When you and I came from the US to attend college here, I bought this house, as you would know, then advertised for for a cook, house manager, servant, you get the picture. Laurie applied as my house manager and I couldn't have been more lucky to have him, I guess having managed his mother and sister at such young age makes managing this big old place a breeze."

 Angie sat in silence, then she finally spoke up,"Does he still help them out?"

"Every time I pay him, he sends them 3/4 of his salary, so I often give him a little extra money, no-one minds since they know he's struggling"

 Both girls sat on the couch in silence till the clock struck 12

"Time to head off, we have classes", Arabella got off the couch and lent out her hand to her friend

"You know what Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll be Laurie's friend from now on, he needs one, not his co-workers or the very woman who pays him but a friend like anyone else"

"Let's just hope you remain friends." joked Arabella

Angie punched her arm expecting it to hurt so she just laughed even more. Laurie finally appeared to say goodbye and closed the door behind the two girls.