Caught in the Unexpected

Chapter 11

June 4th   Grayson

The day after kayaking brought the weight of the ache. My arms had a dull heaviness that felt good as long as I remembered it was there and bad when I forgot and made any sudden move. Lisa loved hearing about the aquarium as Lilly filled her in on that and the kayaking over breakfast. My step-mom told Laurabelle she'd love to go "boating" with us next time.

Today was my day...Laurabelle and I were going on a mid-morning architectural tour, but the evening plans were still a secret. Laurabelle was going to love it. I couldn't wait and excited didn't quite cover how I felt. I was like a little kid on Christmas Eve. And, Lilly wasn't invited to tag along with us either. I wanted time alone with Laurabelle.

The Chicago Architectural Tour started in the middle of downtown. I never knew there were so many random facts about Chicago's architecture, and I danced in the new information. All of the stories were enhanced by videos and photographs provided by the tour guide and viewed on iPads. I salivated over the architectural revelations like a Kardashian in a shoe store. The tour took us from a skyscraper church...to the former Marshall Fields Department store...even to The Chicago Cultural Center, her favorite building in Chicago. On the tour, Laurabelle discovered—for herself—the Pedway system which was a vast system of interlocking tunnels hidden in a sub-city underneath Chicago. A beneficial way maneuver the city underground and away from the summer sun's heated rays and out of the natural elements of winter's blanketed snow and windy gales. Toward the end of the tour, I was more interested in Laurabelle's reactions than to the actual architecture itself. Her light brown eyes put me in a trance. The line of her mouth transfixed me. Her quiet spirit bewitched me. The taste of her breath intoxicated me. Better than any high I had ever chased. The architecture of her body was poetic, and I was under its spell.

"Grayson, what are you thinking?" Laurabelle asked pulling me out of my daydream. My eyes spoke complete sonnets about her bare skin, and she blushed because she knew. I knew she knew because of the shy smile she kept in the corners of her mouth.

Finally, I answered, "I was just thinking about how architecture is sexy," and she blushed several shades darker.

The excitement for my secretive evening plans lasted all day because I had found the place. Starkey's was a pizza joint in downtown Chicago where we could eat pizza...and sing karaoke. Laurabelle was impressed. The pizza was amazing, and the atmosphere was fun, lively, and without a crying owner.

"Are you brave enough?" I asked.

"Hmm, I don't know. What about you?"

"Why yes, Kansas, I've been practicing."

"Not fair." She kicked me under the table. I left my side of the booth and moved in on her side and immediately planted a kiss on her nose. Then her lips. Then her hand before taking it and intertwining our fingers.


Laurabelle tried to figure out what I was going to sing, but she couldn't. I offered to sing a duet while she thumbed through the playlists. Laurabelle tarried in the selection of songs by Heart, one of her mom's favorite bands.She shared all these great memories of her mom, Julie, blasting music and dancing with her girls. Singing at the top of her lungs while she folded laundry. I wished I had one single memory of my mom like that.

Laurabelle snapped the songbook closed before I saw her choice. She decided on a song so fast then ran up to the stage laughing the whole way because she turned in her karaoke reservation before me.

Starkey's KJ had a flair for theatrics. This is how he announced Laurabelle's song, "Let's welcome Laurabelle Bennett...she'll be singing the song 'Alone' for us all alone and by herself this evening."